War Diary:
Private Roy F. “Poe” Despaux, 1st Squad, A Company,
29th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division
DOB: 1923/12/23
Place of Birth: Venice, Plaquemine Parrish, Louisiana
23-24 October 1943
Scotland
Re-assigned from Battalion Reserve to Combat Infantry Squad (Introduction to the squad):
Je suis Roy Despaux (pronounced as dee-POE), not yet twenty, am born and raised in a small Cajun shrimp fishing community, comprising of forty-some families, where evah body know evah body and people nevah go noweah. Not even the Great Hurricane of 1915 nor the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 could wash all our folks away; as we are as far down the delta as anyone can go without a boat. Most folks ‘round home are either shrimp-trawlers or orange pickers, or some o’ both. We always have plenty of critters for de gumbo pot. Not much else aside from hunting; mostly feral hawgs, and of course, the ubiquitous “gatuhs.”
My Papa took me gator hunting for first time, when I was 7. It remains the most memorable event of my youth. Sitting in a small boat, dark water, cypress stumps, and vicious danger in the form of teeth and muscle) beneath us. I vividly recall how I held tight to the board seat while watching Papa frantically reeling in a thrashing and gnashing 10 foot long, 450 pound monster. How awesome it was to see Papa with gig line wrapped tightly around his left hand, holding the gator’s head against the boat, and with a single-barrel J.P. Stevens 12 gauge in his right hand, put a slug into the beasts “sweet spot.” That’s the only way to kill a gator, “aim small.. miss small” to hit a spot the size of a chicken egg, just behind the skull. A hit anywhere but __, only pisses him off. Most folks hunt in pairs; one to haul and other to shoot. Papa preferred to go solo – I do too.
Bringing home a gator is cause to celebrate. The Men folk prepare and cook the gator. We do celebrate a lot, ‘round here. Gator fry’s and fish fry’s with lots of spicy treats, spirits, music and dancing. Girls ‘round here are an ordinary breed of critters. I can say so, since I’m related to about half of them. There is this one girl, Cherrita, who though plain to look at, has quite a head on her shoulders, and can shoot the wings off a horsefly with a 30-30 Winchester. I ‘m a right damn good shot with the 30-06 Springfield that Gran’paw Claude gave me on my 13th Birthday.
In my little “free time” I liked to listen to Papa’s short-wave radio and soon became consumed with the events beyond the bayou. The world is at WAR and the terrible deeds of the Nazi’s and Japs all seemed yet so far away from our world, until... the night the Nazi submarine torpedoed an oil tanker. It burned for three days, illuminating the night sky as smoke hovered over horizon by day. The war was definitely “close enough to home” for me – I figured it was neigh time to do my part in it.
Before the war, I aspired to become a Pilot-boat Captain, and ultimately get my own Charter-boat, to take well-to-do city-slickers out to where the big fishes grow. Well, I never would’ve dreamed I would be steaming “off to war” across the Atlantic, with thousands of other guys on the world’s largest ship afloat!
Well guys, I’m big, but not dumb. I read a lot. Our town library is small, but I can honestly say that I have read most every volume of American literary classics. My school-mates gave me hell after reciting Edgar A. Poe on stage at school. After that, they laughed and everybody then after called me “Poe,” (a clever play on my name?). Y’all may call me “Poe.”
(Just don’t call me “Francis”– or I’ll kill y’all ;)
24 October 1943
Inverness, Scotland
The Squad:
Here I am in Inverness, Scotland, and about to embark upon the proverbial “adventure of a lifetime!” Perhaps this will become an understatement - since I am off to war – a half a world away from my home- a stark contrast indeed, to life as I knew it- as a son of a son of a fisherman.
Today me and McKee (from Leadville, Colorado) were finally assigned to a Combat Infantry Squad - Able Company, 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, 1st infantry Division -”Big Red One.”
