03 October 1944

V-MAIL

438^th AAA AW BN

APO 230 % Postmaster, N.Y.

Germany

3 October, 1944          1045

Hello darling!

Well a year ago I was sweating out one alert after the other and we were managing to see each other as often as possible. Those were days I’ll never forget and I’m sure we’ll talk them over many times in the future. I’ll never forget my reactions, either when I sailed out of New York harbor. I wondered what would ever happen to us and I was so afraid I’d lose you, dear. I’m so happy I didn’t, although I still feel you were very brave in being willing to wait for me. But it can’t be much longer, darling – and one of these days I’ll be taking you to me and holding you so tight a quick glance would make one think we were welded.

Kind of busy today, dear, with a couple of things to do this p.m. If I get through in time I may be able to see a U.S.O. show which is visiting our battalion today. That will be the first one since England – and although they’re usually not very high class – what the heck – after all, this is Germany. Will stop for now, dear, my love to the folks – and remember – you have

All my love –

Greg.

* TIDBIT *

about The History of the U.S.O.

02 October 1944

438^th AAA AW BN

APO 230 % Postmaster, N.Y.

Germany

2 October, 1944        1600

My darling –

This should be a V-mail, dear, because I’ve got a good many things to do – but I know you don’t like V-mails and so I’m writing this. If I do use the short form, sweetheart, you can always be sure it was the only way out for that particular day.

The weather finally cleared this morning and the sun sure is welcome. It has been about two weeks since we last had a decent day. I had to travel about a bit this morning and part of this afternoon to investigate a couple of injured soldiers. On the way back I managed to get a warm shower – although the temperature was not conducive towards enjoying it – i.e. the temperature outside. These quartermaster showers – if I haven’t told you before, dear, are rigged up in large tents – but they are open at either end and at the sides.

Yesterday – early evening we got some mail again and I got a letter from you – dated 13 September and one from Eleanor of the same date. Eleanor’s letter was in response to one of mine asking about my checking account balance. Every now and then I wonder what it is because it keeps changing because of insurance coming due, monthly payments for shares etc. I think my present balance is too high and I’ll write Eleanor to deposit some of it in my saving account where I get some interest. One thing I’m glad about, darling, and that is that I had the foresight some time ago to get started on some life insurance even though I didn’t have a wife or family. I will have both one of these days, darling, and insurance is a good thing to have. Before I even met you, dear, I converted my army insurance – which is term insurance and expires on discharge – to regular insurance – 20 payment life, for a higher fee of course – but worth it, I believe.

I was interested in your remarks about “Paris Underground”. I haven’t read it – of course – but I sure have had first hand information about it. Life was certainly hazardous for the workers, from what I gathered, but in my opinion, the Belgian underground, less heard of, was far more bold and efficient. By the way, as I wrote you some time ago, the only book I’ve read recently was “Roughly Speaking”, by Louise Randall Peirson.

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If you haven’t gotten to it as yet I certainly recommend that you do. It’s one of the funniest yet human books I’ve read in a long long while and I’m sure you’d enjoy it, dear. I’ve got two more books from Special Service – one is “My Son, My Son” – which is a couple of years old but which I failed to read. I believe it was good. The other is the famous little book “The Education of Hyman Kaplan”. I’ll get started on one of them tonite if we don’t play bridge. We had another swell game last nite; the Colonel and I were partners and we trimmed our opponents. I played better than usual – but managed to foul up a small slam hand which I bid correctly but played poorly. We went down two.

I got a chuckle out of your reference to Shirley Bernstein. Red hair now! If you want to know what I think, I’ll tell you. She’s wacky! At best she is only shining in the glow of her brother’s success – and that is flimsy glory.

And what do you mean by feeling wonderful about “being independent for awhile” anyway? Darling you’ll be independent as my wife, too – don’t forget that – even if I have to go house to house asking if anyone’s sick!

All for now Sweetheart, I really must go – but not before giving you one big long hard ethereal kiss and all the love that it imparts. My best to the folks – and to you –

My deepest love and affection

Greg.

* TIDBIT *

about The End of the Warsaw Uprising

From the "Warsaw Life" web site comes this:

In the Summer of 1944 the tides of war were turning against the Germans. The Americans and British had landed in Normandy and the Red Army had bulldozed through the Eastern front, and was marching on Warsaw. Ever since the beginning of the Nazi occupation the Poles had been preparing for a full-scale underground offensive, and on 1st August 1944 the order was finally given by General 'Bor' Komorowski for the forces of the Armia Krajowa (AK) to rise up and claim Warsaw back from the Nazis, who had held the city for over four years.

A force of 50,000 soldiers, some trained and equipped - others volunteers (including women and children), began an assault on key strategical positions throughout the city. The Home Army won several bloody skirmishes in those first few days, and the Polish national flag flew over the Old Town. The mood was triumphant and, in those areas secured by the insurgents, the Varsovians held concerts, poetry readings and other entertainments as they celebrated their newly earned freedom. It was to be the city's last taste of freedom for forty-four years.

