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My dad, Capt. A.Z. Adkins, Jr., fought with Patton’s Third Army during World War II. “Pop” was a 22-year-old officer, an 81mm mortar section leader, in Company H, a heavy weapons company in the 2d Battalion of the 317th Infantry Regiment of the 80th Division.
Originally, 80th Division WWI men were recruited from Virginia, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania, all states in the Blue Ridge Mountains, hence the nickname, the “Blue Ridge Division.” The division motto was, “Always Move Forward.”
The 80th Division crossed the Atlantic Ocean on the Queen Mary, leaving the US on July 4, 1944. Almost 28,000 troops, including other divisions, arrived in Greenock, Firth of Clyde, Scotland a few days later on July 7, greeted by a performing group of bagpipes.
I cannot imagine what my dad experienced during the war–I was Navy (’73-77) and assigned to NAS Agana, Guam for 15 months, then to USS Kitty Hawk, an aircraft carrier, for 2 1/2 years. No one ever shot at me and I never experience an incoming artillery or mortar barrage.
However, I have WWII and ‘Nam friends who have experienced those circumstances, and let me tell you, it’s something they rarely talk about, but it’s also something they’ll never forget.
The following excerpt is from my WWII book, “You Can’t Get Much Closer Than This–Combat with the 80th ‘Blue Ridge’ Division in World War II Europe,” published by Casemate Publishers in 2005. This is the story of my father’s “Baptism of Fire.”
Normandy landing @ Utah Beach
In late July, the division prepared for the trip across the English Channel. The Normandy beachhead had grown substantially since D-Day. We boarded trains at night, pulled the curtains down over the windows and eventually arrived at Southampton, England, where we boarded ships for the 21-hour channel crossing.
When we got close to the beach, we climbed over the ship’s rail and down a cargo net onto a landing craft. We all huddled down as we headed over the last few hundred yards to the beach. When the boat grounded on the beach, the ramp lowered and we waded in water above our knees to cover the short distance to the beach.
I stepped ashore at Utah Beach on August 5, 1944, at 3:00 in the afternoon. It was D-Day plus 60.
Assembling an entire division
Sgt. Ralph Freeman (left), Lt. A.Z. Adkins, Jr.
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We reached the regimental assembly area, about 500 yards from the beach, and climbed aboard trucks for a ride to our bivouac area near Vareville, France. The assembly area had a peculiar and unforgettable odor: dead men who had begun to decay. You never forget the stench of a decaying corpse.
We inspected and cleaned our weapons while we waited for the rest of the division to arrive. We were tense, but ready. On August 6, we entrucked again to the vicinity of Coigny, France.
We were close to combat, but not yet in battle. Everybody was on the alert. Any fast-moving jeep, command car, or truck meant the division was moving out. The unexpected appearance of a high-ranking official meant the same thing. Rumors flew all over the place and I’ll admit, I found myself caught up in the chaos.
On August 6, the Germans counterattacked from Mortain, France. Their aim was to slice the Third Army supply lines near Avranches and cut off part of Patton’s troops from the rest of the Allied forces. The 80th Infantry Division received its battle orders the very next day: help stop the German counterattack.
First taste of war
Two days later, we moved by trucks forty miles to Pain D’ Vaine, on to LeMans, and then to the vicinity of St. Hilaire, which was literally in shambles. Little shops and houses were smashed and gutted, their walls stood jagged and roofless. The roads were shell pocked from artillery and littered with battle debris. Charred enemy vehicles lined the route. This was our first glimpse at what artillery can do in a war.
We reached the assembly area north of Evron, France, and received orders at 7:00 P.M. to attack and seize Evron. The 1st and 3d battalions attacked in echelon, with my battalion held in reserve. The objective of this attack was to seize Evron and gain the high ground to the northeast. The 317th occupied the town by 10:00 A.M. the next morning. This was our first taste of battle. Even though I wasn’t in the middle of it, I heard from those who were.
Argentan, France
The next few days, we marched and entrucked through several small towns with minimal resistance. In mid-August, we moved into an assembly area near Argentan, the town through which the German Army intended to escape to the east from the Falaise Pocket. This pocket was caused by the closing up of the Canadian forces coming from the north and the American forces coming from the south. This was to be our first major encounter with the Germans and our “Baptism by fire.”
On the morning of August 20, the 3d Battalion attacked Argentan, contacted Canadian units, and sealed the fate of the German Seventh Army, which had been completely smashed in the closing of the Argentan-Falaise Gap. Ten thousand Germans died, and another 50,000 captured. After Eisenhower visited the site, he wrote: “It was literary possible to walk for hundreds of yards at a time, stepping on nothing but dead bodies.” Falaise became known as “The Killing Grounds.”
