World War II Memories, from the History of Francis Walker Bishop

World War II Memories, from the History of Francis Walker Bishop

I left New York on June 15th on an English boat, the Athalone Castle. The food was terrible--in fact we couldn't eat it half the time. The boat was built for 3,000 and there were 9,000 soldiers crammed on it.

I landed in Liverpool, England, July 1, and went to Camp Notwih. The next day I boarded a little English train traveling about 10 miles an hour and stopped at every whistle stop and on this train I traveled all the way across England to South Hampton, and then to a place called Street. I boarded an L.S.I (Landing Craft Infantry) for France but had to stay on it for three days before crossing the English Channel because the water was so rough.

My company landed on Omaha Beach July 22, 1944. We had to carry our field packs consisting of one extra pair of pants, full set of fatigues, two sets of underwear, two blankets, pub tent [sic] and poles, extra pair of shoes, 3 or 4 pair of stockings, overcoat and all our personal belongings for 10 miles to camp. We could hear the big guns booming when we landed onshore and the planes and balloons were flying overhead.

A few days after this we were running from the Germans and I didn't have time to take my bag with me so I lost all my personal belongings as well as the equipment that was given to me.

My company was at a Replacement Depot in Normandy. It was a three-acre pasture with hedge rows all around it. The Commander in charge of the camp said that we did not havre to dig a foxhole that first night if we didn't want to but that we would have to before the night was over. I dug the hole and I sure needed it. The Germans had a plane come over every night at just 11:00. We named him "bed-check Charlie." Every now and then he would drop a few bombs on some of the companies.

The second day I was at Normandie I was on my way to another company to see some of my old pals from Fort Sam Houston when I passed a Major and I didn't salute him. The officer said "say, didn't you learn military discipline where you came from?' I answered back "Yes, sir, but I thought all of that old B.S. ended when we hit France." He assured me that it did not so I saluted and went on my way.

July 28 1 was assigned to the 28th Infantry Division and the 1 10th Regiment, Second Battalion Aid Station, and was immediately put into combat. Another aid man and I were told to get some wounded soldiers. They were on the opposite side of a large open field and, never having been in combat before and not realizing the danger, we cut right across the field rather than going around the hedgerows that surrounded the field. We were right in the middle of the field and artillery shells started landing all around us, We reached the wounded men safely, however, and took them back to the aid station. These men had been running a machine gun and an artillery shell had hit them point blank. This first day in combat we saw truck loads and truck loads of dead U. S. soldiers.

Another time when we were going after some patients we started passing a lot of dead Germans and no Americans, dead or alive. We thought we were in German territory but after we had gone about one half mile we came to a Sergeant and he told us where the patients were but that we would have to be careful because the Germans spotted us and firing and we hit the dirt, and again we were able to get the wounded safely back to the aid station.

It was about this time that I was assigned to Company G as an ID man. It was my duty to take care patients as soon as possible after being wounded, giving morphine, plasma or other first aid, until the bearers arrived to take them back to the aid station.

After five more days of fighting in Normandie the Germans started retreating so fast the Americans couldn't keep up with them. About every day while we were marching we came across a pocket of German soldiers but they gave up as soon as they were found.

Our Company marched about 200 miles toward Paris. The last 100 miles trucks were brought and they convoyed us into Paris where we marched in the Liberation Parade August 29. We marched through Paris and directly into combat on the outskirts ofthe City. we marched almost all the way to Belgium about 200 miles. Our Division hit the Siegfried Line September 15. We there over six weeks and advanced only one mile. The two aid stations we had were set up in "pill-boxes" that had been captured from the Germans.

The pillboxes were like an underground house. They had from 3 to 5 rooms; all were wired for communication and electricity although there were no telephones or electricity used. They were made of reinforced concrete with walls and roof 4 to 6 feet thick and they were very well camouflaged.

We were in the Siegfried Line in all about six weeks and lived the entire time on K rations. K rations were meals packed in boxes about 1 1/4 inches thick, 3 inches wide and 7 inches long. Breakfast K rations consisted of a can of dehydrated ham and eggs, one dehydrated fruit bar, 4 hard crackers, a package of Instant coffee, and a package of sugar. Dinner rations consisted of a can of cheese or bacon and cheese, a package of hard candy, a package of punch powder — either lemon, orangeade or gape, a package of sugar

and 4 hard crackers. Supper included a can of corned pork loaf or veal and pork loaf, a package of soup bullion, 4 hard crackers and a hard chocolate bar.

There was no place to bathe and I had no change of clothes. I was able to take time to shave about once a week. I went down to the creek and took a "spit bath" in my helmet. I washed out my underwear and went without them until they were dry. However I had one change of stockings so was able to keep them fairly clean.

After being in the Siegfried Line I went back into a defensive area in Belgium where there was no fighting - only guarding. We went back to pick up replacements since our company had lost 132 men out of 195 men. While here we were given clean clothes and I had a chance to take a shower and go to a movie.

From here we went to Aachen — the first city of any size in Germany that fell. I was there October 18 and Aachen fell October 20. The Company Commander Post was in the basement of a Catholic Hospital and I slept there for four nights in a bed, the first time I had slept in a bed since landing in France. Aachen has a great many huge wine cellars, a few of which I visited. We sampled some of it.

After leaving Aachen I went into combat in the Hurtgen Forest. One day while I was helping to carry out a wounded soldier I tripped on a wire that was connected to a booby trap. The other litter bearer and I hit the dirt the mine exploded , and the schrapnel sprayed out above us in all directions. Luckily we were below the schrapnel.

Another incident that happened while I was in the Hurtgen Forest was when our litter bearers and I were sent out for some patients. I became separated from the rest of the men and while I was attempting to get back to them, machine gun fire from the Germans started breaking the limbs two feet over my head. I didn't know it then but I was in front of our front lines. I managed to get back to my companions and the Germans spotted us again. We all dropped to the ground with our patients and stayed there for over an hour with machine gun going right over our heads. One man raised his head and was shot. We stayed about another 30 minutes until machine gun from our side cleared a way for us to crawl back to our lines.

I was in the Hurtgen Forest from October 24 until the day before Thanksgiving. During this time we took only 4 or 5 miles and lost over 100 per cent of our men. We started with 187 men received 65 replacements while there and came out with only 44 men. However, a great many of these casualties were wounded. We didn't feel sorry for those that were dead rather we felt they were lucky because they were out of all the misery. We didn't know from one second to the next if we were going to be alive or shot half to pieces or killed outright. One cannot imagine the strain and tension a soldier is constantly under until he has gone through battle.

During this fighting we lived in foxholes. Fox holes vary in size and "comfort". If we had time and a shovel or entrenching tool we dug a hole about 6 feet long and 4 feet deep, usually wide enough for 2 people. We cut down limbs and trees to put over the top. If we were in a area we looked around to to find some hay to put over us and under us to keep us warm. Sometimes we had blankets, but a lot of the time we didn't.