They seem to be a fine bunch o’ guys. Three guys are farm boys from the Maine woods. They talk kind of Cajun-like, but I barely comprehend their peculiar patois. Sergeant Lewis is from Maine too, but he say he can’t understand none of us, except for McKee and maybe Crowenshield. He insists on calling me “dus-bolle” or sumpthin or another, for some strange reason.
Something big is a brewing according to the local scuttle-but. There are rumors of infiltrations and paratroop activities, indications that the krauts are gearing up to invade- somewhere. Sarge is a real straight-shooter, and informed the Squad that we would be boarding the CENSORED* for a SECRET** Exercise. I reckon it ain’t gonna be a gator hunt.
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Sunday, November 21, 2010
SGT Lewis After Action Report on Landing Through 9 NOV 42
1st Squad, 1st Platoon, Able Co landed without incident, albeit East (Left) of our intended landing area.
We took up hasty positions getting what cover we could on the beach, while LT Sneiderwine, our Platoon Leader told us to wait while he checked out the area.
The Lieutenant promised us he would return with further instructions after not longer than 5 minutes, but after more than 30 minutes there was no sign of him.
The staff S-2 Officer, LT Potter, came up to me looking for a squad for a mission. In the absence of my Platoon Leader, and Platoon Sergeant, I took charge and volunteered my Squad for the mission. I had no idea if our LT had become a casualty, and since I knew we were not where we supposed to be upon landing anyway, I decided it best to get off the beach and on a mission as quickly as possible.
I asked Lt Potter to relay the where we had gone to LT Sneiderwine when he returned, and reported to CPT Morrissy of Lima Company as instructed. As it turned out, our mission sent us in the right direction.
CPT Morrissy designated my Squad call sign as Able 1, RANGER, and gave us the mission to follow-up on a RECON patrol he sent up to the top of the DJEBEL MURD JADJU ridge. The initial team he sent in that direction earlier had not returned, and he needed somebody to observe the French movements.
CPT Morrissy’s instructions were to proceed up the trail to a designated point on the ridge where we were to observe the French flank, and report any significant movements back to him. Also to keep an eye out for the first team he sent up there. Additionally, when I queried him about actions I should take upon contact with the enemy he said, “Handle what you can handle.”
I brief my squad on our mission, established an order of march, and proceeded up the trail towards Bou-Sfer. It was a significant upward grade in places, and I could tell we were not the first Americans to follow it because after awhile there was discarded American equipment along the trail.
At the limits of our view we occasionally detected what appeared to be Arabs. These Arabs were skittish and did not give us any trouble. They seemed more concerned with picking up discarded American equipment then bothering us. They scattered from view if we made any abrupt move within their sight.
After a mile or so we came under sniper fire from a nearby farmhouse, (about here on the map). I tried calling out in French to the firer that we were Americans, friends to France, and asked that they stop firing upon us; all with no apparent effect. The sniper kept firing upon us, so we were forced to return fire. The lone sniper was killed by our combined rifle and BAR fire. Upon examination he turned out to be a member of the French Navy, (here is his pay book). We discarded the rifle bolt far from the rifle so it could not be used again, and continued on with our mission.
Another half mile and we came to a barn which turned out to house elderly mules. These mules are apparently the property of the French Army, and are tended by a distinguished former French Army gentleman name Clousseau. He is friendly towards Americans, and helpful in relaying local geography.
We reach our designated position on the DJEBEL MURD JADJU ridgeline before dawn, which provided a decent observation point. I dispatched two runners to CP Morrissy, notifying him. These runners accomplished their mission and returned without incident.
Before dawn 8 NOV 42, we started hearing the sound of the report of two large guns within a mile of our position. I dispatched my two scouts, Karras and Greeley to investigate, and they came back with some details about the guns position, crew, and defenses.
The guns turned out to be 75mm, and were being fired against our 3rd Battalion forces. I decided to conduct an assault using my squad to take them out of action using the noise of the guns own firing to cover the sound of the attack and hopefully achieve the element of surprise.
