The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1944-07-05
IN NORMANDY-(By Wireless) |

IN NORMANDY-(By Wireless)
- The Germans are methodical in
their night air attacks on our po-
sitions in Normandy, as they are
in everything else. You begin to
hear the faint, faraway drone of
the first bomber around 1920 ev-
cry night.
Our own planes patrol above us
until darkness. 1t gets dusk around
II, and you are suddenly aware
that the skies which have been
roaring all day with Our own fight
ers and bombers are now strange
ly silent. Nothing is in the air.
The ack-ack guners, who have
been loafing near their pup tents
or sleeping or telling stories, now
60 to their guns. They bring blan-
kets from the pup tents and pile
them up against the wall of the
gun pit, for the nights get very
cold and they will wrap up during
long lulls in the shooting.
The gunners merely loaf in the
gun rit as the dusk deepens into
darkness, waiting for the first tel
ephoned order to start shooting.
They smoke few last-minute Gig
arets. Once it is dark they can't
smoke except by draping blankets
over themselves for blackout. They
do smoke some that way during
the night, but not much.
II four or five places in the wall
of the circular pit, shelves have
been dug and wooden shell boxes
inserted to hold reserve shells. 1t
is just like pigeonholes in filing
cabinet.
When the firing starts, two am
munition carriers bring new shells
from dump a few feet away Up
to the rim of the gun pit and hand
them down to a carrier waiting be-
low, who keeps the pigeonholes
filled. The gun is constantly turn
ing in the pit and there is always
a pigeonhole of fresh shells right
behind it.
The shells are as long as your
arm and they weigh better than 40
pounds. After each salvo the emp
ty shell case kicks out onto the
floor of the pit. These lie there I'M
til there is a lull in the firing, when
the boys toss them over the rim of
thei pit Next morning they are ga
thered up and put in boxes for
eventual shipment back to Ameri-
ca, where they are retooled for
further use.
Each gun is connected by tele-
phone to the battery command post
in a dugout. At all times one mem
Der of each gun crew has phone
to his ear. When a plan is picked
up within range the battery COM
mander gives a telephone order,
Stand by. Each gun command
er shouts the order to his crew,
and the boys all jump to their po-
sitions.
Everybody in the crew knows
his job and does it. There is no
necessity for harshness or short
words on the part of the gun COM
mander. When a plane either gets,
shot down or goes out of range,
and there is nothing else in the vi
entity, the command is given
'Rest!', and the crews relaxed and
squat or lie around on the floor of
the pit. But they don't leave the
pit.
Sometimes the rest will be for
only a few seconds. Other times
it may last a couple of hours. In
fhe long lulls the gunners wrap up
in blankets and sleep on the floor
of the pit - all except the man at
the telephone.
1t is the usual German pattern to
have a lull room about to am.
and then get in another good batch
of bombing attempts in the last
hour before dawn.
The nights are very short now
from II pm. to a.m.-for which
everybody is grateful. 1t actually
starts breaking a faint dawn just