Jan 28th Journal Entry and Cliff Hope-Screaming Meemies

Jan 28 Control-Lengler to Oudler. Stuck in convoy.

New division vehicle #s all covered (think it's 4th Div)

Some of those guys were in New York Jan. 8th!

Flat tire-schrapnel.

Cliff Hope

We surveyed on the Trois Vierges-St. Vith highway from Lengler to Oudler on 28 January. It was very cold and we were stopped once by heavy snow. I did absolutely nothing, nor did the computers, except for going back to bring out chow. "What the sense of all this is and why we didn't wait to come in for chow beasts the hell out of me." I wrote in my diary that night. "We have enough men to alternate on plenty of jobs." As we neared Oudler, there was a five-minute German screaming meemie barrage. Infantry men reported that 40 German prisoners were captured in Oudler the day before. By the side of the main road there were 60 mm mortars, and the road itself was clogged by the 87th and 90th Divisions moving up with plenty of artillery. We saw a new outfit with tape covering the vehicle markings, giving credence to rumors we had heard about a new secret Fifteenth Army thrown into the battle.

Screaming Meemies-or Nebelwerfers

The 150-millimetre Nebelwerfer, a towed, six-tube launcher, was particularly respected by U.S. and British troops, to whom it was known as the “Screaming Meemie” or “Moaning Minnie” for the eerie sound made by the incoming rockets. Maximum range was more than 6,000 yards (5,500 metres).

The Nebelwerfer (smoke mortar) was a World War II German series of weapons. ... They were primarily intended to deliver poison gas and smoke shells, although a high-explosive shell was developed for the Nebelwerfer from the beginning.

Video, audio of the Nebelwerfer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fZ_ySyXA4s

Most Terrifying Sounds of WWII
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izcl4YKpQSk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnk45gGC5UI

Comments

Oct 25th, Wednesday-Journal Entry-Bombs and Guns

Oct 25-Lellig to Matternach- Tied in with Party 1 on R.R.- Lt Jones & G. S. scared out of house by civilian in sports roadster0 In at noon- Transferring notes to correct notebook all afternoon- O1:20 Big Buzz Bomb barely 200 ft. overhead-going south Thundering 400 M.P.H. Machine guns fire but miss. Buzz Bombs going into 1st Army positions Lu from Rae Hight's book : For quite a while, we surveyed the areas back and forth between and through Belgium, France, Germany and Luxembourg. Though the distances were not great, the continued movement required a certain amount of reorganizing each time. By the end of October we were in the Mompach-Berbourg area of eastern Luxemboug, near the front. It was not long before German shells landed not too far away. Our main reminders that the army was just a few kilometers away were the nightly visits by "Bed Check Charlie," buzz bombs that whizzed overhead each night about midnight. The V-1 flying bomb...

Welcome

Welcome to Winsor War Notes, the experiences of Luther Snow Winsor in World War Two. Subscribe to experience the day by day journal entries published on the matching day of the year for the time of his deployment to Europe and the Battle of the Bulge. Entries will include scans of the pages of his handwritten notes made at the time with a transcription and pertinent sections of the history he wrote later using these notes to jog his memories. The idea of this project is to publish and read the entries on the days of the year that they were originally written so we can get a feel for the weather setting and of the passage of time as it passed for him as he had these experiences. I will include relevant photos where possible. I suggest viewing Band of Brothers and Saving Private Ryan if you want a more graphic sense of what he was experiencing. He said that Saving Private Ryan was very realistic to his memories and Band of Brothers depicts many of the same kinds of things ...

November 4th 1945 Embarkation! Headed Home on the USS Westerly Victory ship

Watch for Lu's binoculars in many of his photos. They might be his best used acquisition from the war. This mimeographed newsletter is an interesting view into the voyage home.

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

Search This Blog