Pvt Crowinshield was eventually able to contact both the 3rd, and our own 1st Battalion headquarters via radio, and I received word that our forces were being pinned down by these guns. Instructions were to notify headquarters when we had knocked these guns out of action.
Details of squad action against the gun emplacement already posted. (Commentary about enemy weapons and equipment, intended actions, and personal remarks about wanting to throttle Crowinshield omitted from report to superiors. General rule is to accentuate the positive in reports).
We captured 7 French prisoners, as well as a 1920’s vintage French truck (wooden spoke wheels, of course), not in running order. At our instruction, the French prisoners were happy to disable their 75mm guns by throwing the breechblocks over the cliff.
We found the gun emplacement position to be an excellent observation point, able to command a view of the entire bay area, as well as the other French artillery positions. I decided to relocate our squad to this position. It was better in all respects to our previous one. I had Despaux, and Keegan watch the prisoners, and sent PVT’s Greeley, and Karras back to our previous observation point to retrieve the rest of the squad, and equipment. PVT Crowinshield and I (SGT Lewis) started scanning for French forces.
It was not long before we picked out another enemy gun position firing on our forces. These guns were larger then 75mm, and Crowinshield wasted no time in attempting to reach our British Navy allies on the radio in order to call the position in. That Crowinshield is a real smoothie with the Brits, and good with the radio too. He got some British navy guys on one of those BIG ships to listen to him, anyway.
I was able to make out the grid coordinates, and read them out to Crowinshield. Before we knew it there were spotting rounds coming in on the enemy gun position. Crowinshield was able to call in the adjustments, and when they fired for effect… WHA-WHOOM !!!! BOY oh BOY! I hadn’t seen anything like it before, even in the first war. The enemies big gun emplacement just disappeared in clouds of earth and rocks. It was like the Earth just erupted where they were. Sure am glad I wasn’t over there.
Well, we kept our eyes peeled, and we were able to pick out another gun position and call in the naval gunfire again. It was fun!! Crowinshield really got a knack for it. I think he was talking to some Brit guy named “Rodney”. PVT Despaux got our attention, and let us know there was something going on back at our old position. I didn’t see what was going on there. You will need to ask one of the others who was there about the action that took place.
We took up hasty positions getting what cover we could on the beach, while LT Sneiderwine, our Platoon Leader told us to wait while he checked out the area.
The Lieutenant promised us he would return with further instructions after not longer than 5 minutes, but after more than 30 minutes there was no sign of him.
The staff S-2 Officer, LT Potter, came up to me looking for a squad for a mission. In the absence of my Platoon Leader, and Platoon Sergeant, I took charge and volunteered my Squad for the mission. I had no idea if our LT had become a casualty, and since I knew we were not where we supposed to be upon landing anyway, I decided it best to get off the beach and on a mission as quickly as possible.
I asked Lt Potter to relay the where we had gone to LT Sneiderwine when he returned, and reported to CPT Morrissy of Lima Company as instructed. As it turned out, our mission sent us in the right direction.
CPT Morrissy designated my Squad call sign as Able 1, RANGER, and gave us the mission to follow-up on a RECON patrol he sent up to the top of the DJEBEL MURD JADJU ridge. The initial team he sent in that direction earlier had not returned, and he needed somebody to observe the French movements.
CPT Morrissy’s instructions were to proceed up the trail to a designated point on the ridge where we were to observe the French flank, and report any significant movements back to him. Also to keep an eye out for the first team he sent up there. Additionally, when I queried him about actions I should take upon contact with the enemy he said, “Handle what you can handle.”
I brief my squad on our mission, established an order of march, and proceeded up the trail towards Bou-Sfer. It was a significant upward grade in places, and I could tell we were not the first Americans to follow it because after awhile there was discarded American equipment along the trail.
