June 25, 1944
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
ENGLANIS-Cpl. Jack Coggins. Yank staff artist was in thethedining saloon o{ aaU.U.S.S.LibertyLibertyshin'shin' the George E.E.Pickelt.Pickelt.drinking coffee when thethe news came overover thethethat radioradiolandingslandings onon thethe bcachfs of NomandyNomandyhadhadbegun. Principal reaction of the men of the crew—it was mostly live cargo the Ptckett was carrying—was relief thatthatwas ititnotnot another drydry run.run. ThroughoutThroughoutwhich folfol thethe actionaction lowed Coggms perched atat aavantage pointpoint onon •^e•^e"pper deck with hishissketch book, making dnvw- ings of the scenes aboutabouthim. l"he impressions which he iworded with hishisdrawing pencil ononD-Day and DDplus One, when hishis shipshipreached thethebeachhead are reproduced onon thesethesepages. twotwoHisHisverbal description ofofthethescenes,-which goes asasaacompanion piece totothe drawings, follows:follows: "Our c^o waswasvaried aa one; aa batterybatterylo^s ofof ananambulance company,company,oneonebulldozer, aa trucktruck loaded withwithaa dismantleddismantledmembers PiperPiperofof Cub.Cub. aa Port Company, aaCounter Intelligence Corps detach ment, oneoneplatoon ofof aa reconnaissancereconnaissanceoutfit withwith their jeeps andandM-8s, andandsome infantrymen. ReRe actionactionmost ofofofofthe-the-GIs totothe newsnewsthat battle hadhad begunbegun waswas oneone ofof curiosity.curiosity. TheyThey werewere notnot thethe leastleastbit excited, but aa fitfitand solid bunch ofofmen. TheyThey tooktooktheir briefing quietly, and seemed more interestedinterestedthe money inin they'd just received forfor useuse Fires anp Sheu.in6 jmjm6'ranpc^kf inin FranceFrance thanthan inin wherewhere theytheythe werewere going.going. IIIfiiKGB gotgot Fi-reFi-relc>oKex> Like Veh»clesVeh»clescr aa"Pomf impressionimpressionthat except forfor locallocalknowledge contained inintheir detailed maps, most ofofthem had no idea ofofthe operation asas aawhole. .. .. .. "" OurOur fleetfleetterrific waswassight—ships aa asasfar asasone couldcould see,see,and bigbiglittle onesonesones,ones,Liberty ships and LCTs, cruisers and tugs, DUKWs and smaller landing craft scurried about HkeHkewater beetles. ""Inshore, AlliedAlliedcruisers andandbattleships slowly and deliberately rolledrolledout great billowsbillowsbright ofof orangeorange flame,flame,marking thethedeparture ofoftons ofof highhigh explosive aimed at German defences inland. Our ship shook totothe heav:.y concussion ofofthe bigbigguns. Once inin aawhile, aa Jerry shellshellwould raise aa water spout closecloseto the bigbigships but the enemy's return firefire waswasnegligible inin itsits effect.effect.ship just TheTheastern ofof us,us,another inin column, gotgotbit aa ofofdamage and farther astern one ofofour own convoy waswasdown at the stern and belching great clouds of smoke and flameflameamidships. AsAs weweapproached our anchorage, bows and stems of wrecked ships, the funnels and mast ofofan American destroyer jutting from the water, were testimony to the effectiveness ofofGerman firefire ononD-Day. ... WHAT struck me most was the absence o£ enemy planes.planes. II sawsawene,ene,ananME-ro9ME-ro9 onlyonly whichwhich zoomed out of the overcast oneoneafternoon, took violent but unsuccessful evasive action from the blast ofof lightlightthat flakflakflew upup fromfromeveryeveryshipship inin sight,sight,thenthen wentwent"into the-drink withwith aa mightymighty splash.splash. AA fewfew planesplanes werewereanchorage overoveratat thethe night,night, visiblevisible onlyonly through thethesuggestion ofofdotted lineslinestracer ofof firefire Sum AnCHOREP on our :gEA/VI -TUT?N1I06 PYS-reKN driftingdrifting lazilylazily skywardskywardprogress. totoTheThe markmark theirtheir NavyNavy gunsguns onon ourour shipship gotgot theirtheir firstfirst chancechance toto firefire atat thethe enemyenemy onon oneoneforays—and ofof thesethesethethe nightnight menmen lovedlovedOur it.it.ensignensign hadhadthem drilleddrillednot to fire untiluntil theythey couldcouldplane seeseeandand theirtheir theythey nevernever did,did, whichwhich waswasthan couldcould moremore bebe saidsaidthe gungun forfor crewscrews onon somesomeother ofofships.ships. thethe "Among other things, wewe hadhad aa loadloadTNT and ofof dynamitedynamite aboard,aboard,uncomfortable anancargocargoat anyany time,time,particularly andand soso withwith Jerry'sJerry's 20-mm.20-mm. shellsshells -- droppingdroppingaboard,aboard,asasthey diddid onon manymany occasions.occasions. ItItwas aarelief when ourourcargo was finally land(Kj. ,, .. ..'' ""rrwentwent ashoreashore withwithjy*ps andand aa loadload foundfoundthethe ofof beachheadbeachhead remarkablyremarkably quietquiet andand orderly.orderly. SmashedSmashed feerman guns and pillboxes marked thethepassage