The Polish attack planned to displace the German troops stationed in the city, was planned only to hold the town for several days until the Russians arrived with support. Far from coming to the rescue of the doomed Poles, Stalin halted the Russian advance, claiming that the resistance was illegal and the AK were 'fascists'. The mighty Red Army did little more than watch the struggle from across the Vistula as the Germans regained control of the city. What's more, kindly 'Uncle Joe' deliberately obstructed the rest of the Allies from dispatching aid to the insurgents - refusing even to allow the Americans and the Brits to use precious airbases that were now under Soviet control. Upon hearing the news of the Uprising, Himmler was so furious that he decreed that the whole city and its population should be destroyed as an example to the rest of Europe.

Simply put, Stalin hated the Poles, considering them his arch-enemy. He was still harboring resentment over the Soviet-Polish War in which the Bolsheviks were humiliated and the Poles were able to claim all disputed territories from the Russians, including Lwow (now Lviv, in the Ukraine) and Wilno (now Vilnius, in Lithuania) - the same struggle in which he was almost court-martialled for his inadequacies as a military commander. Now that the Germans were doing such a good job of destroying his bitter enemies, Stalin certainly didn't want to stop them. Moreover, with the last of Poland's home-based soldiers and leaders destroyed, he would be free to work his will over the ruined country.

Thus, what was supposed to be a 2-3 day coup turned into a brutal and bloody 2 month struggle for the Home Army. The heavily reinforced Germans struck back at the insurgents with the full force of their firepower: tanks, rocket launchers, and air raids were just some of the hazards the ill-equipped Poles had to contend with. The city became a giant war zone and civilians were not spared. Just a few days after the Uprising began the Germans sent a chilling message to the insurgents, executing at least 30,000 citizens in what is now referred to as the Wola massacre. They rounded up people from the houses in the districts which they still controlled and shot them - women, children and the elderly were not spared. This inhumane genocide was intended to crush the Poles spirit for the fight. It didn't work. However, another diabolical tactic - using female civilians as human shields for German tanks - proved effective, stacking the odds further against the beleaguered Home Army.

Unable to compete with the reinforced German troops, the insurgents were forced into hiding, often into the sewers, from where they continued to orchestrate and co-ordinate attacks. The Germans were in control of water and power supplies whereas the Home Army were desperately lacking supplies of any kind - including food and ammunition. Every animal in the city had been eaten, including the vermin. As the battle for the city raged on, with Varsovians dying at a rate of 2,000 a day, it became only a matter of time before the rebels were forced to capitulate. They finally did so on October 2nd, 63 days after the Uprising began.

Out of the sewers...

In the two month struggle 18,000 Home Army soldiers died and 12,000 were wounded with the survivors either sent to German POW camps or managing to go into hiding. A staggering 250,000 civilians were killed during the Uprising. Meanwhile the Germans suffered 10,000 fatalities with nearly as many again wounded. After his triumph, Hitler ordered special units to be brought in to systematically detonate any building of the remotest importance to Polish culture. The city was effectively destroyed block by block, and when the Russians finally crossed the Vistula to liberate the city, they inherited only ruins.

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With Warsaw out of the way, the Soviets faced little organized opposition in establishing a communist government in Poland. Later, in the years directly following the War, as the Poles tried to rebuild their shattered country under Communist leadership, it was forbidden to talk of the brave soldiers of the Uprising. The movement was denounced as illegal and every effort was made to slander those involved. Keen to behead Polish society of its heroes and intelligentsia Stalin sent many of the surviving members of the AK to Siberia for lengthy spells of hard labor, whilst he executed those whom he perceived as particularly dangerous.

Here is a 48 minute video on the Warsaw Uprising of 1944.
It is worth the time it takes to watch.

01 October 1944

438^th AAA AW BN

APO 230 % Postmaster, N.Y.

Germany

1 October, 1944       1430

Sunday

My dearest sweetheart –

Last night as I lay in bed I got to thinking how nice it will be when I can tell you all the things I’m thinking about, worrying about and dreaming of. All my life, it seems, I’ve kept my thoughts and problems to myself. It will be wonderful to have you to confide in, to help me with my problems, to allow me to think out loud.

I’ve been pretty blue the last couple of days, darling. I don’t know whether it’s due to the discouraging weather, or what – but I’ve felt the war just a little bit more today, yesterday and the day before. Tomorrow is 27 months of continuous Army service – and probably it seems longer because I’ve been with the same outfit all the while. It’s been a good outfit to be with – but I can’t hide the fact that medically speaking – it has been a complete waste of time. I guess that’s what really has me down. Oh – I’ve felt like that before and gotten over it, and I’ll get over this too – but I feel better just telling you about it, dear, even though I know it’s not fair to write you I’m blue. That’s one of the penalties you have to pay for being such a sweet and understanding fiancée.

I got to the point this morning – that I went to the First Army Surgeon, advance Section, and managed to find him in. I told him I was completely stale and asked him if there weren’t something I could do. He referred me to the personnel officer at Base Section and I’ve just come from there. The man I wanted to see was out, but I saw his representative. He told me there were other MC’s in the same position and with more time in service, but that Army was doing its best to reassign some of us. At any rate, he’s got my name on the list, but I don’t have much hope along that line. On the other hand, of course, is the probability that when this is all over that the fellows stuck in the hospitals will be the last to get out and that I might get out earlier for being in a separate battalion. The future holds that answer – as it holds so many others concerning us. One answer we don’t have to worry about though – and that is that I’m coming back to you, to marry you and live happily ever after.