At the limits of our view we occasionally detected what appeared to be Arabs. These Arabs were skittish and did not give us any trouble. They seemed more concerned with picking up discarded American equipment then bothering us. They scattered from view if we made any abrupt move within their sight.
After a mile or so we came under sniper fire from a nearby farmhouse, (about here on the map). I tried calling out in French to the firer that we were Americans, friends to France, and asked that they stop firing upon us; all with no apparent effect. The sniper kept firing upon us, so we were forced to return fire. The lone sniper was killed by our combined rifle and BAR fire. Upon examination he turned out to be a member of the French Navy, (here is his pay book). We discarded the rifle bolt far from the rifle so it could not be used again, and continued on with our mission.
Another half mile and we came to a barn which turned out to house elderly mules. These mules are apparently the property of the French Army, and are tended by a distinguished former French Army gentleman name Clousseau. He is friendly towards Americans, and helpful in relaying local geography.
We reach our designated position on the DJEBEL MURD JADJU ridgeline before dawn, which provided a decent observation point. I dispatched two runners to CP Morrissy, notifying him. These runners accomplished their mission and returned without incident.
Before dawn 8 NOV 42, we started hearing the sound of the report of two large guns within a mile of our position. I dispatched my two scouts, Karras and Greeley to investigate, and they came back with some details about the guns position, crew, and defenses.
The guns turned out to be 75mm, and were being fired against our 3rd Battalion forces. I decided to conduct an assault using my squad to take them out of action using the noise of the guns own firing to cover the sound of the attack and hopefully achieve the element of surprise.
Pvt Crowinshield was eventually able to contact both the 3rd, and our own 1st Battalion headquarters via radio, and I received word that our forces were being pinned down by these guns. Instructions were to notify headquarters when we had knocked these guns out of action.
Details of squad action against the gun emplacement already posted. (Commentary about enemy weapons and equipment, intended actions, and personal remarks about wanting to throttle Crowinshield omitted from report to superiors. General rule is to accentuate the positive in reports).
We captured 7 French prisoners, as well as a 1920’s vintage French truck (wooden spoke wheels, of course), not in running order. At our instruction, the French prisoners were happy to disable their 75mm guns by throwing the breechblocks over the cliff.
We found the gun emplacement position to be an excellent observation point, able to command a view of the entire bay area, as well as the other French artillery positions. I decided to relocate our squad to this position. It was better in all respects to our previous one. I had Despaux, and Keegan watch the prisoners, and sent PVT’s Greeley, and Karras back to our previous observation point to retrieve the rest of the squad, and equipment. PVT Crowinshield and I (SGT Lewis) started scanning for French forces.
It was not long before we picked out another enemy gun position firing on our forces. These guns were larger then 75mm, and Crowinshield wasted no time in attempting to reach our British Navy allies on the radio in order to call the position in. That Crowinshield is a real smoothie with the Brits, and good with the radio too. He got some British navy guys on one of those BIG ships to listen to him, anyway.
I was able to make out the grid coordinates, and read them out to Crowinshield. Before we knew it there were spotting rounds coming in on the enemy gun position. Crowinshield was able to call in the adjustments, and when they fired for effect… WHA-WHOOM !!!! BOY oh BOY! I hadn’t seen anything like it before, even in the first war. The enemies big gun emplacement just disappeared in clouds of earth and rocks. It was like the Earth just erupted where they were. Sure am glad I wasn’t over there.
Well, we kept our eyes peeled, and we were able to pick out another gun position and call in the naval gunfire again. It was fun!! Crowinshield really got a knack for it. I think he was talking to some Brit guy named “Rodney”. PVT Despaux got our attention, and let us know there was something going on back at our old position. I didn’t see what was going on there. You will need to ask one of the others who was there about the action that took place.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
1942 11 05 Assault on Gun Emplacement
French North Africa, 9 November 1942 D+1
Squad engaged in second hostile fire action of the war, and the first one we initiated. After digging in on our assigned ridge-line observation point the evening of 8 November 1942, we became aware of the firing of two large caliber artillery pieces within a mile of our position. Privates Greeley and Karas were dispatched to reconnoiter the position.
