The 700-Mile Saga
After the breakout at St. Lo, the 5th was transferred to General Gerorge Patton’s new Third Army. During the pursuit across France the Red Diamonds broke all of the records in the US Army for march speeds. The division marched 700 miles in 27 days, maintaining a cracking pace of about 50-90 miles (80-145km) per day. To do this, the men lived on K Rations alone, leaving all of their kitchen gear behind and used the kitchen trucks, and literally every other vehicle in the division as transports, including tanks, tank destroyers, artillery tractors, jeeps, and trailers.
They rode through all weather from sun to rain and in night as well as day, learning to sleep on the back of tanks and jeep trailers. In its advance, the Red Diamond liberated Angers, Chartres, Fontainebleau, Montereau, and Reims before heading to the German-French border. Only once were the Red Diamonds outpaced by an armoured division, when three tanks of the 7th Armored Division entered Verdun on 31 August, only two hours before the arrival of the 5th Infantry’s doughboys.
The 5th Infantry’s breakneck advance across France came to a screeching halt along with the rest of Patton’s Third Army in early September. There was no more gasoline for the spearheads and for the moment, the 5th had to pause its march.
Ahead of them were some of the most difficult battles they would have to face. Getting to Lorraine was one thing, overcoming the German fortress city of Metz was quite another.
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