Morgan’s Stand

Lt. Allen Morgan’s 2nd Platoon (as well as the rest of the 53rd Battlion) had orders to hold an important crossroads west of the Moselle River. On September 10th the Germans counterattacked the junction, but were repulsed in a furious …

1944-09-11

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Lt. Allen Morgan’s 2nd Platoon (as well as the rest of the 53rd Battlion) had orders to hold an important crossroads west of the Moselle River. On September 10th the Germans counterattacked the junction, but were repulsed in a furious fight, falling back to the village of Barle-Duc with Lt. Morgan’s unit in close pursuit. Morgan’s audacity captured the village, but only suffering heavy casualties. With the prospects of reinforcement slim for at least two days, Morgan could muster only 71 men and two tanks - low on ammunition - for the defense of the village, and he knew that the Germans would be back. Luckily for the GI’s the German attack was uncoordinated and was easily held at arm’s length. To Morgan’s distaste, however, the Germans committed armor to their assault, including a Brummbar that demolished the shop that he was in, leaving him trapped in the rubble. As the crisis approached, the German attack was beaten back by the timely appearance of Sgt. Harnshaw with an SP gun and some infantry that had managed to cross the western bridge under fire. The Germans withdrew, and did not attack again for three days.

Bar-le-Duc, France

The Lorraine campaign was the operations of the U.S. Third Army in Lorraine during World War II from September 1 through December 18, 1944. Official U.S. Army campaign names for this period and location are Northern France and Rhineland. The term was popularized by the publication of the volume The Lorraine Campaign by the U.S. Army in 1950.

Wikipedia: Lorraine campaign

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