August 19th 1944-First full day in France, Holding area B

"8/19/1944
Camouflaging vehicles with nets as hedgerows
G.M.C. to showers through rain-No shower
4 man tent with Hope, Mac and Kindel. Sponge bath and shave"

Lu's Memoirs: As we began our first day in 'combat' I'm not sure how many of us knew whwere we were going or what our objective was. We were not exactly in close contact with the enemy while in 'Holding Area B', but our first orders were to drape our newly woven camouflage nets over the vehicles and to pitch our 'pup tent' in places that were as inconspicuous as possible.
Just before leaving England I began writing and abbreviated journal in a small 3" x5" loose leaf note book. On Aug. 19 I noted that besides camouflaging the vehicles near the hedgerows, I pitched a four man pup tent with Hope, Mac and Kindel, also that we took off in a G. M. C. to where some showers were supposed to be. The only showers we found were the rain drops that fell on the truck, and there were plenty of those.
Then I noted that I began a very close relationship with my helmet. If you can't shower, you need a wash basin, and the helmet of WWII made a first class bucket for carrying water, and tub for washing clothes, for shaving and for sponge baths. With a limited supply of water, and an even more limited source of hot water, there was always a film of soap clinging to the inside of the helmet, along with the associated odors.
By the end of the day all elements of the 16th F. A. O. B. were together and ready for our first assignment.

From Cliff Hope's book: The next day we camouflaged our vehicles with those nets we had complained about so fiercely. Attempts to find a field shower were unsuccessful. In the afternoon a heavy rain was followed by a rainbow and a beautiful sunset, brilliant yellows and pinks in large clouds. I read a condensation of A Bell for Adano and answered letters I had received before we left England

1944 G.M.C. (General Military carrier?) or 'Jimmy'

WWII helmet with soap scum

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August 28th 1944 Journal Entry-Rain and Rations

Aug 28th RAIN RAIN and mud Lu from his memoirs: We settled into a routine of extending and improving our control surveys and existing on "K" and "C" rations and sleeping in soggy pup tents. There was lots of rain and mud and finding ways to improve living conditions was a constant challenge. As Cliff pointed out in his book, we had some talented buddies with inventive minds. Tom Fourshes, of Cadiz, Kentucky built a compact, wood fired cooking stove on which we could heat our rations, spread hot cheese on crackers, and boil eggs obtained from farmers. We found straw and dry grass to put under our bed rolls, but we never found a way to keep the water our of our fox holes. We didn't have too much incoming artillery, but I noted on August 26 'Priebe hits fox hole as I leave it going for mine as shells land in river' We also began a close relationship with our Field Artillery gun battalions. The 561st next to us were equipped with "155 Long T

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Welcome to Winsor War Notes, the experiences of Luther Snow Winsor in World War Two. Subscribe to experience the day by day journal entries published on the matching day of the year for the time of his deployment to Europe and the Battle of the Bulge. Entries will include scans of the pages of his handwritten notes made at the time with a transcription and pertinent sections of the history he wrote later using these notes to jog his memories. The idea of this project is to publish and read the entries on the days of the year that they were originally written so we can get a feel for the weather setting and of the passage of time as it passed for him as he had these experiences. I will include relevant photos where possible. I suggest viewing Band of Brothers and Saving Private Ryan if you want a more graphic sense of what he was experiencing. He said that Saving Private Ryan was very realistic to his memories and Band of Brothers depicts many of the same kinds of things

January 12th Battalion History

Battalion History: We'll remember of the overall picture, the general German withdrawal toward Houffalize to escape an allied trap, the enemy counterattack which regained Noville and Foy, the American attack which retook Noville, the original objective of the corps in this area. Houffalize was taken by First Army troops and Corps' new objective became Limerle. The Germans began to withdraw toward the Siegried Line. Limerle and Echo were taken. The First Army retook St. Vith. VIII Corps troops pushed on through Trois Vierges, Luxembourg, went on to take Burg Rowland, and reached the Our River on a braod front. Bridgeheads over the Our were established and enlarged. Winterscheid and Sehonberg fell to corps troops. Poor weather made sound and flash ranging results almost negligible. And the buck privates who didn't want to go to war in the first place wondered if spring would ever come. The folks back home complained about meat shortages and said, "They say all the m

Winsor War Notes-Luther Snow Winsor's WW II experiences

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