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Lorient - At 0845 on August 15, "C" Company moved out of bivouac to start the long journey eastward, but it was necessary first to stop just out of Lorient. Our route took us back through some of the towns we had seen -- Le Drennec, St. Meen, Landivisau, Commana, La Feuille and Huelgoat. There, we turned southeast through Landeleau, Gourin, Boutihiry, Parc Ferein, La Faouet and Meslan to bivouac near Arzano in a spot known to us as "the Lorient area." Lorient was to be our longest stop up to that time, one of our longest on the Continent. We stayed only four days short of a month, the last week of which we were pretty much alone after having been surrounded by troops of the division up until then. Those were the days of egg trading, carried on by sign language or broken French, the natives getting chocolate, cigarettes and gum for their "oeufs." The eggs were plentiful, and the kitchen fried them at breakfast for all who brought their own. Our initial generosity soon was being abused by the French, and consequently our trading stock began to run low. Prices were standardized at two packs of cigarettes per dozen eggs as trading flourished and chocolate continued to leave camp each morning. Also acquired here were small wooden shoes for souvenirs. In testing local drinks, many men overestimated their capacity, some coming up shooting and others going down and out. All in all, the potions -- cognac, Calvados and others -- were classified as "rough." Joe Dague had made almost the entire round of the company, giving G. I. haircuts, at Southampton. Now the men began to return for "seconds," and Dague, in his perpetual good humor, worked long, extra hours trying to make some pretty difficult heads look good. Since the outfit was in combat, he refused to accept any pay for his service, and continued to do so throughout the stay on the Continent. His many friends saw that he had all the tobacco he wanted. It was always a treat to sit a few minutes talking with Dague while his scissors worked. His "barber leggings" were reportedly discarded before leaving England. "Sad Sammy" Gullo began to acquire a reputation as a tradesman, trading anything for anything. One series of sharp dealings which earned him his name had him starting with a P-38 pistol and ending up with a 35-cent cigarette lighter. On the working side, he contributed to many rebuilt ammunition trailers. Being forced to stand to look at what others sat to see, he always sat down to rest while others got out of vehicles to stretch during halts in convoys. Martinez, with his clear, exact understanding and pronunciation of all languages, became the envy of every man because of his ability to converse with any nationality encountered. On many occasions he acted as interpreter for men in the company, explaining to them in his own staccato style English what was being said. Apple trees furnished ammunition for early morning sport, and probably were the greatest cause for the large number of bees, called Yellow Jackets by some, which were constantly in the jam, in your messkit three times a day, in your hair, pockets and clothes. Several felt their wrath. Wires lay along the ground from one corner of the area to the other as the various owners of radios tapped generators for power to operate their sets. On-the day of our arrival here, Lt. Gustav J. Braun Jr. joined the company as Small Arms officer, During his stay, he made many trips with Evacuation Section, a fate which befell most newcomers to the company. Leaving our company here was Wheeler, a member since Chaffee, who was transferred to the 15th Tank Battalion. During the stay at Lorient, Watson and Clarence Wood spent every day for three weeks at Division Trains furnishing a shower for which water was pumped from a stream. When guard started coming around very frequently, many men catching it every night or every other night, the set-up was changed so that each section furnished a percentage of the total number required. S/Sgt. Charles (Just call me Chick) Selvage volunteered for permanent sergeant of the guard in the field, and First Lt. Beaumeister volunteered for permanent OD. A few days later about midnight, a report came that a German patrol was on the road, and guard was doubled. Shortly thereafter, firing broke out in a town just to the north, and excitement ran high, especially when there came a burst from our machine gun outpost. An M-4 tank took a trip down the road to investigate, but the shooting apparently was due to local booze, and no enemy was seen. The moon was out, and the night clear and bright. While we waited on alert, a Black Widow on night patrol came through the valley, presenting a weird but welcome sight. On another night, Gill, Lindberg and Barclay were on guard at a post along the road. Barclay had just called Lindberg to relieve him when he saw someone coming down the road. Giving the command to halt, he was forced to raise his rifle before the challenged became a believer and obeyed. It was then that Barclav recognized the intruder's Wehrmacht uniform, brought him into a better lighted spot, and called for Lindberg to hurry. Lindberg, half believing the German to be another G. I. -- Wojtaszek -- walked around the truck near which the German stood, and no longer doubted. He made a thorough search for weapons, summoned the sergeant of the guard, and then the prisoner was taken by Lt. Henke and Sgt. Gill at 0300 to a PW camp about 10 miles away. The German, who could, he said, speak no English, immediately turned and tipped the seat of the peep when Lindberg told Lt. Henke how it worked. Next day, MP's reported that they had to remove this man from the PWE because he had been agitating discontent among the other