Upon return, they reported a fortified gun emplacement directed seaward, with two large artillery guns engaging our ships off coast. They estimated these guns were crewed and protected by approximately 20 men, and that they were unaware of our presence to their left and rear.
As squad leader I made the decision to take these guns out of action. The orders from the Major who sent us to this position gave me the leeway to, "Take on what we could handle".
Even with 4 squad members off on detail (Cpl Meister, PVT Dubois, PVT Craig, and PVT McKee), I still had Crowinshield, Keegan, Karas, Greeley, and Despaux, as well as myself. Meister had left his BAR with Keegan, and I had my Thompson, so we had sufficient firepower, particularly in view that we had a good chance of using the element of surprise.
The terrain between us and the gun emplacement using a roundabout half circle to its rear would be treacherous and time consuming but it did provide the best opportunity to approach unobserved. The squad took its time moving out on the morning of 5 November 1942, leaving our helmets covered in our hastily dug positions. We wanted to maintain a quiet approach, and the helmets were the most obtrusive, as well as rattling pieces of equipment we had. I much preferred my khaki bandanna around my head anyway.
We made the fairly long trek, with only Greeley turning one ankle a bit in the rugged rocks we had to cross. I came close a few times, but by taking my time made it, along with the rest of the squad to a good covered observation point.
Crowinshield was fiddling with the British radio he acquired before we departed Scotland. He managed to raise some British fire direction guys on the Rodney once we reach . I pinpointed where we were on the map, and tried to call in a fire mission to the Brits so that they could take out the enemy position with navy gunfire, but they said I must have the position wrong because they were not taking fire from there. They were just lazy, cause I had the position right, those stuck-up Rubes.
Upon close observation, we could see there was a sandbagged light machine gun position facing down the ridge trail (West), perpendicular to our covered position. The men manning it appeared not to have seen our approach. There were also two 20mm anti-aircraft Hotchkiss type machine guns mounted on AA tripods facing towards the sea (North), away from our position,
My assault plan called for me, with my Thompson to try to get as close as I could to the right of the emplacement, facing into the uncovered rear of the sandbagged machine gun position. The rest of the squad was to cover me with their rifles, including the BAR, and be prepared to open up if I was detected upon my approach. If I successfully got into the position I wanted, they were to open up when they saw me do so.
The plan was to take out the machine gun gunners first, followed by the officers commanding the artillery, then the AA gunners, and lastly the artillery gun crew themselves. Each Squad member was instructed to take their first shot to coincide with the firing of the guns. Hopefully the noise from the report would cause our shots to remain undetected. The squad was on line, from left to right, Crowinshield, Keegan, Greeley, Karas, Despoe, and Myself (Lewis).
Before going in, Crowinshield managed to get 3rd Battalion on the radio, and finally our own 1st Battalion. We received official instructions to neutralize these guns, which had our guys pinned down on the beach.
I moved out as planned, but before I could get into the position I wanted, when I was still halfway to the emplacement, Crowinshield got impatient and opened fire. It was a good thing he was out of reach, because if I could have grabbed him by the throat I would have.
Well, suffice to say that the rest of the squad opened fire once Crowinshield did. I ran to a spot behind an ancient truck parked next to the right of the emplacement, and was able to open fire on the rear of the machine gun emplacement. The two Frenchmen manning the the machine gun had already each been hit by squad-members. I think Keegan killed one right away with a burst from the BAR, and Greeley hit the other (gunner) once. The gunner still had enough in him to be a threat, and had his hand on the machine gun, so I dispatched him with a burst from my Thompson. Pretty effective weapon at close range !!