Heroism
During the attack, Pfc Hoyt Rowell, a medic assigned to the 317th Infantry, was rendering aid to wounded riflemen under a hail of shells and bullets. When friendly artillery began to fall nearby, he raced across an open field to an artillery observer and lifted the fire. Returning across the same hazardous route, he continued to aid the wounded. For this display of heroism, Rowell earned the first Distinguished Service Cross (DSC) awarded to a member of the 80th Division in the war.
This was our first real test in battle. Our orders were to seize the high ground northeast of Argentan, then swing southwest to take the city. We practiced what we trained, but it was much different. No one at Camp Laguna (Arizona) had shot back at us, let alone dropped mortar shells all around us. Adrenaline kicked in and affected men in different ways. Some seemed exhilarated while others fell apart from fear. A few men became “shell-shocked.”
Taking our objective, one at a time
My battalion attacked straight up the south slope of Hill 244, our objective. This high ground controlled Argentan from the north and the Argentan–Trun highway in the Foret de Gouffern.
Enemy resistance was strong; machine gun fire slashed into Companies E and G, which suffered seventeen casualties. One was Pfc Earl Goins, Company E, a North Carolinian, who earned the DSC when he rushed ahead through deadly fire and silenced a machine gun blocking the advance of his company. Goins’s heroism allowed his fellow GIs to outflank the remaining enemy gunners, who eventually withdrew. By noon, both companies were atop Hill 244.
We take Argentan
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There was confusion everywhere. American and British warplanes roamed the skies and bombed and strafed German tanks, trucks, and infantry columns. Hundreds of German soldiers dropped their weapons and raised their hands, looking to surrender to the nearest Allied forces. Others seemed too afraid to fight or flee and huddled near their stalled vehicles.
By nightfall on August 20, the 80th Division had taken Argentan. In the three-day battle, the 80th destroyed fourteen enemy tanks and captured a thousand German soldiers. We captured or destroyed vast quantities of German equipment and supplies, including a dump with 27,000 tons of ammunition and a map depot. But our victory was did not come easily. The 80th Division lost more than 400 soldiers, killed or wounded.
My battalion had started cross-country at dawn one morning and was still going at midnight. We were so tired some men were falling to the side of the road and had to be prodded back in line. A little after midnight we saw a big fire ahead. As we got closer, we could tell that a whole village was burning. We didn’t see a living thing as we entered the town.
Suddenly, an old woman came out of the rubble and in a frightened voice asked, “American, American?” Someone said, “Yes, we’re American.” The woman was silent for a moment and then as if she suddenly realized that we were Americans and not Germans, cried into the burning rubble, “Les Americans ici, Les Americans, ici!“
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Dear Mom & Dad
In a letter to my mom and dad, dated Thursday, August 24, 1944, I wrote, “Mom & Dad, I have been doing a little fighting lately, and have been in one major battle. You probably read about it in the papers. I came through it without a scratch.
I have been ‘baptized’ to fire, so now I know all the tricks. Therefore, there is absolutely nothing to worry about. I am a good soldier, love and believe in my God and my family and therefore I will be home before very long.
All you have to do is pray for me and everything will be alright.”
My dad, my hero…
My father was wounded twice during the war and earned the Bronze Star Medal (Valor) for action in early October 1944 at a place called Sivry, France. I’ll blog about that later.
After the war in Europe ended on May 8, 1945, he was part of the “Occupational Force” and remained in Austria, Czechoslovakia, and Germany until he returned to the states in January 1946.
My father attended law school at the University of Florida here in Gainesville, met my mother & married and had two kids (me & my older sister, Anne).
Pop rarely talked of the war and even when he did, it was usually about a good Army buddy or a humorous story, often repeated. He never talked about the “bad stuff.”
Then, for Christmas 1985, he gave me and my sister, Anne, a typed 200-page, 3-ring binder titled, “A World War II Diary.” For the first time in my life, I read my father’s WWII story (again and again) and realized the horrors he not only experienced, but those he also witnessed.
I can’t for the life of me imagine how these courageous men carried those memories with them throughout the rest of their lives. But my dad, as most WWII veterans, was always proud of his service to his country, his community, and the love of his family and God. I believe he always continued to follow the 80th Division’s motto, “Always Move Forward.“
We lost Pop in June 1989 of cancer, three days before his 69th birthday. He was my rock, my friend, and my hero. To this day, he continues to inspire me, especially in these challenging times.
Stay safe, my friends.
Until we meet again,
Andy
Andy Adkins is a US Navy veteran (’73-77) and the author of several books. His newest novel, NEVER FORGET, is the story of A Vietnam Veteran’s Journey for Redemption & Forgiveness. NEVER FORGET is FREE (eBook, PDF) for all veterans. Download your FREE copy HERE.
P.S. If you’d like to read more about the 80th’s Baptism of Fire at Argentan, Tristan Rondeau, a young French student, wrote an excellent 3-part article, available on the 80th Division Veterans Association website. These articles were initially published in the French historical review Normandie 44 Magazine, issues 6, 7 and 8 (February-May-August 2013), by the editions Heimdal. English translation provided by Dennis Adams.