My Battlefield Promotion

A very short time after arriving in North Africa in 1943, I was a private working security patrols around our division encampment.  I was trying to do a good job at whatever I was told to do.
One morning ...

Burn out the Latrine

Enjoy the humor of this story; I know it  happened.
It was in North Africa, 1943 -
Most of the men were young, seventeen to twenty-five years.  Most had no history which, required them to ask questions, when ordered to do jobs which they didn't understand.  ...

(Photo is for effect, 

not from North Africa)

The Big Hook

General George Patton ordered all units to pack up, get ready to invade Sicily.  My Division, 704th Engineering Railway Grand Division was one of them.  We were ready to go when we received a message from Command.  It said for the 704th to proceed to Italy instead.  Proceed, with all possible haste.   

Read this exciting story: 

 

The Red Ball Express

This is a true reporting of mostly unknown combat action in World War II, about the Red Ball Express.  View it as I wrote it:

 

An Incident in North Africa with General George Patton

General George had arrived only a few days before German planes started strafing where he was staying in Algiers.  He was so mad and told them about it, grabbed these pearl handle pistols, went outside and fired at the planes coming in for the second pass.

He said, “You Krauts are dead but you just don’t know it.”

End of the War

“Now.” General Patton was put in command of US 3^rd Army advancing toward Belgium where, 101^st Airborne troops were surrounded by Germans. On January 1944 had snow and ice (coldest in 100 years).
April 1, 1945 the 7^th Army moved most of our troops out of France except Nancy, France and Toul Terminal - needed all personnel in Germany.
Hostilities ended May 8, 1945 and on May 19^th the first freight train crossed the Neckar River near Stuttgart and Danube.

War over! We moved from Nancy, France to Esslingen, Germany and stayed on as the army of occupation for several months.

Preparing for the Invasion of Sicily

At this time General Patton immediately started getting all troops ready to go invade Sicily.
... (read the story as I wrote it)