prisoners. Among much work for the company in this area, memorable is a 105mm howitzer, mounted in an M-4 tank, which had an HE projectile explode in its tube, creating an egg-shaped bulge. French are unabashed, S'Sgt. Seiger discovered one day as he was occupied at a straddle trench. Three girls who happened to come along just then stopped, shook hands, and offered to trade eggs for chocolate, but Seiger was in no immediate mood for trading, and swore "it aint funny to be caught like that!" In this area, some men ate fish which were lured into the frying pan by means varying from the simplest hook and line to German hand grenades. Also here, we saw our first Special Service show with civilian performers from the U.S.A. On another day, General Grow held a division formation in the nature of a memorial service at which awards were made and the general spoke. Rain came during the ceremony which was held just outside of Plouay under protection of the 777 AAA Battalion. Three salvos of three 76mm tank destroyer guns saluted the dead. These shots were aimed at enemy positions.  Priests and monks who took part in memorial services at Plouay One crew took a trip to Dinan to evacuate and get parts from some knocked-out M-4 tanks. Supplies were very difficult to get here, so Mozdziek and Vaughn spent many long and weary hours on the lathe turning out parts necessary to get rush jobs back to the line outfits. Here and throughout the campaign in Europe, many jobs were completed and sent back to action through the uncanny ability of this pair to machine needed articles out of "something." The kitchen was back in operation now that we stayed long enough in one place, and we got three meals a day if we didn't miss breakfast by oversleeping. Not moving also provided an opportunity for rest, washing clothes and a settling of nerves. Baker managed to get many clothes for the men. There was an engineer shower point not far away, and a creek was available for open air cold water showers. Vehicles were evacuated from Point Scarf in daylight trips, and we were told there that the Germans came into the town's cafes at night. Permission to visit that spot had to be obtained from advanced line outposts. The last two weeks had been wet, rain falling nearly every day and night. Before, we had seen little rain but much dust. Lt. Heinke and Chick Selvage had been out on a recon trip and were returning to base when, a few miles from the bivouac, a French woman stopped them, exclaimed "Boche," and pointed into the woods. They thought it not worth while to investigate, but a few hundred yards down the road, another woman reported the same thing, and they stopped. One German came out, then two more. Selvage frisked them, and they were placed on the peep to take back. Just as the peep was about to take off, one of the pair tapped the lieutenant on the shoulder, pointed to the woods, and said "Comrades." Sixteen more came out, and, with Lt. Henke covering them, they were searched by Selvage. Two Lugers and five P-38's were taken. In the meantime, Mangum's 2 1/2-ton truck had come up, and the prisoners were loaded into it for transportation to a PWE, They had been armed with rifles, grenades and pistols. Also, they had a machine gun post set up in the woods, with plenty of ammunition. More ratings came out on August 29. Clarence Getsin was promoted to staff sergeant in charge of Small Arms, a job which he had held with competence since England when S/Sgt. Hogan was hospitalized. John A. Hakes, Artillery, made technician, fourth grade. Richard McGuire, Second Maintenance, also made technician, fourth grade, while George Albig, Parts Issue, was promoted to technician, fifth grade. |
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Longest Trip - Before daylight on September 11, the halftrack pulled out to begin our longest non-stop convoy on an eastward trek through Baud, Pluance, Segre, Le Leon-Da, Chateau Neuf, Durtai, La Fleche, La Lude, Chateau du Loir, Le Chartre, Vendome, Queques, Marcunoir, Beaugency and Orleans to a bivouac near Neufchateau, The trip was 314 miles long, and we arrived just before midnight. The EM, again having been told nothing, suspected we had not reached our destination. Orders were to service trucks and go to sleep. In the confusion of darkness, hurry and fatigue, Bartels passed the gas from his truck while Tommy Moore took the cans off the back and filled the tank. Then it was disocvered [discovered] that, of the three empty cans, one had contained water. So the tank was drained and refilled. We saw Orleans after dark, but it was still impressive with its big Cathedral and general large size, the biggest city we wad [had] seen on the Continent. Next morning, we pulled into some pine woods along the road where we bivouacked for nine days during which time a small liquor ration of brandy and wine from captured German stocks was issued. There was much work to be done now, and lights for jobs were permitted at night when necessary. Many took this as a privilege to use light, so blackout here was something not noticeable. Sgt. Cole gave each man one bronze battle star to wear on his ETO ribbon in memory of the battle of Normandy during which we had been tactical for three days. Overpowered by the wanderlust, the "Russian" was picked up in town and placed under guard, a detail which fell upon members of the company.  A quick laundry job near Orleans With summer about over and men anticipating cold and wet weather in the not too distant future, they began taking pieces of canvas in all different shapes, sizes and forms to Fish for him to fashion into bedrolls or sleeping bags. Each had a different "floor plan" with various combinations of zippers around which the roll was to be built. This continued through the winter. Covered with pine trees, this area had a soft floor of fallen pine needles. Many got to visit Orleans during our stay, and most officers had a day's business in Paris, each requiring the service of one accompanying enlisted man, so a few of the men saw Paris while the company was in the pine forest. McCoy left with Jonas for the dental clinic, never to return to the battalion but to end up in a Quartermaster depot. |
