Evening star., 1943-09-30


the, one road supplying Randazzo
from the north coast.
The manevuer required that near
" 1000 men with essential supplies
and equipment be moved through a
thinly inhabited mountain country
not only without being seen but
without disturbing the normal rou-
tine of life, and thus. arousing sus-
picion.
The march covered approximately
40 miles. The countryside was, for
the most part, roadless. Where
short roads were marked on the
map it was necessary to avoid them.
About the closest approach to roads
which could be followed at any time
were goat tracks.
One fairly large town, Capesi, lay
directly across the route decided on
and was the worst stumbling block
encountered by the commander of
the regiment. Only minimum of
equipment was carried-one blanket
and few rations by each man.
Nights were bitterly cold in the
high ravines and among the clouds.
All progress was made at night. A
brilliant full moon made conceal
ment much more difficult.
Led by Ghost"
At one time, the colonel in COM
mand recounts whimsically, the en-
tire. strange line of march was led
by a. ghost" a role filled by Capt.
w. H. Barnwell of Burlington, N. C.
He previously had reconnoitered the
ground ahead with small scouting
party. The night was very cold.
Capt Barnwell preceded the lead
ing company by few yards, an
olive drab blanket draped over his
head, clouds giving the blanket a
sort of ghostly look. He took slow,
measured steps so as not to knock
loose stone or step on dry stick
which would make a revealing
sound The idea that the line of
march was led by a supernatural
figure seems to have come to every
body and Capt. Barnwell now is
spoken of everywhere as "the ghost"
Apparently the enemy never sus-
pected that a large body of men
was moving into vital position SO
close to him. Until this part of
the strategy was completed not a
shot was fired and not a man lost.
Even the slightest skirmish, of
course, would have been falal to
the plan.
Achievement of nearly complete
silence of 1000 marching men for
four days is Well-nigh incredible. 1t
involved elaborate preparation with
attention to every minute detail
which might be ~the cause of any
sort of noise The men had to fade
into the countryside, to move with
out disturbing the scenery familiar
from childhood to all the local
farmers also without disturbing the
ordinary rural sounds such as the
singing of birds in the bushes or
the tinkling of bells.
Nazis Wear Cowbells.
The latter, by the way, were a
serious problem. A favorite ruse of
German scouts in the mountains, it
was known, was to wear cowbells.
Thus any noise made while moving
through the bushes would be at
tributed to grazing cattle and they
could come very close to the point
where they desired to make observa-
tions
Day after day the soldiers, hidden
motionless in brush patches and bits
of woods. had to listen to these
tinkling bells without daring to
"shoo" the cows away and not
knowing whether they actually were
enemy scouts.
The achievement called, of course,
for the most rigid discipline. This
Regular Army regiment, most of
whose members are veterans of the
Tunisian campaign, is among the
best disciplined regiments in the
American Army. This applies, by
and large, to the entire 9th Division,
which had just relieved the 1st at
the time the epic march was made.
Even in the rest area where it now
is bivouacked there is a neatness
ana clockllke precision OF move
ment better than that seen in other
Regular Army units.
Allowing for this discipline-all
the more difficult to maintain be-
cause of the extreme nervous ten
sion in all rankS-the silent march
called for no new principles of war;
fare, but only the application of
principles to be found, even though
scattered and unco-ordinated, in
American infantry manuals.
Answers Can Be Found.
There are very few problems in
infantry tactics the best answers to
which cannot be found there if one
looks closely enough" says the