Crowinshield was pretty effective on his running assault. He pumped a couple rounds into the machine gun position, then vaulted past it to the left hand 20mm AA machine gun position and shot into it. As the AA gunners reacted he attempted to toss a grenade into their position. As some kind of luck would have it (bad, then not so bad), the grenade bounced off the top of the sandbag wall surrounding the emplacement and landed down in with the crew of the leftmost artillery piece. They got one hell of a wake up call when that grenade went off ! It really got their attention !!!
I had engaged the right hand AA machine gun emplacement crew while Crowinshield was drawing everybody's attention his way. The guy really is an exhibitionist, and loves it ! I moved closer to the right hand AA gun to be at a more effective range for my Thompson. Fortunately, the AA guns were pointed toward the sea, and although the crews were trying to turn them against us, the guns were heavy and awkward, and our shooting at them distracted them from their purpose.
The rest of the squad, particularly Greeley and Karas were concentrating their fire on the artillery crew, starting with the officers. It turned out the officers were navy, while the rest of the crew and gunners were army.
I put a couple bursts into the crew on the right AA gun, while Crowinshield put a couple more rounds into the other crew. Keegan and Despaux were laying down effective fire into the artillery crew, but there were six on each gun, plus the two officers, and the AA gun crews.
I was just turning my fire toward the right hand gun crew when three of them fired their revolvers at me. I was hit in my upper left arm, and another shot hit me in the abdomen and scraped along my rib, and then exited. Man !!! That one really hurt. Took the wind right out of me, and I had to take a knee.
Both the French officers were dead from our rifle fire at this point, and Crowinshield vaulted over the sandbags at the AA gun position, where the crew had been dispatched and pointed his M1 from down into the artillery gun position. Crowinshield and I both called upon the remaining Frenchies to surrender, and fortunately for me they did! The three with their pistols out who shot at me a moment before had me dead to rights. The range was close, and although my Thompson would be very effective, all three of them were uninjured, and ready to shoot at me a second time.
Furthermore, I realized at that moment that Crowinshield's M1 was empty, as were Despaux's Greeley's, and Karas' M1's. That left only myself and Keegan with rounds in our magazines, and I was hurting pretty badly from those french pistol slugs. Glad they passed through. I don't want to have the experience of being hit again.
The Frenchies were very amicable once we produced cigarettes and passed them out. They spiked the guns, an tossed the breach-blocks down the escarpment. They were old 100mm guns from the first war.
Crowinshield raised battalion on the radio and let them know we had neutralized the guns, and got word they were on the way to us. I applied first aid to myself and that made me feel a lot better. Looking forward to the medic, or maybe even the battalion surgeon looking me over. But I can continue with my duties if I take it real easy for awhile.
We got that French truck down completely impact and untouched. Maybe I can ride in it for awhile, and stay off my feet.
I got a hold of that French Chatellerault machine gun, and all it's magazines and ammunition. It's a pretty close kin to our own BAR, and I am going to try to hold onto it and use it. Unfortunately, it takes 7.5 French cartridges, and unless we find some more somewhere, once the ammo is gone it's useless. Still, it should be as effective as our BAR as long as it's ammunition lasts.
Keegan seems to like my Thompson, and he can carry it, along with his own M1, for the time being. He is a strapping mountain of a young man. Like Gus, but leaner. The squad is fortunate to have both of them.
I am very pleased with the squads performance overall. Perhaps not completely happy with Crowinshield for not waiting until I got into position, but he was more than brave enough to show he had sand, and I respect that.
I was the only one who got hit, and if I had stayed behind the truck, or had a longer range weapon, and stayed with the rest of the squad on line back at the rocks, I would have likely have avoided my wounds altogether. As it is, I will be in for another purple heart, I guess.
Wonder what our next mission will be? I have to get these French prisoners back to Company, and get this action report written up and sent in. Better get the squad back into their positions, cleaning and oiling their weapons. Once that's done they can get some rest.
