The Waterbury Democrat., 1945-05-16

the streets of this lovely little mountain resort to new billet. Along the streets the French people smiled and waved to our ragtag little parade. There were two guards leading and two in the rear, with the main body made up of the Sikhs, the Frenchmel and myself. We were variously laden with three soup tureens, garbage can, pail and, two large waterjugs, plus a great variety of Indian canteens which our fourth division friends carry dangling from sundry parts of their bodies.
 The French seemed particularly to admire the luxuriant Sikh boards and neatly wrapped tight turbs';s These men manage to look like sol- diers even when prisoners.
 We bedded down for the night in the main hallway of a former Jew ish department store converted into a Vichy physical education center. The Germans brought in a big load of grass which was spread all over the floor. It looks as though they expect more customers.
 Personally I am going to try out my bundle of grass, which looks lovely and soft.
 About the time I got to sleep around p. m. the door opened and B bewildered G. Is, dirty, tired and footsore, were herded in through the big glass front door. It sure was good to have company. After considerable rushing around in circles, it developed the Germans were going to question them to- night.
 First they had them all lined up waiting while one officer would carefully go through this pointless questioning in which he never gets anything but the name, serial num- Der and rank, and then proceeds to sound out on politics.
 I persuaded the Germasn to per- init those who desired to lie down. Most dropped to sleep like tired lumberjacks. But six hardier Joes started poker game using scraps of paper as chips a,ld deck of cards which the Sikhs obligingly produced from the inexhaustible knapsacks.
 The Germans finally finished their questioning at 2:30 a. m. and switched of the lights. I was alongside It. Bob Thompson of Stigler Okla the only officer among the newcomers. Bob was in re- markedly good spirits, but after taste of the German ersatz coffee which seems to be brewed from shoe polish, he said:
 My God, don't they know no- body could hope to win war on that stuff?"
 There was considerable indigna- ton hereabouts because the Ger mans confiscated all the money from everyone's pockets as they were questioned. Thus the inter- rogation officer ended up in pos session of all the poker winnings.
 Strangely, nobody had ever taken my money, including occupation francs, pounds, dollars and express checks, 50 maybe I will manage to keep them. Nobody put much faith in the receipts which the Germans gave.
 I became sort of Shephed for the party because I speak German, and spent the day arguing with the guards to try to get adequate food by G. I. standards, which of course was hopeless from the start. A Frenchwoman upstairs did provide us with a chunk of laundry soap.
 In the course of the day Maj. Kermit Hansen of (5019 Chicago St) Omaha, Neb., was brought in with two G. Is. Like the previous arrivals he had done lot of march, ing to get here.
 Again the Sikhs got the brush of when they were unable to eat the German ration of peasoup cooked with few scraps of beef. But one G. I. had five boxes of K rations which he had managed to salvage, so at least the poor guys got somethilg.
 There was the comforting sound of artillery fire somewhere of in these steep, vineclad mountains as we dropped off to sleep.