28 June, 1944

V-MAIL

438^th AAA AW BN

APO 403 % Postmaster, N.Y.

France

28 June, 1944

Dearest Sweetheart –

I was determined to write you a longer letter today – but the way things are shaping up – I’d better get this off now. If I return in time – I’ll write another.

I got a swell letter from you late last night which certainly helped my spirits. It was nice and long and newsy and generally – in the groove, darling. I’m so pleased you liked the prints, dear – and that they came in good condition. By the way – I don’t remember mentioning – one of my boys made a simple bracelet out of English “three-penny bits”. He made the links and all and then presented it to me for “my girl” – so I sent it on. You don’t have to wear it, dear – although the coins are odd. The bend in them is done by hand.

Was glad to read you were being occupied by the R.C. and roared about your chance of getting diseased from house visits. Don’t you know you must have immunity by now from me! Seriously – there’s no danger, darling – but be careful in general. All for now. Love to the folks and

All my deepest love to you

Greg

* TIDBIT *

about Rocheville and Up in Arms

The Route of the Question Mark on June 27th mentioned that the 438th was in the town of Rocheville. The town of Rocheville is located in the Department of Manche of the French region Basse-Normandie. It is within the township of Bricquebec, part of the district of Cherbourg, just 12 miles south of the port. The and area is about 4 square miles, and the population is just about 990.

CLICK ON MAP TO ENLARGE

Route from the City of Cherbourg to the town of Rocheville

And now a scene from Up in Arms featuring Danny Kaye and Dinah Shore", shown in a hayloft in the town of Rocheville:

27 June, 1944

V-MAIL

438^th AAA AW BN

APO 403 % Postmaster, N.Y.

France

27 June 1944

My dearest Sweetheart –

Two nights running now my first opportunity for writing has been just before dark. We were busy today – some of our outfit finally caught up with us. Among them was my driver and our jeep, darling, the one with WILMA painted on the front – in old English letters if you please. I’ll now be able to get around more easily.

CLICK ON PICTURE TO ENLARGE

Greg with his driver

Just a few minutes ago – one of our trucks drove up with 22 bags of mail and boy – we all ought to get some in the morning. It will be too dark to finish sorting it tonight though.

I had the rare opportunity of snatching a hot shower tonight – early. The engineers discovered a set of showers in a neighboring town and rigged it up. It was wonderful! Strange what we get pleasure from nowadays. All for now – sweetheart – will try to write tomorrow.

Love to all and all my love to you –

Greg

Route of the Question Mark

The beginning of Page 23 from The Route of the Question Mark tells this:

June 27... Rocheville, where the Residue caught up with the Advance Party, only to be greeted like step-children by the heroes of the attack on Cherbourg, and where we climbed a ladder leading to a hay-loft to see a movie, Danny Kaye in UP IN ARMS.

* TIDBIT *

about The VII Corps and the Cherbourg Campaign - End

Excerpts from UTAH Beach to Cherbourg (6 June - 27 June 1944) follow:

The surrender of the arsenal at approximately 1000, 27 June, brought to an end all organized resistance in the city of Cherbourg. Except for the outlying forts along the jetties and breakwater, where small enemy groups still held out, all of the port and city was now occupied. Over 10,000 prisoners had been captured in the preceding day and a half, including 2,600 patients and the staffs of two hospitals. The arsenal yielded 50 sides of beef and 300 sides of pork, which gave the VII Corps its first fresh meat in a month.

CLICK ON PICTURES TO ENLARGE

Arsenal Buildings in Ruins near the
center of the Port of Cherbourg.
These photos belong to Photosnormandie's
Flickr Photostream.

For the Americans, 27 June marked the achievement of the first major objective of Operation NEPTUNE. In the final drive on Cherbourg some of the enemy forces had withdrawn to strong positions both east and west of the port city. On 26-27 June, while the final fighting was taking place in the city, the 22d Infantry pushed eastward and captured the last enemy strongholds in Cap Lévy. What still remained was to clear the enemy from outlying forts and the cape west of Cherbourg, and to put the great port into working order. Two days were now consumed in reducing the remaining harbor forts with dive-bombing and tank destroyer fire.

Meanwhile the 9th Division prepared to drive into the Cap de la Hague area, where an estimated 3,000 Germans were thought to have retreated for a last stand. Between 29 June and 1 July the 9th Division was engaged in heavy fighting, but there was never any doubt about the successful and speedy outcome of the operation. The last organized enemy defense line between Vauville and Gruchy was cracked by the assault of the 60th and 47th Infantry Regiments on 30 June. In the final clean-up more than 6,000 Germans were captured. At 1500, 1 July, the 9th Division reported to VII Corps that all organized resistance had ceased.

The campaign thus ended had cost heavily, despite an unexpectedly easy beginning in the weakly opposed landing on UTAH Beach, and it had fallen behind the schedule set in the NEPTUNE Plan. In the fight for its objective VII Corps suffered a total of over 22,000 casualties, including 2,800 killed, 5,700 missing, and 13,500 wounded. The Germans had lost 39,000 captured in addition to an undetermined number of killed and wounded. Cherbourg was captured on D plus 21, and the last enemy were cleared from the peninsula on D plus 22.

From the German point of view, however, the fall of Cherbourg came much sooner than expected and represented a major defeat which foreshadowed the evacuation of France and the loss of the war. The conquest of the Cotentin Peninsula did not immediately break German defenses in the west or irrevocably insure a quick Allied victory. A month of hard fighting in the same type of difficult Normandy terrain lay ahead. Nevertheless, the end of June saw the disappearance of the last slim chance the enemy may have had to dislodge the Allied foothold on France, and he was faced with what would become a hopeless battle of attrition in which Allied armies were to build up an irresistible superiority of men and matériel and strike out of Normandy for their sweep through France.

26 June, 1944

V-MAIL

438^th AAA AW BN

APO 403 % Postmaster, N.Y.

France

26 June          1600

Dearest Sweetheart –

If this looks messy and wrinkled, blame it on the rain and darkness. All day I’ve been wanting to take a few minutes off to write you but have been unable to. I almost gave up the idea – but I wouldn’t feel right if I didn’t write a few lines at least, dear.

Things are going along pretty well and the news is good. Today was a rather blue Monday, though, probably because of the weather. But chalk off another day, darling. It’s one less we have to go.

Will have to stop now Sweetheart because it’s getting practically impossible to write any longer. Love to the folks – and my everlasting love to you, dearest

Greg

* TIDBIT *

about The VII Corps and the Cherbourg Campaign - Part 7

The 79th and 9th Divisions virtually cleared the city on 26 June. Elements of the 313th Infantry reached the beach in their sector by 0800. The 314th was delayed by fire from the left but reached the beach by mid-afternoon. Fighting became doubly difficult for the Americans in the city when the guns in the lower levels of Fort du Roule began firing on them in the afternoon. Only the top level of the fort had been cleared the preceding day. The 2d Battalion of the 314th Infantry had remained on the lid of the fort during the night, and on the morning of the 26th resumed their efforts to reduce the remainder of the fort. This task occupied the entire day.

There was no way of reaching the lower levels of the fort from the top. The reduction of the fort, therefore, became primarily a matter of finding ways to place demolitions in the lower levels. Several charges were lowered through the ventilating shafts and packages of TNT on wires or ropes were let down the sides of the fort to the level of the gun embrasures and set off by means of a trigger device. More successful was the exploit of a demolitions team which made a path around the precipitous west side of the fort and blasted one of the tunnel mouths with pole charges and bazookas. Meanwhile antitank guns down in the city were turned against the embrasures. Resistance in the two lower levels finally came to an end early in the evening, placing Fort du Roule entirely in American hands. The fort yielded several hundred prisoners.

To the southwest the 315th Infantry took 2,200 prisoners. In the meantime, the 47th and 39th Infantry Regiments of the 9th Division fought their way through the western half of Cherbourg, the most strongly defended portion of the city. Both the 2d and 3d Battalions of the 39th Infantry moved down the ridge in the morning. Their objectives were Octeville and the Cherbourg area lying between the 47th Infantry and the Divette River. A captured German reported that General von Schlieben, the commander of the Cherbourg Fortress, was in an underground shelter in Rue St. Sauveur, just beyond Octeville.

By mid-afternoon Company E and Company F had reached von Schlieben's shelter. After covering the tunnel entrances with machine-gun fire, a prisoner was sent down to ask for the fort's surrender. When surrender was refused, tank destroyers began to fire directly into two of the tunnel's three entrances and preparations were begun to demolish the stronghold with TNT.

An article in Time, dated 10 July 1944, described the scene this way:

Soon a white flag appeared at the tunnel's mouth. The German lieutenant who held it stepped stiffly into the open. He turned right and dipped the flag, turned left and dipped the flag, faced General Eddy and dipped the flag. It was all very precise and formal. Eddy beckoned him to come over.

The lieutenant presented the compliments of Lieut. General Karl Wilhelm Dietrich von Schlieben, military commander of Cherbourg, and of Rear Admiral Walter Hennecke, naval commander, and asked that an officer be sent to the tunnel to conduct them out to surrender. The Germans in the tunnel did not wait for the conducting officer. A stream of them poured out. Their commander was with them.

Six feet three, black-helmeted, wearing the Iron Cross at his throat, von Schlieben was a beaten man. His flabby, worried face was a tired grey; his grey-green greatcoat was mud-splotched and a mass of wrinkles. The starch had gone out of both the man and his clothes.

After the surrender was made to General Eddy of the 9th Infantry Division, Eddy drove his captives in his command car to headquarters. By radio he notified Major General Joseph Lawton Collins, VII Corps commander, who arrived and demanded that von Schlieben surrender the whole Cherbourg garrison. The fortress commander refused, however, adding that communications were so bad that he could not ask the others to surrender even if he wanted to. When General Collins offered to provide the means of communication von Schlieben still declined.

All of the following photos belong to Photosnormandie's Flickr Photostream. First, they show the white flag of surrender, followed by soldiers exiting the tunnel. Last, von Schlieben is shown with General Eddy and then Major General Collins.

CLICK ON PICTURES TO ENLARGE
  

25 June, 1944

438^th AAA AW BN

APO 403 % Postmaster, N.Y.

France

25 June, 1944         1600

My darling Wilma –

I don’t know how far I’ll get with this. I started to use V-mail but changed to this – no matter how little I write. Yesterday we got mail. I got 2 letters – both from you, written on the 6th and 7th; also Time magazine of June 12, and the fortnightly Salem news letter.

I can well imagine how you felt on D-Day, sweetheart. It certainly must be tough for those at home – because over here we know at least what we’re doing and how we’re doing. Faith and trust is all you can lean on, darling. Depend on that and you should find things easier. It certainly helps on this side – otherwise you’d be sure that every shell was coming your way. I appreciate your prayers, sweetheart, and haven’t stopped praying myself. I want so much for us to be together again, happy and living a normal married life – that it just has to work out that way.

Yes, dear, I was glad to read that Stephen was going to Latin School. It certainly is the only school in the city and should get him ready for college – Harvard, I hope. He ought to do well – he seems bright enough.

Say, by the way, dear – in one of your previous letters you mentioned you were getting to know some medical terminology. That’s fine because I know I’m bound to be referring to some cases in the course of a day’s work – and the more names of diseases that you’ll know – the easier it will be for me to explain.

Here in France it’s a quiet Sunday – for some reason or other. The day started out sunny and warm – but this p.m. it clouded up and I guess we’ll have rain. It seems a bit quieter in this sector than it has been for some time – and it sure is welcome. Where we are and what we’re doing should be fairly obvious to you, dear and I’m sure the radio tells you where the Americans are and what their mission is right now. But so far I haven’t been too busy and all seems to be going well with us – so don’t worry too much, darling.

I’ll have to stop now, dear, and excuse my writing on both sides of this very thin GI paper – but paper is very scarce here and I’m glad to have even this. Don’t forget – I don’t want you worrying! My love to the folks – and to you, dear

All my love for always

Greg

* TIDBIT *

about The VII Corps and the Cherbourg Campaign - Part 6

The outstanding event of 25 June was the capture of Fort du Roule. Built high and secure into the steep rock promontory which stands immediately back of the city, the fort dominated the entire harbor area and was a formidable-appearing bastion, particularly from the sea. Fort du Roule was primarily a coastal fortress, with its guns housed in the lower levels of the fort pointing seaward. However, it was also defended against land attack from its top level, which mounted automatic weapons and mortars in concrete pillboxes, and enjoyed a favorable defensive position with the steep sides of the promontory restricting the approach to the fort along a solitary ridge. Only the top level of the fort was visible from the land side. A few hundred yards southeast of the fort the Germans had dug an antitank ditch. Several hundred yards farther south was a stream bed, still another hindrance to the attackers.

At 0800 on 25 June one squadron of P-47's bombed Fort du Roule, but for the most part the planes overshot their mark and no damage was done to the subterranean tunnels housing the guns. The land attack was undertaken by the 2d and 3d Battalions of the 314th Infantry. The 3d Battalion first attempted an attack straight across the draw south of the fort. But on reaching the slopes leading to the draw the battalion was met with a tremendous volume of small-arms fire originating from a row of dug-in positions on the forward slope. The resistance from these bunkers was finally eliminated by the concentration of all machine guns in the 2d and 3d Battalions. Few Germans escaped to the fort. Most were wiped out by the great volume of automatic fire.

CLICK ON IMAGES TO ENLARGE

German soldiers surrendering to U.S. soldiers
in the ruins of Cherbourg at the foot of Fort du Roule.
Photo is from Roger Hamilton's The War Photos.

From this point the attack was taken over by the 2d Battalion, with the 3d providing covering fire. In the course of these operations the capture of the fort was given its most notable impetus by the action of Cpl. John D. Kelly of Company E. Kelly's platoon had become pinned down on the slopes by enemy machine-gun fire from one of the pillboxes. Volunteering to knock out the position, Corporal Kelly armed himself with a 10-foot pole charge with fifteen pounds of TNT, inched his way up the slope under withering heavy automatic fire. and placed the charge at the base of the strong point. The first blast was ineffective. Kelly therefore returned for another charge and braved the slope again to repeat the operation. This time the ends of the enemy guns were blown off. Kelly then returned for still another charge and climbed the slope a third time to place a charge at the rear entrance of the pillbox. Following this blast he hurled hand grenades into the position, forcing the surviving enemy crews to surrender. While he survived this heroic act, he was later killed in action.

Meanwhile, the 3d Battalion moved up to clear resistance from the left flank of the assaulting battalion. Here again the fight was aided by an individual exploit. When Company K was stopped by combined 88-mm. and machine-gun fire, 1st Lt. Carlos C. Ogden, who had just taken over the company from the wounded company commander, armed himself with an M1 rifle, a grenade launcher, and a number of rifle and hand grenades and advanced alone up the slope toward the enemy emplacements. Although wounded in this advance, Ogden continued up the slope and finally reached a point from which he destroyed the 88-mm gun with a well-placed rifle grenade. Again wounded, Ogden continued, found the two machine guns which had held up his company, and with hand grenades knocked them out also.

These and other destructive attacks gradually induced various sections of the fort's top level to surrender. Some sections held out until nearly 2200 that night, and even then only the capture of the top level was completed. It was still impossible to enter the city in strength on 25 June due to the fire from the guns in the lower level of Fort du Roule.

24 June, 1944

438^th AAA AW BN

APO 403 % Postmaster, N.Y.

France

24 June, 1944         1000

My dearest one –

Today is 11 months that I know you and tomorrow will be seven months that I’ve been overseas. Subtracting 7 from 11 leaves 4 – and I just can’t make myself believe that actually we saw each other during a 4 month period only. It just doesn’t seem possible that we could have gotten to know each other so well in so short a time; well enough to become engaged to each other and to think only in terms of our being married and together for always – someday. I’m actually more surprised at you than I am at myself, darling. The fact is I knew what I wanted for a long time and when I met you, I knew you were it immediately. I’m still amazed at your desire to be engaged to me, to wait for me, to put up with my being away – all this after knowing me for only 4 months. Now – sweetheart – don’t be angry with me. You know how thankful I am for all this. It is because I’m so thankful that I think of it so often. You see, dear, I do not take you for granted.

It would be nice to feel that the greatest part of our separation is behind us. I don’t know what to think on that score, but certainly a big chunk of it is – and the fact that the big battle is on is a big help to all of us. When we were sitting around in England – things were more comfortable all right – but we couldn’t help but feel uneasy about our inactivity. We knew that the longer we stayed in England, the longer we would be in returning home. Now everyone is imbued with a spirit of drive to get the damn thing over with and we all feel that every day that goes by now – we’re accomplishing something towards going home.

No mail so far today, but it’s still early and we all have great hopes of getting some later in the day. Surely it will be welcome, dear. It seems like ages since I heard from you – although it really isn’t so very long ago. The last date which I heard from you was June 5th. I’ve received no letter from you written from that date on and I’m wondering what your reaction was to the news of the Landings in France. As recently as that was – it already seems like a fantasy rather than an actuality, but it’s good to feel that it’s behind us. One thing I was never able to write you from England, darling, was the wonderful job the Army was doing in preparing us for this. Things were really worked out well.

I’ve been addressing my letters to the folks – to Winthrop. I assume they are there by now. I hope you get a chance to visit with them and get some swimming in. You must be a great comfort to my family these days, I know, and that’s another thing I’m thankful for.

Well, darling it’s time to close for now. I hope your work is going along well – and that you’re not working too hard, either. Send my love to the folks, dear, and always remember how much I love you and miss you and then you’ll know that I’ll come back to you safe and sound one fine day.

All my love for now –

Greg

* TIDBIT *

about The VII Corps and the Cherbourg Campaign - Part 5

CLICK ON MAP TO ENLARGE

Night Positions of Forward Elements
Green = 23 June, Black - 24 June
Red circles are German Defenses

On June 22, Hitler had ordered General Schlieben to fulfill his duty of defending the city and, in the worst-case scenario, destroy the deep water harbor to leave nothing to the enemy. According to the Allied observers, it would take several weeks to repair the harbor installations, once the city was liberated by the Americans. General Schlieben had requested reinforcements. He had also considered and canceled the airdrop of the German 15th Parachute Regiment in Brittany.

Meanwhile, the American troops of VII Corps had continued their progression, slow and bloody. German defenses fell one by one. All three American divisions had endured heavy fighting and penetrated significant positions in the German line, making steady progress on 23 June. By early in the afternoon von Schlieben reported that the Americans had broken through on the land front and were advancing in four wedges towards the city. He reported that he had committed his last reserves to the battle, including a number of non-combatants equipped with old French weapons. He also handed out a large number of Iron Crosses that had been dropped in by parachute, in an attempt to boost morale.

Iron Cross 2nd Classes Awarded During the Fighting in Normandy

This didn't stop the US 4th Division from reaching the northern coast three miles to the east of the city. The penetrations into the outer ring of the Cherbourg fortress had moved the battle for the port into the final phase. General Schlieben reported on the morning of the 24th that he had no reserves and ordered his men to fight to the last ammunition cartridge.

General Collins' verbal orders for 24 June made no fundamental changes in the plans outlined several days earlier. The flank regiments of the Corps, the 22d and the 60th, were assigned the mission of containing the enemy in the northeast and northwest respectively. The 47th and 39th Infantry Regiments were to make a coordinated attack toward Octeville, a suburb southwest of Cherbourg, and the 8th and 12th Infantry Regiments were to attack in the east. The 79th Division was to capture the strong point at la Mare à Canards by double envelopment, following a dive-bombing early in the morning. Air preparation was also planned on other major strong points.

On June 24, VII Corps closed in on the city. The 9th Division overran three Luftwaffe installations to hold established positions in front of Octeville. The 79th Division cleared la Mare a Canards and pushed on within sight of Fort du Roule. Although the Cherbourg defense was collapsing, VII Corps still met with some bitter last stands. The 4th Division encountered heavy resistance, losing two battalion commanders killed, while capturing 800 German soldiers and occupying Tourlaville. Fort du Roule was the key to Cherbourg. The Germans had fortified it with Anti-Aircraft guns (AA's), concrete emplacements, pill boxes, anti-tank ditches and barbed wire. 3rd BN made three attempts for heights adjacent to the fort. All were unsuccessful and resulted in heavy casualties.

Aerial View of Fort du Roule overlooking Cherbourg

23 June, 1944

V-MAIL

438^th AAA AW BN

APO 403 % Postmaster, N.Y.

France

23 June, 1944

Dear sweetheart –

Today was a pretty busy one for me – by that I mean that I traveled around quite a bit visiting a couple of the batteries. All is still going well – and if we could only get a little mail, we’d be happy. Something seems to be tying it up.

Yesterday, during a lull, I had a chance to write a few V-mails that were overdue. I wrote Mother B, Granny B, Mary, one of the doctors at the hospital (Don Nickerson) and a Phil Bloomberg of Salem. He had written me some time ago congratulating me on my engagement. He is president of the Naumkeag Amusement Co. which among other things – runs the Salem Paramount. He says I’m still on his preferred list as regards getting into the Paramount and that of course included you. I used to have a yearly pass.

There’s nothing much else I can write you today, sweetheart. I miss you these days something awful – but there’s not a darn thing I can do about it except to hope and live for the end of the war and my return home. I love you, darling, and being away from you is quite difficult at times. So long for now. Love to the folks.

All my love,

Greg

* TIDBIT *

about The Paramount Theater in Salem, Massachusetts
Architects: Cornelius W. Rapp, George Leslie Rapp; Style: Baroque

CLICK ON PICTURE TO ENLARGE

Crowd in Front of Salem Paramount Theater, April, 1940

David April, on the a website called "Cinema Treasures," wrote this about the Paramount Theater in Salem, MA .

This Paramount Theater opened on April 19, 1930, originally as a Publix Theater. It was one of the first theaters to feature air conditioning.

The front entryway under the rectangular red and white marquee (Publix’s marquee was black and white) was finished in black marble. The ornate ticket booth was within the covered entryway. The front doors opened into a very long, dark red-carpeted hallway with a dark red velvet rope on stanchions down the center to delineate the traffic flow for patrons arriving and departing. The walls there were lined with occasional glass display cases holding movie posters. At the end of this hallway, a uniformed usher stood collecting tickets.

The hallway led into the theater lobby which was finished in a light green and ivory color scheme. An alternate lobby egress faced St. Peter Street. The manager’s office was at one side of the lobby. There was a large refreshments counter in the lobby as well. The restrooms off the lobby were all finished in tile and marble. Two grand staircases ascended to the balcony. There were five sets of double doors leading into the theater on each level, one for each of the five aisles.

Inside awaited a cavernous theater with 2,187 seats. The decor of the theater was Rococo style, with an intricate and graceful proscenium arch framing the wide stage. The cinemascope screen it held was 85 feet long. The molded ceiling was likewise ornate, as was the ceiling under the balcony in the rear. Speaking of which, the theater had a large balcony with brass railing, which, when the theaterfirst opened, was intended as the smoking section. Later it was opened only for overflow crowds. When a movie was starting, two sets of curtains parted in front of the screen, one after the other, rather than the usual one at most other theaters.

The side walls featured faux boxes in the Rococo style. They were of dimensions that would convince anyone that they were real. These were actually light boxes to illuminate huge murals in the style of the French artist Watteau towering in arches topped by lunnets above the boxes. The two front boxes had velvet draperies instead, creating the illusion that they were seating areas. But they were organ chambers housing the pipes for the great Wurlitzer theater organ on stage. All the wood and plaster—for example, the balcony fascia, boxes, exit doors, proscenium arch, ceiling and other trim were gold.

Regarding lighting, to either side of the two front boxes there were very tall florescent lamps behind ornate frosted/etched glass covers. Along the side walls were sconce lights, and small aisle lights built into the aisle seats at intervals helped patrons see the aisles in the dimness.

This was certainly one of the most beautiful of the Publix (later Paramount) theaters ever built. It was much larger than the lovely art deco Paramount in Boston, and perhaps as or more beautiful. But it died a slow death with the advent of television and the pressure of exhibitors having too high rental fees for films, based on the huge number of seats in large theaters. First-run films became too costly, and reruns diminished the size of audiences further. Thankfully, this grand old dame was never cut up and converted into 10 separate theaters. Its dignity was preserved to the very end. Sadly, it was demolished in around 1971 to make way for a parking garage.

The Paramount Theater could probably have been restored and used as performing arts center. There was a parking lot in back of the theater that would have allowed a significant enlargement of the stage. But urban renewal in that era ruled, and they put the ball to the theater along with other important buildings in the city. Those of us who patronized the Paramount Theater in Salem will never forget the many good times we had there.

22 June, 1944

V-MAIL

438^th AAA AW BN

APO 403 % Postmaster, N.Y.

FRANCE

22 June, 1944         0930

My dearest darling –

A nice clear day today – after a couple of rather raw ones. Everything has been going along well dear, and we seem to be making good progress. My radio – which has followed me everywhere in the Army – is still with me and helps keep us posted on what’s going on. That may sound strange, but it’s true. Generally we know only what’s going on in our own sector. It’s also strange to hear a broadcast of jive music, or Charlie McCarthy or Fibber McGee and Molly in the middle of a field – with chaos not too far away. But it does help relax us – and I hope my battery holds out awhile.

The mail in this direction is still a bit confused and so I haven’t heard from you for several days. Just like everyone else – the APO is en route a good part of the time and I know that we’ll all get mail perhaps today or tomorrow. But I don’t mind sweetheart as long as my mail is reaching you – and I hope it is.

