(Arriving in France on December 9, 1944 at age 19 years, Thomas Krebs was bivouacked December 11 in Yvetot, France.) We were totally unaware of a surprise German Army offensive on Dec. 16th. They launched a massive breakthrough into the Ardennes Forest in Eastern Belgium, driving for Antwerp and hoping to split the Allied Forces. The 75th Division originally planned to join the 9th Army and was redirected to the First Army. Time was a crucial factor. We were loaded on trucks and traveled 250 miles to Belgium, arriving at a forward defense area in the vicinity of Biron Belgium. We spent the night of Dec. 23 and 24 there, billeted in a barn attached to a home. Christmas Eve we marched into NY where the cooks had set up hot chow in large containers, along a bend in the road. This was our first real meal in 3 days. Just as I approached the beginning of the line, an officer rolled up in a Jeep and ordered the cooks to put it away. We were moving out!
We were hurriedly assembled and told to move out immediately and that we were moving up to the front lines. Everything seemed to be in a state of chaos. I had no idea of where we were and had no maps to guide us. After some semblance of order was restored, we move out a road (probably the Road from NY to Sur-Les-Hys). It was dark and cold, we walked for an hour or more and were told to turn around, and apparently we were not in the right position for attack on a hill called LaRoumiere. We could hear bursts of artillery fire and small arms fire off in the distance. It seemed to take forever to get to our line of departure. We moved down a steep slope and crossed a small stream. Things continued to be disorganized and contact was lost between flanking Platoons. Patrols were sent out to establish contact. When contact was finally made, we regrouped in the tree line along a road that fronted on La Roumiere.
