At this point I’m going to draw a sketch to show how our division was to operate, at least according to the books. I’m only going to show the regiments and our battalion, the other units of the division usually supported the regiments in like fashion.
It was normal procedure to have two regiments on the line, with one in reserve, which in time would replace one of the front line regiments so they could rest and refresh themselves. However, when the Germans tried their last attempt at The Bulge, the 84th Division of our 9th Army was sent to help and for a while all of our three regiments were spread out on the line in our sector.
Usually the collecting companies were from one to three miles to the rear of regimental headquarters. All units of the regiments had doctors and aid men, but their purpose was mainly first aid and then to send the men back to our battalion for more help. In just about all cases, wounded all reached our clearing station as we had more doctors and were better equipped to handle some serious cases. But we also sent the more serious cases back to the hospital units where they could be handled more easily. We were not supposed to hold casualties for any period of time since we were more apt to be on the move in order to be able to continue to give quick support to the troops ahead.
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