The feeling around here is that the goddam Boches can’t possibly hold us when the big push starts. Anyone who ever doubted the fighting ability of the American soldier – was all wet. They’ve fought wonderfully – particularly the airborne outfits – who can be as savage and ruthless as necessary. Most of them are now riding around in captured Jerry scout cars and no one begrudges them their comfort – because they usually have to walk. Sweetheart – that’s all for now. Remember, darling, don’t worry. I’m well and taking care of myself. Love to the folks.

All my love for always

Greg

P.S.I LOVE YOU!

G.

Captured German Scout Car used by a War Correspondent

* TIDBIT *

about The VII Corps and the Cherbourg Campaign - Part 4

From UTAH BEACH TO CHERBOURG - 6 June to 27 June, 1944 comes this:

On the morning of 22 June the ultimatum expired without word from the German fortress commander. The weather had turned favorable. At 0940 the Corps commander therefore notified the division commanders that the attack would be launched. H-Hour was 1400. Bombing was to begin at 1240. Division and regimental commanders had already made their plans and issued field orders on the basis of the previous day's verbal orders. All that remained was for unit commanders to give last-minute instructions regarding H-Hour, the withdrawal for the bombardment, and the jump-off.

A few minutes before the fighter-bombers appeared, front lines were marked with yellow smoke and bomb lines with white phosphorus. At 1240 the pre-H-Hour bombing and strafing attacks were initiated by four squadrons of rocket-firing Typhoons, followed by six squadrons of Mustangs, all from the 2d Tactical Air Force (RAF). At approximately 1300 the attacks were taken over by twelve groups of fighter-bombers of the Ninth Air Force and eleven groups from Ninth Bomber Command. Between them the four waves of attacks dropped 1,100 tons on the German defenses. For fifty-five minutes P-47's, P-38's, and P-51's (562 planes) bombed and strafed front-line strong points at low level, one group coming over approximately every five minutes.

Between 1300 and 1330, the 47th, 60th, and 22d Infantry Regiments all called their headquarters to say that they were being bombed and strafed by friendly planes, and sought means of stopping the attacks. These units and others suffered several casualties from the air attacks. The errors were believed to have been caused at least in part by the drift of the marking smoke in the fairly strong northeast wind. As the mediums began to come over at 1400 to bomb the German lines in front of the 9th and 79th Divisions, the attacking units jumped off; at 1430 the three regiments of the 4th Division joined the attack. Between 1400 and 1455 the eleven groups of light and medium bombers of the IX Bomber Command (387 planes) delivered their attacks on the eleven defended areas expected to give trouble in the drive on the city.

Measured by sheer physical destruction the bombardment was none too effective, except on a few targets. Its greatest effect was in cutting German communications and depressing enemy morale, but in general the bombing was scattered-as indicated by the drops to the rear of the American lines. This was the first large-scale use of medium and fighter-bombers in close support of ground troops since the launching of the Normandy operation, and coordination of all elements had not been perfected. Arrangements for the bombardment had to be made through difficult command channels. While General Quesada went to VII Corps Headquarters to work out the initial air plan, he was chiefly with First Army Headquarters at this time, and most of the aircraft were still operating from England. The bombardment had had to be planned very hurriedly; there was insufficient time to transmit details on last-minute changes in the plan to all the parties concerned, or to coordinate artillery fires against antiaircraft batteries with the bombing attacks or even in some instances to brief pilots properly.

However, fighter-bombers did exceptionally effective work in destroying some of the German positions, particularly on the west side of Cherbourg. A later analysis of the fire support in the assault on Cherbourg concluded that the best air-artillery-infantry coordination had been achieved by the 9th Division, with artillery first firing effectively against flak positions, followed by the air bombing, and then artillery resuming fire to cover the infantry advance. However, while the Corps' attack achieved penetrations of varying depth, no real breakthrough was made immediately anywhere along the Cherbourg front.

At this point in the battle, all the divisions were forced to execute a methodical reduction of strong points. Each pillbox had to be blasted out, and Collins' men developed a slow but relatively safe method of dealing with these fortifications. Artillery and dive bombers would force the Germans into their concrete defenses. A light bombardment would keep them pinned down while the infantry advanced to within 400 yards of the pillbox. The infantry would then take over, pouring heavy fire into the embrasures, while combat engineers worked their way around to the rear, blew the doors open and then threw explosives or smoke grenades into the pillbox.

CLICK ON PICTURES TO ENLARGE

Well-concealed German Pillbox


Blowing up a German Pillbox with
Soldiers behind Vehicle for Protection


Remains of a Blown Up German Pillbox