Lu from Rae Hight's book:
We were still pretty unorganized by December 18 and were cut off or turned back by the presence of German tanks or enemy troops everywhere we tried to go. On the 19th, when we were coming back out of the Bulge, we came into a little town around La Roche. We had stopped for a rest but were suddenly called out to form a roadblock east of town. We ended up at the top of a ridge for two bitterly cold nights with the sounds of the German armor, tank after tank, rumbling along the road below. We knew that if they came up the ridge we would have to engage in battle, though we did not have adequate weapons or ammunition. We were certainly relieved when we received orders to move on!
Battalion History:
On the 18th the 106th appeared to be hopelessly trapped. St. Vith was still in American hands, but enemy paratroopers dropped behind our lines had done much damage, particularly at the supply point of Couvy. Bastogne was almost surrounded, but was being held by the 101st Airborne, later to become famous as "The Battered Bastards of Bastogne". When enemy tanks reached Cherain, only a short distance from Langlir, the battalion withdrew west through La Boche to the Bois de Vecmont a few miles out of the city, and bivouacked for the night.
(In case your memory is impaired, we'd better point out that the Bois deVecmont wasn't as fancy a place as the name indicates. Our share of it was a muddy, rutted road, beside which we bedded down at some late hour on one of the coldest mornings of the winter.)
Cliff Hope from his book:
Monday 18 December
The retreat continued with al VIII Corps installations withdrawing. The bulk of the 106th division, hopelessly trapped on Schnee Eifel ridge, continued to hold out, and St. Vith remained in our hands. But German paratroopers dropping behind our lines inflicted much damage, especially at the supply point of Gouvy. Bastogne was almost surrounded bet was being held by the 101st Airborne Division, which had been rushed up to the front.
My (and Lu's!) survey group started the day by going out to put in a sound base beyond Bovigny, but we came back in immediately. On the road we witnessed the pitiful sight of refugees with their meager belongings. American sympathizers, they now were in danger of being turned in to the Germans by their neighbors. We heard that the U.S. 7th, 11th and 12th Armored Divisions were to be thrown in to stop the German drive. The night before, we saw the Seventh massed in fields near our former battery command post.
In the afternoon both survey parties went out to put in a sound base. Party One was about two miles from Bovigny when it met refugees who reported that the Germans were there. The party beat a hasty retreat, meeting my party on the road down to Cherain. Together, we returned to Langlir, where we found the battalion preparing to evacuate. The battalion closed all installations at Langlir by early afternoon, and an hour later enemy tanks were reported at Cherain. Upon hearing this, Colonel Lushene ordered the battalion to move back toward La Rocke. According to my diary, we were waiting around in the field when we heard that paratroopers were in Cherain. There were no officers around. Everyone became more tense by the minute. Vehicles were stuck in the field. Firing could be heard about four Kilometers from Langlir. A German Machine pistol was heard sown the road. Perhaps that is what got us moving. At last we moved out to get on the main road to La Roche.
"I shall never forget the expression on the faces of the people of the first village we passed through on the way to the main road," I wrote a few days later in my diary. "An expression of utter amazement and hopelessness. Oh God! I shall never forget it!"
(Marilu: this must have been really hard after having been so adulated for liberating these people to have to go through their towns in retreat leaving them to reoccupation by the Germans.)
Heavy traffic made progress agonizingly slow. The convoy turned from the main road toward Houffalize and went three kilometers before turning around. Confusion reigned. There was a liaison plane burning in a field. we reached La Roche in blackout after about four hours on the road to St Hubert. There we spent the night, sleeping while sitting up in our vehicles. It could have been worse. Our turning around on the road to Houffalize was fortuitous. Houffalize fell into German hands that night!
(On the map, look north of Bastogne to locate Houffalize. Locate Schonberg in the upper right quadrant NE of St. Vith to get an idea of their retreat in the past two days.)
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