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Out of the Pane Forest - On September 20 at 1240, the company pulled out and passed through Montargis, Courtney, Sens and Troyes to our bivouac. Arriving, after 100 miles, at 2100, we had just overshot our area, so the whole company pulled into a field on the right, through a ditch, circled and came back. We parked in an open field where some work was done before retiring. At 0845 on the 21st, we moved on through Brianne le Chateau, Joinville, Neufchateau and Sou Losse to our bivouac near Columbey. This area was a long way off to the right of the road. After winding through a large field, skirting a pine thicket, then turning directly into it through a narrow roadway and swinging back onto a wooded hilltop past the pine thicket, we set up camp in a quiet, well camouflaged spot, away from everything except other companies of the battalion. "Bedcheck Charlie" came over nightly and often several times each night, so blackout was strict, with few violations. Our entire stay was blessed with rain, mud and wet clothes, and Evacuation Section was kept busy. Calvert volunteered to help in the kitchen, working there until he left on furlough. Bostic and Carmode gained plenty of excavating experience here where they encountered a large layer of rock of undetermined depth, the area of which was known. to be at least six feet square. Proper experience for later excavation requires that obstacles be encountered and overcome, so this task was accomplished with much learned and "discussed" during the process. |
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"Morale Excellent" - Here, "C" Company, supporting CCR, was detached from XII Corps and assigned to XX Corps. On September 25 at 0830, the company moved northeast, by passing Metz, to Conflans. In an area high on a hill just above Briey, the company was dispersed, awaiting orders to drop nets when we were "outranked" and required to move because the 128th Field Artillery Battalion wanted the area. "Morale of the troops was excellent." After moving back about a mile, we turned right, circled a forest, turned in, and dispersed. Although the woods themselves made good camouflage, nets also were dropped. The kitchen was set up in a shop tent, because of frequent rain, and puptents were fixed elaborately for comfort. Fires during daylight hours helped ward off the damp chill. Having gotten pretty well established, we moved out on the third day, September 28, a short distance through Briey to Montais, because there we could use a prison barrack and keep out of the weather, since it was hinted that we would be in the vicinity for a month and possibly all winter. With our trucks parked in the streets for the night, wooden bunks in the barrack were worked over with blowtorches to kill any bugs which might have been there. That was our first night under a roof on the Continent, and since we were apparently in for a long stay, everyone set about the tasks of making shelves and bringing in duffle bags from the various vehicles next morning. At 1000 that morning when lockers had been arranged, most shelves built, stoves set up, and lights connected -- everything shipshape -- a section chief's meeting was called and orders given to be ready to move at 1400. "Morale of the troops was excellent." So assured had we been of a long stay that even the presence of Major Chambers in the area had aroused no suspicion. |
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Nancy - Chow was served at 1130, and reloading of trucks, which had begun earlier, was completed thereafter. At 1515 on the 29th, we began to retrace our route back to Toul, then turned left and east through Nancy to an airport on the eastern outskirts of the city, arriving just before midnight after travelling 71 miles. Vehicles were parked, and we slept in one of the shop buildings. Next morning, trucks and men were dispersed. Evacuation, Service, Headquarters and Supply Sections and Parts Issue were finally, after a couple days, located in a group of buildings at the top of the hill. Coming down the hill, the first structure on the left was occupied half by First and Second Maintenance and Second Echelon and half by the shop office, the kitchen and Parts Issue trucks, Service Section also worked there, and Fish set up his sewing machine. The Service Section shop tent was erected at the end of this building, and just beside it was Mangum's shop tent with Cline, Toms, McGuire, Dilworth and others sleeping in it. The second building on the right, was occupied by Platoon Headquarters, and a field just below, between Platoon Headquarters and the rifle range held the Armament Platoon with men from all three sections sleeping in the Artillery shop tent. The remainder of the men slept in shacks built for the purpose, but Krauter and Mermelstein stuck to a puptent, and Roush also had one. Getsin and Schulik slept in the Small Arms truck. Their adjacent shack was a living room and work shop. Stoves were acquired in various places and ways for all quarters, and were carried through the winter. At Nancy came the first visual proof of the effectiveness of our bombers -- proof which was evident in the complete destruction of the field. Buildings were piles of concrete, bricks and mangled steel, and Nazi planes were destroyed all over the place. There was much rubble to be worked over by the souvenir hunters, and leather was was one material in great demand for making tops for service shoes in lieu of combat boots which were not yet available to the enlisted men. Gas tanks of planes constituted the main source. These often had to be dug from beneath fallen roofs of concrete, reinforced with steel, and occasionally wreckers were used.  