My great-grandfather was in the war, but he would always carefully change the subject if we ever brought it up. Most of us learned more at his funeral than he told us during his life, he was a decorated combat medic. A few years ago I found his discharge papers, which put him in the 137th Infantry Regiment. It was Europe, then. We don’t know which company, or even which battalion he was in, so when I pulled all of this together in 2012 for his son, my grandfather, the descriptions were a bit vague. But at least we could name the towns and we had a timeline. And so here that is, a glimpse into that unit’s history, and where he was, in the thick of it.
So, then, for Jan. 02:
The 137th Infantry continued to attack the defenses about the town of Villers-la-Bonne-Eau as the 1st Battalion cleaned out the woods west of the town and then assisted Company F in clearing the enemy from the woods south of the enemy-held road junction west of Villers. Company E, pressing from the south, cleared enemy points. The 3rd Battalion assembled in the vicinity of Livarchamps, and Company I took over the roadblocks on the Regiment’s front. Company G remained in the Surre Woods. The enemy opposition continued to be strong. The weather was bitter cold.
The Division ordered operations to halt at 1755, the forward elements of the 137th dug-in and sent patrols to the front during the night. Regimental Headquarters was located at Honville, along with the 2nd Battalion CP, while the 1st and 3rd Battalion CP’s were in Livarchamps.
This information is derived from the unit history, found here and here and from this unit overview. These markers are rough estimates and are meant to be illustrative. Any errors are mine alone.
