The night attack, success for us, and for others?

My plan was unload all our equipment out of the Kublewagen, and to send Dubois and Smith in it down South and East of the town just before dusk. They were to set a couple of explosive charges with timing fuse to the Southeast of where we saw the armorer panzers parked the night before. Once these diversionary charges were set they were to head back to the wooded assembly area to the North of the airstrip. The rest of the vehicles we would leave in another area, further North and East of the airfield. Mckee, Capone, and Meister would remain with these vehicles, ready to move out and come to our aid with rapid transportation if we needed it. Meister had the jeep mounted radio in one of the jeeps, Smith had one hand-held radio in the Kublewagen, and I (SGT Lewis) had the other hand held radio with the raiding party.

The raiding party was led by myself (SGT Lewis), carrying Capone’s B.A.R., Karas with his M1 Garand, Greeley with his M1 Garand, Despaux with his Thompson, Crowinshield with his captured MP 40 and slung M1 Garand, and Johnson, with his captured Italian Beretta 38/42 SMG, and slung 03-A3. We left the bazookas, and belt-fed guns with the vehicles. We also carried enhanced explosive charges prepared by Mckee. Each charge was two blocks of TNT with a hand grenade wire-tied onto them. The TNT blocks were primed with non-electric fuse-igniters with eight minutes of timed fuse. I carried two charges, and Greeley and Despaux each carried four. Johnson had his rifle grenades.

The plan was we would start by silently taking out the two sentries we observed between two of the buildings. This was to be the job of Karas and myself.

Once we had done this, then Karas and I would use a grapnel and rope and climb to the nearby flat roof/veranda of the building to the South. This vantage point looked out over where we could make out four vehicles. There was a towed 88mm gun, and next to it one of the heavy halftrack haulers, like we had seen in Bir el Hafey. We also saw a quad mounted 20mm anti-aircraft trailer and a smaller armored halftrack which would have to be its hauler.

There were three buildings, and I figured at least two and perhaps all three housed German troops. I figured if we could silently take out the sentries, then Max and I could cover the rest of the squad while Greeley and Despaux set their charges down the tubes of the 88mm guns we had seen the previous night. While they were setting the charges, Johnson could check out and prepare to start the smaller of the halftracks. This would be out getaway vehicle once we ignited the fuses on the explosives. Crowinshield would provide mobile on-the-ground security for Greeley, Dexpaux, and Johnson, even as Karas and I provided cover from a rooftop which had a commanding view of the entire area.

Karas and I would be able to see the four vehicles, and the other 88mm guns which I anticipated seeing in the area between the two airstrips. Once the charges were set and fuses ignited we would all meet at the smaller halftrack where Johnson would be ready to quickly start it up and drive us out of there before the charges detonated. Karas and I would leave our positions last.

If it turned out that Johnson found it impossible for us to use the halftrack we would walk out, as we had the night before. We would have eight minutes before the first charge went off, and we anticipated the diversion explosions set by Mckee and Smith would confuse any German reaction and hopefully send them off in that direction.

I had established a signal with the squad that if we were detected pre-maturely, and I did not have ability to communicate with the entire squad through voice or hand and arms signals, and needed to abort the operation, I would shoot a green flare into the air.

The would be the signal for everybody to immediately converge on where Johnson was with the smaller halftrack, or if this was impossible, proceed by foot to the assembly area in the grove of trees to the North. If this too was untenable, each Soldier would do his best to get back where our vehicles were.

I am attaching a diagram showing the buildings and key features as saw them (or thought them to be) upon our approach. In execution, we found that the Germans had emplaced some barbed wire in spots. The execution of our raid proceeded as follows on 17 FEB:

We approached from the West after dusk. We could see two sentries between the two buildings from the light of their cigarettes. The buildings were dark and silent. The German convoy from the town was departing up the Kasserine road to the North, and I figured its noise would help cover any noise we might inadvertently be making in our approach.

The order of march was in column of twos. Karas and myself in the lead, followed by Greeley and Despaux,with Crowinshield and Johnson in the rear.

We reached the Wadi running South to North and Depaux wrinkled his nose, made a grimace, and said someone had been using it for a latrine. The Wadi was about eight feet wide and as deep. Crowinshield moved to the left, turned around to face us, crouched down, and lowered himself into the Wadi. Johnson followed. Slightly later, Karas and I (Lewis) moved up to the South and I descended into to the Wadi using a rope on a grapnel anchored into the ground by Karas. Karas, and Greeley followed me down into the Wadi. Despaux waited on the West bank and watched the buildings.

Crowinshield was first to climb up the East side of the Wadi and take up a prone position on the bank. Moments later Karas and I lifted (almost threw) Greeley up onto the East bank when we made our hands into a stirrup and propelled him upwards.

