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

This is taken from a letter Lu wrote to Alfred Blaauw from Holland who had contacted him to get some insight to his experiences in the Battle of the Bulge.  I was a corporal in the Headquarters Battery of the 16th Field Artillery Battalion. The 16th was attached to 1st Army, 8th Corps which covered most of the eastern part of Belgium and Luxembourg at the time of the Bulge. Our job was to provide Corps Artillery with accurate, on the ground survey information, so that gun battalions could coordinate their firing missions most effectively.  Our A and B batteries used "Sound and Flash Ranging" to locate enemy gun positions and provided that information to Corps Artillery. I was a Topographic Surveyor. The survey team I was assigned to worked as close to the enemy lines as we could, and before the Bulge started, we had 'on the ground' surveys established from Butgenbach, Auw and the Schnee Eifel Ridge in the north to Echternach, and Luxemboug in the south. We als

Sept. 29- Convoy 0830 Cloudy windy day-Saw Tiger tank-Montigny, Guise, La Cappelle, ?, Trelon (Belgium Border) Chimay, Petigny, Givet (Back in France) ( Briefly-mc ) Dinant, Chigny, ? and Bastogne.  Bivouac area about 3 km out in edge of beautiful spruce forest. Hope, Bliesmer & Peltz- got kissed in Petigny.  Marilu: I traced this route in google maps to confirm spellings of the sequential towns. I wasn't able to find all of them, but I could see that when they went through Givet they went through a little outcropping of the French border and out again. Fun to see him referring to the kiss Cliff Hope describes in more detail in his book, quoted in the other entry for this day. From  www.warhistoryonline.com The Tiger Tank was without a doubt the tank which was most feared by the Allied forces during the Second World War. The thing that made this tank so feared and respected was the 88 mm gun, which could destroy a Sherman tank at ranges up to 3600 ya

Sept 29th (Rest of record follows) Excerpt Dinant-Approach up Muse river-a beautiful canyon with rock formations like Logan Canyon. Big resort hotels on highway-big barges. City very beautiful with modern stores catering to wealthy. Old fortress on top of high ledge.-Muse r. (river) running through city-bridges blown out- our own eng. (engineer) bridges in use-Anif. A-C guns stationed behind barbed wire- Beautiful cathedral with ...... type spire. Cliff Hope in his book: On the morning of 26 September our battalion headed east and then northeast on a four-day motor convoy to the combat zone at the Belgian-German border. The first day we retraced our route of the month before as far as Dinan, then headed southeast to bivouac in a large green pasture near Sen-de-Bretagne, a small village northeast of Rennes. Alencon, which we reached on the second day, marked the end of the now-familiar hedgerow country. The gentle, rolling land was divided by fences. The people alo

Sept 28 Convo-0830 Beautiful morning-Chateau Neuf, Maintenon, Ebenon, Ramboulet-Left main rd. Came back on above St. Cyr-Railway yds-bombed out, Versailles, Paris, Le Bourget, Senlis, Campelgne, Noxon, Ham, St Quinten, Hombieres- Bivouacked on ridge-went after gas in G. M. C. till 2400 without supper-didn't find any- went past palace of Versailles- Crossed Seine into Large park-Saw Eiffel tower, Le Bourget field. Saw 3 truck loads German prisoners. Some looked like Japs or mongols. Photo taken by Lu Photo taken by Lu Photo taken by Lu Battalion History: As usual the distance between the towns was covered at a moderate rate of speed, but when the convoy reached Paris it speeded up until it looked as if drivers had been promised a case of beer for each mile per hour over a safe and sane limit. Paris! Great God, what a town! Though the convoy was carefully routed around the high rent district and our only view of the Eiffel Tower was a long one,

September 27th-Convoy Continued: At 0830 St. Anbin, Fougers, Mayenne, Alecon, Mortagne, Longny, and Lettayes- Some of the boys had Cognac at Cafe Epicerie near Mayenne during break. Five Sherman tanks on roadside burned out. Alecon marked end of hedgerow beginning of fences on gentle rolling country. Alecon Railyds bombed to bits. Bivouced on estate near Chateau Neuf-Officers slept in House-Col. Lushene had 4 room suite. (One a German Col. Had occupied before) Beautiful estate- Pear trees grafted into shape of ladders and fences etc. Marilu- Cliff Hope describes this in his book also, see post for September 29th.

Sept-25- USO Show seen in Landerneau before Chow till 21:00 People along roads still very Friendly. Marilu: I take this to mean that Lu saw a USO show in Landerneau that lasted until 9 PM after which they had their supper, which was actually cooked food instead of the dreaded 'K's and C's'.  The French are still appreciating the liberating soldiers. Battalion History: On 26th September we took off from the Lesneven area and made the run across France with the Ninth Army, a movement so effectively masked that when the Ninth arrived on the line in Belgium and Luxembourg the Germans referred to it as the "ghost army". The route carried the battalion through or near Sens, Mayenne, Aleneon, Digny, Paris, St. Quentin and on the evening of the 29th the battalion bivouacked in a forest outside Heffe, near Bastogne, Belgium. (Of the stop near Digny, the official record says: Battalion bivouacked near Digny at a chateau owned by a retired French arr

