Imperial Valley press., 1944-08-10
Nv EHNIE PYLE

IN NORMANY tBy WireleSS) -
It is possible to become so en-
thralled by some of the spectacles
of war that you are momentarily
captiVated away from your own
danger.
That's what happened to our lit
tie group of soldiers as we stood in
French farmyard, watching the
mighty bombing OF the German
lines lust before our break through.
But that benign state didn't last
long. AS we watched, there crept
into our consciousness reallza-
ton that windrows of exploding
bombs were easing back toward us,
flight by flight, instead OF gradu-
allv forward, as the plan called Tor,
TARGET DRIFTS
Then we were horritied by the
suspicion that those machines, high
in the sky and completely detached
from us. were aiming their pomos
at the smokeline on the ground
and a gentle breeze was drlltihs Ihe
smokeline back over us!
An indeScribable kind OF pane
comes over you at such times. we
stood tenSed in muscle ana lrCZen
i'm intellect. watching each 1llght
approach and pass over us, feeling
trapped and completely helpless.
And then all of an instant the
universe became filled with. gl-
pantic rattling as Of huge. dry seeds
in a mammoth dry gourd. l doupt
that any Of us had ever heara that
sound before. but instinct told us
what il was. 1t was bombs by the
hundred, hurtling Gown thloueh
the air above Is.
UNUSUAL SOUND
MANY times I've heard bombs
whistle or swish or rustic, but never
before had I heard bombs rattle'
I still don't know the explanation
of it. But it is an awful sound.
We dived. Some got in a dugout,
Others made foXholes ana d1tches
and some got behind garden wall
although which side would be
behind" was anybody'S guess.
was too late for the dugout.
The nearest place was wagon
shed which formed one END OF the
stone house. The rattle was rlght
down upon us. I remember hitting
the ground flat, all spread out IKE
the cartoons CT people ilattened py
steam rollers. and then OF squlrm-
;ne like an eel to get under one OF
the heavy wagons in the shed.
An officer whom l don't know was
vriggling beside me. We stopped al
the same time, slmultaheously
feeling it was hopeless TO move
farther. The bombs were afeady
crashing around us.
We lay with our heads shghtlS' w
like two SnakeS-Starlng at each
other, I know it was III both Our
minds and in our eyes, asking each
other what to do. Neither OF US
knew. We taid nothing We just lay
sprawled, gaping at each other III
futile appeal, our faces about
foot apart, until it was over.
FINALLY THE END
At last the sound died down ana
we looked at each other in dlspe-
lief. Gradually we left the foXholes
and spraWling places, and came OUT
to see what the sky had III store LOT
rs. As far as we could see other
waves were approaching from be-
hind. ,.,
When a wave would pass a httle
To the side of US as we were gar
rulously grateful. for most OF theni
flew directly overhead. lime ana
again the rattle came down over
US. Bombs struck in the orchaid
to our left. They struck in orcharo'
ahead of US. They struck as lar as
half a mile behind us. Everything
about Us was shaken. but our group
came through unhurt.
can't record what any OF us
actually felt or thought during
those horrible climaXes. I believe a
person's feelings at such times are
kaleidoscope d uncatalogable.
You Just wait, that's all. You do
remember an inhuman tenseneSS OF
muscle and n6lVes.
An hour or so later | began 10 get
sore all ever and by midafternoon
ElTroradero