Greeley secured another rope on a convenient boulder on the East bank, and I ascended. Karas was next. We all took up prone positions on the East bank. Crowinshield was moving forward when we all heard the “Pouff” of a flare going up. I looked through my binoculars at the flat veranda roof of the nearest building, and a German was looking RIGHT BACK AT ME. I couldn’t help but think that someone of us had been spotted. Perhaps it was the movement when we catapulted Greeley up out of the Wadi, or perhaps Crowinshield. Either way, although I held out a small hope that we might be able to wait out the German flare without being detected, things started to happen quickly.

Two dogs approached Crowinshield at a run, barking and snarling. They were each black and brown, well-muscled, and instantly recognizable as German guard dogs. Crowinshield unlimbered his captured MP-40 he had taken from the German motorcycle scout and opened fire on them once they had gotten close. He hit both of them with his first burst, and they went down. That was pretty nice shooting by Crowinshield, to hit two moving dogs before they could put their teeth into him. It must have confused the Germans for a few moments to hear one of their own weapons cut loose from out where we were, but any potential opportunity to take advantage of this was lost as Greeley fired his M1 rifle at the German on the veranda, hitting him. The German on the veranda returned fire, missing. Karas fired at the figure on the veranda, missing as well.

Crowinshield was off at a run for the building in front of him. I started running for the same building and a closed exterior door about 50 feet South of the point Crowinshield was heading for. I didn’t want to be caught out by the Wadi. It was time to move and close on the objective.

Johnson also started running for the building, behind Crowinshield, who had a head start.

Greeley and Karas were in position at the bank of the Wadi, providing covering fire. Dexpaux was still down in the Wadi, out of sight.

The three of us (Crowinshield, Johnson, and Lewis), reached the wall of the building at about the same time albeit about 30 feet from each other. I was about to try to shoulder right through the door in front of me at a run when an explosion rocked me. A grenade had landed, and detonated just behind me as I got to the doorway. It must have been thrown at me by a German from either the veranda, or the upper floor window of the building above where Johnson was standing. Those stinkin Krauts ! Fortunately the grenade neither wounded, nor dazed me. I had been lucky. (What I did not realize was what had actually happened. Johnson had attempted to throw a hand grenade into the 2^nd floor window above him, missed, and it had bounced off the wall and landed right next to me.) Crowinshield was laughing, but I never noticed.

Karas was on the move by this time, leaving Greeley firing from behind the cover of the boulder on the East bank of the Wadi. Johnson turned shouldered a door to his left about eight inches open, and tossed a grenade inside. Boom !! The grenade went off, and smoke and splinters came out through the opening. Karas came up to my right, and was about to look in the window to the right of the door I was shouldering through as I hit that door at full running speed with my (Capone’s) Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR) held at port arms.

I knew I was taking a risk hitting the door that way. If it had been locked and barricaded shut it would have been a painful impact for me. Likewise, if there was a squad of Germans inside at the ready if I did burst through, that would not be an exciting prospect either. I took a gamble that I could get through the door quickly without injury to myself, and IF there were Germans on the other side, that I would catch them off-guard, perhaps in the midst of donning their equipment, and force their surrender, or at least to flee at the point of my BAR.

As it turned out the door was not braced or fastened stoutly, and I burst through into a room without anybody in it. It appeared to be some kind of a workshop area.

For a few moments after I burst through the door I had a vision of another kind of a room, but this must have been a by-product of my impact through the entry door. In fact this room had a door on the South wall to my right, and as soon as I ascertained that the room was clear of enemy, I headed right for it.

While I was going through the room, Crowinshield and Johnson were about the North side of the building, going around that corner headed East. To their surprise they encountered several emplaced coils of barbed wire running from the building Northeasterly towards a second building, effectively blocking their progress to the open compound area where the vehicles were. I am providing a map of the layout of the buildings showing their position, and that of the barbed wire and vehicles.

Crowinshield set about cutting through a section of the barbed wire while Johnson covered him.

There was a lot of noise and activity coming from the building to the Northeast. It was obvious to Crowinshield and Johnson that there were quite a few Germans getting prepared to react to the gunfire they had heard.

I (Lewis) went back outside through the door at the South end of the building, and moved rapidly along the wall to the Southeast corner. From there I could see the open compound to the Northeast, another building further East, the vehicles, and the other building which was in front of Crowinshield and Johnson.

I saw a very threatening piece of German equipment parked about 200 feet away next to the building with all the noise coming out of it. It was a quad-mounted towed 20mm anti-aircraft trailer. I knew that if the Germans ever succeeded in manning that and turning it against us, it would be disastrous for our squad.

I moved rapidly, with Karas moving about fifty feet behind me, taking up my previous covered position at the corner of the building. I crossed the open compound at a run, again taking a chance that there would be no Germans in the building further East, or if there were, they would either not detect me, or think I was one of their own. The German flare has fizzled out moments before, so I figured I had a decent chance of reaching the 20mm guns.