I got a couple of letters yesterday – one from Lil Zetlan and one – a circular letter – from the Salem Hospital. I’m enclosing the latter. You may as well become acquainted with some of the names, dear, because you will eventually.

By the way, sweetheart, I was glad to read about Herb Zakim trying to date you. There’s nothing a fellow likes better than to feel that his fiancée or wife is attractive to others – as long as she is the faithful type; and about that I have no fear. And as to the reverse – you have never exactly asked me, but I can tell you anyway – you can and will be able to trust me, darling.

The enclosed little emblem was pinned on me by some enthusiastic Belgian some time ago. I’ve intended to send it along before but have forgotten up to now. You might like to wear it or save it. Thousands of these little emblems with the Belgian colors were to be seen in Belgium, this shape and a hundred other styles.

Well, sweetheart, I feel better now – having written to you. Everything will turn out all right, one way or another. Most of all I want to come home and marry you and show you how much I love you. Love to the folks, dear - and

My deepest love,

Greg

* TIDBIT *

about The Battle of the Huertgen Forest
First Attack: September

From a thread on the Axis History Forum web site comes this paper which was awarded the Loyola University History Award for Outstanding History Senior Thesis for the 2001-2002 Academic Year.

The Huertgen Forest: The Necessary Battle
by: Craig Bayer

There were three main army groups that would march into Germany. The first was the 21st Army Group under the command of Field Marshall Montgomery. They were still in the Holland area where Market Garden had taken place. Above Switzerland lay the 6th Army Group. Between the 21st Army Group and the 6th Army Group was the 12th Army Group under the command of General Omar Bradley. It consisted of the First, Third and Ninth armies. General Courtney Hodges was the commander of the First Army. Under Hodges were Major General Lenard Gerow, commander of V Corps, General Joseph Collin, commander of VII Corps, and General H Corlet, commander of XIX Corps. VII Corps consisted of the 1st and 9th Infantry Units and the 3rd Armored Division. V Corps controlled the 4th and 28th Infantry Division and the 5th Armored Division. In early September, General Hodges had to give these troops the order to halt, while supplies were moved to Montgomery to make way for Market Garden. General Collins and VII Corps lay west of the German town of Aachen at the Netherlands/Belgium border....

"The 9th division was given the task of clearing the northern section of the Huertgen Forest to prevent its use by the enemy as a base from which to counterattack or place fire against the south flank of the 3rd Armored as it drove head on against the West Wall."
         - General Joseph Collins

General Collins would send the 1st Infantry Division to take the foothill surrounding Aachen and have the 9th Infantry Division capture the northern part of the Huertgen Forest. The 3rd Armored Division would then be free to attack the Siegfried Line. Intelligence estimated that the Germans had only 7000 men defending the area, mainly from the 105th Panzer Brigade and the 116th Panzer Division. The German commander in charge of the defenses at the Stolberg area was General Brandenberg. He believed that the Americans would concentrate their attack on the city of Aachen. On 13 September the attack had begun and by 15 September the 1st Division had captured the ring of hills around Aachen. The 9th Infantry Division managed to take the town of Zweifall in the north area of the forest with little trouble. On 16 September, despite heavy resistance, the 9th Infantry Division was able to capture the town of Vicht and advance on Shevenhutte. With their flanks protected, the 3rd Armored Division began its assault on the Siegfried Line.

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A column of GIs ascends a hill and enters the forest.
Many of the men sent into the woods as replacements
were unprepared for what they would face.

Their initial success was due to Germany’s miscalculation of the American objectives. However, as the fighting continued, it became more and more obvious to General Brandenberg that the American attack was not towards Aachen and more likely towards Stolberg. Major William Sylvan, General Hodges aide-de-camp, was extremely worried about the American position once the surprise was up. “Colonel Dixon reported today, based on intelligence he had, the Germans now resolved to throw in everything on the present line in an attempt to hold the Americans before they could crack the defenses along it.” The Germans sent in the 7th Army Group to stop the attack. On 17 September the 12th Division of the 7th German Army group counterattacked the American 3rd Armored Division in the town of Stolberg, where the Americans took heavy losses and were halted in their tracks. On September 18, Collins had the 3rd Armored Division retreat.

The Germans laid an all out attack on the Americans and the fighting was brutal. The Americans had managed to gain a foothold in the northern part of the Huertgen Forest and the hills around Aachen, but the main objective had failed. The Americans’ initial success was due to the fact that the Germans believed the main American attack would focus on Aachen and had left the Stolberg Corridor and the Huertgen with minimal defenses. When the Germans realized their mistake they were able to counterattack and throw the Americans off base. By 13 September more German reinforcements had also begun arriving in the forest to further improve the defense.

The ill-supplied Americans were inexperienced and did not know how to fight against pillboxes. Their training at home had not taught them the techniques they would need to survive in the wooded areas. “When the Germans, secure in their bunkers, saw the GIs coming forward, they called down presighted artillery fire, using shells with fuses designed to explode on contact with the treetops. When men dove to the ground for cover, as they had been trained to do and as instinct dictated, they exposed themselves to a rain of hot metal and wood splinters. They learned to survive a shelling in the Huertgen by hugging a tree. That way they only exposed their steel helmets.” The Americans, as Sgt. Mack Morris reports, had not realized the extent of the German defenses in the forest. “In one break there was a teller mine every eight paces for three miles. In another there were more that 500 mines in the narrow break. One stretch of road held 300 teller mines, each one with a pull device in addition to the regular detonator. There were 400 anti tank mines in a three-mile area.”

