The Hardin tribune-herald. [volume] (Hardin, Mont.) 1925-1973, 1944-05-25
WNU Service, Union Trust Building
Washington, D.. C.


Washington, D. C.
"Halt-.uho's here9"
This sentence. barked out in n
startled exhalation, stopped the
stealthy form which had suddenly
materialized out Of the shadow OF a
plane. His dark wet suit stuck to his
1.-the form. His hands went up as
the sentry's bayonet stopped just
short Of his midriff. There was no
moon. The two figures. hardly
visible to each other in the black.
froze for a second as the sentry's
nervous trigger-fnger grew a little
more steady. He called the guard.
There was the crescendo scuft-
scuff-scuff Of hurrying feet and a
moment later. the sentry was patrol
ling the airdrome again very much
On the alert. 49,.
For the fifth time. I ask you
where you came FROM the angry
colonel demanded. For the fifth
time came the same answer from
the prisoner in the wet jungle suit.
Private. first class. James
O'Fallon, Serial No. 3o3O496."
Take him away" said the
colonel finally. ''he can stay in the
guardhouse for the duration"
The guards hustled No. 30304e6 of
to the %hoosegow where he stumbled
over an assortment Of "AWOLS'
and other bleary-eyed offenders. He
saw three other men lying peace
fully on the floor arrayed like him.
But no sign of recognition on their
blackened faces.
Bloodless Raid
Private first class O'Fallon and
his four comrades (although the
colonel didn't know it at the time)
were the only men captured out OF
a raiding party Of 40. The rest had
slipped catlike over the whole air
base, chalked their initials on
planes, sketched the location Of the
radio room. noted the position of the
%antiaircraft guns. estimated the size
of the garrison, checked each rock
and sandbar in the shadows
through which they had crawled be-
fore they reached the beach.
OF course. this was only a prac-
tice raid like dozens of others. the
preparation for which I have wit
messed. But real bullets had twice
that night whistled out over shad-
Tvs and set the big grey Snauzers
yipping and the 1ashlight stabbing
into the black sky above the base.
The unwritten story of these spe-
cialists will all come out some day.
The Japs did this kind Of thing at
the beginning Of the war and we
thought it incredible. The British did
it later with their brilliant COM
mandos."
The old name for it is guerilla
warfare . . . fighting behind the
lines. or in the more official lam
guage Of an article by Douglas
Smith in that trenchant military
publication, the Cavalry Journal. "a
phase in trained armed warfare that
concentrates on destruction (the
raiders destroy. the scouts merely
get information) Of enemy person.
mel and equipment in the enemy's
own territory"
Back in the French and Indian
wars. the ancestors Of Douglas
Smith began learning these tricks;
Captain Smith. an American citizen
and later Of the French foreign
legion, has put on paper some of
the principles he has adduced from
his own experiences in World
War II.
Excellent Results
THE usual method Of attacking
an airdrome." says Captain Smith
in receunting n Of his experiences
with the guerillas composed Of Brit
tsh and French in Libya. was for
the men to leave their cars (the
rubber boat Of the DESERT and go
ON foot up to the airdrome at night.
When possible. they passed the sem
tries without detection and put their
bembs on the airplanes (chalk
marks when you just rehearse) then
left the airdrome and got sufi-
GENTLY far away before the bombs
went off.
"Of course" says Captain Smith
laconicaHy, as the descendant Of a
good Indian fighter would, this was
not always possible and many times.
sentries had to be killed in hand-to-
hand fighting by a sudden attack
with a knife. -" Although the Ger
mans made every effort to protect
their planes against such attacks,
approximately 800 enemy planes
were destroyed by this guerilla unit
in q single 12-month span.
Captain Smith, writing in the
early days Of the war. says, lin case