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Published Sunday, September 21, 2008 in Local

Photo by Alex McRae

World War II veteran Cecil Taylor was a tank commander who fought in many of the major battles in the European Theater.

Taylor served in tank battalion in Europe

By Alex McRae

The Newnan Times-Herald

The morning fog had reduced visibility to near zero as the M-4 Sherman tank commanded by Cecil Taylor crossed the Rhine River on a shaky pontoon bridge near Siegen, Germany.

Taylor was part of the 740th Tank Battalion. The unit had been in battle almost constantly since arriving in France months earlier. Veteran commanders like Taylor knew bridge crossings were dangerous -- especially when German 88 mm artillery pieces were in range.

As Taylor's tank reached the far side of the river, the visibility was so bad he had no choice but to stick his head out of the tank's turret to get his bearings.

"They trained us to stay buttoned up," Taylor says. "But I had to find out where we were, and there was no other way to do it."

Almost as soon as Taylor's head appeared, a German artillery shell exploded, sending shrapnel through Taylor's face and neck.

"I was bleeding like a stuck hog," Taylor says. "I couldn't see a thing, but I stayed conscious and tried to keep going."

When a medic arrived to tend the wounds, he urged Taylor to leave the area for better treatment. Taylor said no.

"There were no replacements, and I wasn't about to leave my crew out there by themselves," he says. "They cleaned me up and taped me up, and in an hour we were rolling again."

Taylor was shaky for a while, but the next day, the tank's gunner, who sat directly beneath Taylor, decided to lighten the mood.

"He said, 'Sarge, the next time you get shot I wish you'd keep your head outside, because you bled all over me,'" Taylor says. "We had a good laugh and then got back to business."

Taylor was born in 1924 in Childress, Texas. When he was growing up, he spent most of his spare time working on the family farm.

Taylor graduated from high school in Estelline, Texas, in 1942, and went to Fort Sill, Ok., to join the Army. He reported to Fort Knox, Ky., in March 1943.

Taylor trained as a tanker. Each tank had a five-man crew consisting of a driver, assistant driver, gunner, loader and tank commander. During training Taylor was tapped as tank commander and rose to the rank of sergeant.

"The company commander gave us the orders for what we were supposed to do before every battle," Taylor says. "But once you got out there you were pretty much on your own. You had to be able to think on your feet."

Taylor was a member of the 740th Tank Battalion, a specialized unit that was assigned to different infantry divisions whenever extra armored support was needed. Because the 740th was not permanently attached to a division, it was known as a "bastard battalion."

After training at Fort Knox, the 740th traveled to Bouse, Az., just outside Phoenix, for months of specialized training.

The 740th returned to Fort Knox In April 1944. In July, it sailed for England and continued to train until October 1944, when the 740th crossed the English Channel and entered France.

The battalion traveled through Paris and passed through several French towns on the way to Neufchateau, Belgium, where they prepared men and equipment for the battles ahead.

On Dec. 16, the call to action arrived when a huge German force pushed deep into Belgium on the first day of the Battle of the Bulge.

The 740th headed for the ordinance depot at Sprimont, Belgium, and after spending the night taking on fuel and arms, rolled for the Ambleve Valley, where the unit faced enemy fire for the first time.

On Dec. 19, 1944, the 740th encountered one of Germany's toughest tank units, the 1st SS Panzer Division. By then, every American soldier was aware of the 1st Panzer Division -- and not just because of its battlefield reputation.

The 1st Panzer Division was also notorious for executing more than 80 captured American soldiers at the town of Malmedy. Americans knew about the "Malmedy Massacre," and the 740th was ready for some revenge.

"We all knew about what happened at Malmedy and we were fighting mad," Taylor says. "We hadn't been in battle before, but we went after them with all we had."

Taylor says his first enemy encounter was an eye-opener.

"At first we were all scared as hell," he says. "But you got hard-hearted pretty quick. Especially when you started seeing your friends get killed."

Once the battle began, the vaunted 1st Panzer Division was no match for the 740th, and began to retreat. Taylor's unit chased the Germans for miles until the crippled 1st Panzer Division escaped.

No one in the 740th was killed during that initial action, but the unit lost six tanks and had 10 wounded. Just a few days later, things got worse when a tank was taken out and three men wounded by an American pilot who mistook his troops for Germans.

The 740th moved on to Spa, Belgium, and joined with the 82nd Airborne Division. For weeks the fighting was fierce and the weather was worse as northern Europe was gripped by record-breaking cold.

