Evening star., 1948-12-16
Ex-Sergeont Tells How Device
Got Tanks Past Hedgerows
Eisenhower Memoirs
Pays Tribute to
CuIin's Invention
By Hal Boyle
Assoeioisd Press Stoff Writer

NEW 1O1h, Lee. lo.-Curt1S G
Culin, jr., made only one invention
in his life-but it helped win the
battle Of Normandy.
1t was this unheralded young SER
geant who figured out a way fo,
American tanks to crash through
the French hedgerows. This led to
Gen. Patton's famous dash across
France.
Recognizing that the suggestion
box" principle pays off on the battle
field as well as on the industrial
front, Gen. Eisenhower pays this
tribute to Bud" Culin in his
memoirs:
"He) restored the effectiveness
of the tank and gave a tremendous
boost to morale throughout the
Army"
set out to get the sergeant's own
story, and found him less impressed
with his own invention than was
his commander in chief. Former
Sergt. Culin, slender, blond, mild
looking man of 80, now holds an
Office post here with Schenley Dis
tillers, Inc.
Il commanded light tank in
the 102d Cavalry Reconnaissance
Squadron" he said, land my inven-
ton, If you want to call 1t that, was
something anybody in the front
lines would have come up with in
a few days. Our squadron just hap
pened to be the first to try it out
and develop it."
For six weeks after the landing
in Normandy the American Army
made advances measured in terms
of yards rather than miles. The
landscape offered almost as much
resistance to progress as did the
dug-in enemy.
The chief obstacles were the ia
nous Normandy hedgerows. They
were massive banks of dirt. centuries
old, and topped by thick growths
of shrubbery and small trees.
when our tanks hit them, it was
like cracking into stone WALL" Mr..
Culin said. And II we tried to
climb over them, the under belly
of the tank was exposed. The Ger
man antitank guns then could rip
us open like sardine cans. Our own
tank guns were pointed at the sky
useless. We couldn't defend our
selves"
The problem was to find q way
for the tanks to force a path through
the hedgerows, guns firing. instead
of clambering over them. At first
combat engineers were sent out on
foot to blast holes in the hedgerows
But they were picked off by German
infantry.
"One day my commanding officer
called a meeting Of noncoms to get
suggestions" Mr.. Culin said. II
didn't know anything about me-
chanics or engineering, but 7 had
seen q lot of German iron road
blocks.
II suggested putting sharpened
chunks of iron from these road
blocks on our tanks so we could dig
through the hedgerows.
They tried 1t. They welded four
hanges to q crossbar, fixed 1t to y
tank-and the l5-ton vehicle pitch
forked its way right through the
nearest hedgerow. - @@
Gen. Bradley heard about It and
came down to watch o demonstra-
tion," Mr.. Culin said. HE saw it
worked, and swore us to secrecy. He
then secretly had 800 Of our 'front.'
live %ox,He ar,,irrod T1,ov xs,ora ,,ced
to spearhead our attack"
The device caught the Germans
completely by surprise, and the
American Army made successful
breakthrough of the Nazi lines at st.
Lo on july IS, 1944-the break
through that carried to the Sieg-
fried Line.
Later they called me and three
others back to corps headquarters.
and gave us the Legion Of Merit for
the invention" Mr.. Culin said. "All
it meant to me was a half day of
from the front.
"One Of those who got q medal"
he grinned, was an officer who in
sisted when I made the suggestion
that 1t would never work"
Mr.. Culin lost his left foot and
had part Of his right thigh blown
of q few weeks later in the Huert-
gen Forest when he stepped on a
German mine and fell on another
one.
But it didn't make me pacifist,"
he said. Hell, no. I don't think
we're doing half enough right now.
I only hope we don't make the same
mistake we made in 1889"