« The Killers » : The Intelligence Section of 1st Battalion, 39th Infantry Regiment

Mission

The Intelligence Section – also called the Battalion Reconnaissance Platoon – when operating in the field was to perform the job of any reconnaissance unit. Reconnaissance capabilities were available at each tactical level, from the squad to the army corps. The general job is the same.

Its main mission is to serve as a special intelligence agency to the battalion commander, under the supervision of the battalion intelligence officer (S-2). The section is also responsible of the counter-intelligence measures, and the tactical surveillance.

Operations are conducted under the direct command of the section leader – a Staff-Sergeant as from February 1944 – who receives his orders from either the battalion S-2 officer (intelligence officer), either the operations officer (S-3) or either directly from the battalion commander.

Organization & Equipment

As from February 1944, the section consists in the section leader (Staff-Sergeant) and six privates specially trained in map reading, use of compass, patrolling, scouting, observing, self-defense and many other specialties : the Scout, Observer, Intelligence (as they’re defined in Tables of Organization & Equipment).

To perform their missions, they need at least optical and orientation material. So they received classical compasses and a wrist compass each. Moreover, each man received binoculars. When sent to a reconnaissance mission, they move by Jeeps : two of them being heavily armed (Light Machinegun caliber .30 or Machinegun caliber .50) in order to reach the general location of the target, and then dismount to progress the closest possible to observe and report.

Organization of the Headquarters and Headquarters Company, Infantry Battalion, T/O&E 7-16,
from Bellanger Y., U.S. Army Infantry Division 1943-45, Vol. 1 – Organisation, Doctrine and Equipment, 2011.

« The Killers », 1st Bn – 39th Infantry

The 1^st Battalion, 39^th Infantry, as every rifle battalion, had its own reconnaissance section. They had been nicknamed by Paddy himself in Sicily, “the Killers”. The “team” has changed often because of losses in combat, or transferred to rifle companies that suffered losses. For the year 1944, more or less, the Killers were composed of (battalion intelligence officer was at that time, Lieutenant Bennett):

• SSgt Kreye, William M. (Brooklyn, NY)
• Sgt Caban, Stanley (Buffalo, NY)
• Pfc Kujawa, John S. (South Bend, IN)
• Pfc Coleman, Jack (Narberth, PA)
• Pfc Wilder, John H. (Lebanon, PA)
• Pfc Curtis, Franklin (Bridgeport, CT)
• Pfc Gieparda, Stanley (New Haven, CT)
• Pfc Douglas, Samuel (Tamaqua, PA)
• Pfc Crosscope, Jack (Pittsburg, PA)
• Pfc Benson (PA)
• Pfc Kraus (Chicago, IL)

Standing left to right: Kreye, Wilder, Gieparda, Kujawa and Caban
In front crouched: Douglas, Coleman and Curtis

They accomplished dangerous and risky missions from Sicily to Germany. Some of the list were killed or died of their wounds, other were transferred at the end of the year 1944. Staff-Sergeant Kreye was one of the “Intel Section Originals” from Fort Bragg, NC. He stayed in the unit until the end of the war. He was the only one to stay in his unit, or to survive.

One of the numerous missions of the killers took place during the operation led by the division to clean the area of Tribehou – Bois du Hommet (a German-infested forest as Kreye described it), between Saint-Lô and Carentan (north-west of Saint-Lô). For this operation, the Ninth was supported by the 113^th Cavalry and the 3^rd Armored Division “Spearhead”. During this battle, some stayed-famous expressions were born as “Blow it out your stack and swivel”, “Killroy was here”, “Praise the Lord and spare the ammunition”, “You ain’t a boyd toyden” or “Shure nuff”, according to Kreye. But for the 39^th Infantry, the still famous was “bullets don’t make the difference”, Paddy’s expression sadly proved later.

As the battle progressed, 39^th Infantry was attacking south-west down the Saint-Jean de Day – Le Désert road, as the left flank of the division, next to the 30^th Infantry Division. On the early morning of July 11^th, the antitank platoon had their guns knocked-out and 14 artillerymen were killed (including sergeants Curt C. Huff and William N. Wolfert, former intelligence man Roy Williams that was in the section in North-Africa). The German SS Panzer Lehr Division commanded by General Bayerlein had struck 39^thInfantry and 30^th Division. The 2^nd Battalion was quickly surrounded with Panther tanks, and the 1^st Battalion had enemy tanks everywhere in front of it. But even of the situation for the division turned bad, the three regiments were still attacking.

Kreye overheard a conversation at the battalion command post between Major (later LTC) Frank L. Gunn (2^nd Battalion C.O.) and Lieutenant Colonel (later full COL) Van H. Bond (at that time, the executive officer of the regiment):

“What should we do?” asked Gunn to Bond. “Stop our attack and fight the tanks?”
Colonel Bond replied: “Keep pushing forward! Don’t bother with the tanks. Avoid them. I’ll take care of them.”

And then the Killers entered the battle. They ran a patrol through Le Dézert, because the battalion feared that the enemy mortars had reoccupied the town. The town was a no-man’s land at this time. Then, four U.S. bombers came, and the recognition panels were immediately displayed on the vehicles, and communications were established with ground liaison thank to the S-2 section to guide the aircrafts onto the targets: the enemy Panther tanks. The bombing was very accurate and the situation changed rapidly: the Panzer Lehr was knocked out. And that exact moment was chosen b the 30^th Division to attack, and they badly mauled the SS.

The 60^th Infantry was alerted to the rear, as the 47^th Infantry and the 899^th Tank Destroyer Battalion. 3^rd Battalion – 39^th Infantry, then in reserve, was tasked to help out. The 2^nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich was reported in this area too… But this will be part of another article…

This showed an example of the use of reconnaissance unit within the battalion: help the ground liaison officer to guide the air attack against the enemy troops. And this, was a real mission performed by the Killers!