Gone but not forgotten.
* Sixty–seven years ago, 7 Dec 1941, a surprise–attack on Pearl Harbor launched the U.S. into WWII. This event had taken place on Lamond Lloyd Mills' birthday, 31 years later. Lloyd served in the U.S. Army and was a POW in Germany for 20 months.
"War clouds had gathered all around the world. The Hitler regime had moved his German army across nations into Europe. Japan had built up a powerful Army, Navy, and Air Force. The United States had called for volunteers for all phases of the military. I was working for John Manville in California and felt that I should do my part so I volunteered and left my work and went home to southern Nevada (Logandale) to await the call.
Finally the call came. I left for San Pedro, California, 20 January, 1941, by way of Las Vegas where I joined with eight others. I had some ROTC (Reserve Officers Training Corporation) in my years at college, but by now it was all a new deal. We arrived at San Pedro, and at once started the processing with physicals and shots. I was assigned at the Predidio of San Francisco in the 30th Infantry of the 3rd Infantry Division. Here we were suited up in old World War I uniforms. We were sort of the laughing stock. Here drills commenced: "right left, right left; to the rear march." I hated this phase of military life. I think bayonet drill was the worst of all. The long marches with a pack on the back was not very pleasant. Later we were given a rifle to greatly add to our discomfort. This weighed about eight pounds. So you see it was no small deal to carry it for five miles with a pack and raincoat, rations, and ammunition.
I was assigned to Company H, a water-cooled machine gun outfit. This added all the more weight for there was ammunition and gun barrel, and tripod. Hours were spent in training on this machine, learning to care for it in every respect and assumed firing.
Then came the time to go out on the range and learn to fire at targets with our rifles and the machine gun. Then back to more drilling and care of the equipment. We finally got leave to go off base. We got to see the town and go to church by the way of the trolley.
Life in the barracks wasn't all too pleasant. The barracks weren't too bad, but the men were not like the folks at home. We were under strict military command having to obey the noncommission and officers over them.
Finally we got the commands to move out to Fort Lewis, Washington. This took days by big trucks, sleeping at night in pup tents, then at Fort Lewis in squad tents back in the fort. My squad corporal was a Finn (from Finland). He was an old soldier and a fine leader. There was always discontent among the soldiers and much was caused by drinking. We often went to the end of the tent area and watched the results of soldier disorder. Fists would fly, so excitement sort of mended our own boredom.
Our training took us way back in the reservation. I didn't mind this type of maneuvers for again it broke the monotony of close order drill, calisthenics, and machine gun training. These overnight occasions were often done in a gentle rain so all equipment got very wet. We then were happy to return to our tent. First we cleaned and oiled our war gear, then took care of our personal needs, then a good sleep. Often, however, someone would enter our tent and call out a name for K.P. (kitchen police) or guard duty, and upset everything. I had my share of each of these assignments. Sometimes I'd be assigned to a prison stockade and take prisoners out on details. Never did I have any trouble on any of my guard duties, but I never gave them too much liberty.
In October that the senate passed the law allowing soldiers age 28 or older who had volunteered in the service to return home. I took this option and came back to the Salt Lake area and stayed with Jay and Bertha Richards (old friends of mine). Jay and I were companions when we were on our mission in Maine. I got employment at the Arms Plant as a guard, but low and behold the seventh of December brought bad news--Japan had struck Pearl Harbor, and this was followed by Germany entering Holland, etc. This upset my birthday dinner, but I stayed on until March when I was called back to Fort Lewis.
Our training was more intense then and less boresome. We left the Fort after awhile and came down the coast. I served as a traffic guide holding up posters to indicate direction and speed. We were often treated by local people with great kindness and people would bring us food and fruit. We went clear to San Diego and took amphibious training. My work was in the galley (kitchen) helping with food.
From here we went up to Fort Ord. I can't recall the exact order of events for we really travelled. We also stayed in Sea Side, Oregon, for a short time patrolling the coast line. Back at Ord we settled down. Our maneuvers took us out in a sand waste where poison ivy made itself known on me as well as many others.
I'd like to mention going to the Kings Ranch in central California. Here the troops trained, but I was on a special assignment and worked giving out rations for about three weeks. I liked doing this even though I often had to work into the night preparing and issuing rations. Whenever we met as LDS soldiers for religious services we were led by a most wonderful soldier, Jonny Fretwell. This was the case clear on through until I became a POW.
Our outfit was soon shipped out to Virginia. Again I was in special detail at KP for the trip. I had served in Ord as a "Dog Robber" or caretaker for Lieutenant Chinn. I took care of his quarters, shined his shoes, etc., etc. For this extra work, I got paid for it. Every cent helped for I had started getting $21 a month, and now I was getting $30 a month.
At Camp Picket, in Virginia, I again took up my work with the lieutenant as dog robber (took care of his room) and with about two other lieutenants. Also, they let me work at the PX selling goods there. I liked that. I got some training but every night I was working at the PX. We had young women take the money and hand back change. The manager liked me, and he could depend on being there and not running off during the evening. I probably was thought of by fellow soldiers as a "gold brick", a person with an easy life.
Finally the day came. We loaded gear into an old ship I believe called "Jackson", and with many other ships we started across the ocean. In about a week they unwrapped the orders for North Africa. They also brought out bazookas for us to train on. I made friends with a sailor from Idaho who was a member of the Church. We often met on deck at night and talked. After two weeks of zigzagging we pulled up to our destination. The only interesting thing in crossing the ocean was flying fish and porpoises (sea animals).
Now for the invasion. We loaded up and went up on the top side. The war ships started bombarding the shore. My load was heavy, but I was used to it. There was a three day's ration, my side arms and ammunition for myself, and extra for machine gun, also a radio and two spools of wire for communication. Down the nets we clamored into the motorboats and off for shore. The shore batteries were firing at us and bullets were popping overhead. We arrived okay and were about the fourth wave of soldiers. We moved inland to prearranged locations, as maps had shown for us we were right on target.
As our platoon set up its headquarters, I strung out wire to the company headquarters and tested the equipment, all okay. We came in without a loss of a man. Company E lost four men. They were the company that gave us flank protection for our machine guns. I recall one handsome young fellow by the name of Leady who was shot down. Soon all a shore, guns were silenced, and not much went on for three days. Then I observed from my position high on a river bank troops coming with white flags. I notified my headquarters and then in turn notified the colonel, and he met his French brigade who were surrendering. This was exciting for awhile. These were French Moroccans on the Wadda Feife north of Casablanca. I got to go inland where French property owners had their homes. They had a storm hedge of bushes around their place about ten acres. They had Moroccan servants. One of our squad members was French so it was interesting talking to them as I always took this buddy with me. We stayed here about three weeks near a cork tree grove. These trees were allowed to grow up and the bark was peeled off without killing the trees.
From here we moved inland through Oran and on East. I rode a jeep with Lieutenant Robert Chinn of Chinese descent. My job was to man the machine gun mounted on the jeep. At night we pulled and set up the pup tent for the officer. I was good at this, and I didn't take long to get his ten up and put his gear inside, including his sleeping bag and inflated mattress. The weather was mild, but it often rained. I never slept in the same tent with the Lieutenant, but made my own with another platoon buddy.
Somewhere, way out in no mans land and near a village in the dessert, we pulled up for the winter. This wasn't bad. We didn't do much at first, just stayed in reserve. They had taken volunteers from our company to fill in for casualties of the First Infantry Division, fighting ahead. The Germans were under General Rommel, "The Dessert Fox" as he was respectfully called. We did get our training, however, and I held up well under long marches.
I was given an assignment to take a ride in a jeep to high plato for security reasons. There I watched for any movement of enemy troops. There wasn't any but this was an interesting three days. I met a deist chieftain out there, and he helped take care of us. In fact he took perfect care of the corporal. It didn't matter what the corporal needed, the chief would get it for him. The chief's eyes were keen and he pointed out gazelles or small desert deer and other game for me.
It was while we were in this location the men were picked out to go on rest leave, and Corporal White and I were favored to go. This was a days drive into Spanish Morocco by the seashore. Here we got to relax and play or go along the shore. We did pull guard. I don't know why I got his but I enjoyed it as much as I could, and Corporal White was good company. There were nurses there, also, and evil was prevailing among soldiers and nurses. Corporal White and I didn't want any part of this. Going out we saw hugh birds with giant wing spreads. I'd never seen anything to compare.
Back at camp and into the same old grind we got the news of the war in North Africa. Sometime it was sad for General Fox was very clever in maneuvering his men, but it appeared that the Germans were drawing back into a smaller area, and the Allies closed in on them.
I got letters from home. My wife, Helen, was working in a shoe store, and Jim was going to school in Maine. Both were busy in church work. My brother, Vernon, wrote a letter as he relaxed on the end of a run as fireman in the Santa Fe Railroad. He was pulling heavy loads of war equipment. My mother wrote from her home in Logandale, Nevada. It was so nice to hear from all of them.
One day brought an order--MOVE OUT! It didn't take long to pull up gear and load up. We travelled at night mainly with just a slight bit of light. Our destination was Berzerti in Tunisai (North Africa). Here the Allies had bombed without mercy. This huge city was left without a solid building.
We set up camp in a nearby olive grove. The large flies were almost unbearable. I had never experienced anything so bad. The Germans came over every night and dropped flares and sometimes bombs. Always the anti-aircraft filled the air with trace ammunition. On a few occasions they found their mark. We bathed here in the sea but had to be trucked there. The sand on the shore was very lovely. The nurses were in one area, and the GI's in another--all bathing naked.
In arriving in Berzerti, we observed that thousands of German soldiers had been taken as POW's. The war in Africa was over. Now came the next phase of combat, but we waited until about the 10th of July 1943. Then the hugh armotta pulled out again, this time for Sicily. Our landing craft was different than what we came to Africa in. The sea was very rough, and our landing craft pitched badly in this storm. I never got exacting sick, but I felt very ill at ease. The shore was battered by our heavy guns and strafed by our small mesquito boats.
Just before the invasion the storm subsided, and we moved in. We were loaded in on small crafts and lowered to the sea and off for the shore. We didn't meet any opposition at first, but the Germans soon came over and bombed and strafed us. Our objective was a hill off shore. The Navy greatly helped with their planes and shelling. We zeroed in on targets along the hill, some were observation points.
Then the word came to seize firing. We moved up the hill and took possession. Here again the Germans came and bombed and strafed us. I don't know how they missed me for they strafed a furrow on either side of me and never touched me.
They had barracks here and left booby traps where some of the GI's got wounded, getting souvenirs. We stayed about three days in this area then moved out on a forced march. We saw nurses carrying watermelons, and we got a taste of these. Oh so good!
I thought I was as hard as any soldier, but on this march I got dizzy and dropped out. It was very hot, and I think this was the factor. I was picked up later in the day and taken to my outfit in the evening. I felt good by then. I found blanket in a bush and tied a piece of wire to it and gave a yank. It came free so I had extra covers for the night. It was rather strange how I couldn't find my outfit, but we ran right into them. It was hard to get any sleep for a 155 (hugh machine guns) were belching lead right in back of us and softening up a position in head of us.
We moved up the next day, and this put us right on the North shore line of this large island. The next day we loaded up and drove right into combat. We replaced the 45th Infantry. They were stuck and very tired. We out maneuvered the enemy and came down on them. This night marching was not easy. I was serving as a runner and bodyguard for Lieutenant Chinn. We then used a different tactic. We loaded into LSC or (troup carriers) and came in behind the lieutenants. This worked good-always very early in the morning.
The second time we used this method, life changed for me. We moved up and took our position as planned. Lieutenant Chinn said, "You are in a bad location, and I advise you to move for I'm not staying right here." I'd no sooner left when a sniper's bullet caught him in the leg and wrist. I picked him up and carried him back off the ridge. Our machine guns soon went into action and knocked out the positions on the opposite ridge. I carried Lieutenant Chinn down the ridge with him screaming in pain. I got a medic and had his wounds dressed, but he needed much more care.
About this time our troops pulled up the ridge while the Germans came across the bridge where we were and demanded "hands-up." Then the officer demanded of me to shoot for comrades to come. I did as he said in accent as his comrades came. He said, "Louder!", so I did. He had me motion in several directions, but no comrades came, and I was glad!
We were taken a little later by truck, that was about six of us, to the boat just off the shore of Sicily. I recall stopping near a vineyard and getting my helmet full of grapes, and I offered them to some wounded Germans. One was so badly wounded the he could not accept them. That evening they loaded us up in a Red Cross boat and took across to Italy. We had German officers with us which was beyond the bounds of Red Cross protection. There were about 20 GI's in this group.
We were taken by trucks to Capua near Naples. It was a long, slow ride. Here we camped in a barracks. The food was terrible, just spaghetti and no meat or salt. It thought I would die.
One special day the Americans came over with B 25's and bombed a church. It was loaded with ammunition and really exploded. I about forgot to mention that while in Sicily I ran on to a hugh pile of rations. They were in heavy tin so it was very hard to open. Also the sand flees in Sicily were just terrible. They got all over our bodies.
Now back to Italy and the war. After a few days, the Germans decided to move us out by train. Two times our locomotives were destroyed by the English bombers. The third time, however, we went on up to Rome. Here we stayed in a hotel and had bed bugs eat on us. I also got to see the famous colosseum and many statues that Rome is noted for. While going through Italy we passed by fields of cane-appearing plants that gave off an awful odor. It seemed the natives put this cane material in huge vats to let soak. It was this that gave off the odor. They said it made flax. We had seen flax fields in North Africa with a pretty blue blossom.
We did leave Rome in box cars and travelled north. Often we were detained at stations and held up in tunnels. We seemed to travel very slowly. For some reason I got stomach cramps. We had a large can for our use if we were to throw up or for body waste. It was awful. I did get better as we carried on. It got cold at night and my being sick made me very miserable.
We passed by the Island of Capri, a green beautiful island out a few miles from Italy. Then we finally arrived at Munich. From here we were taken to Stalag A (a prisoner of war camp). Most of the men here were aircoremen. They wanted to know the latest. They had a way of getting news but always wanted confirmation. They always worried that the walls had ears.
We didn't stay here long but basked in box cars headed north again to East Prussia to Stalag 2B. The train moved fast, however, and even though it was cold it was not prolonged. At this camp we found every kind of prisoner from many nations. We saw Slavs who were almost starved to death. Their bellies were sticking out like goats. The name of this place was Hammerstein. They did feed us even though it wasn't the best.
There was one other Mormon boy there from Georgia. We thought it would be proper to call on the acting chaplin. He greeting us kindly but our teaching him the pure Gospel landed on deaf ears. We never talked to him again. When passing his office we often found him on his knees shouting out prayers to the Lord.
In about a week or ten days we were put in a truck and hauled to Rommelsburg where a guard met us and walked us about ten miles to a farm on the old Polish border. We made it in pretty good shape. The whole village came out to see us. We were the first Americans they had ever seen. Among the onlookers there were about twenty little Ukrainian girls (16 to 25 years old), also three Frenchmen. The natives had cleaned out a hog house for us. It was constructed of brick. They kept the hogs on the other side of the wall; at times we could hear them. We had a stove to cook with and to keep us warm. Ten stayed here as I recall, and the other five stayed in a room half a block away. We had a guard but not the same one throughout our stay for they changed from time to time. We got along very nicely with all of them but one. He had lost his arm on the American front and seemed very bitter all the time.
Shortly after we came most of the Russian girls were taken away leaving just three. They no doubt picked the best workers. Can you imagine taking your women away from their homes into a slave camp. These three got very homesick.
Now for eating. We didn't eat in our barracks but in a room near the main farmhouse. Here the Russian girls at first made a batch of potato soup for lunch and for supper. We had large wooden plates and wooden spoons. I've eaten as much as seven plates of soup. We ate some white bread and a lard substance (similar to butter) for breakfast and soup for lunch and supper. To our great surprise the American Red Cross provided us with a package of rations after about five weeks. This changed our menu and from then on and we ate at the barracks. From our package that we got each week we donated our butter and spam for our group meal. Then each had for themselves cigarettes and chocolates. It seems there were other foods that I cannot recall at this time. We also got a uniform so we could dress up nicely. The Germans had furnished us work clothes of unknown material. I believe there was wood in it. It felt like it.
Now what went on here at the farm. It was a beautiful place of rolling hills and dales, and lakes or ponds. There were wooded areas where deer roved, and I observed the tracks and rooting of wild hogs. There were also wild rabbits, and twice a year we would have a drive. The GI's spreading out beating the bush while Germans with shotguns would do the killing. This was a change so we rather liked the days of the hunt. They had two stable crops, potatoes, barley, and some wheat. We arrived for the potato harvest.
All worked in the field but myself. Maybe he thought I was old having a bald head, for he put me out with an old German veteran that had been wounded in the head in World War I. This would have had always affected him, and I observed him must standing thumping his head for some kind of relief. He didn't want me to hurry at the work, but he always was cautioning me to take it easy. He would talk to me in German, and I would just smile. He was kindly, and we got along real well.
At times I was called in to help with the harvest. My work was go dig meters or a trench a meter wide and about two feet deep. The potatoes were piled in these meters which were always in the fields where there was good drainage. They were heaped up somewhat in these meters which were twenty to thirty feet long. Then large bundles of straw was placed over them sort of dove-tailed from either side. Then a layer of dirt was placed on the straw to keep the moisture and frost off. Then as winter progressed and they needed these potatoes for the market or German army we would pick off the dirt and lay the straw aside with a large fork, loaded them into a grader where they were cleaned, sized, sacked, and served up. This was hard work and took a lot of time in the winter.
The harvest of the grain took some time. The tractor pulled a binder which bound it in large long bundles much longer than we had in America. We shucked these and later hauled them into a barn where they were carefully packed in. Here they stayed until the grain was needed. A tractor was pulled into the barn and trashing began. It was hard work for the grain went into large sacks. These large sacks had to be carried quite a distant and up a stairs and dumped. We were ready for chow and bed each evening.
An older woman owned the land and lived in a large home. Her son was in the army as an officer, but his wife and two children mainly stayed with the madam. The farm had a German assigned manager. He was always dressed very classy and carried a cane. He conferred with the madam every day, but he ran the personnel. Madam spoke English and for some time had to come and let us know what we were to do.
My work with the old veteran didn't last long for as the fields were cleared of potatoes I was assigned to drive three oxen. This was something so very different. These beasts were large but rather gentle. They pulled by their head not shoulders. I did not get the work out of them that the Polocks did for there was a Polish family also working on the farm. It kept me busy. I only plowed on steep hills and small areas where the tractors could not operate.
There was the dead of winter that I did not care for at all. This was putting in their winter wood supply. Those days were bitter cold. We had gloves of a kind but they soon got wet. There was no way of keeping our feet warm. The Germans wore stevals or sort of an engineer boot. The girls, two Germans and one Polock and three Russians, wore wooden soul slippers with heavy woolen socks. They got by best of all. We built fires but still it was too cold to keep warm.
We loaded the wood on horse drawn sleds and brought it to the barn for piling. They really piled it in a very neat way. As spring came we hauled manure to all of the potato fields and pasture lands. In the pastures we first went along and smoothed molehills and dung piles. There was lots of manure on hand so we kept very busy.
How we put in hours in the field depending on the season. The winter days had very few daylight hours so we only worked about seven hours. In the summer we worked about fourteen hours. We broke up the summer days by taking a free stag (rest period) at 10 am and 3 pm. We liked this break of about one-half hour, and everyone ate a rye bread sandwich. This rye bread was provided by the Germans. It was hard to take. We toasted it when possible to make it taste better. We GI's had Ole for butter. The local people had a white smear much like lard. They said "smacks good."
About the first two months there the Red Cross furnished us with a German-English dictionary. It disappeared the second day and showed up when we moved out. A fellow by the name of Eckles had kept it. We had this Eckles for our cook for a period. We would say to him, "What's cookin', cookie?" He would respond, "Nothing, you brought the smell in with you!" Then he'd have a good laugh. There was no question about the smell business as we hauled manure. It was awful.
I mentioned getting our packets. They also had coffee in them. I'd trade my coffee to a woman to get my laundry done. She was rather large but very pleasant and did a very good job. She had about eight children. We also managed to get a cake made for us on Thanksgiving by the Polish lady and also a goose. They may have stolen the goose for us. Of course this cost us lots of chocolate bars from all of us as well as coffee.
Would you believe it! They paid us for working. We couldn't buy much but this did help us get white flour for an occasional cake. Lest I forget it we also bought dark beer (a two percent beer brought in a barrel). I tasted it but it brought no pleasure.
We didn't always get along well. There was quarreling and bickering much of the time. We had a Jew boy, Sammy, with a peculiar disposition. Eckles liked to tease him, and Sam would really blow off.
As you can tell I didn't have it too bad. I spent some time in the barn cleaning out manure. Not that I liked manure but it was better being in the barn than out in the cold. Another job we had in the spring was thrashing. It took many days to get it all done so we really had plenty to do all year round. Of course there was cutting up potatoes and planting them by hand in the spring. This took many days.
The second fall I didn't work the oxen, but a Southern man had them. He would get so mad that he would cry. They could get ornery alright, but I took it easy. The manager said to me, "Mills, last year you worked the oxen and all was well. You didn't work them fast, but you kept them going. This year this other fellow has them, and I just don't know about him."
You may wonder if we ever got any news as to how the War was going. We did get news from the German dairyman. He was all excited when the invasion of Normandy came. He was always careful not to let the manager or other Germans hear or see him talking to us. What a life for these people. We must keep in mind--the Germans had a double front (the Russians on the East, and the Allies on the other side). The greatest evidence we had that the War was about to be overcome was when we could hear artillery firing from the east, and many horses came through the area with wounds in their side. These animals had been used on the front to pull artillery pieces.
At last!! The great day came!! "Pack your gear, you're moving out!! This took some careful sorting. We had more blankets and other personal belongings than we could carry. We had to go light, yet we wanted to keep warm and carry all the rations possible. We were to leave at 6 am, the 13th of February 1945. It wasn't very cold that day. We had made friends with the people, and they were all out to say goodbye. The Russian girls hugged us, and the people watched until we made the turn out of town.
I can't recall the names of all my buddies after 35 years. I only corresponded with Willie LaRusso. I've mentioned Same and Eckles, and then there was little Joe Fiocco, and Brownfield and Heslip. Brownie, we called him, said to me, "Mills, I've done all I could to keep in good standing with the Germans yet you've had the better jobs without the effort." There was Raleigh, Campbell, and Jacob Blank. I can see the faces of many others, but I can't recall their names.
Those first fourteen miles were easy. We arrived at Rommelsburg, the junction. There we met a large group of English POW's. Their men had been marching a long time and were very tired. Their shoes were often worn out. The Red Cross station help them out greatly. This station had really been good to us. It was run by American and French POW's. They had come to visit us on several occasions, and we were always thrilled to see them. Now this group was ready and took the lead for a long march.
There were several other groups who joined on this march. This was a lot of men to feed and keep track of. There were German guards ever so often. At night we would pull up at a barn and share a blanket with a buddy. Sometimes I was warm enough but often it was cold. We did have our overcoat to help keep us warm.
As we marched along I made friends with a man from another group. One of his group said, "Let me warn you, that fellow is mean. No one can get along with him." I felt, why not, surely I can. But it only took time to bring out his true nature, and I had to abandon his friendship and moved back to the column to avoid him.
Our food wasn't always the best. The Germans set up a kitchen at each night stop and barley soup was served with a few potatoes. Sometimes some horse meat was added. This we could detect by the sweetness of an occasional piece. We guarded well our rations we had put in our pack, but it also ran out. How I enjoyed those chocolate bars. I carried them instead of cigarettes.
Now the way was long and weary. At first we got impatient with the English soldiers and wanted to hurry, but time taught us how they felt and our pace became slower. We were amused at the traffic on the road. It was German families moving out along the road in horse-drawn covered wagons--like the old Mormon pioneers did. However, as we neared the center of Germany we observed wagons loads of people coming from the opposite direction as if in great confusion.
We first marched to Stalp on the Baltic Ocean. Then we marched west and crossed the Odder River. It was at the mouth of the Odder that we stayed on an island one night, and I almost froze to death. It had rained during the day, but that night it froze hard. I got to coughing as did many others and felt real sick, but I wouldn't drop out for anything, however, some did.
We stopped at a small airfield for two nights in barracks. We had a great surprise, however, for American planes came and bombed the field and barracks. I just stood and watched out a window at the havoc being made until someone yelled, "Mills, you fool, get in the trench!" I ran then and got in the trench, and it was well for bombs almost buried the trenches. No one was hurt that I knew of.
On we marched for six weeks as I recall. Three times we did get Red Cross packages, and we shared them. What a treat! I didn't need tobacco or coffee so I traded it for chocolates. Finally one day we pulled into a town by a river. The mayor met us and told the people to get potatoes and anything else they could for us. The people were great. As with the mayor so with the people. We went into homes and rested up for two days. But all good things must end, as they say, and on we marched.
There was a surprise in store for us as we pulled into a small town. The Germans brought us some cups for our soup, and we had just stated to eat when German S.S. troopers came on motorcycles and demanded us to get on the road immediately. In fact, we were almost on a trot. We didn't know what to expect for it didn't seem good. But low and behold a Piper cub plane came over a loudspeaker called out, "tanks are coming!" Tanks are coming? Whose tanks? We wanted to know! Then came the answer--hugh tanks with the American star on the front came roaring in view. We all stopped and German guards handed rifles to GI's saying, "kill the S.S." This they tried to do.
What a thrill! Words can never express it--FREED AT LAST!! We reversed our directions and pulled back into town. Here the tanks pulled up also and started unloading rations by order of their commander. Everyone was laughing or crying. Another buddy and I waited our turn for our box of rations to come our way. We ate for a while, then trucks pulled up and we were loaded in and taken a few miles to a headquarter where the GI's had a kitchen set up. Here we ate fried eggs. I ate six eggs with powdered milk and white bread from some source. Somehow I didn't get sick. We stayed in a barn that night, and the next morning there was more of the same for breakfast. I think I ate eight eggs this time.
We were not to stay here, however, and we were anxious to move on. They loaded us into trucks and took us through Hanover, a town completely destroyed by bobs as far as I could see--then on to an airfield. I can't recall the town but it was a beautiful place. Cargo planes met us here in due time, and off we went flying over Paris and also old battlefields to Camp Lucky Strike just outside of LaHarve. I had a feeling of sickness, but I went to sleep and arrived okay. There were barracks here for us and kitchens set up. I was so grateful to be free again.
But I wasn't really free until they had us go into a de-licing room. Here we put powder each others neck and clothes. We stepped out and a buddy said, "Do you feel anything yet?" I said, "No not yet." But it didn't take long for me to feel something--I was alive with lice. They soon had us bathe and get into new uniforms.
While in prison camp Eckles cut our hair, and we kept quite neat. I recall, though, how we let our clothes and shoes get out of order for soldier and a new guard said, "You are American soldiers, be proud of it and dress like one." From that time on we kept our shoes shined and clothes in good order and felt so much better.
Now while I'm writing of prison camp, I've forgotten to mention our mail. We got to the farm in September, and got our first mail in January. We got Christmas packages in February, and how thrilled I was to get cookies and other goodies from Helen and Jim and several letters. I also heard from my mother. Mail was seldom but always welcomed. Some of the soldiers never got any mail.
Now back to Lucky Strike. We were men of leisure and fooled around and waited for chow. A buddy and I walked into the nearby village and visited with the French. He always offered wine. It was never any temptation for me. Our speaking French was nil, and my buddy handled German better than I so we got by.
Groups were leaving almost daily for home, and one day my name was called out for I had registered to go to Maine. We were taken by truck to LaHarve, and right into a passenger ship. There was an escort of Navy vessels, and we heard several depth charges that shook our ship. We drew up at South Hampton and took on two hundred wounded or maimed soldiers. Then we headed for America. I don't recall how long we were getting to Boston, but we zig-zagged all the way cross, and I believe the Germans surrendered while we were on our way to America--8th of June.
In Boston harbor we had American girls in uniforms come aboard and serve hot chocolate and donuts. We loved this. From here we were railed to Camp Washington, out a few miles. Here we were processed and paid and shipped to our homes. I went to Schowhegan, Maine. I had called Helen and Jim so they met me at Waterville in Fred Cox's car. What a joy to be with my loved ones again.
After two weeks we got a pass for Helen and I to go to Lake Placid to a rest camp. Here for two weeks we were entertained and fed wonderful food. One day we had all the watermelon we could eat. There were Jewish ladies who provided this treat. The ladies all had Jewish features.
Helen left two days early to get packed. We had bought a 39 Dodge from an old gentleman, and it was just like new. We got us a one-wheel trailer so we were all set to load up. We got everything but were really loaded. We had stayed with Helen's mother, a very kindly lady. With goodbyes, we headed west.
This takes care of four and one-half years of my life span. I am ever grateful that I gave of myself for the difference of my nation and the freedom of my fellowmen.
There is always items of interest that is overlooked in writing. I recall one day while out on maneuvers in North Africa we were all digging foxholes. I dug up a shovel full of dirt and with it came five small deadly but dormant snakes. This really startled me. On another occasion on the farm I was assigned to take the horses with a Polock to Max Smelling's place at Pumpernickel. Max had been the world heavy weight boxer. I got to talk with him on that occasion as he spoke good English. Later he came to our barracks on the farm on two different occasions to just talk to us. He said once, "I would treat my Belgium soldiers better but my own people would report me." Max loaded up his tractor and trailer and wife and headed for West Germany.
No comments:
Post a Comment