Artillery-damaged Treetops in Huertgen Forest

Even if it had achieved its goals, the first attack into the forest was a complete failure because the Americans were not going after the Roer River dams.

30 September 1944

438^th AAA AW BN

APO 230 % Postmaster, N.Y.

Germany

30 September, 1944       1100

Dearest sweetheart –

This is Saturday morning and besides the usual Saturday weekly report I have to submit, there are the monthly ones due today also – so I should be busy, but with a good staff sergeant and an administrative officer – all I have to do is sign a mess of papers, look them over and pass them on. Oh hum, dear – I’ll really be spoiled. Let’s see, you can type, add and subtract – and in addition to all that, you can sit on my lap. Boy! – you ought to make one swell secretary! And from the dream I had last night – you’re going to make a swell wife. What a dream! What a dream! Jeepers – if I weren’t so sophisticated, I think I’d blush – just thinking about it – because after all, darling, we’re only engaged. But then – in the dream – you were my wife, so it’s O.K. dear, don’t worry. I hadn’t dreamed about you or us for a long time – but it certainly was swell seeing you again. For no matter how much you look at a picture, or close your eyes and try to imagine someone, there’s nothing like the vision of person in a dream to make the person seem real – except reality itself, of course, and that’s something we’ll have to wait for, I guess.

Yesterday was a quiet, dull day, dear. We waited all day for the mail – but there was none. In the evening we had a swell meal – garnished by fresh corn-on-the-cob – the first we’ve had – and procured from a nearby garden. After that we played poker until about 2145. I won 11 marks. Invasion marks – issued by the U.S. have a value of 10 cents. I don’t know what a mark was worth according to the Germans, although a Belgian some time ago told me the Germans arbitrarily fixed the marks as being worth 12 francs – which means they made it worth 24 cents.

Today is dull again and wet – but it’s nice and warm and comfortable inside. We have two scheduled attractions lined up today (a) the Red Cross Club mobile is supposed to visit us today with donuts and hot coffee. We’ve had them once before – and the line batteries several times. They really are welcome and again I have to say that R.C. is doing a bang-up job over here. (b) a movie – title not announced. The last movie we saw was “The Bridge of San Luis Rey” – an oldie, but we take them all in stride. We did see the premier in the world, I guess, of “Casanova Brown” – with Gary Cooper – a couple of weeks ago. It was fair.

Well sweetheart – what with interruptions, etc. – it’s time for lunch and so I’ll close – reminding you that I love you deeply, warmly, fully – completely and I always shall. Love to the folks, dear – and

All my everlasting love,

Greg.

* TIDBIT *

about American Red Cross Clubmobiles

The following is taken directly from an article written by Elma Ernst Fay which can be found on the Red Cross Clubmobile website.

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Group K Clubmobilers
Charlotte Colburn, Marianne Shellabarger and Elma Ernst
Leicester, England 1944

In World War II the American Red Cross was asked by the U.S. Armed Forces to provide recreational services to the servicemen in the various theaters of operation. In Great Britain, the Red Cross began setting up service clubs in London and towns near army installations. Shortly thereafter, on air bases, aero clubs were set up. Because of the great difference in pay between American servicemen and their counterparts from other countries, as Great Britain, the army asked the Red Cross to make nominal charges for food and lodging.

The Red Cross clubmobile was conceived by the late prominent New York banker, Harvey D. Gibson, Red Cross Commissioner to Great Britain, who wanted to put a service club "on wheels" which would reach the serviceman at his camp or airfield. Also, by having a club on wheels, the Red Cross was able to get around the Army's request that servicemen pay for food. Everything distributed on a clubmobile was free. The clubmobile in Great Britain was a remodeled London Green Line bus that could be taken to the airfields and camps. Driven by an English driver, three American girls were assigned to each clubmobile.

Charlotte, Marianne and Elma

Clubmobiles began operation in Great Britain in late 1942, eventually covering some thirty bases and docks at Liverpool, Greenoch, Scotland, and Belfast, Ireland. The American girls who chose this service were taught to make the doughnuts and coffee in the clubmobile. They were sent to a town near American army installations, and followed a routine of going to a different base each day, hooking up at a mess kitchen, making hundreds of doughnuts and preparing coffee, and then driving around the base, serving the men at their work. They also distributed cigarettes, life savers and gum, and had the loud speakers tuned up for each stop.

The clubmobile consisted of a good-sized kitchen with a built-in doughnut machine. A primus stove was installed for heating water for coffee, which was prepared in 50-cup urns. On one side of the kitchen area, there was a counter and a large flap which opened out for serving coffee and doughnuts. In the back one-third of the clubmobile, was a lounge with a built-in bench on either side (which could be converted to sleeping bunks, if necessary), a victrola with loud speakers, a large selection of up-to-date music records, and paperback books.

In preparation for the invasion of Normandy, June, 1944, a smaller, 2-1/2-ton GMC truck was converted to a clubmobile, with the necessary kitchen containing doughnut machine, coffee urns and the like. Close to one hundred of them were made ready. Red Cross girls who had worked on the larger clubmobile in Great Britain, were given driving instruction in order to manage the truck clubmobile.

