Evening star., 1944-01-23

hlnd wherever the DOaCS lanQeQ,
and Army ducks were coming
along, picking it up and carrying it
away to dumps behind the beach.
Larger ships were also unloading
into ducks. It's quite sight to see
duck loaded down with equipment
and supplies come rolling up on the
beach out of the water without
pausing.
| If I were to be asked to name
one piece of equipment which i'm
pressed me most on the landing I
would unqualiiedly reply "the
ducks" With their tremendously
wide tires made even wider by low
cred air pressure they could ride
with impunity over sand that would
bog down a cat. They are high,
ungainly. ugly. clumsy looking, but
they made the invasion much easier
for every one, and though they cost
lot, on that one operation each
one more than paid for itself. The
engineer and quartermaster units
that were equipped with them used
them to wonderful advantage and
they deserve great credit for this
work.
Except for a formation of JU88s
that were beyond our range, and
which I shall mention later, very
few enemy aircraft came over. A
Me-109E flew toward the ships, then
turned sharply, throwing his bomb
by centrifugal force rather than by
diving. Luckily the bomb missed its
target. Slightly later a F'W190 came
over, but wouldn't come anywhere
near us. Two or three more enemy
aircraft flew over the ships, but they
did no damage.
Every Plane Put Under Sights.
1t was most interesting to watch
the reactions of the men on the
beach when aircraft came over. AS
soon as We saw or heard one we
would start tracking it, not waiting
to identify the plane, but getting
ready to fire if it was an enemy.
Usually the plane was ours, in which
case We would shout Friendly" at
the top of our voices ard wave
handkerchief. The men on the
beach, naturally, had not had the
thorough training that we have had
in aircraft Identification, and many
would take no chances when planes
came-they would scatter to the
nearest foxhole or behind the near
est dune. Others, either more brave
or foolhardy, would continue work
ing without ever looking up.
The runner soon returned and
told us that we would have to move
to another location just behind the
beach on which we were supposed
to have landed. So I grabbed more
ducks and we loaded up and moved
into small valley Immediately be-
hind the beach. Our battalion COM
mander asked me if I knew that
tanks had broken through, and I
told him that I did, but I wasn't
worried; a few tanks without in
fantry support couldn't do but so
much damage. He looked somewhat
surprised, but then he agreed that
probably I was right-however, to
keep a lookout for them and be
ready to fire if they did appear.
Shortly after we set up in this
valley 1 went up on the hill on the
inland side-imagine my consterna-
ton to see German tanks on the
plain Immediately in front of me.
had completely misunderstood
there had been "a tanks 3 miles
away. I became so fascinated
watching the tanks that forgot all
danger. Our cruisers were firing on
them, the fire controlled by OPS
near me, and our artillery down
near my guns was also firing.
Enemy Tanks Behind Trees.
This was the first time that I had
ever seen enemy tanks in action
and really did enjoy it. There was
q road lined with trees crossing the
plain and the tanks were attempting
to hide behind these. Every time
that one would stick its nose out, it
would draw fire. And our tanks
were unloading and assembling on
the beach side of the hill waiting
to see what would develop. How
ever, the attack was repulsed before
it became necessary to throw them
| in.
Earlier that morning flight of
about 40 JU88s had flown over the
ships standing off the beach, but
hadn't seen any results of their
flight. They were out of our range,
so we hadn't fired Now, though,
saw that they had bombed one of
our ships (pictures of which have
appeared in American newspapers
it was sending up a tremendous
cloud of smoke, then suddenly it
looked as though the ammunition
hold blew up. 1 was sorry to see
it happen, but it was an awe-inspir-