SENF, ROLAND C.

Description

Roland Senf

Roland Senf was born on December 28, 1925 and lived on Kirby Lane with his grandparents, Jacob and Florence and his Uncle, Reginald. His grandfather was a fisherman and his uncle a laborer. He attended Rye High School and was active in athletics especially football his’ favorite sport. An lnTintzyman he trained at Camp Blending Fla’ before embarking for overseas in November Later he would move in with his mother Gertrude and her husband Louis Fitzgerald and live a 120 Wappanocca St. Roland enlisted and served in the U.S. Army during World War II.

Roland enlisted March 24, 1944 and was asigned to Company E, 2nd Battalion, 417 Infantry Regiment, 76th Infantry Division. An lnfrantryman he trained at Camp Blending FL before embarking for overseas in November 1944.

By late Febuary , 1945 at Holsthum Germany the 76th “ONAWAY” Division had pushed through and beyond the main fortifications of the Siegfried Line. It was a cold, gray, damp morning when General George S. Patton, in parka, glistening helmet, spotless tan boots, and armed with the famed two pistols, drove up to the 76th Division CP, strode brusquely into the inner sanctum, placed a huge fist on a map of Trier.

The direction of advance had suddenly changed and the doughboys of 76th Infantry Division turned their sights toward Trier, most ancient of German cities and site of many of the most magnificent Roman structures in North Europe.

That was all. It was an order and all efforts now were concentrated on making contact with the XX Corps to the south.

Roland Senf’s 2d Battalion, 417 Infantry Regiment, was the nucleus of a task force and fought their way south through heavy German resistance. The morning of 2 March saw no letup in the 76th Division advance.

The 417th Regiment sent the 1st Battalion to clear an arc north of Butzweiler after the 2d Battalion had captured the town, while the latter proceeded to smash a chain of thirteen pillboxes in the hills to the south.
In the afternoon the 2d and 3d Battalions had followed to take Trierweiler and Niederweiler in the order named.

As the sun was setting, the 417th Regiment reported that Lorich, north of Trier, had been taken and the surrounding woods were being patrolled. Early the next morning, 3 March, they made contact with the 10th Armored Division. Here was the 76th Divisions fulfillment of Lt Gen Pattons assignment.

The Moselle River had been reached. Contact with XX Corps had been made. The entire U-shaped pocket formed by the Sauer, Moselle and Kyll Rivers had been cleared.

Trier was an ancient city. It was where the Celtic Treveri tribe (where the city got its name from) had resided. Julius Caesar and his legions took the city after a revolt in 58-50 BC. Some of Rome’s best and most famous cavalry troops came from the region.

The Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHEAF), Eisenhower’s HQs, radioed Patton’s army to halt outside of Trier because it “would take four divisions” to seize the city. Unbeknownst to SHEAF, Trier was already in American hands, as the 10th Armored Division had pushed through with the infantry.

Patton then sent his now-famous message, “Have taken Trier with two divisions… what do you want me to do, give it back?”

Private First Class Roland C. Senf was killed in action 3/2/1945 in the vicinity of
Trier, Germany, he was 19 yeras old.

Roland’s remains were eventually returned to the U.S. and he was burried September 10,1948 at The Long Island National Cemetery in Farmingdale N.Y. with full military honors.