Plaque commémorative située dans la chapelle Saint Livier

On déplora plus de quatre cents morts et blessés du côté américain et au moins autant du côté allemand. Ceux-ci furent enterrés au cimetière allemand de Niederbronn, les américains quant à eux le furent au cimetière de Saint Avold.









Pour les anglophones, voici trois récits de la bataille de la côte Saint Jean:

récit n°1:

In the darkness of the morning of November 8th, Lt. Col. Lyons left to join the forward elements of his Battalion. With no indications that the enemy suspected an attack, Lt. Col. Lyons inched the assault echelons of his Battalion closer to the enemy lines for a better jump-off position. At 0600 on the 8th November 1944, the attack jumped off, preceded by a thoroughly devastating hour of artillery preparation.

For many men in the Regiment the deafening, ceaseless, foreboding roar of artillery on this morning marked a standard by which future mornings could and would be judged. Moving in a column of battalions, 2nd Battalion leading, the assault on Hill 310 had started. A surprise jump-off found "G" Company in Moyenvic, France, and "I" Company in Salival, France, before the enemy could catch his breath. "E" and "F" Companies continued around the flanks of Moyenvic, establishing a river crossing by swimming the Seille River and capturing a bridge north of Moyenvic. An important stepping stone, this bridge assisted both companies in a continuous drive on to the hill, elements of "F" Company having made for the hill prior to the capture of the bridge. At 0915 elements of "E" and "F" Companies were securely entrenched on the high ground of Hill 310, when later they were reinforced by "L" Company and "M" Company. The 1st Battalion had effected a convincing demonstration in its original position so that the enemy would not discover the line of thrust of the Regiment's main effort. At 1100 the 1st Battalion extracted itself from the enemy, followed the route taken by the other two battalions, and contacted "I" Company on the west side of Hill 310.

The drive was made not without difficulty. The attack had carried the Division into a penetration of the enemy's lines, leaving elements of the enemy on the Regiment's right rear. A terrific stream of enemy harassing artillery fire came from that enemy element, conservatively estimated at 3500 rounds in a period of two days. Moreover, Hill 310 was the beginning of a ridgeline which ran to the north and then turned to the east, affording the enemy direct observation on Hill 310 and the surrounding area. "

récit n°2:

“Time on Target: The 945th Field Artillery Battalion in World War II” (Hardcover)

The Lorraine Campaign

3 September to 16 December 1944

1. "All the eastern sky glowed and trembled with the flashes of guns"
   - Maj. Gen. Patton

Hill 310  ou côte saint Jean

"The 104th Infantry (26th Inf. Div.) advanced into Vic-Sur-Seille, and the 101st Infantry seized a bridge at Moyenvic; however, Hill 310 just east of Vic-Sur-Seille remained in German hands. The deterioration in the weather prevented artillery support, and the men on the hill, many of whom had shed their coats in the initial attack on the first day, suffered from exposure when rain and snow began to fall late on the 8th and into the next two days. It would take three days of fighting in the cold and snow to take the hill, with a cost of 478 officers and men killed or wounded. The 945th was again close to the front with all three batteries around Vic-Sur-Seille on 10 November.

At the end of the first day all of the units for the 35th, 80th and 26th Infantry Divisions were at their assigned objectives - then the rain started. The 945th fired 435 HE rounds to support the attack. The War Diary notes that the 8th started clear, turning to rain in the afternoon. By the next day it was snowing.

récit n°3: