August 23rd 1944 Journal Entry-Convoy to Landerneau for the Battle of Brest

8/23/44: Convoy on to Brest-Then Guingamp, Belle Isle De Terre, Morlaix,
FFI guarding bridges saw several of their encampments.
Halt-1400-French gals and potato sacks, Lesneven, Then Landerneau.
Took bivouac NW Landerneau for Battle of Brest-A & B Btry out putting in Flash & Sd.
Hope Mak and Ben the brook-On M. G.
Germans held town 3 days before arrival.
Kindel and I pitch tent in edge of blackberry patch
561 FA 155's to our south firing all night (& from then on)

561st field artillary 155 mm howitzer

Lu, from his memoirs: 'Our' war really started on the 23rd (the history continues)---
When Major Ramsey, S-3 met General Macmahon VIII Corps Artillery commander at a rendezvous point in the Lesneven area and received orders committing the battalion to combat.

Headquarters and B Battery were attached to the 174th Field Artillery Group with the mission of providing survey control and locating enemy targets by sound and flash. The 174th group, commanded by Colonel Kruger, was assigned to Task force B, its mission being to clear Daoules Peninsula (sub-peninsula on the east end of the harbor, southeast of the city of Brest) by providing support for infantry units.
A Battery was attached to the 12th FA Obsn Bn (Field Artillery Observation Battalion) for the duration of the Brest campaign. Its mission was to provide survey control and locate targets in the Le Conqut area.

The battalion moved into a tactical bivouac area near the town of Landerneau, in the combat zone and within range of enemy artillery. By 1630 (4:30 pm) survey parties were carrying control forward for the artillery, and sound and flash bases were being installed.

My journal on the 23rd noted our convoy on to Brest, through Guingamo, Belle Isle en Terre, Moriaix, Lesneven and then to our bivouac area near Landerneau. On the way we noted French underground forces (FFI) guarding bridges and the people were still showering us with affection.  There were hastily painted signs read such as 'Vive Le America and in English 'Welcome at our Liberators'. I noted that Hope, Mac and Ben Broskie were assigned machine gun duty and Kindel and I pitched our tent in the edge of a blackberry patch.

French resistance fighers

Welcome to the liberators

This might be a good place to give a big 'Thank You' to the staff of the armed services newspaper the Stars and Stripes. This was a G.I. (General Issue--Enlisted Men) newspaper. Officers could read it, but it was printed for the G.I. and proved to be one of the best morale builders of the war. Reporters were always where the action was, and it was amazing how soon copies were back out to the front lines.

A stars and stripes article in my scrap book talked about one of these 'Liberation Parades'. "SOMEWHERE IN FRANCE-- In an effort to keep up with the fighting troops we have just completed one of those long road marches that took us through freshly liberated villages and along streets lined with cheering, kissing, V-signing, flower throwing French people. Our experience parallels that of thousands of others who have made these triumphal marches these past few days, and if we are a little out-of-breath it is because we are still drunk with power and have just been kissed on both cheeks by a small boy clutching a wilted bouquet of flowers and some sticky hard candy, smoking a Fleetwood cigarette.

Carl Mauldin, the top cartoonist of WWII put a nice twist on this subject by showing an officer's jeep in one of these parades, followed by a big six by six truck of G.I.'s. The French were throwing flowers and the G.I.'s were tossing fresh fruit onto the backs and helmets of the officer and his driver. The title was, "My, sir--What an enthusiastic welcome.'

Lu, From Ray Hight's book: On August 23rd 1944, we became involved in the Brest Campaign on the Brittany Peninsula. The Germans had established a major submarine base there with covered submarine 'pens' and huge fortifications with large railroad-mounted guns that could throw shells far out to sea, keeping warships at bay. These pens needed to be put out of commission.

'The infantry fighting, as the circle around Brest was tightened was brutal. This was 'hedgerow' country, which provided great defensive cover and a huge obstacle to attack forces. Early fighting in the hedgerow country was slow and bloody. Then American ingenuity took over, tanks were equipped with make-shift bulldozer blades which could punch holes in the hedgerows. Following tanks could then cover the field with deadly firepower, and infantry could mop up and take prisoners. Still it was a field by field fight all the way into the city. '

Fighting in the Hedgerows

Tank-dozers made a channel through the Hedgerows

We just dug our way through and would end up with a channel, a path all the way through, from one field to the next. after this, going through the hedgerow countryside was a fairly easy introduction to front-line combat. Sometimes we would dive into the shelter of a hedgerow if we needed to find cover in a hurry.

Everyone was required to carry a weapon at all times though we weren't equipped to fight as the infantry was. Each member of the survey team was issued a carbine, which we carried slung over our back. I never fired a shot from this rifle which was one step up from the little .22 rifle I used when I hunted rabbits as a kit. We basically had the carbines so no one would argue with us at close range.

Cliff Hope, from his book: 
Pushing on toward Brest, we followed a route through Guingamp, Belle Isle en Terre, and Morlaix.. From the road we saw the encampments of the French underground, whose members were guarding the bridges. Peasants came to offer cognac in exchange for gasoline. Continuing through Lesneven and Landerneau, we set up permanent bivouac near Landerneau for the Battle of Brest. A and B batteries were put on night sound and flash ranging. The wire section was also assigned night duty. My assignment was to 20-hour, .50 caliber machine gun duty with two other soldiers, McNamara and Broskie. I had never fired a machine gun before. There was frequent shelling of Brest by our artillery from a wide arc. One point of firing was near us. No fire came in return from the German positions. Germans were reported to have held Landerneau up to three days before our arrival. It was thought they were three miles to the south of us. "The flash from our guns was great," I scribbled in my diary. "a continued red glow from Brest during the night. " Headquarters and B Battery were attached to the 174th field artillery Group, which was assigned to Task Force B with a mission to clear Daoulas Peninsula by providing support to advancing infantry units. The Daoulas peninsula lay across the bay to the southeast of Brest. The main town in the area was Plougastel.

Browning 50 caliber machine gun

A confusion of feelings gripped me during the first week in France. Sorrow on the one hand and exhilaration on the other. The tragedy was in seeing the war-destroyed homes and churches. I had not then seen London or other devastated cities. Seeing a bombed-out port facility did not bring the same feeling, the same sense of personal tragedy, as did the sight of ruined homes where people had lived, and wrecked churches where they had worshiped. At the same time, no President in an inaugural parade ever felt more exhilarated than did I standing in a weapons carrier, (a one and a half ton truck) and hearing the shouts of joy and gratitude from the French citizens who lined the roadways. It was great to be a liberator! It was not until sometime later that I reflected we were only the followers of the real liberators-the dog faces of the infantry and armored divisions. But, for the moment, the war was exciting.

Marilu: I think Cliff doesn't give his battalion enough credit. They had not paid in blood for the gains they covered so easily in the wake of the 'real Liberators', but without the influx of additional support ready to fight and locate and take out the guns and men on the German side, the country they rode through would soon have been back in the control of the Germans and the liberation of the French countryside transformed into re-occupation. So in that sense they were a true part of the liberation.