Beginning in July, 1944, as soon after the invasion that it was safe to send Red Cross personnel onto the Continent, ten groups of 32 Red Cross girls each, along with eight clubmobiles per group, a cinemobile, three supply trucks, trailers and three British Hillman trucks, were sent to France to be attached to various US Army Corps. Each clubmobile group traveled with the rear echelon of the Army Corps and got its assignments from the Army for serving troops at rest from the front.

The service continued through France, Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany, until V-E Day, May 7, 1945.

The route of Group K, one of ten Clubmobile Groups
accompanying American troops in Europe

A limited service continued for a year after the war in occupied Germany.

Former Group K Clubmobilers in January 2000
Charlotte Colburn Gasperini, Marianne Shellabarger Jeppson
and Elma Ernst Fay (Author of this article)

Another primary source of tales of a Clubmobiler comes from letters written by Angela Petesch. Before the war, Angela worked as a Chicago Tribune feature writer. As an American Red Cross Volunteer, Angela Petesch wrote a series of letters which she sent home with the intention of creating a diary that would survive the war, even if she did not. Her family saved those letters and eventually compiled them into a manuscript for a book. The manuscript was discovered by Hunter Halverson while visiting the Red Cross Museum in Washington DC and he got the family's permission to publish Angela's correspondence into a book. This book is about hot coffee and donuts, and the world in which this seemingly domestic duty was truly a heroic endeavor. From London’s foggy streets to the snow of the Ardennes Forest, Angela followed American GIs, including General Patton’s Third Army, through some of the war’s most defining moments. With pluck and gusto she presented a polished picture of her view of the World’s fight for freedom as seen through the hole of a donut.

29 September 1944

Letterhead

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438^th AAA AW BN

APO 230 % Postmaster, N.Y.

Germany

29 September, 1944     1130

My darling –

I am not writing from a prison camp so don’t be alarmed at the stationery; Just happened to pick some up at an S.S. headquarters we went into. We finally did get around to leaving our bivouac area in a small forest and moved into a small town. The men are billeted in 2 vacant houses and the officers are spread out in 3 houses. It is far more comfortable. We didn’t get in until fairly late yesterday p.m. and this morning we got everything under control. We have a little Dispensary set-up in one of the vacant buildings and I have an office, with desks, chairs, lamps and a stove – not bad. These vacant buildings are usually furnished, by the way, and left – as is – by the Germans when the Americans came.

Last night, dear, I received a letter from you written the 15th (my latest from you) and one from my brother and another from Ethel Kerr in Salem. I had heard something about the hurricane in the Stars and Stripes which we get only occasionally now – and always 2-3 days late. I’m so glad it avoided hitting Boston and environs badly – although I was surprised to read you had no electricity. We’re kind of used to that by now – and it’s a rare privilege when we do have it. We do have it where we are now – and we’re continually putting the switch on and off just to see it work. I guess we’ve grown to be quite primitive, darling.

I was interested in your remarks about maternity cases and going out nights. From the way it looks from here, dear, I’m afraid I’ll have to take whatever comes along. I don’t know how I’ll ever get to be a surgeon now – this war lasting so damned long. With the set-up at the Salem Hospital – I know I won’t be allowed to do any major surgery unless I go away and put in a good deal of time in it – and I don’t know whether or not I’ll care to do that now. It’s a shame, too, because I was getting along fine. But the Hospital – in circular and staff meeting reports that I get – is stressing more and more the fact that to do surgery you must be willing to specialize in that and that alone – and from here at this moment, I can’t see it. I know I’ll be allowed to do and can do traumatic work – but I haven’t done enough abdominal surgery to satisfy them. Well – there’s no sense crossing my bridges now. One way or another, sweetheart, I’ll be able to make a decent living for you – and ultimately – that’s all I want. We’ll see. The fact is I still have my appointment on the staff – and that is of prime importance in Salem.

I get so fed up with the waiting and waiting – it sometimes seems unbearable. And then it is that our love for one another carries me in such good stead. I don’t know, truthfully, what I would do without you – I love you so – and the thought of you is so comforting. I thank God for it.

I’ll have to stop now and get some lunch darling. I hope all is well at home. My love to the folks and

All my sincerest love to you

Greg

P.S. Lawrence writes me that the blinking of Mother A’s eyes is no better and that if affects her quite a bit. How bad is it, dear? I feel it will improve when the war is over and she is happy again.

Love

G.

* TIDBIT *

about "The Great Hurricane" of 1944

"The Great Hurricane" of September, 1944 was first detected northeast of the Lesser Antilles. From there, it hugged the United States coast, crossing Long Island, New York, the Rhode Island Coast, emerged into Massachusetts Bay and impacted Maine. With 140 mph winds, this Category 4, produced hurricane force winds over a diameter of 600 miles causing over $100 million (1944 USD, $1.2 Billion 2010 USD). 70-foot high waves were also reported. Up to 11” of rain fell in areas of New England. The storm wreaked havoc on World War II shipping lines, and five ships sunk during the storm, including two US coast guard cutters off of North Carolina (48 lives lost) and a US Navy destroyer off of Florida (248 lives lost). Mainland evacuations and careful warnings, however, allowed the death toll on land to be fairly low: 46 persons.

