Foley Jr | Akateeminen Kirjakauppa

Eighteen-year-old William Foley was afraid the war would be over before he got there, but the rifleman was sent straight to the front lines, arriving January 25, 1945 - just in time to join the 94th Infantry Division of the XX Corps poised at Hitler's legendary West Wall. With little or no help from armored divisions, the 94th bravely squared off against the superior tanks and equipment of the powerful 11th Panzer Division, attacking again and again during the bitter winter of '45. There was no escape from the shrieking artillery, the sudden assault of machine gun fire, the whizzing shards of hot, jagged metal, or the silent deadly mortars that struck without warning.

Yet the intrepid 94th fought on, destroying more than half of Hitler's seemingly invincible 11th Panzer Division before reaching the Saar River. But the war was not over for Foley and his fellow riflemen. Above the river's far banks loomed four-hundred foot cliffs, honeycombed with pillboxes and bunkers teeming with snipers- Hitler's second Siegfried Line. And still the infantrymen of the 94th pushed forward, not stopping until they reached the Rhine on
March 25.

During virtually continuous combat, Foley found time to draw sketches of his comrades and the battle scenes, literally from his foxhole. A selection of his extraordinary artwork is included here. Little has been written about the 94th Infantry Division's struggle and sacrifice during that campaign, which saw some of the fiercest fighting and highest casualties of the entire war in Europe. Foley brings the 94th Infantry Division's long, hard road to victory to gritty and glorious life.