I went to Hq to pick up some lumber this morning. We are going to move after dinner. We moved to the other side of Munich and into a nice big house. Here we thought we were going to stay and then we pulled out right after supper for a new area. It was getting dark, and we had to drive black out on this cow path. Boy, it was some ride. We sat on the highway until 1:30 am and then they found a bivouac for us. So I got to bed about 2:30 am.
Your Son, ‘Chick’
On this day May 1, 1945 my Uncle Tsgt Neville Gibson was killed in action near where Chick was.
Drive to Salzburg and the End of the War
After the vicious combat north of Munich and the taking of the city, attention shifted to the city of Salzburg. On May 1st, Company A of the 8th AIB left its bivouac are near Gunding, and by late afternoon was moving quite rapidly through small villages flying white flags. A few enemy planes were seen and random shots were fired at them, even though they were probably just trying to surrender. About 1700, the column stopped and a rumor from G-2 (Intelligence) spread through the ranks that 200 SS troops were hiding in the woods up ahead. The infantry dismounted and readied themselves, attaching extra bandoliers and getting grenades ready. Mortar, machine gun, and bazooka men gathered their equipment. It started snowing, but the men decided to forgo their overcoats since the woods was supposed to be only two miles in depth. After five hours of searching and hiking, they hadn’t found a thing, so they dug slit trenches in a big field and waited. The half tracks picked them up much later, and there was a report that the Germans had retreated to a nearby town to get out of the weather, and eventually surrendered. Company ‘B’ had billeted in Munich, but took a left hook around Munich on the 1st to clear the Ebersberger Forest. They crossed the Isar River on a Bailey Bridge and a dam over the Speichersee, a man-made lake. The terrain included deep, forested hillsides with damp, soggy valley floors. Vehicles that ran off the road would sink in the mud and had to be dragged out by other vehicles, winches, or sheer manpower. One tank that left the road to get around a knocked out panzer, became stuck, and began to sink. Efforts to free it were fruitless, and the last sight of it was its top hatch. In the forest, they came upon four Mark VI ‘Tiger’ tanks with their lights on and engines running, but they had been abandoned. Later in the afternoon near Neufarn they opened fire on an escaping German Army vehicle, but later discovered that it had been commandeered by a crew from Troop ‘A’ of the 33rd Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron. Pockets of woods were cleared out by a group of infantrymen walking in a line while halftracks drove to the other end to stop any retreating Germans. The 414th AFA was in support, but instructed not to fire because of a suspected stored chemical weapons and poison gas shells. The site was actual marked as dangerous, with special metal gates and guardhouses. The First Platoon of ‘D’ Company, 9th Tank Battalion, did receive some sporadic small arms firing from this area and in the confusion, Captain Peale’s peep was run over by a Sherman. Driver Corporal Edgar Perilstein was evacuated with an injured foot.
A damaged bridge near Salzburg.
It was also on May 1st that Technical Sergeant Neville Gibson ( Dos Paulos, California), Company ‘C’, 8th Armored Infantry Battalion, was killed when a grenade was thrown at the half track he was riding in, and got caught in the collar of his jacket before detonating.
Troop ‘C’ of the 33rd Cavalry Recon Squadron moved in formation to Kircheon and shot down four attacking German planes in the process. Their position must have been relayed by radio, as several artillery rounds came their way a few minutes later. The first platoon of Troop ‘A’ , on their way to Hohenlinden, must have been spotted by the plane on their way through Anzing and Festinning, because they received artillery and mortar fire, too. Once the source of the firing in Hohenlinden was silenced, billets were set up back in Festinning. On the morning of the 2nd, they were ordered out through the Ebersberger Forest to continue the advance toward Rosenheim. At 0800, there was a change in plans and they were ordered to reconnoiter all the roads in the forest in anticipation of division traffic. Third Platoon was actually fired on by a friendly antiaircraft unit and their multiple .50 caliber guns. Luckily, no one was hit, and they were sent back toward Hohenlinden, and stopped in Kronacker. Early on the 3rd, they pushed off at about 0530 to lead the way to Salzburg.