Soldiers of the Tenth Engineers found this 12-ton, German Sonderkraftfahrzeuge (an Sd.Kfz.8) prime mover in Strasbourg and developed the idea to use it to breech the Ostfort's walls. In this photo, explosives are being loaded onto the vehicle that was used to blow a hole in the side of the fort. texag57

U.S. 10th Engineers in France

Ostfort was defended by 200 Germans with machineguns and bazookas and had been bypassed as advancing elements of VI Corps pressed to Strasbourg and the Rhine River. A thirty-foot wide, thirty-foot deep moat and steel-turreted 150-mm guns kept the 30th Regiment at bay. texag57


3rd Infantry in France

After the 30th regiment secured Wickerschwihr on Jan. 27, the 12-man crew of an eight-inch M-115 howitzer along with an M-2 .50 cal. heavy machine gun is placed for supporting action in the battle. Near Wickerschwihr in Holtzwihr, 20-year old Audie Murphy performed his heroic action atop a burning tank destroyer earning his Medal of Honor. texag57
