90 Infantry Division (USA) at Dillingen

December 15th, and the Division, fighting along the narrowest zone in its combat history, had made only minor penetrations into the Siegfried Line.

Casualties due to wounds, sickness, exposure and trench foot, were wreaking havoc. Therefore, it was determined to storm into Dillingen itself, occupy the city as a stronghold, and then cross the Prims River, turning south to make contact with the 95th Division, still severely engaged in Saarlautern. The infantry, aided as usual by the effective support of armor and accurate artillery fire, pushed across the railroad tracks and reduced staunchly defended pillboxes which faced them in profusion.

In the fighting that followed, the 90th pushed resolutely into the city of Dillingen, clearing block after block of the enemy. The densest portions of the Siegfried Line had been successfully negotiated, and Dillingen was in process of falling to the 90th.

House by house and room by room the 90th pushed through the city. In spite of the fact that no bridge had been built to span the Saar River, the Division had succeeded in crushing one by one the defenses that constituted the "invincible" Siegfried Line.

The shadow of the 90th had fallen squarely on the heartland of Germany.

Photo: Three inch gun firing over Saar River at fortified town of Dillingen, Germany