The Wilmington morning star., 1944-02-03

The War
BY KENNETH L. DIXON

ON THE ANZIO BEAcuur.
IN ITALY, Jan. 29.-Delaved,Ia
The trouble with trying fl =;
terview the boys behind the Pofo
is that they can't stand still lons
enough. '0ls
Their orders are simple-to keo.
every approaching plane in ~,
cross hairs until it is identifioae
I'VE figure every plane is bosTT G,
until it is identified as friendiyUS
and then we keep an eye on y
be sure, said PIT. Sam picoT
Is, Cambridge, Mass. who is tb,
Spotter for this A. millimeter anti;
aircraft gun crew.
He never lowered his glasso,
from the sky as he spoke.
On the gun with the flared mn,
zle, Pfc. Waite. Korona FAN
chance, Pa, and Pvt. Ropa,
Hughes of Beattyville, KY. kent
turning like kids on a merrv.go
round. I had to Feep circling tbs
gunpit to keep clear of the nuzls
if they should fire.
Walter sits in a steel cbs,
mounted on the right side of hs
swivel Bofors which looks out over
Anzio Bay. He handles the bor
zontal aiming when they are not
using the direction finder.
Roger, a kid from Harlan couD.
ty, rides the left chair, handling
the vertical aiming. He is the ele.
walton tracker.
None of the boys have had much
rest since hitting this beachhead en-
I'D plus two"-the soldiers term
for two days after the invasion
It has been their toughest assign,
ment and even now they can't re.
lax.
They already had had Is official
alerts that day and three raids,
In addition they averaged an I'm.
official alert about every five min.
utes or less. In the half hour
talked to them, they had two Of.
fetal alerts-marked by red flags
raised on ships in the bay or by
orders over their radio Or fell
telephone - eight unofficial ones
and a few additional plane scares.
This had been heir lightest day..
In the latest raid, just short
time ago, the Jerry pilot picked
them out for strafing aftec aiming
his bombs at shipping in the bay,
HE missed us. Bullets spattered
in the road" Said Sgt, Edward
Pensark of Lawrence, Mass, who
is in charge of the gun crew. We
didn't get him either, but we came
Y close. We shot the tail off JU@
night before last"
That raised the total to 20 enc,
e my planes for this Bofors battery
e which has seen action during Or
: shortly after four invssions-Afri.
S ca, Sicily, Salerno and here
= The Allied air cover is on Of
d the big reasons they get no rest,
: They think the air force is doing
e a wonderful job, the best they've
ever seen but they've got so
J. many planes up there sometimes
S they get in our way when we're
e trying to shoot down a Jerry. Be-
e sides, they keep us busy all the
h time identifying tenn
e Suddenly the phone rang, Leo
/ Mondor, of Woonsocket, R. l., the
range setter, answered. Six miles
" north, coming in high" he said
j. The gun swung north. Standing
y UP on the gun platform, Pic Joe
j. Kowalcyk, Newark, N. j., held a
= clip of shells ready to fire.
e "Joe's got the toughest. JOB on
5, the gum said Mickey Serner, NC
Keesport, Pa one of the com,
y munications crew. He is exposed
l. up there all the time while lhe
S other guys ge. some protection
t from the sandbags. We have los.
It two guys in the No. 7 position 00'
;, Joe's good at it.
The Bofors swerved, keeping
It bead on the approaching plSlF'
|, Then came the cry;
d Hold fire, they're PATS,
e In a few minutes the all Ft@
1r4 WING nnded