Track of the Hurricane

From the U.S. Coast Guard comes this story of two ships lost:

The "Active-Class" of Coast Guard vessels was one of the most useful and long-lasting in Coast Guard service with 16 cutters still in use in the 1960’s. They were originally designed for trailing the "mother ships" along the outer line of patrol during Prohibition. They were constructed at a cost of $63,173 each. They gained a reputation for durability that was only enhanced by their re-engining in the late 1930’s; their original 6-cylinder diesels were replaced by significantly more powerful 8-cylinder units that used the original engine beds and gave the vessels 3 additional knots. All but two served in World War II; the Jackson and the Bedloe were lost in "The Great Hurricane" in 1944.

The USCGC Jackson joined the Prohibition fleet at Boston, Massachusetts in 1927. Prior to World War II she saw service out of Greenport, New York, Charlotte, New York and Rochester, New York, conducting law enforcement and search and rescue duties with occasional light icebreaking operations.

WSC-142 USCGC Jackson soon after her commissioning.
Date: 31 March 1927; USCG Photo #: 16079-A
Photographer: J. N. Heuisy (U.S. Coast Guard photo).

During the war she was assigned to the EASTSEAFRON and was stationed at Norfolk, Virginia and conducted escort-of-convoy operations. On 1 April 1942 she unsuccessfully attempted to tow the torpedoed tanker Tiger.

Laid down in 1926 at the American Brown Boveri Electric Group in Camden, NJ, USCGC Antietam was commissioned into US Coast Guard service in July 1927 and promptly joined the effort to combat smugglers and bootleggers off the US East Coast. Based out of USCG Station Boston as a member of the 1st US Coast Guard District, the Antietam performed her counter-smuggling duties through the end of prohibition, after which she assumed the traditional Coast Guard missions. Antietam operated in the Great Lakes through 1940, when gathering war clouds and her advancing age brought her to Hoboken, NJ, Here she was given a comprehensive overhaul including new engines, increased armament and upgrades to her onboard systems.

USCGC Bedsoe

Placed into the operational control of the US Navy following the outbreak of the Second World War, the Antietam was assigned to the Eastern Sea Frontier out of Stapleton, Staten Island where she was outfitted for war, which included the addition of substantial anti-surface armaments and anti-submarine gear like hydrophones and depth charge racks. Assigned the highly dangerous duty of convoy escorts and patrol ships in waters which in 1942 were infested with German U-Boats, the Antietam provided protection to countless ships transiting to and from the European and Pacific theatres, rescued shipwrecked sailors, assisted damaged and disabled vessels and hunted enemy submarines for two long years of near-constant operations. She was renamed USCGC Bedloe in 1943 to free the name Antietem up for a US Navy Aircraft Carrier under construction. Ship and crew were stationed at Morehead City in early September 1944.

On 14 September 1944 she was ordered, along with sister cutter Jackson, to go to the assistance of torpedoed merchant vessel George Ade off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, in the midst of a powerful hurricane. Both cutters sank in the heavy seas. The following is an excerpt from the official Coast Guard at War volume on Lost Cutters (Volume 8, Historical Section, Public Information Division, U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters, May 1, 1949, pages 115-17) that covers the loss of both Bedloe and Jackson:

Two Coast Guard cutters the CGS's BEDLOE (ex-ANTIETAM) and JACKSON, foundered in heavy weather off Cape Hatteras on 14 September, 1944. The cutters had gone to the assistance of a Liberty Ship which had been torpedoed off the North Carolina coast and almost driven ashore the hurricane. The Liberty Ship had weathered both blows and was towed to Norfolk with no casualties among her 40 man crew and only slight damage to her cargo. The two cutters were each 125 feet in length and of 220 tons each. The commanding officer of the BEDLOE was Lt. A. S. Hess, and of the JACKSON, Lt. (jg) N. D. Call. The BEDLOE had 5 officers and 33 men on board when sunk, of whom 2 officers and 24 men were lost. The JACKSON had 5 officers and 36 men on board and 2 officers and 19 men were lost.

Community Relations (Coast Guard Art Program)
Painting Record No. 212/749 Object ID: 200503
Artist: Barberis, Louis

Struck four times by the towering waves, the Bedloe tossed like a matchstick in the ocean before going down. All 38 officers and crew men safely abandoned ship and at least 30 were able to obtain a hold on the life crafts. However, the strain of fighting the hurricane aboard, plus the ordeal of hanging to life rafts for 51 hours, proved too much for most of the men and only 12 were able to hang on until rescued. One man slid under the water only minutes before the rescue craft came into sight.

Borne to the top of a huge swell, the Jackson was struck by two swells and rolled over until the mast dipped water. As the swells subsided, the ship righted and was hit by another high sea and turned on her side a second time. Struggling out of that, the vessel was carried high by a third sea. It seemed then, survivors said, that she hung in mid-air for seconds; then the wind seized her, turned her on her side and completely over. She disappeared under a huge wave. Next day, two of the survivors had tried to swim ashore which they thought was 10 miles away. After swimming about 3 hours they realized they were making little headway and decided to return. Turning back, one of them saw a shark about 30 feet away headed for the other. The shark was more than six feet long but passed him without harm.

