Digging in on Schnee Nifel Ridge

The Ardennes Forest is not one continuous forest as one might think, but rather a lot of smaller groves of well-arranged pines. The section where we were located was called Schnee Nifel Ridge and parts of it extended into the Seigfried lines. Several of the pillboxes were used as "command posts" or "aid stations." It was a very hilly section and the valley always kept one in suspense.

Sunday evening, after locating between the two infantry regiments, Scho and I dug in for the night. We did not spare the energy. We were afraid we would be shelled during the night so we made a real covering. We cut several logs and placed them over our fox-hole. We then put brush on top of the logs to make the top hold dirt. After that, we piled all the dirt back on top of both brush and logs. All the time we had to endure fallingand melting snow. It seemed it would melt to get us wet and then snow again to replace the diminishing supply. It was rough for us but worse for the G.I.'s in the outposts. Often the medics brought a man back who had stood in ice water until his feet were frozen. He had to stay in his fox-hole as it was the only place he had and it was often filled with water.

We saw a number of German prisoners brought back. Our military police hauled them in by the dozens. They were all ages and types. Some looked like kids while others looked like old men and some looked like good soldiers.