-SGT Lewis
Squad engaged in second hostile fire action of the war, and the first one we initiated. After digging in on our assigned ridge-line observation point the evening of 8 November 1942, we became aware of the firing of two large caliber artillery pieces within a mile of our position. Privates Greeley and Karas were dispatched to reconnoiter the position.
Upon return, they reported a fortified gun emplacement directed seaward, with two large artillery guns engaging our ships off coast. They estimated these guns were crewed and protected by approximately 20 men, and that they were unaware of our presence to their left and rear.
As squad leader I made the decision to take these guns out of action. The orders from the Major who sent us to this position gave me the leeway to, "Take on what we could handle".
Even with 4 squad members off on detail (Cpl Meister, PVT Dubois, PVT Craig, and PVT McKee), I still had Crowinshield, Keegan, Karas, Greeley, and Despaux, as well as myself. Meister had left his BAR with Keegan, and I had my Thompson, so we had sufficient firepower, particularly in view that we had a good chance of using the element of surprise.
The terrain between us and the gun emplacement using a roundabout half circle to its rear would be treacherous and time consuming but it did provide the best opportunity to approach unobserved. The squad took its time moving out on the morning of 5 November 1942, leaving our helmets covered in our hastily dug positions. We wanted to maintain a quiet approach, and the helmets were the most obtrusive, as well as rattling pieces of equipment we had. I much preferred my khaki bandanna around my head anyway.
We made the fairly long trek, with only Greeley turning one ankle a bit in the rugged rocks we had to cross. I came close a few times, but by taking my time made it, along with the rest of the squad to a good covered observation point.
Crowinshield was fiddling with the British radio he acquired before we departed Scotland. He managed to raise some British fire direction guys on the Rodney once we reach . I pinpointed where we were on the map, and tried to call in a fire mission to the Brits so that they could take out the enemy position with navy gunfire, but they said I must have the position wrong because they were not taking fire from there. They were just lazy, cause I had the position right, those stuck-up Rubes.
Upon close observation, we could see there was a sandbagged light machine gun position facing down the ridge trail (West), perpendicular to our covered position. The men manning it appeared not to have seen our approach. There were also two 20mm anti-aircraft Hotchkiss type machine guns mounted on AA tripods facing towards the sea (North), away from our position,
My assault plan called for me, with my Thompson to try to get as close as I could to the right of the emplacement, facing into the uncovered rear of the sandbagged machine gun position. The rest of the squad was to cover me with their rifles, including the BAR, and be prepared to open up if I was detected upon my approach. If I successfully got into the position I wanted, they were to open up when they saw me do so.
The plan was to take out the machine gun gunners first, followed by the officers commanding the artillery, then the AA gunners, and lastly the artillery gun crew themselves. Each Squad member was instructed to take their first shot to coincide with the firing of the guns. Hopefully the noise from the report would cause our shots to remain undetected. The squad was on line, from left to right, Crowinshield, Keegan, Greeley, Karas, Despoe, and Myself (Lewis).
Before going in, Crowinshield managed to get 3rd Battalion on the radio, and finally our own 1st Battalion. We received official instructions to neutralize these guns, which had our guys pinned down on the beach.
I moved out as planned, but before I could get into the position I wanted, when I was still halfway to the emplacement, Crowinshield got impatient and opened fire. It was a good thing he was out of reach, because if I could have grabbed him by the throat I would have.
Well, suffice to say that the rest of the squad opened fire once Crowinshield did. I ran to a spot behind an ancient truck parked next to the right of the emplacement, and was able to open fire on the rear of the machine gun emplacement. The two Frenchmen manning the the machine gun had already each been hit by squad-members. I think Keegan killed one right away with a burst from the BAR, and Greeley hit the other (gunner) once. The gunner still had enough in him to be a threat, and had his hand on the machine gun, so I dispatched him with a burst from my Thompson. Pretty effective weapon at close range !!