Nancy airport where the front was close and the bomb craters deep Tools, a very few pistols, parts and gagets [gadgets] were found. Wood was collected for the manufacture of bunks (some requiring six men to carry) and floors. Hakes was often to be seen under buildings and scrap, only feet showing, hunting souvenirs. It was here that Ray Cavanagh was transferred back to Artillery after being in Evacuation ever since England.  Bomb-plasted wreckage of a Nancy hangar The same bombs which blasted the airport also made excellent craters for company refuse, thereby saving many details of the hole-digging variety. Our company commander, First Lt. Stanley K. Gilbert, was promoted to captain; Second Lt. Bocan moved up to first lieutenant, and Second Lt. Beres advanced to the rank of first lieutenant, all while at Nancy. First Lt. Jack D. Emery came to "C" Company on October 18 after having been in the 864th HAM Company and SBS Headquarters. He became Second Echelon and Mess officer, soon winning the friendship and respect of all the company. Also coming to us here, in the early part of November, was Edward Friar who was transferred from Headquarters Company of the 50th Armored Infantry Battalion. Albert Kvart started driving Peep No. 17 for Lt. Hagberg, soon gaining a reputation for "bare-back riding," his story being that speed should be increased in direct proportion to the number of bumps, thereby hitting a constant number of bumps per mile travelled and skipping over the rest. A safety belt was a necessary added precaution, Most prominent among our problems at the airport was the mud which made dry shoes an impossibility. Between a muddy liquid and a sticky mud in composition, the stuff, very adhesive, would stick to your shoes until you were walking on a couple inches of it. Here, F. A. Johnson was the envy of all -- he had brought his overshoes from England. Galoshes began to come in before we left the airport, but very few -- those with very large or very small feet -- got any at the Nancy area. For the first time on the Continent, passes were issued, a small percentage of the company being allowed all-day periods of freedom in Nancy where there was little to buy and the beer wasn't good. Also at this time, passes to Paris were issued at a rate which would have permitted the last man on the company roster to go in about three years. Names were drawn from a hat, and a list thereby established for the Paris trip. A battery of four 90mm anti-aircraft guns, recently set up in our area, would almost shake down the tents each afternoon when they were zeroed in for whatever might be overhead during the night. Others were scattered around the airport, and in addition there were many 40mm and .50 caliber anti-aircraft guns, so, when enemy planes came over at night, a great display of fireworks would discourage them from lingering. It turned out that our greatest danger was from falling flak shrapnel. One night as we stood outside watching the show, pieces of shrapnel fell in quantity on the Platoon Headquarters building and the Armament Platoon lot below. After this, men began to consider cover when watching these nocturnal displays. The maintenance sections and Service Section worked nights for awhile putting "duckbills" on tanks to increase their buoyance [buoyancy]in mud. The Germans had a big-caliber gun, thought to be a 15-inch railroad cannon which occasionally dropped shells in the vicinity on our side of Nancy, and one buzz bomb landed on a hillside across the highway from our area. More ratings came out, Leonard H. Crotts, a cook since Chaffee, making technician, fourth grade, while Szezepanowski, Maintenance, Roschinsky, Maintenance, McCorkle, Maintenance, Chester Johnson, Maintenance, Figas, Platoon Headquarters, and Slim Bauman, liaison driver, made technician, fifth grade. Figas was the company's electrical trouble shooter who kept all lights and wiring in order, installing, repairing, inventing and jumping dead phases. The division's second bowl formation was held in a field below the airport where awards were made and General Grow spoke. However, the loudspeaker system was not functioning properly and most of the program was unintelligible. We marched back to our area after passing in review. After we had been at the airport about a week, company formations started -- notably roll call each morning while the men stood in mud, ready for a mad rush to the chowline. A nice latrine was erected -- a full size four-holer -- and Jersey Servello was usually found in his chair on guard, of his own choice. It was a good place to see all members of the company during a 24-hour period.  "A good place to see all members of the company during a 24-hour period" Vehicles were given a thousand-mile check, meaning that Carrol Watson and Wood must operate the decontaminator for a pressure water hose, one of their main jobs in addition to the daily business of maintaining a water supply for the company. Vehicles had to be washed before being checked by Engel, a job which kept Brandt, Breighner and him busy for several days - while fixing the numerous flat tires which developed during the stay at the airport. Also busy during this time were Creadon and Steller who, despite the stability of the company, were kept on the jump supplying gasoline for repaired tanks and other vehicles which had to be filled before leaving the shops. |