Andrews, Ernest A. A Machine Gunner's War

From Normandy to Victory with the 1st Infantry Division in World War II

Ernest Andrews began his training as a machine gunner in July 1943 at Fort McClellan in Alabama. In early 1944, he was sent to Great Britain for further training before D-Day. Andy's company, which belonged to the 1st Infantry Division, left England on the evening of 5 June aboard the USS Henrico. Due to a problem with his landing craft, Andy did not reach Omaha Beach until early evening on 6 June, but still had a harrowing experience. During the fighting in Normandy, Andy was hit by a bullet and evacuated to England at the end of July when the wound became infected, before returning to take part in the liberation of Normandy. After the advance through France at the end of August, Andy took part in the destruction of several retreating German units near Mons in Belgium, and his unit approached Aachen in mid-September. For a month, Andy's squad defended a bunker position in the Siegfried Line against repeated German attacks, and after Aachen surrendered, the unit fought its way through the Hürtgen Forest to capture Hill 232. In the early morning of 19 November, Andy fought his hardest battle of the war when the Germans attempted to recapture Hill 232. Andy was wounded in the shoulder. After surgery and a month of recovery, he returned to H Company in time to participate in the Battle of the Bulge. His unit then took part in the rapidly advancing Roer-to-the-Rhine campaign, followed by the battle to expand the Remagen bridgehead. As they broke out of the Remagen bridgehead, Andy's troop encountered a German tank unit, and Andy narrowly escaped death. After a rapid advance to the Paderborn area, Andy's unit rushed to the Harz Mountains, where the Wehrmacht was attempting to organise a last stand. Andy's unit ended the war in Czechoslovakia, where Andy witnessed Germany's surrender in early May. After his occupation duty, Andy returned to the United States in October 1945. The war shaped Andy's post-war life in countless ways, and in 1994 Andy made the first of three return trips to the European battlefields where he had fought. This vivid first-hand account takes the reader on a journey from Normandy to victory, alongside Andy and his machine gun crew.