Courtesy Photo | Part of the first page of the 1st Infantry Division’s G-2 Journal—2 December 1944.... read more read more
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by Michael E. Bigelow, INSCOM Command Historian
On December 2, 1944, just after midnight, clerks for Lt. Col. Robert F. Evans, the 1st Infantry Division’s G-2, opened the section’s daily journal in the small town of Vicht, Germany. Over the next twenty-four hours, they recorded the time, receipt, and disposition of spot reports, instructions, and intelligence reports coming into and going out from the section.
Of the journal’s sixty-one entries, almost two-thirds recorded spot reports from the division’s higher headquarters, its G-3, and its subordinate infantry regiments. For the most part, VII Corps and the G-3 reported the operational situation of the division or its adjacent units. The division’s infantry regimental S-2s made telephonic reports on information from prisoners, patrol reports, and observation posts. The last entry noted the issuance of Colonel Evans’s own G-2 Periodic Report, a daily intelligence summary.
The journal also acknowledged the G-2 receiving nineteen daily intelligence summaries, from fourteen different units. The division received reports from its higher headquarters: Col. Benjamin Dickson’s First Army G-2 and Col. Leslie Carter’s VII Corps G-2. It also gained the intelligence reports from VII Corps’ other four divisions. The other two First Army’s corps and one of its divisions forwarded their reports as well. It also made sense that Evans’s shop received reports from adjacent units—the Ninth Army, one of its corps, and one of its divisions. Yet, the clerks might have been slightly amused to get the report of the British 7th Armoured Division located on the far side of the U.S. Ninth Army, almost forty miles away. They probably, however, openly chuckled when they registered the receipt of Lt. Col. A.C. Dohrmann’s report from the 79th Infantry Division, which was almost 235 miles away with the Seventh Army.
The American intelligence reports generally followed the same format. First, they laid out the enemy situation, including a trace of the enemy front line, defensive organization, and units in contact. Next, they described the enemy operations over the past twenty-four hours. Often, these descriptions included activities in adjacent units as well as those to the unit’s front. The reports’ third paragraph gave miscellaneous information including upcoming weather, enemy casualties, or other useful information. The report concluded with enemy capabilities; however, often these were simply listed as “No Change.” All the reports included some annexes, usually dealing with updated order of battle, and results of prisoner interrogations.
Not surprisingly, the army and corps intelligence reports were longer than those from the divisions, ranging from thirteen to eighteen pages. For 1 December, Colonel Carter’s report summarized the enemy situation across the corps sector, and included enemy operations in the two adjacent corps. It listed new or additional units and commented on German aviation, artillery, and armor size and effectiveness. In its annexes, it provided a digest of useful information for the five division G-2s serving under VII Corps. This included looking beyond the front line toward the crossing of the Roer River. Like all the intelligence reports, it emphasized order of battle, concentrating on the German disposition and composition.
Although shorter in length (three-eight pages), Evans’s fellow division G-2 also provided useful information in their reports. The G-2s with divisions in contact with the enemy—Lt. Col. Andrew Barr of the 3d Armored Division, Lt. Col. Mark S. Plaisted of the 104th Infantry Division, and Lt. Col. Harry Hansen of the 4th Infantry Division—forwarded helpful reports to Colonel Evans. His 2 December report was ten pages, including a sketch map and specific information that would be useful to his commander, Maj. Gen. Clarence Huebner, his commanders, and the regimental S-2s.
| Date Taken: | 11.29.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 11.29.2022 10:18 |
| Story ID: | 434102 |
| Location: | FORT HUACHUCA, ARIZONA, US |
| Web Views: | 207 |
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