The Wilmington morning star., 1944-01-15
With
The AEF
By KENNETH L. DIXON

Dy LIZ O1AUN
WITH THE AEF IN ITALY Ia,
IL Delayed - (R The wind
which whistled down the valley
from Casino was freezing, but IN.
hillside where the Howitzer crew
huddled around their 105 was plen.
ty hot. American medium tank,
rumbled up the road a couple n,
hundred yards away, and if there's
anything makes Jerry artillerylnen
trigger happy it's tanks moving
their way. So they were splatterins
scrap iron all over the hillside and
the highway.
81 wish those tanks would On
away" grumbled the gunnery cor.
poral, Henry Blankenship, 81 yea,
old .Kentuckian from Campton
THE ferries can see us here hnt
up to now they've left us alone
"Yeah, if they weren't SHOOTING
at those tanks they'd have tims
to pick us of" said Private Georg.
H. Reynolds, ammunition handler
from San Francisco, edging Up to
warm his hands over the fire.
"Sure. if they keep laying it in
here to get the tanks they'll poi
us Just the same. Doesn't make
much difference, grinned Blant
enship.
Trouble is that our guns mo.
bile machinery is out. We can
shoot but we can't move around
explained Corp. Archie Scott. D.
of Canton, N. c., the outfits driv.
er. We're stuck"
AS he spoke a binding flash Of
light followed by black burst Of
smoke hid the lead tank from view.
The jolting explosion came a sec.
ond later.
"They got it," yelled Reynolds.
mo, they didn't, it's moving
again. said Pvt. Dallas Perry, "a,
of Indianapolis. The tank began to
back up slowly. Laboriously it cir,
cled the hole in the road where the
shell had burst and stubbornly
crept forward.
But the Jerry boxcars were com.
ing over the hill on the beam now,
their wt1ooshing screech followed
by earsplitting blasts as they burst
in a fantastic pattern on both sides
of the column of tanks on the road.
Pfc. Cyril Burger, %, of South
Fork. Pa, gave up his attempt
to heat some C rations over the
fire and moved closer to his slit
trench. So did others. The barrage
was crawling in.
A column of infantrymen who
had just filed around the hill going
forward to the combat line sudden
ly reappeared on the double quick.
It wasn't smart to cross the valley
now. They took shelter around the
slope behind the Howitzer position
| to wait out the barrage.
Keep out of my slit trench"
yelled an artilleryman. When the
doughboys come back its time to
get down.
1t was. The ground was wet and
freezing and those of us without
slit trenches flattened out and
watched the tanks run the gaunt.
| let to the brush cover at the end
of the valley. The deadly pattern
of Jerry shell bursts began to CEN
ter on particular spots in the road.
Changing their grinding pace as
they hit the rough spots, the tanks
hesitated long enough to upset the
timing Of the German observers
on the hills up ahead. Then they
plunged on one by one, making
run for it.
The afteroon shadows got along.
The numbing wind cut around the
corner of hill. The earth rocked
and jolted as the German 86's
pounded the road and the valley.
Shell fragments famed out waist
high above the Hositzer position
Finally most of the tanks made
it through. They dispersed in the
brush at the valleys end.
The barrage eased off. The
doughboys came around the corner
of the hill again headed forward.
Artillerymen slapped their arms
against their bodies to restore CIR
culation. 1t was almost dark and
getting colder"
well, another day another dol
lar and half" said a gunner