Evening star., 1942-10-02
American at'Dieppe.
Wins British Medal
For Leadership
Iowa CorporoI Who Went
As Roneer Sniper Tells
How Raid Went OFF
BY the Associated Press.

BY the Associated Press. e5 sFes -
LONDON, Oct. Corpl.
Franklin M. Rooms, member of
the American Ranger battalion,
was awarded the British Military
Medal today for conspicuous
and admirable leadership" dur
ing the August 10 raid on Dieppe.
Corpl. Koons, from Swea City,
Iowa, was one of the few Americans
to 60 along with British and Cana
dian forces and was one of the first
four American soldiers to fight on
French soil in this war.
The 23-year-old Corpl. Koons was
in charge Of detachment of Ranger
snipers during the raid. He was the
only American among a number of
British and Canadian soldiers who
were decorated by the British for
bravery at Dieppe.
The citation accompanying his
award said Corpl Koons continued
to carry on with marked success
under fire which eventually heavily
damaged the building from which
he and his men were sniping.
Account Of Raid.
COrpl. Koons, an ex-livestock
auctioneer in Iowa, gave this ac-
count of the raid:
When we got aboard our ship
Mountbatten Lord Mountbatten,
the Commando chief talked to us
briefly. He struck me as a grand
guy, very full of fight. He made us
all laugh and we were very cheer
full, which is what I like because
1t did not make me feel in the least
degree frightened.
After he talked to us I slept
quite a long time. 1 woke about
half an hour before we entered the
landing craft. I took my rifle and
260 rounds. I also had three gren-
ades and one smoke grenade.
The sea was choppy and it was
very dark. We moved off at once
and everything was so comfortable
that I fell asleep again and dozed
for quite a while until the spray
woke me up.
I'VE approached France in the
GAVIN. Just before we got near the
coast Jerry woke up and began fir
ing a great deal, but not at us.
The air force came over and shot
the shore installations to bits. The
support they gave us was terrific and
they never left us alone for longer
than Is minutes.
I'VE waded ashore 80 or 40 yards.
On the beach we consolidated and
moved off to our objective, some
German batteries up the gullies.
Climbed Over Wire.
I'VE met little resistance at first,
but there was little wire which we
climbed over. AS we went on the
number Of snipers who started
shooting at us increased, but we still
did not have casualties.
presently we got to little farm
built around yard which we used
for cover. 1t was about 200 yards
from our objective. the batteries.
The snipers then got verNbad and
caused us quite few casualties. Our
first task was to clear the farm
buildings to make sure no Jerry
was in them.
I'VE did it. We found small sta
bic IN which we put the wounded.
l kind OF lost my head then and
surged in front of the barn, but l
soon realized that was foolish and
got back into the stable. There I
found splendid spot for sniping
through slit in a brick wall.
The German batteries were get
ting tremendous plastering by
shells from our light mortars. I
fired number of rounds at stray
ferries.
The Commands I was with had
as much as they could handle with
the snipers. Other troops attacking
the batteries direct were luckier
They rushed in and blew up the
batteries and ammunition dumps.
The noise was terrific and I saw
them go into the air few hundred
yards from me-
LAS soon as they were blown up
1t was time to go back. We cleared
out the wounded and I volunteered
to act as one of the rear guards.
The main body marched back to
the beaches carrying the wounded
1 remained with the rear guard and
we went from hedge to hedge, fight
ing rear guard action.
No Casualties Left Behind.
There was bit of sniping on the
way back to the beach, but we did
not leave behind any casualties, only
our dead.
The English were very calm and
quiet. They've got plenty of CUTS.
When we got to the beach the
landing craft were some distance out
because they could not get closer,
owing to rocks. Some of us got
boat on which we put the casualties,
but found it had stuck on rock.
We got it off and brought it along
side motor launch.
1--WE loaded the casualties on
launch which transferred them to
destroyer. I remained aboard the
launch and had wonderful expert
ence watching dog fighting between
Spitflres and Messerschmitts fought
out at height of 700 or 300 feet.
Il saw one Jerry hit the sea and
I saw Spitflre crash. We pulled
the pilot out of the water and found
he was an American.