Browning chief. [volume] (Browning, Mont.) 1941-1953, 1943-09-17
Five Months of
Tank Warfare
BY Sgt. Charles Embse
VNU Feature-Through special arrangeu
with The American Magazine.)

AS tank commander in the First
Armored division, saw five months
of fighting in North Africa. 1t was
the first large-scale tank fighting our
army has had in this war.
Our company fought lot of diff
ferent kinds of actions. We fought
against the French for few days
and then we fought beside them.
We fought the Italians. And we got
tangled up with three of Hitler's
star panzer divisions.
We fought in the cold, the snow,
the rain, and the mud; in the heat,
the sand, and the dust; in the noun
tains, the piny woods, the olive
groves, the dry lake-beds, the big
seaports, the little Arab villages,
and in some old Roman ruins.
We made some mistakes. We took
some beatings. But our training
was good and we learned fast. We
improved on Old Professor Rom
mePs tricks as we went along. Al
together, I guess we handed out bet
ter than we took.
Coming into Oran, a sniper shot
from window at tank about four
ahead of mine. He wounded a
Frenchman who was just handing
tangerine up to the man in the tur-
ret. Instantly the gunner in the
next tank raised his 37-mm. and
blew the sniper right out of the win
dow. Almost at the same moment
a tank-destroyer fred with it's heavy
gun and practically blasted the
corner off the building.
Shrieking Stukas.
In warfare, your first dive bomb
ing is an unforgettable experience.
When those Stukas come down on
you, their sirens shrieking like some
wild animal, the bombs deafening
you and shaking the earth, the ma
chine-gun bullets sewing patterns all
around you-boy, it really scares the
daylights out of you, the first couple
of times. Then you learn that they
don't hurt the tank unless they score
a direct bomb hit, which is very
seldom.
We got so we didn't mind a dive
bombing attack nearly as much as
well-directed artillery fire. When
those artillery shells start searching
for you, up and down, back and forth,
on and on, you really want to get
out of that place. You do get out,
unless it is critical.
Before Tunis gave up, our ar
mored division was busy for several
weeks backing up and reinforcing
line about $50 miles long. Men,
equipment, and help were on the
way across the oceans and skies,
but they hadn't arrived yet. We had
to do with what we had. We would
plug a hole in the line here, make
a swift raid there, pull bluff all the
way along the line. If the Germans
had known, they might have broken
through in January.
guess we moved around so much,
jabbed at SO many places, that we
seemed to have twice as many tanks
as we really had. Once, l remem-
Der, we rolled almost without stop.
ping for 48 hours. We ate as we
Travelled, took turns driving, took
turns sleeping. We never fired a
shot in anger, except at divc-bomb
ers, during the trip. I hope that
march confused the Germans as
much as it did us-we never die
learn the purpose Of it.
One evening a tank man named
Bauerle, who understood German
got his radio on the German fire.
quency and heard the Germans talk
ing. They were in high spirits. One
of them was saying: Were going
to get plenty of souvenirs for you
this time" That meant us.
FASTING a Mark w.
The two-way radio is a wonderful
thing for handling tanks in battle
but it has its dangers. The enemy
miles away, is listening. If yo'
leave your mike open you may drol
an unguarded remark. Or the or
ders may be coming from a Ger
man.
One day when we were moving
forward l heard our captain say
Watch it, Shaffer. Watch out TO
herman ldllkS up tlldl lcdd.
minute later 1 heard voice witt
Just the faintest German accent
"Okay, Shaffer. It's all right now
All clear. You can come on dow
the road" Shaffer wasn't sucke
in, but it gives you funny feeling
Just to indicate what quick think
ing you have to do in tank warfare
consider our situation one day whe
a big German Mark IV-twice a
big as OUR tank-came edgin
around corner of ridge in fror
of us. The minute he came aroun
l hit him with my 81 nm. gun.
didn't stop him and he fired at m
with his n. I backed up about S
yards. The German shell hit jus
where we had been. l pulled tn
same maneuver twice again an
then had him where wanted him
within reach of one of our MILO tan
destroyers.