The Allies moved on through northern France and across the German border in a final drive towards Berlin. Abel was posted to the First Army under General Bradley Food was coming mainly from England: local supplies were almost non - existent, as each succeeding town at which they arrived had already been ravaged by the retreating German army. When Abel arrived in a new city, it would take him only a few hours to commandeer the entire remaining food supply before other American quartermasters had worked out exactly where to look. British and American officers were always happy to dine with the Ninth Armoured Division and would leave wondering how they had managed to requisition such excellent supplies. On one occasion when General George S. Patton joined General Bradley for dinner~ Abel was introduced to the famous general who always led his troops into battle brandishing an ivory - handled revolver.
Me best meal I've had in the whole damn war,' add Patton.
By February 1945, Abel had been in uniform for nearly th= years and he knew the war would be over in a matter of months. General Bradley kept sending him congratulatory notes and meaningless decorations to adom his ever - eVanding uniform, but they didn!t help. Abel begged the general to let him fight in just one battle, but Bradley wouldret hear Of it.
Although it was the duty of a junior officer to drive the food trucks up to the front lines and then supervise the meals for the troops, Abel often carried out the responsibility himself. And, as in the running of his hotels, he would never let any of his staff know when or where he next intended to pounce.
It was the continual flow of blanket - covered stretchers into the camp that damp St. Patrick's Day that made Abel want to go up to the Front and take a look for himself. When it reached a point where he could no longer bear a one - way traffic of bodies, Abel rounded up his men and personally organised the fourteen food trucks. He took with him one lieutenant, one sergeant, two corporals, and twenty - eight privates.
The drive to the Front, although only twenty miles, was tiresomely slow that morning. Abel took the wheel of the first truck - it made him feel a little like General Patton - through heavy rain and thick mud; he had to pull off the road several times to allow ambulance details the right of way in their return from the Front. Wounded bodies took precedence over empty stomachs. Abel wished that most of them were no more than wounded, but only the occasional nod or wave suggested any sign of life.
It became obvious to Abel with each mud - tracked mile that something big was going on near Remagen, and he could feel the beat of his heart quicken. Somehow, he knew this time he was going to be involved.
When he finally reached the command post he could hear the enemy fire in the distance, and he - started pounding his leg in anger as he watched stretchers bringing back yet more dead and wounded comrades from he knew not where. Abel was sick of learning nothing about the real war until it was part of history. He suspected that any reader of the New York Times was better informed than he was.
Abel brought his convoy to a halt - by the side of the field kitchen and jumped out of the truck shielding himself from the heavy min, feeling ashamed that others only a few miles away were shielding themselves from bullets. He began to supervise the unloading of one hundred gallons of soup, a ton of corned beef, two hundred chickens, half a ton of butter, three tons of potatoes and one hundred and ten pound of baked beans - plus the inevitable K rations - in readiness for those going to, or returning from, the front. When Abel arrived in the mess tent he found it full of long tables and empty benche& He left his two chefs to prepare the meal and the orderlies to start peeling one thousand potatoes while he went off in search of the duty officer.
Abel headed straight for Brigadier - General John Leonard's tent to find out what was going on, continually passing stretchers of dead and - worse - nearly dead soldiers, the sight of whom would have made any ordinary man sick but at Remagen had the air of being commonplace. As Abel was about to enter the tent, General Leonard, accompanied by his aide, was rushing out.
He coy3ducted a conversation with Abel while continuing to walk.
'What can I do for you, Colonel?'
'I have started preparing the food for your battalion as requested in overnight orders, sir. What ... T 'You needn't bother with the food for now, Colonel. At first light this morning Lieutenant Burrows of the Ninth discovered an undamaged railroad bridge north of Remagen, and I gave orders that it should be crossed immediately and every effort made to establish a bridge head on the efst bank of the river. Up to now, the Germans have been successful in blowing up every bridge across the Rhine long before we reached it soiwe can't hang around waiting for lunch before they demolish this one.'