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August 24th Journal Entry-Shelling of Brest









8/24
(more later on-B17 & 24s (Flack) hit Brest
Hope visits 155th Observes shelling of Brest-Gets acquainted with French girls
88s shell left & front of us (Night)
(Whistle before Boom)

Aug 24-
First combat survey NW at Dotouenal. Shell burst 200' away in field, 2 Dead Germans on side of Rd.

Lu, from his Memoirs:
My journal noted on August 24th that our first combat survey took us northwest of the village of Dotouenal. there were a few enemy shell bursts in the fields next to us but none close enough to cause concern.

We had an excellent officer in charge of our surveys. Lt. "Red" Tyler always considered the safety of his men as his most important duty. We spent most of our time in "infantry territory"  ecause we needed to "see" and "hear" the enemy artillery (that's why we were called Field Artillery Observation battalions). At times it seemed that we were in very dangerous situations,  but we knew that 'Red" had checked our survey route and was keeping a close eye on the batle situation. During this first battle we had to lag behind the hedgerow fighting a little but we were close enough to feel the tension and fear.

Cliff from his book: I didn't go out with a survey party until five days after our arrival. In addition to observing shelling and bombing of enemy positions and the return fire by the infamous German 88 mm guns every day, I made friends wherever I could. After taking a field bath from spring water I talked to a Frenchman who apparently owned the field. He promised to bring his 22 year-old daughter who spoke English on the following evening. he didn't show up and neither did she, but I managed to get 6 eggs and a large half-circle of bread from refugees from Brest at a nearby farm. I hung around to show a French girl my "Blitz French" book. On a Sunday two days later Bill Carus and I took a five-mile hike on the south side by the Elorn River, which runs from Landerneau west to the harbor of Brest. We went past the impressive Blue Infantry command post and watched shells landing on the north bank. Had we been older and wiser, we wouldn't have been so daring and foolish.


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