Journal Entry February 19 Transfer to 285th-and Cliff Hope

Feb 19th Transferred to 285th Field Artillery Observation Battalion "To help replace men lost by Battery 'B'-murdered by Germans December 17th.

Roads to Bastogne nearly all out- one sea of mud.

Red Cross doughnuts.

Good roads to Pepinster (Near Viviers). Staying in Chateau.

Lu, in Ray Hight's book: In early February I was shocked to receive orders transferring me to the 285th FAOB. The news made quite an impact on me when I realized that I was one of the replacement troops needed after the great loss of life in the 285th during the Malmedy Massacre on December 17, 1944. This knowledge left me feeling especially responsible, and initially a bit uneasy, knowing I was filling in for a man who had been killed.

Cliff Hope: Within a few days Cpl. Lu Winsor, our note keeper, was transferred to the 285th Field Artillery Observation Battalion, a transfer which I am certain was occasioned by the terrible losses suffered by the 285th in the Malmedy Massacre. I was appointed to Lu's position and later was promoted to corporal.
... During the third week of February, Lu Winsor, Blades, and Cooper left as replacements for the 285th Field Artillery Observation Battalion. I hated to see Winsor go, although, as previously mentioned, it was a break for me because I got his job as note keeper. It was a definite job in the army for the first time in almost two years of service.

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August 28th 1944 Journal Entry-Rain and Rations

Aug 28th RAIN RAIN and mud Lu from his memoirs: We settled into a routine of extending and improving our control surveys and existing on "K" and "C" rations and sleeping in soggy pup tents. There was lots of rain and mud and finding ways to improve living conditions was a constant challenge. As Cliff pointed out in his book, we had some talented buddies with inventive minds. Tom Fourshes, of Cadiz, Kentucky built a compact, wood fired cooking stove on which we could heat our rations, spread hot cheese on crackers, and boil eggs obtained from farmers. We found straw and dry grass to put under our bed rolls, but we never found a way to keep the water our of our fox holes. We didn't have too much incoming artillery, but I noted on August 26 'Priebe hits fox hole as I leave it going for mine as shells land in river' We also began a close relationship with our Field Artillery gun battalions. The 561st next to us were equipped with "155 Long T...

September 29th Journal entry continued-Last day of travel to Ardennes

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 ...

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...

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

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