Sept. 24- Got Coiffe for mom. See the previous post for links to what Coiffes were and what some of them looked like. I would love to know if the Coiffe still exists somewhere in the extended family. The Plougastel Coiffe is far left middle and is likely similar to what Lu bought for his mom More Coiffes Cliff Hope from his book: One day Seymour Solomon and I went to a French home in Lesneven to get two coifs (close fitting caps worn by the women and girls) as souvenirs. The people wouldn't accept francs in payment. They wanted sugar, coffee, and things like that. They put the coifs in a five-in-one ration box. When their child started crying, they scplained that "bebe" used the box as a doll house. It made me feel like a heel, especially since I had only two packs of cigarettes to give them. The next day we came back and made things right, returning the "doll house" filled with bouillon, coffee, lemonade powder, cigarett

Sept-3- movie-"The girl in the case", Rain again. Girl in the Case 1944 William Warner is not only a crack defense lawyer, but he has an even more useful skill--he's an expert at picking open any kind of lock, which comes in handy in his line of work. This asset gets him in trouble, however, when he finds himself being unwittingly used by Nazi spies trying to get him to open a locked chest with a secret formula they're after....

We saw Baron Elliot mentioned earlier when Lu saw a USO show.

Dearest mom & all, Got your letter of Sept. 3 a few days ago but have been so darn busy that I haven't had time to touch correspondence. I'd much rather write individual letters to all of you and if this break lasts long enough I will but for now just make believe I'm talking to each and every one of you cause I love you all. Things were rather hectic for me for quite awhile after we came over here and we still have some work of the drudgery sort to do for a while but we are now in a "Rest" area safe and sound from any enemy action and have prospects of some relaxation (can't count on it too long though.) Last night I got my first pass in France and we all went into a little town nearby (I'll tell you its name when I'm allowed). Of course the first thing the boys I was with headed for... ...was a wine shop, but that did them no good- "Bosche Take" was all they could get from the proprietress. That was the way with every th

Some current views of the area around Lesnevens Sept 21 Vehicle maintenance Pass to Lesnevans-

Sept 20 Moved to rest area E of Lesnevans- Road Guide to cow pastures Fog like sea in Valleys An example of fog in Southern France Battalion History: 20 September: Entire battalion moves back to concentration area near Lesneven, for a veritable orgy of clothes washing, sleeping, checking and repairing equipment and seeing shows in town. The first 'problem' is over. Well, that's the way the history books will tell it, if the historians remember that there WAS such a fight as the Battle of Brest.... Well, that's the overall picture. Through it all...plots were amazingly accurate, wire was cut but it went back in amazingly fast. There were no Congressional Medals of Honor handed out, but there were no Purple Hearts either, and for that we're grateful. Cliff Hope from his book: We left for a regrouping area near Lesneven to the northeast of Brest on 20 September, and the next day we were told of our assignment to the newly formed Ninth Army. For the n

Shaw Mohammed Rezi Pahlavi, His Majesty, King of Iran in the 1940's (Fragment of letter from Dad to mom on back of note from Mom- 'I wish that you could have been with me on the trip I just had on horse-back with His Majesty the King and that you could have ridden one of the wonderful horses belonging to the king. They are magnificent and such speed over rough country. How you would have enjoyed the cool wind in your hair and the nervous energy and horse flesh between your knees! It would be real joy with me to share such a ride with you for I know what a thrill it would give you.  Maybe it will be possible in the not too distant future, who knows? You wanted to come with me when I came to Iran, but it would have been a long wait for such a ride such as the one I have just had, however, there have been many others with 20 to 40 cavalry escort and many fine horses. None, however, quite as splendid as those we went on this trip. In addition, we saw 2,000 brood m

Sept 19-Surv-west of Crozon Bombed out road and cart-Family killed in home-Graves being dug Beautiful view of sea- All resistance over at 1600 General Remke Captured Battalion History: Last German units on Crozon surrender. From WWII Gravestones site:    https://ww2gravestone.com/people/ramcke-hermann-bernard/ The German defenders in the region fell back on Brest, and Ramcke assumed command of the garrison, now known as Festung Brest. Fortress Brest was largely surrounded and infiltrated by partisan guerrillas who succeeded in killing one of Ramcke’s junior officers in the seat next to him as they drove through an ambush. Commanding about 35,000 German troops Ramcke led the defense of Brest from 11 August until 19 September.  Ramcke refused early requests to surrender and followed orders to hold out as long as possible. On the final day of battle, it was only after escaping a strafing attack during a personal reconnoiter of the area, and the entry of American forces into

Sept 18 Moved to Crozon Peninsula Parked in Pine Grove then Thistle Surveyed N of Crozon Prisoners nearly 1,000 strong in public square-300 more brought in after we passed. 13th infantry march passed us- P 42 left vehicles still smoking on rd. Rumor Brest fell at noon Tel-HR Garos blasted to pieces Taken Sat. 16th. Cliff Hope from his book: We moved to a bivouac area near Argol in the Crozon peninsula, south of Brest, early on 18 September.  As we surveyed, we saw the most Germans to date. They were prisoners in the city square of the town of Crozon. Always conscious of the distinction between officers and enlisted men, I noted in my diary that the German officers were very well dressed. We also saw massive German fortifications in complete ruins, burned and blasted beyond recognition. all fighting ceased on the Brest Peninsula on 18 Sept and the last German units on the Crozon Peninsula surrendered the next day. Yank magazine said of the battle: "The siege of B