Journal Entry Dec 16-Retreat Day. Lu's experience on the first day of the Battle of the Bulge

Dec 16

Retreat day. Heinie barrage opened up at 0500 and attacked along our sector. 106th division "fucked up" officers inspected guards with flash lights and flares. Front infantry built fires- Green troops-

A Btrys town occupied- A & B Btrys both came back to Aldringen- went out to Schonberg surveying-

Barrage still pounding. 270 mm shells hitting on Hill above us while doing triangulation-in area where we had doughnuts.

Several 561st men injured-

Tyler came to bring us back. Shells landing in valley as we left spouting dirt & smoke-Buzz bomb roared overhead and crashed on N of Rd 800 yd in front of us-Looked like ammo dump going up-sheet of flame 150 feet high.

Interactive map for 12/16/44

Lu, from Ray Hight's book: The morning of December 16, when the Battle of the Bulge began, we were going out on a make-work program. It suddenly became a day to remember. None of us had been exposed to the kind of intense artillery fire we received that morning. We were not infantry troops and soon pulled out to move away from the front lines.

By late in the day we knew that a horrendous battle had begun, and the whole aspect of war came home to us. from here on out, things became pretty dicey and we never knew when we came around a corner if we would be facing a Tiger tank! Once we started squeezing the bulge in, we felt a lot better about being able to put out sound bases in, knowing our backs were protected. As we worked closely with individual field artillery gun outfits, they were able to use our measurements, which saved them a lot of work. We felt a lot of satisfaction in being able to give them direct information so that their guns were registered all the time.

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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.

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.

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...

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

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