An American Infantry Division s Baptism of Fire in Nazi Germany
In their first combat experience, a handful of American soldiers accomplished its objective and held against powerful German counter-attacks.
Here s What You Need to Know: In November 1944, an American infantry division underwent its baptism of fire in the worst conditions imaginable and acquitted itself with honor beyond anyone’s expectation. The final outcome of the campaign, however, was determined by the heroic action of only 100 men who found themselves in a hopeless situation and simply would not give up.
The men of the 84th Division the Railsplitters were, to use the GIs’ own language, “green as grass,” fresh off the boat from the States, and they were not going to a quiet sector to get combat experience on the cheap. Their first combat mission was to assault and reduce the Geilenkirchen Salient, a chunk of the German Siegfried Line that featured dragon’s teeth, minefields, and layer after layer of c
The World War II service of two lifelong Wilmington friends led them on similar paths from the Normandy beaches to final victory along Germany’s Elbe River.
Daniel David Cameron and Chris Eugene Fonvielle graduated together from New Hanover High School in 1938 and Virginia Military Institute (roommates) in 1942, both age 21.
Cameron trained at Camp Davis near Wilmington and landed over Omaha Beach on June 8, 1944. A three-year captain, he commanded automatic weapons Battery B of the 430th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Battalion which protected field artillery.
“We were always exposed, but did not take too many casualties.”
He campaigned with the 5th Corps through St. Lo and Normandy, France; Holland; the Bulge in Belgium; and the German Siegfried Line, Roer River and Rhine River. For the final spring 1945 drive to the Elbe to link with Soviet forces, he served in the 19th Corps.