Evening star., 1944-07-03
|Yanks in Normandy
Loaded Down With
Captured Equipment
BY WALTER McCALLUM,
Star War Correspondent.

FRANCE (By MaiD The boys are
loaded down with German equip
ment nowadays, and it wouldn't
surprise any CT in this outfit to see
a Nazi tank come rolling into town
sporting the orange banner of the
Allied armies. They have so many
German motorcycles, half tracks,
VolkSwagonen and other heavier
vehicles that they are a drug on
the market and almost any soldier
can have one.
1t brings up point that the
whole Army is talking about, the
excellence of German battle equip
ment. Before me, as I write, is q
German Schmeisser, or machine
pistol, the German parachute knife,
and flock of Nazi battle medals.
The German has a gas-operated
rifle Of type similar to our MI or
Garand, but I have seen very few
OF them. His usual service rifle is
five shot, bolt-action job similar
to our old Springfield, model 1908.
Every piece of German battle
equipment is well made, strong and
sturdy, and meant for service. The
German had been giving a lot Of
thought to this war, and turned out
stuff that would stand the gaff. He
made a few mistakes, but not many,
and as a campaigner our soldiers
have learned to respect him and his
fighting qualities.
Schmeisser Has High Fire Rate.
A lot OF Americans have been
killed or wounded by the Schmeis-
ser machine pistol. 1t is a one-man
weapon similar to our tommy gun,
but with much higher rate of fire.
The rate is said to be about / 300 a
minute, If clips could be inserted
that fast. Each clip carries 30
rounds. The gun cuts loose in q
blurp OF sound much faster than
our tommy gun, with rate of about
$50 rounds per minute. But the
boys didn't fear the Schmeisser
much. They are usually fired too
high and by the time they got down
to mans level they had been To-
Gated.
The boys claim the most ruthless
fighters Of all they met on Normandy
Peninsula have been the so-called
White Russians impressed into the
German Army years ago.
They will cut a mans throat
and laugh at him while doing it,"
one of them told me.
These Russians look like Mongols,
with high cheek bones and a yell
lowish cast of countenance. They
are rough, brutal fighters with
brutality written in their faces.
Their favorite cry when facing
capture is Don't make me dead"
Like so many other German units
here, they have been told the Ameri-
can parachutists did not take pris-
oners, which is lie, of course.
German vehicles are clumsy but
are built to take it. The trucks are
heavy, capacious and well camou-
f1aged. Scores of them now do
duty as American heavy hauling
units, and many small German
vehicles are in use by the Ameri-
cans.
German Medicos Help.
German medicos have been of
great help to our medicos in the
front lines and behind them, ac-
cording to 1t. R. NeavleS Of Webster
Grove, Mo-, one of the medical
heroes Of this campaign.
They helped US right up front
under ffe,D said 1t. iNeavles. And
they showed thorough training for
the job, although I don't think
they were highly trained as sur
geonS."
In front Of our battalion head
quarters are a couple of French
tanks, made by Peugeot and modi-
fed by the Germans, with that
lethal 88-mm. gun installed in
them. The driver Of one of them
still is in his seat. He is a little
burned where a bazooka shell came
in through the armor and killed
him where he sat. The French
tanks were pretty punk affairs COM
pared with either the American or
German armor The bazooka of the
Americans found little trouble
knocking them out in the tank fight
here few days ago. The Germans
wore their battle medals into the
fight. A lieutenant from Boston is
making a collection of them. He
has eight, among them the Iron
Cross, the parachutist jump medal
and some he cannot identify.
Fantastic Stories Abound.
The fantastic stories come in
every day, of parachutists lost for
nearly a fortnight from their out
fits, dropped in swamps, hiding by
day and walking by night to get
back to the lines. OF headquarters
outfits, dropped by parachute, clerks,