Twelve survivors from the BEDLOE and nineteen from the JACKSON were spotted on life rafts, those from the BEDLOE being spotted by a patrol plane and picked up an hour later by a Navy minesweeper. Those from the JACKSON were spotted by a Coast Guard plane from Elizabeth City, N. C., and picked up by a 36 foot cutter from the Oregon Inlet Lifeboat Station, 15 miles away. The former had been in the water 51 hours and the latter 58 hours . The Coast Guard planes landed in the swells, a plane next to each life raft, and crew members dived into the sea and hauled semi-conscious men onto the wings of the tossing planes, where first aid was administered. A Navy blimp dropped emergency rations. Guided by PBM’s (patrol bomber seaplanes) and another Navy blimp, the Coast Guard cutter made directly for the JACKSON’s survivors and quickly hauled them aboard. Near the shore the men were transferred aboard a Navy vessel, where they were treated by a physician until Coast Guard PBM‘s landed and flew them to Norfolk for more hospitalization. An intensive search was instituted for the 48 officers and men reported missing in the twin disaster, including the 23 year old skipper of the JACKSON, Lt. (jg) N. O. Call.

Survivors said 37 officers and men originally clung to the three Jackson rafts, but 17 died during the second night from exposure and exhaustion. Added to the torment of parched throats, crowded rafts and heavy seas during their 58 hour vigil were sharks and "Portuguese men-of-war," multi-tailed marine pests whose stingers continually lashed the bodies of the strom tossed men. Ironically enough, crew members of each vessel pinned their hopes on rescue by the other, unaware of the like doom of each ship. Lt. Hess of the Bedloe explained: "Skippers often think alike. I was trying to work our way out to sea a bit to avoid the heavy swell hitting near the shore and I figured the Jackson was doing likewise and would be somewhere in the vicinity."

William W. McCreedy, boatswain's mate first class from the Oregon inlet Lifeboat Station, who assisted in the rescue of the survivors from the Jackson, said the first thing he saw was a man doubled up in a small raft, his eyes resembling "a couple of blue dots in a beefsteak." "He flashed a beautiful smile that couldn't be missed," McCreedy continued, "I felt I had looked at something a man sees once in a lifetime -- sort of thought I had come to the edge of heaven. Then, as though his last will to fight had been lost when he saw us, he slumped into the water. The radioman grabbed him and held him in the raft. I went overboard to help and the three of us dragged the raft down. The unconscious man's foot was twisted in the lines, but I cut him free and we put him in the boat." Just before reaching shore, the man reached, stroked McCreedy's face and mumbled "We made it." Then he died.

28 September 1944

438^th AAA AW BN

APO 230 % Postmaster, N.Y.

Germany

28 September, 1944      0925

My dearest darling –

First – excuse me for the hurried V-mail written last nite, dear, but I did want to get something off to you before the day was over. Yesterday was Yom Kippur and about 9 of us headed back to Corps headquarters where services were to be held. We had to cross a ford at one point and the recent rain swelled all the creeks – the result being that both jeeps got stuck and then some! Poor ‘Wilma’ – she really got covered with mud. She was a mess, but then – before it was all over – so was I. We finally got help from a large truck which had to winch us out. We were quite late at this point but continued on our way and did manage to get to our destination before the services were over.

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Jeep in the mud in Huertgen Forest
(Occupants unknown)

I prayed hard, sweetheart, for everything that we both want so much and I’m certain that we’ll have it all some day. Incidentally the B.B.C. made a recording of the services and I assume that it was or will be re-broadcast.

In the p.m. the Colonel asked me to go on reconnaissance with another officer to look for a new C.P. – preferably indoors. That suited me fine because the last week or so – outdoor life hasn’t been too hot. By the way, darling, I hope you don’t entertain any idea of going on camping trips after we’re married. I warn you now, dear, that will constitute grounds for divorce! Anyway – we went to a nearby town, looked up the Burgomeister and had him show us the various vacant houses in town. The mayors of these towns are not the mayors in power when the Nazis were here – but are O.K’d by the Civil Affairs outfit. The latter has done a good job. They – with the help of an Army police force – move into a town, root out the obvious Nazis and trouble-makers, lock them up, and appoint a German whom – they think – they can trust. We finally found places that could accommodate all the officers and men, but it took most of the p.m. We were supposed to move today – but something else turned up and we sit here in the same place, after all.

As I wrote you last nite, I found a letter of yours and 3 V-mails – all one letter, from Verna. I read them this morning – it was too dark last nite and our gasoline lantern was on the bum. Your letter, dear, was written 10 Sept – and you can see that our mail is reaching us quite late these days. Verna’s letter thanked me for writing to her personally and told me of the nice day you she and Irv had had together. I was surprised at what she had to say about Stan. Her previous letter had rather defended Stan’s failure to write and keep in contact with his friends. In this one she elaborated on his successes with the women in Washington, and with the Marksons, and then went on to say it has given him a very big head etc. I’m sorry for all that has happened to Stan because he is estranging some of his oldest and best friends – and he may want their help some day; if not help – at least comfort.

