Skip to main content

October 11th, Wednesday- Journal entry-School house digs-Feeding time at the zoo





October 11-Party two packed and left for Maldigan at 0800-SNAFU- Back at 11:30.
Put up tent-worked on log cabin, packed again and left "GOTTERDAMERUNG" for good (I hope).
Arrived at old 3 story school house in Aldringen- school on first floor, apartments on 2nd and third-
(Place filthy with paper, food, flour, seeds, clothing and even used condoms,
slept on feather bed
Rifled some Nazi probaganda leaflets-pictures etc.
Bruno (Mac)-"Take that light out of my eyes or I'll pound you into the floor!" As Gross woke him for guard-Further comments at 2:30 am as Schlusing was grinding his teeth, Hall and Wagner talking in sleep and numerous grunts-etc " Sounds like feeding time at the zoo, Hope!" (Back at Plougastel once wehn shells were bursting not far away, Bruno pipes up "Where's the foot powder, Hope?"

Lu from Interview with Rae Hight" We pulled back to a more 'permanent base in the little hamlet of Aldrigen, a short distance southwest of St. Vith, where our survey team was quartered in an old school building. Until December 16th we led an almost pleasant life, surveying by day and then back in a warm, secure building at night. Of course there was 'Bed Check Charlie,' a 'Buzz Bomb' that came overhead each night about midnight, and we were always aware that there was a German Armn just a few kilometers away. As long as the 'Buzz" was there we knew it wouldn't hit us-When the 'Buzz' ended an explosion would come very soon. Most were headed for Brussels and Liege.

Cliff Hope from his book: After a round of rumors and false starts and after we had added two logs to our chateau, our winter quarters were moved to Aldringen, a small village a short distance to the west. A typical Belgian-German farm village, Aldringen was unchanged in appearance from decades past. The mud in the streets and GIs walking down the middle of the lanes remeinded me of pictures taken in France during World War I. The lanes were composed of a mixture of cow manure and mud. Every farmer had a manure pile in his front yard. After chow, we drove to an old schoolhouse that had apartments upstairs to spend the night. We slept on the floor in a classroom littered with German textbooks and Nazi Party propaganda. That stuff looked like good pickings to me.

The night was fitful. Amid Schlusing's teeth grinding, Hall's talking in his sleep and a symphony of snores and grunts, Bruno shook me awake. "Hope, do you know what this sounds like? Like feeding time at the zoo." With that, he rolled over and went back to sleep, but not for long. "Take that light out of my eyes, Gross, or I'll pound you into the floor!" Bruno's voice boomed throughout the classroom as Gross roused him for guard duty.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Journal Entry March 27, 28th And Battalion history

March 27 Crashed B-24 March 28 Put in mike base-taped-Jeep broke tape at road intersection. Put in flash OPs. Picked up Helmet, leather. Battalion History: On 28 March, headquarters of the Barnstorming 16th crossed the Rhine, followed the next day by the Letter Batteries. With advancing armor taking the fight out of the Germans, the 16th found itself scouring the woods around Henmethal --- for prisoners, souvenirs and eggs. Souvenirs and eggs were more plentiful than prisoners. From Ray Hight's book:  By the time the 285th crossed the Rhine toward the end of March, much of the area was in American hands and things were moving so quickly we hardly had time to set up. The German forces were pulling back, and there was very little opposition as we crossed the southern part of Germany almost up to the boundary of Czechoslovakia.
Post a Comment
Read more

Journal Entry March 4th- New jacket and boots

Lu in June wearing field Jacket 1945 issue Combat Boots 1945 issue Field Jacket March 4 Got Laundry. Got ready to move. Red cross girls serve chow. Surveyed in rain. Oh yes, got new field jacket & combat boots.
Post a Comment
Read more

October 20th, Friday-Movie, steak and fries

10/20/1944- Wrote Wes and Deane and Bud- Saw "Cassanova Brown" with Garry Cooper, Terresa Wright-in St. Vith. Fried Steak and French Fries in evening. Packed to leave on D.S. Cliff Hope from his book: Within the next week we drove to Luxembourg City and back twice. The scenery was beautiful, the terrain honeycombed with small, swift streams. On the second trip, we returned by way of Arlon, Belgium, stopping there for about an hour. Arlon was a clean, small city. The stores resembles those back home. I bought postcards, maps, steaks, three scarves, a buffet piece, and, most important of all, a small dish of ice cream. It was the first ice cream I'd had since Fort Bragg. Along the way we checked out the farm girls of the region. Some of them looked strong as oxen. I saw a girl pulling a four-wheel wagon. They had to be husky. Some of the men sized them up as "13 ax handles wide" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casanova_Brown Cass Brown is about to...
Post a Comment
Read more