ofof ourour troopstroops inland,inland,engineere butbuthadhad ourour donedonegoo<l aa jobjob ofof cleaningcleaning upupwreckage. mostmostMyMy ofofhat thethe isisoff toto thethemembers ofof ourourcompany portportwho unun loadedloaded us;us; theythey hadhad beenbeen sosothat thoroughlythoroughly trainedtrained theythey emptiedemptied thethe shipship withoutwithout aa hitch,hitch, despitedespite airair alerts and occasional shells from 88s88sinland. The shellsshells werewerelanding ononthe beach oror ininthe water every onceonce inin aaand whilewhilethere waswasconsiderable gunfiregunfire inland.inland. Otherwise,Otherwise, thethe scene,scene, justjust inin fromfrom thethe beach,beach,waswaslikelikepeaceful aa bitof England.England. SwarmsSwarms of meadowlarks hovered overhead as II returned to the beach later, and II felt aalittle cheated—this was mymy firstfirstbattlefield—andbattlefield—and11 thumbedthumbed aa rideride inin aa DUKW back to the Pickeit. ... "" WeWechanged positionposition ininthat aa hurryhurryafternoon. JerryJerry hadhad gottengottenmeasure andand ourour88s hishiswere fallfall inging uncomfortablyuncomfortablyclose withwith aa mostmost unpleasantlyunpleasantly threateningthreatening sound.sound.couple thatthat AfterAfterfell short,short, aa and aanear missmissour offoffport bow,bow, wewesearching wentwent for aasafer anchorage. ... "The Channel waswaslively whenwhen weweback. camecame PawM ——AcTiow Statiows WeWe werewereat actionaction stationsstations mostmost ofof thethe night.night. WhatWhat withwithshells thetheandandbombs andand thethestrain ofof nono 201^- 60W60WCR.EW sleep we were all glad to get back. ItItfelt good to take your boots off for aachange." yank Tha Army WoeUy ••JUNE 25 flteiiiaDd 80. ofofTexamah. Neb., was diowned &be Ru^ was resting comfortably inin thetheOrtho mymytype." Mrs. Stankowich, whowhoreceived thethe letterletter when the house she lived in with her son. Harry. pedic Hrapital ininNew York, following ananoperation mm^il,^il,said ititstruck ""aasoft spot in my heart." overflowed the onon hishisknee, rightrightnecessitated byby ananold baseball banis 01 thetheElkhtnnElkhtnnRiverRiverandandinnndated sixsixnorthnorth And here's another honey forforyou. Mis. Dixie ern Nebras^ ^unties.^unties.AtAtWest Point, Neb., 7.2 injury. Ask^Ask^ifif heheplanned totoreturn totothe game Rose ^e. of Denver, Col., admitted that she had thatthatmade him famous, be replied: "Hell, no. I'mI'm seven men ininthe'lastthe'last14 yeare. explaining, ^^ ^^®®shortshortperiod ofoftime, andand thethetrotrooldoldforforthat.that.Some dope justjustwanted something notnottoo relevantly, thatthatshe diddidsosobecause she lik^ resato^flood was the third mmtwo months ininthat toto^^ soso thethestory gotgotstartM. IHIHconfine my totravel.totravel.'' II didn'tdidn'talways lovelovethethemarried manmanII"" iUiet Imrtem thoasand acicsacicso£o£landlandflooded werewereactivity to golf bom now <mi"<mi" vicinrty-of Yankton, S.S. D.D.Fairview,Fairview, AtAt said LaLaBdkBdkLane, cheerfuUy, ""batbatIIusually did Evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson, dressed in like them." jj •• Jeaoette WilliamsonWilliamsondrowned waswas^^ oistomary flowing white robes, rettuned totoher lalaaaswollen cnsek whUe tninging some cattlecattlehome Aagons Temjde pidiHt inin LosLosAngeles, after ananab- Almost everybody loves aapooch, but Mis. Gert from^ pasture. TheThe 0es0esMoines River was almost twotwomontiis causedcaused byby waswas near £tes Mranes.Mranes.la., after aa fallfallof ruderudeVachaL (rf Niantic^ Comi.. k>ves heisheisextraextra I.200I.200woishippeis. whowho joinedjoinedberberinin qiedal. aie waitedwaitedeight days inin herhercar inin aa the third heaviest evw recorded aaprogram ofofpnyeisforforAe snmess ofof AlliedAllied armiesarmiesNewark. N.N.J.. parking for the retnm ofofher focc && TbemxorniTbemxornimmFrance. River h^throngaalevee atatHamborg, la.,la.,flood terrier pop, Tony,Tony,who hadhadscrammed out of there ing 200 bonoes, andandititwas reported riang allallthetheway aiKl vanidiedvanidiedwUlewUledie waswas gettinggetting readyready toto drivedrive from So^ aty, la.,la.,totoNdwaska Qty, Neb. home, ionally, Mrs.Mrs.Vachal made arrangements to Two sharp earthquakes rocked the Los Angeles tour Newark inin aasound truck from which she called a^, shaki^shaki^upupLaguoa Beach, Pasadena, and Long totoher petpet bybyname,name,and, asas sheshepassing waswas aa firefire station. TonyTony dasheddashedtailtailwagging.wagging. out,out, hishis SeemsSeems causing aalandslide whichwhich blockedblockedthe he'd beenbeen visitingvisiting theretherehaving thethe wholewholebeenbeen time,time, Coast^ llighway 37 miles totothe north. Six persons takentaken inin byby twotwo vampsvamps whowho thoughtthought hehe waswas aa straystray were injured when aaviolent