Mott reported for basic training at Fort Eustis in Virginia on November 30, 1942. Trained in antiaircraft artillery, he was sent to Artillery Officer Candidate School at Camp Davis in North Carolina. On June 3, 1943, Mott was commissioned as a second lieutenant of artillery. After serving as an artillery officer instructor, he transferred to the Corps of Engineers on February 10, 1944. On March 24, 1944, Mott completed engineering school at Fort Belvoir in Virginia and was assigned to the 9th Armored Division at Camp Polk in Louisiana.[5][6]
On March 7, 1945, during the allied offensive to the Rhine River, Combat Command B of the 9th Armored Division arrived at the town of Remagen, discovering that the Ludendorff Bridge over the Rhine river was intact. A three-man detachment from 2nd Platoon, B Company (Lieutenant Hugh Mott, Staff Sergeant John Reynolds, and Sergeant Eugene Dorland) moved with the first squad of A/27th AIB to reduce the remaining explosives after the first unsuccessful bridge demolition by the Germans. They were the third, fourth, and fifth US soldiers onto the bridge. Crossing with lead elements, Dorland destroyed the main demolition switch box on the far shore. The remainder of B Company, 9th Engineers followed with the rest of A/27th AIB, finding and reducing more explosives on the bridge. After the crossing was initially secured, Lt. Mott led B Company in the hasty bridge repairs that allowed the first Sherman tanks to cross the bridge by 2200 that night.
In tribute to Major General Mott, the U.S. Army Engineer School, located at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, named the Bachelor Officer's Quarters building "Mott Hall" in his honor.
General Mott died on June 24, 2005, at the age of 84, after spending more than 33 years in the service of his country. He was interred at the Middle Tennessee State Veterans Cemetery.[1]
References
^ ab"Mott, Hugh B". Nationwide Gravesite Locator. National Cemetery Administration. Retrieved June 8, 2022.
^ abc"Major General Hugh Barbee Mott". General Officers of the Army and Air National Guard. Office of Public Affairs, National Guard Bureau. June 1968. p. 547. Retrieved June 8, 2022.