Into the Fire - The 275th Infantry Regiment in WWII (Paperback)

Into The Fire-The 275th Infantry Regiment in World War II details the record of a unique regiment - one of only a handful of regiments withdrawn from training months before it would have been certified "combat ready" and deployed to Europe - during the Second World War, based on archival research, period memoranda, and interviews.
During an October 1944 visit to the European Theater of Operations (ETO), Army Chief of Staff, General George C. Marshall, agreed to send Supreme Commander, General Dwight D. Eisenhower, as many additional regiments of infantry as he could, before Ike launched the final push into Germany. Neither anticipated a particularly active combat role for the regiments; rather, they were to be committed to relatively inactive sectors replacing exhausted combat weary regiments, so they could be temporarily withdrawn to rest and refit. There were, however, no infantry regiments ready (trained) for deployment, and Marshall decided to withdraw nine regiments from training. 275th Infantry shipped to Southern France, arriving-as luck would have it, on 16 December 1944 - the day the Germans launched their Ardennes offensive.
Two weeks later, on 31 December, to relieve pressure of the faltering Bulge battle, Adolph Hitler launched a second attack-Nordwind-in the Alsace region of France, where two divisions slammed into 275th Infantry's "inactive sector" in the Vosges Mountains.
Despite German force superiority, bitter weather, training, personnel and equipment shortfalls, and a contentious relationship between the regiment and the division it was attached to, 275th Infantry adapted, fought courageously, and denied access to the Alsace Plain in its sector by theattacking Germans.
After heavy losses in the Vosges Mountains, the Regiment was shifted to another defensive sector in the Saar Basin, and then fought its way into Germany, capturing Saarbrucken in late March 1945; served with occupation forces until September.