419th's Reunion To Be Held Here

More than 60 former members of the old 419th Field Artillery Field Artillery Battalion are expected to arrive in Beaufort tomorrow for the group's annual reunion.

The World War II veterans will be holding their get-together in the hometown of their wartime commander, Col. Robert McCabe.

Col. McCabe said plans for the reunion include a banquet at the National Guard Armory Saturday night and a beach outing on Fripp Island as guests of the management..

The battalion, part of the 10th Armored Division, participated in the final push to Germany in the closing months of the war. Activated July 15, 1942, at Fort Benning, GA, the 419th landed at Cherbourg, France Sept. 23, 1944, more than three months after the Normandy invasions.

The first taste of combat for the artillery battalion came Nov. 1, 1944, at Mars-la-Tour, in support of the XX Corps. Later that month the 419th went on the offensive, crossing the Moselle at Malling, and drove to the Saar River, north of Metz.

When the Germans opened their heavy winter offensive in December 1944, the battalion was ordered north to hold defensive positions against the enemy around Bastogne in the Battle of the Bulge.

In February, 1945, the battalion took part in clearing the the Saar-Moselle triangle, and in March, it advanced to the Rhine, crossing the river at Mannheim. One month later, meeting only scattered resistance, the 419th crossed the Danube River in Austria and captured Oberamergau.

At war's end, the battalion had reached Innsbruck, Austria.

For those veterans coming to Beaufort, the tensest moments of the war they will remember came in the Battle of the Bulge.

Col. McCabe, in his account of the situation of Dec. 20, 1944 reported that gaps in the battalion's right flank enabled German infantry to infiltrate through the lines.

The 419th held its position and discouraged a German attack on the right with sweeping fire along a one-mile gap. Germans marching up the ravine were "cut to pieces" by devastating artillery fire from the battalion, Col. McCabe reported.

Of the 518 men in the 419th, only 8 were killed, and 44 wounded during those last months of war in which the battalion saw action.

Decorations received by the battalion included: 17 Bronze Stars, four Silver Stars, three Air Medals, two Soldiers Medals and one each of the Presidential Unit Citation and Distinguished Service Cross.

Commanding generals of the 10th Armored Division were Maj. Gen. Paul W. Newgarden, Maj. Gen. William H.H. Morris, Jr., and Maj. Gen. Fay B. Prickett. The division, including the 419th Field Artillery Battalion, was inactivated Oct. 18, 1945.