I had reached a point halfway across the compound when a German voice called out to me, “Wer Ist Das?” - I mustered some German I remembered from the first war and yelled back as I ran in the general direction of the voice (and right at the 20mm quad trailer), “Americanischen Soldaten Sind Nord ! Alarm !! Alarm !! “

There was no shooting in my direction, so I made it to the 20mm gun trailer, and hunkered down on the forward side of the armor-plated gunshield. The bulk of the guns, gunshield, and trailer were between me, and the open vehicle bays of the building on the other side. As I pulled out my two explosive charges and set them on the gun trailer, one next to each pair of guns, right and left, I could see silhouettes of Germans coming in droves from an upper floor staircase at the back of the rightmost bay.

Behind me, Karas had turned the corner and moved quietly along the East side of the first building we saw. He took up a covered firing position behind one of the German vehicles just to the North of the Northeast corner, with a good bearing on the open bays of the building in front of me.

Crowinshield had cut through the wire successfully, and although I did not know it at the time, had ascended the exterior staircase to the first landing on the Southwest wall of the building I was facing, and taken a prepared firing position with his MP-40. Johnson had taken a prepared firing position with his captured Berretta submachine gun at ground level.

What this amounted to was a magnificent cross-fire position for the squad to have against the Germans pouring like ants out of an anthill into the row of open bays (empty aircraft maintenance bays) of the building in front of me.

I was in a precarious position and knew I had to decide whether to start the fuses burning on the charges right away, or wait and see how the Germans would react next. I decided to start the fuses burning and plan to be clear away from there before the ten minutes had passed. I didn’t want to give up my position too soon because I didn’t want the Germans to have the opportunity to find the charges and disable them before they went off.

The firefight that ensued didn’t last long. We were in good position, and caught the Germans in a bad one. We were also lucky, which was most important of all.

Crowinshield shot the first German who came into his view, from above him on the landing of the staircase, wounded him, not killing him immediately.

Johnson fired his Berretta at another German nearby, hitting him twice, and I saw that once drop to the ground unmoving.

I heard the “Crack, Crack, Crack, Crack” of Karas firing his M1 Garand, and another German dropped to the ground, dead.

I didn’t see them, but Greeley and Despaux were on the move, getting closer to the vehicles, and the fighting.

The Germans were in confusion from the gunfire coming from three sides. This did not stop there machine gun team from reacting. They started to come out from the bay toward the South, gun at the ready. But they did not realize Crowinshield was above them on the staircase landing.

I heard the “Bup, bup, bup, bup” of Crowinshields captured MP-40, and with three bleeding wounds, the MG 42 gunner dropped lifelessly to the ground. Moments later, Johnson perforated the assistant gunner as he tried to take over the firing of the MG 42, wounding him grievously so he could not be effective.

By this time I had finished setting and igniting the charges, and I fired a burst from my BAR into the group of Germans manning the MG-42. This finished one, and perhaps hit others.

Despaux took up position, fired and hit one of the other Germans while Greeley set explosive charges on the German 88mm gun. Greeley was focused on getting his task accomplished, just as he had been instructed.

Crowinshield tossed a grenade at the remaining Germans in the open bay, and the rest of us continued our fire. It was over quickly. The Germans were demoralized by our withering fire coming rapidly from three directions, and they had no cover. We ended up with five prisoners, of which two were wounded.

The German return fire had been ineffective and we had been lucky. None of our squad was wounded. I was a little disheveled from the grenade detonation next to me, but unharmed.

Johnson set about checking on the “getaway” halftrack, while I cut the fuses on the charges I had set on the 20mm gun trailer. Greeley set charges on the other vehicles, except for the halftrack Johnson was assessing.

Despaux and Karas disarmed, searched and watched the prisoners, while Crowinshield and I quickly searched the buildings. It was only about five minutes before we heard a big explosion to the Southwest. That was our diversionary team setting off their charges.

We also heard the approach of vehicles from our Southwest. Apparently the Germans had reacted immediately to the sound of our gunfire and their reaction force was approaching. I looked through my binoculars from a vantage point on the veranda of one of the buildings, and I could see that there were several vehicles, including troop carriers. We needed to get out of the area before they arrived.

I returned to Johnson and asked him about the halftrack. “No go”, he replied. The ignition system was completely disassembled. The other larger halftrack was raised off the ground on ramps on one side, and it was non-functional as well. We had no getaway vehicles. This ruined my half-formed plan of taking the AA trailer with us.

I ordered the explosive charges set and ignited immediately. We took the MG 42 gun and what ammunition it had with us, as well as any 9mm ammunition we could find. We blindfolded and took the prisoners with us too, giving first aid to the wounded using some of their own supplies. We found that these Germans were all privates and part of the artillery unit. Crowinshield had killed the solitary NCO at the beginning of the action.