Infantrymen hitched rides on tanks when the snow was too deep to walk. Inside the tank, things were not much better. The tank's heat was supplied by the engine, but the engine sucked cold air through the tank for combustion -- negating most of the engine's potential heat.

"Usually it was too cold to sleep," Taylor says. "All we could do was curl up in the tank like dogs. You even learned to sleep standing up."

The American Sherman tanks had enough firepower and maneuverability to go toe-to-toe with smaller German tanks. But Taylor says they were completely outmatched by the Germans' massive Tiger tanks, heavily-armored monsters armed with the feared 88 mm guns. Taylor says there was only one way to take on a Tiger.

"First of all, you hoped you saw it first," he says. "If you came around a corner and ran into one of those things, you were in trouble. We had to attack the Tigers in a group. One tank would knock off the tracks to make it immobile, then other others would take it on and tear it up. We were more maneuverable so once we got moving they couldn't keep up, but you couldn't go one-on-one with them."

On one occasion, Taylor's worst nightmare came true when he rounded a bend in the road and found himself staring straight at a Tiger tank. Luckily, the Tiger's gun was turned the other way and before Taylor had time to give the order, his gunner blew out the Tiger's tracks. Moments later, another American tank joined the attack.

"We did what we could, but if that other tank hadn't shown up, I wouldn't be here today," Taylor says.

When the Battle of the Bulge ended in late January 1945, so many tanks had been destroyed, the 740th was at half strength. Instead of taking a break, the 740th headed for the Siegfried Line, a collection of massive concrete fortifications that protected the German border. As they approached their objective, the unit fought a solid week without a break.

"If somebody asks you how long you can go without sleep, tell them seven days and nights," Taylor says. "I know because we did it."

When the unit reached the Siegfried Line, the 740th blasted a hole in the fortifications to allow infantry troops to cross. German small arms and artillery fire was constant, but the 740th did the job, and troops began to pour through toward Germany.

"The Germans were everywhere," Taylor says. "But we didn't have a choice about things. We just kept fighting and finally got through it."

The unit was sent back to Belgium to rest. But just two days later, it was called back into action and joined the 1st Army on the way to Duren, Germany.

Engineers threw up temporary Bailey Bridges under a massive artillery barrage. By day's end, Taylor's unit had crossed the Ruhr River and started moving into Germany's industrial heartland.

The 740th moved toward Cologne, trying desperately to keep its hard-hit tanks running. Near Cologne, the unit was under attack from three sides. But before reaching the city, Taylor's unit was ordered back to the Siegfried Line. Near the town of Ensheim the 740th attacked the Siegfried Line again, then headed for Hamburg.

During the second attack on the Siegfried Line, Taylor earned a Bronze Star for his efforts.

"I was proud to get that medal," he says. "But I didn't do anything special. We all did our jobs over there every single day."

As the unit kept moving, Taylor received a Purple Heart when he was wounded at the river crossing on the way to Siegen. Often, roads were clogged with American troops and, increasingly, by German soldiers who wanted to surrender to the Americans rather than be taken prisoner by the Russians.

There was one bright spot. Just outside Hagenow, the 740th came across dozens of German planes at a secret airfield. The Americans managed to take out 30 planes.

"We got a real payday there," Taylor says. "Our machine gunners let them have it."

In mid-April the 740th moved to Dusseldorf for "occupation duty," even though the war was not over.

Many German soldiers had deserted and abandoned their uniforms for civilian clothes. Americans checked under the men's left armpits for the distinctive "SS" tattoo that identified German military.

After a short stay at Dusseldorf, the 740th joined British General Bernard Montgomery at Ulzen, near the Baltic Sea. When the war ended, Taylor was still there. He would not learn until he got back home that his brother -- who had been a German prisoner of war for almost two years -- had just been liberated less than 100 miles away.

During April alone, the 740th traveled 760 miles and fought under three different Armies.

"We were a good outfit," Taylor says. "I don't know if it's because we were scared or just didn't have any better sense, but we got the job done."

Taylor was discharged in January 1946. He wasn't interested in farming and went to Dallas, where he joined the Armour Meat Packing Co. He started courting coworker Jessie Marlatt, and they were married in 1949. One son and three grandchildren followed.

Taylor stayed with Armour 20 years then went to work for an independent meat packer until he retired in 1987. The Taylors moved to Coweta in 2005 to be closer to family.

"I have to say, overall, Army life was good," Taylor says. "We saw some really bad things, but you grew up, too. You learned to be a man. And I have to credit my mother. Some people don't believe in prayer, but I do. My mother prayed for us all during the war and I know that helped get us through."