Evening star., 1943-12-22
Heavy Artillery Keeps
Box Score 10 Make
Dull Job Brighter
BY JOHN LARDNER.

ARMY ADVANCED FORCES IN
ITALY. Dec. 18 Delayed (By Radio
to N.A.N.A.)-The American artillery
has lathered the Casino valley CO.
piously in the last few days to help
drive the Germans back toward
Rome, but 1t does not satisfy the
gun crews just to know they are
propelling great deal of steel In
the general direction Of the enemy
They like a box score. They want
to know what they are hitting.
when we get our reports from
observers" said Maj. F.. M. Doran of
Chicago. executive officer of a unit
firing l05-mm. Howitzers in this
bowling alley, I'VE make it practice
to pass the word to the men at the
guns. 1t makes all the difference to
their morale to know what happens
at the other end. It's pretty damn
dull business, you know, this shoot
ing blind. It's like sitting in movie
theater looking at a blank screen u
The style of artillery work known
as landscape shooting" which con-
sists Of plastering or smoking a gen.
eral area, is often important in this
campaign but the gunners find 1t
dreary. They want to know the
name Of a target. They want to
know if they hit and how high it
jumped.
Bag Motorcyclist.
Sometimes a little sad excursion
into what might be called "skeet
shooting" causes more talk and
pleasure among the crews than all
the landscape work of whole cam
paign. Just the other day one of
the guns in Maj. Doran's unit nailed
a German motorcyclist on the wing.
This fellow kept crossing a patch
Of road under our observation every
morning at the same time" said
Maj. Doran. Finally the observer
asked for the time of flight from the
gun to that patch Of road and then
made his figures, and a couple of
days ago we let him have it. That's
one carrier who won't carry any
more messages. The motorcycle
hasn't come down yet as far as we
know"
Under ideal circumstances you
have a partnership like that be-
tween a gun battery and 1t. George
Taylor Of Wellsburg, w. Va. who
has been spotting and observing
German emplacements from eagle
balconies in the Canine region
In one day, recently, the battery
scored direct hits on a German
anti-aircraft position and a motor
battery, on tips from 1t. Taylor.
Send Valuable Tips.
1t. Taylor and two men climbed
the mountain with 50-pound packs
and four days supply of *" ra-
tions. They had to rely on springs
for their water. One climb took
them 18 hours They were gone
from Sunday night till Thursday
night but the gun crews always
knew they were still in circulation
and doing business because when
1t. Taylor and his men saw a tar
get, they let the crews know and
when the guns hit home they let
them know again.
Occupying third position in this
firm, on the heights of pure SCI
ence, there is a tall. slow-spoken
gentleman from Lubbock, Tex
whom the boys call Azimuth. His
right title Is Second 1t. Alvis Phil
lips. The boys are getting pretty
profound when they call him All
muth, but 1t shows that artillery
men can hold their own in most
any kind of company. You car
look up AZimuth in the dictionary
yourself. 1t bears on the broad
segment Of circle outside the
angle under survey.
I'm always working angles" says
1t. Phillips, patting the shiny COM
plex protractor he captured from
Italians in Tunisia Hell, they
gotta call me something, so it might
as well be Azimuth"
Copyright, 1943, by the Bell Syndicate