I enjoyed your description of your elated feeling on only 1 drink – the nite you went to a ‘joint’ with Nin and Irv. I’m not worrying about marrying a souse, darling. I guess one thing neither of us will have trouble with is drinking. I like to take a drink at a party or when I’m going out – but outside of that, I don’t miss it at all.

Say, dear, you’ve really got me lined up to take care of ‘baby’. I don’t know what kind of husband I’ll make taking care of babies, but I do know I love ‘em and that’s the most important part. We’ll waste no time having a couple – what do you think?

Have to stop now, darling. One of my boys just came in to tell me the Colonel is looking for me so I’d better be going. I do love you, darling, and I hope you’re aware by now how much. These past ten months have neared you to me tremendously, and I’m glad that distance enhanced our love rather than dimmed it – as so often is the case.

For now, so long, and love to the folks.

All my everlasting love

Greg

P.S. Enclosed are a few odd notes I’ve come across.

L. G.

Route of the Question Mark


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(A) Rott, Germany to (B) Raeren, Belgium (6 miles)
20 to 28 September 1944

September 28... Raeren, Belgium. A retreat back across the border because we wanted houses to live in. Comfortable rooms, electric lights, running water. The problem of looting came up for the first time, for these houses were furnished, and fraternizing became the unwritten order of the day until the M.P.s put a stop to it. Here the death of T/4 COLLINS depressed everyone, and we were issued overcoats, a sure sign of the approach of winter.

27 September 1944

V-MAIL

438^th AAA AW BN

APO 230 % Postmaster, N.Y.

Germany

27 September, 1944      2100

Dearest Sweetheart –

Excuse the V-mail but I couldn’t help it today. I almost missed writing you altogether, darling – but it’s the most uncomfortable feeling in the world going to sleep of a night without having written you sometime during the day – so I’m trying to get this off to you.

I was away all day and got back a little while ago. I’ll write you the first thing in the morning, dear, and tell you where I was etc.; nothing important – but I like to keep you posted from day to day.

When I got back I found a letter of yours from Sept 12, a chain letter of 3 V-mails from Verna and one from Lawrence. Have not read them yet but will as soon as I send this. Will close now – Sweetheart – wishing you and the family a Happy New Year. Remember dear -– you have and always have

All my love

Greg

* TIDBIT *

about the Huertgen Forest

CLICK ON IMAGES TO ENLARGE

Forest showing two Westwall (Seigfried) defense Lines.
To the north of the forest is the Stolberg Corridor.
To the south of the forest is the Monschau Corridor.
On this date, Greg is in the forest at Rott, a district of Roetgen.

The Battle of Huertgen (Hürtgen) Forest is the name given to the series of fierce battles fought between U.S. and German forces during World War II in the Huertgen Forest, which became the longest battle on German ground during World War II, and the longest single battle the U.S. Army has ever fought in its history. The battles took place from 14 September 1944 to 10 February 1945, over barely 50 square miles (130 square kilometers), east of the Belgian–German border, about 5 miles south of the city of Aachen.

The Huertgen Forest is dense with conifers and occupies a rugged area between the Roer (Rur) River and Aachen. The German defenders had prepared the area with blockhouses, minefields, barbed wire, and booby-traps. There were also numerous bunkers in the area, mostly belonging to the deep defenses of the Siegfried Line (also known as the Westwall). The small numbers of roads, tracks, firebreaks and clearings had allowed German machine-gun, mortar and artillery teams to pre-range their weapons and fire accurately. Bad weather as well as the density and rough terrain of the forest prevented proper use of the Allied air superiority. The tall forest canopy also favored the defenders. Artillery fire was fused to detonate as tree bursts. While defenders were protected from shell fragments (and wooden splinters from the trees) by their dug-in defensive positions, attackers in the open were much more vulnerable. Conversely, U.S. mortar platoons needed clearings in which to work; these were few and dangerous, being pre-ranged by German troops, so mortar support was often unavailable to rifle platoons.

The impenetrable forest also limited the use of tanks and hid anti-tank teams. Improvised rocket launchers were made using rocket tubes from aircraft and spare jeep trailers. Transport was similarly limited by the lack of routes: at critical times, it proved difficult to reinforce or supply front-line units or to evacuate their wounded. The Germans were hampered by much the same difficulties, of course; their divisions had taken heavy losses on the retreat through France and were hastily filled up with untrained boys, men unfit for service, and old men. Transport was also a problem because of the difficult roads and the lack of trucks and fuel. Most supplies had to be manhandled to the front line. But the German defenders had the advantage in that their commanders and many of their soldiers had been fighting for a few years and had learned the necessary tactics for fighting efficiently in forested areas, whereas the Americans were often well-trained but inexperienced.

In the Huertgen Forest

Most of the books on the subject conclude that the American commanders made a huge mistake by entering the forest and should have bottled it up and gone around it. They are right, when they argue that the forest itself had very little strategic value. However, what was important was the Roer River and the dams that controlled the river’s flow. The only way the Americans could capture the dams was to enter the forest. Without control of those dams, the Allies could not have moved over the Roer River because the Germans could have blown up the dams, cutting off any American troops that had crossed it. Destruction of the 180-foot-high Schwammenauel Dam, engineers said, would have swelled the Roer at Duren by 25 feet and created a raging torrent one and a half miles wide. Two out of three of the Allied Army groups would have had troops that would not have been able to cross the river into Germany.