We acted quickly. I sent Greeley and Johnson West, back across the Wadi with instructions to walk quickly as they could for ten minutes, set timed ten minute charges, then rendezvous with the rest of the squad in the grove to our North which was our assembly area.

The rest of us moved out with the prisoners to the assembly area. We heard multiple explosions as our charges at the airstrip detonated one after another. We hoped this would throw the German reaction force into a tizzy. Ten minutes later we heard two more explosions to the West as our diversionary explosives went off as set by Johnson and Greeley.

When we got to the assembly area CPL Meister was there with the rest of the squad less Johnson and Greeley, who arrived about 15 minutes later.

Smith and Dubois had already arrived with the Kublewagen, and related that they had placed their “diversionary” charges where they would destroy, or at least damage the bridge in the town so that the German supply route would be disrupted.

CPL Meister took on the task of confusing and feeding false information to our German prisoners. We could not afford to take them with us, nor did I want them telling the Germans we were a small number of men. Meister kept them isolated and blindfolded, and asked them questions which would lead them to believe we were a larger element. He even had some of the other squad members make noise nearby, and used the Kublewagen to drive by, out of sight, multiple times to make it seem like we had many vehicles, like we were a much larger element operating in the German rear area.

We needed to get back to the knoll where our other vehicles were, and I planned to head back to try to get back to our lines somehow. We also were going to need to acquire more food soon.

We set out, still in darkness with the kublewagen leading the way, and the rest of us on foot. We left the German prisoners behind, alive, tied, but with water. Sooner or later they would free themselves and rejoin their comrades, but hopefully with information which was false and confusing.

It was not very long, however, before Dubois reported something amiss with the kublewagen. The front end steering rack had sustained damage, either through previous overloading, the punishment driving over desert terrain, or both. In any event, it could only proceed very slowly. I sent it on ahead, and then followed with the rest of the squad.

Over time, first one, then another of us sensed we were being followed, or watched. Crowinshield dropped back, and I took a position further ahead on point, and we tried waiting in ambush for our “visitors”. This plan was not successful. Later events proved that we were far outmatched in stealth.

Finally, at one point Crowinshield put up a flare. As it illuminated the area we found that each of the groups of us, the four in the Kublewagen, myself up on point, the main group, and Crowinshield bringing up the rear, were handily caught right up close by well-armed, and well led locals.

I myself was confronted by their leader, who spoke perfect English, although with a British accent, and who ordered me to surrender my weapon. Since he and three of his men had the drop on me, I complied. The rest of the squad, being in a similar situation was compelled to do the same.

This leader, who said we could address him as “Lawrence” said that we would be conducted safely to a place of safety, where we would “talk”. Although they took our visible arms, we were not searched. This meant I was not yet unarmed, and thought it possible that some of the other squad members would be in a similar situation.

We had not yet reached even the halfway point to our parked and concealed vehicles, so I had hopes they remained undiscovered. We were forced to abandon our kublewagen as these native soldiers brought us by horseback to their encampment about five miles to the North.

There were between 20-30 of our captors, mostly equipped with German rifles, and harness, but there was a smattering of British equipment and harness as well. Where they wore any German clothing the insignia was removed. Lawrence wore highly polished German officers boots, and German officers leather belt, complete with pistol, however, his clothing was of native design and production.

Upon arrival at the encampment we were allowed to wash and were fed, well fed as a matter of fact, as if we were guests. Lawrence provided wine, which was accepted by some.

In response to my questions, Lawrence related that he and his men had been watching us for two to three days. I told them a little about what we had done, and he said we had been both skillful, and lucky to have eluded the Germans thus far. Lawrence also related what he knew of the German troop concentrations, and I realized it would be near impossible for us to reach our friendly forces for the time being.

Lawrence described himself and his band as basically native freedom fighters who wanted , and intended to be masters of this their native land after the German and other armies had gone. Until that day it seemed Lawrence had been preying on the German supply columns with his mobile band of irregular Soldiers with some genuine success.

The food and hospitality was excellent.

I asked what Lawrence wanted of us, and he said that we would talk about that later. Lawrence obviously was going to want us to do something willingly, and realizing from our conversation that he wanted to be on friendly terms, I suggested that perhaps there was some German target he had wanted to raid, but either he did not have the firepower, or otherwise was loath to invoke a German reaction against his band.

I suggested that if he and I acted together against such a German target, he would get the benefit of our firepower, and the Germans would perceive it as an American led raid, and not attach the blame to Lawrence’s band. That seemed to perk his interest a little.

Crowinshield, ever the gentleman, offered a very fine cigar as a reciprocal gift to Lawrence for his hospitality. This was apparently much appreciated.

We passed the night in comfort, resting well, and together with the fine meal, realized a full recovery and regaining of our strength.