Crowinshield was pretty effective on his running assault. He pumped a couple rounds into the machine gun position, then vaulted past it to the left hand 20mm AA machine gun position and shot into it. As the AA gunners reacted he attempted to toss a grenade into their position. As some kind of luck would have it (bad, then not so bad), the grenade bounced off the top of the sandbag wall surrounding the emplacement and landed down in with the crew of the leftmost artillery piece. They got one hell of a wake up call when that grenade went off ! It really got their attention !!!
I had engaged the right hand AA machine gun emplacement crew while Crowinshield was drawing everybody's attention his way. The guy really is an exhibitionist, and loves it ! I moved closer to the right hand AA gun to be at a more effective range for my Thompson. Fortunately, the AA guns were pointed toward the sea, and although the crews were trying to turn them against us, the guns were heavy and awkward, and our shooting at them distracted them from their purpose.
The rest of the squad, particularly Greeley and Karas were concentrating their fire on the artillery crew, starting with the officers. It turned out the officers were navy, while the rest of the crew and gunners were army.
I put a couple bursts into the crew on the right AA gun, while Crowinshield put a couple more rounds into the other crew. Keegan and Despaux were laying down effective fire into the artillery crew, but there were six on each gun, plus the two officers, and the AA gun crews.
I was just turning my fire toward the right hand gun crew when three of them fired their revolvers at me. I was hit in my upper left arm, and another shot hit me in the abdomen and scraped along my rib, and then exited. Man !!! That one really hurt. Took the wind right out of me, and I had to take a knee.
Both the French officers were dead from our rifle fire at this point, and Crowinshield vaulted over the sandbags at the AA gun position, where the crew had been dispatched and pointed his M1 from down into the artillery gun position. Crowinshield and I both called upon the remaining Frenchies to surrender, and fortunately for me they did! The three with their pistols out who shot at me a moment before had me dead to rights. The range was close, and although my Thompson would be very effective, all three of them were uninjured, and ready to shoot at me a second time.
Furthermore, I realized at that moment that Crowinshield's M1 was empty, as were Despaux's Greeley's, and Karas' M1's. That left only myself and Keegan with rounds in our magazines, and I was hurting pretty badly from those french pistol slugs. Glad they passed through. I don't want to have the experience of being hit again.
The Frenchies were very amicable once we produced cigarettes and passed them out. They spiked the guns, an tossed the breach-blocks down the escarpment. They were old 100mm guns from the first war.
Crowinshield raised battalion on the radio and let them know we had neutralized the guns, and got word they were on the way to us. I applied first aid to myself and that made me feel a lot better. Looking forward to the medic, or maybe even the battalion surgeon looking me over. But I can continue with my duties if I take it real easy for awhile.
We got that French truck down completely impact and untouched. Maybe I can ride in it for awhile, and stay off my feet.
I got a hold of that French Chatellerault machine gun, and all it's magazines and ammunition. It's a pretty close kin to our own BAR, and I am going to try to hold onto it and use it. Unfortunately, it takes 7.5 French cartridges, and unless we find some more somewhere, once the ammo is gone it's useless. Still, it should be as effective as our BAR as long as it's ammunition lasts.
Keegan seems to like my Thompson, and he can carry it, along with his own M1, for the time being. He is a strapping mountain of a young man. Like Gus, but leaner. The squad is fortunate to have both of them.
I am very pleased with the squads performance overall. Perhaps not completely happy with Crowinshield for not waiting until I got into position, but he was more than brave enough to show he had sand, and I respect that.
I was the only one who got hit, and if I had stayed behind the truck, or had a longer range weapon, and stayed with the rest of the squad on line back at the rocks, I would have likely have avoided my wounds altogether. As it is, I will be in for another purple heart, I guess.
Wonder what our next mission will be? I have to get these French prisoners back to Company, and get this action report written up and sent in. Better get the squad back into their positions, cleaning and oiling their weapons. Once that's done they can get some rest.
-SGT Lewis
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