Evening star., 1943-07-16
Fast Action by Battery
Routs German Tanks,
Saves ImperiIed Men
BY H. r. KNICKERBOCKER,

1lN oAS4HAt ctAy AZ NS~SAdy
Capt. Thomas F. O'Brien, 81, of Lin
coin, N. H., took his cannon COM
pany from beach,to battlefield in 80
minutes today, destroyed IL enemy
tanks which had come within 1000
yards of the beach and saved our
forces from what seemed imminent
and almost inevitable disaster.
This was the most critical mo-
ment in the entire American land
ing effort. Two other American
artillery units helped, but Capt.
O'Brien's lightning stroke is gener-
ally credited with having contrib
uted more to rescue us from our
gravest trouble than any other sim
gle feat of this campaign.
Our infantry had landed during
"a hours and had moved inland, but
our tanks and much of our artillery
were still to come. The Germans,
anticipating this, had waited with
an overwhelming force of 40 to so
tanks, headed by giant Mark VI IT,
gers, When our forces were thinly
deployed and without adequate ar
NOR or guns, the Germans struck.
Artillery Too Late.
Their spearhead of IL tanks burst
through our infantry lines and made
for the beach
At the first news of the German
tank break through the general of
our division ordered his brigadier
general to the beach where the can
non company was due to land. He
had urged by every means in his
power the speediest debarkation of
this invaluable unit and it hit the
beach at exactly S:35 o'clock this
morning.
An observer on the top of hill
which faces me as I write could
see off to the right German tanks
moving in fast onto Celia Plain,
and at the same time, turning left,
he could see the cannon company's
artillery being hustled off landing
craft onto the beach by desperately
sweating men.
Danger Threatened
Here was the race on which might
depend the fate of this whole Sec
tor II the tanks reached the beach,
they couldn't be stopped. They
might have raced up and down, de-
stroying all our landing craft and
creating havoc. If they had been
followed by sufficiently strong enemy
supporting forces they might have
cut us off entirely.
bof
on hill with Capt OBrien over
looking panorama of wrecked Ger
man tanks and induced him to tell
me about it.
We'll, it was pretty fast work,
and I've got to hand it to our crew."
he said. When we hit the beach
the general was there waving his
stick telling us to hurry like hell
because big unit of German tanks
was practically within touching dis
tance
Had Reconnoitered Ground.
I'VE stripped waterproofing off our
guns in record time-almost a mat
ter of seconds where it normally
takes minutes. The wheels hardly
stopped rolling from the minute we
got off the landing craft.
1T was miles to the position we
wanted. I had reconnoitered all this
ground. knew where I wanted my
guns.
I'VE set them up-two loss and
six 76s-on top of ridge in plain
sight and in pointblank range of the
enemy tanks, which by then were
only few thousand yards away.
we fired with open sights Just
like you shoot deer with a rifle or
birds with a shotgun. 1t was more
like shooting birds because we had
to lead our tanks just as you do
birds"
Capt. OBrien sighed and wanted
to stop talking.
Used 1000 Rounds.
How long did you fire and how
much ammunition did you .use?" I
asked.
I'VE shot up 1000 rounds in about
one hour and a half" Capt. O'Brien
answered.
How many tanks did you knock
out?"
Twelve"
How many tanks were there in
sight?"
Twelve"
Then you destroyed every enemy
tank in sight?"
Well you see, after about an hour
or an hour and a quarter, those
which could still move turned
around and tried to get away. But
while they were turning they made
easier targets, and none of them
made it.
I'VE couldn't wait to find out what
happened to the enemy crews be-
cause we had no sooner finished
with these tanks and had Just about
run out of ammunition when along
came the general with 12G rounds
for our little ones and 100 rounds
for our big ones, and told us to race
across country to stop another
enemy tank attack and infantry.
Knocked Out Tigers"
I'VE had luck there, too, and
Knocked out four Tigers"
None of this should detract in the
least degree from credit due to other
American artillery units which
pounded the middle and rear of ad-
Vancing German tanks and which
indeed helped indispensably in
stopping them. But main credit is
due to Capt. O'Briens cannoneers.
Their battery executive was 1t.
John S. Winters, "a, of Dresden,
Kans. The senior platoon sergeant
was Joseph F. Kroleski, 81, of
Southold, Long Island, where his
father az two sisters live.
Sergt. f<roleski said: Usually my
Job is to correct fire but in that bat
tie our men were on the target all
the time. There wasn't any need
for changing their range. The enemy
was in plain sight 1000 to 1900 yards
away and we took them by surprise.
Lesson for "Jerries.'
See there" said Capt. OBrien.
There was an instructive lesson for