Page 3

While at Tidworth, the Company was given a forty eight hour pass to London. Without a doubt everybody enjoyed seeing all the famous places they've heard of. Westminster Abbey, House of Parliament, Hyde Park, Buckingham Palace and Big Ben were some of the places of interest visited. London also showed its scars of war, and was still being bombed by Robot and V-bombs. The most pitiful sight was seeing the subway platforms crowded with people sleeping, who were either bombed out of their homes, or wanted a place of safety.

Our days at Tidworth had come to an end. For on January 4, 1945 we started our trip that was destined to put our long hard training to use. The uncertainty of what tomorrow would bring was food for thought. We were a cocky group, therefore were not afraid of the uncertainty ahead. Why should we be? We were the best equipped Armored Division in Europe at the time. We traveled to Chickerell, then to Portland, where we loaded on LST. The next day we landed at La Havre, France. Nothing seen before could compare with the destruction of this once great city, La Havre. In receiving so many air raids, it was completely leveled to the ground. Our Anti-Aircraft guns on the tanks were fully loaded, and we were ready to fire our first shot if enemy planes came near. The few people of La Havre seemed to resent us, because this city was leveled by American planes before invasion day.

The weather was bitterly cold as we traveled deeper and deeper into France. We stopped at Totes, France for a few days. The houses we slept in were cold, for there was no fuel to burn. But it was windy and cold out, and a wall and roof seemed like heaven, even though we were sleeping on the floor with a little straw as a mattress. Snow was quite common now and was always on the ground.

Departed from Totes to continue our march east. Passed through St Victor, Gourney, Neaunic, Breales and arrived at Soissons the following morning after traveling twenty four hours. After refueling and eating a hot breakfast, we were moving again on the slippery hard packed snowy roads. Many of our tanks with their steel tracks would skid into trees and ditches. It was bitterly cold, making these rides very uncomfortable. At last we reached Reims, France. We moved to the outskirts where we had to shovel the deep snow from where our pup tents were erected.

While here, no one slept comfortably because five blankets could not keep out the cold. In the morning tents would be ice coated on the inside from the warmbreaths. We were told we'd be here for ten days and then assigned to an Army. After being here for two days, we were told at eleven o'clock at night we were moving in two hours. This we did, and we traveled all that night and the next day passing through Suippe, Verdun, Mars La Tour, Pagnay-a-Masille, Pont-a-Mousson and reached our next home, St. Jure, France.

The small town of St Jure gave all evidence that war had embraced this half destroyed town. We quartered ourselves here in anything that had walls and a roof, some naturally had to select the barns. Here Yank ingenuity was used to the utmost, ceilings were braced, doors were built, windows were sealed, stoves were made of large cans, lighting systems were developed, and beds were made. When it was cold, the roofs were waterproof, but when it warmed up, the snow on the shingles would melt and make our home look like a shower room. As much as three inches of water would accumulate and have to be drained by chopping holes in the floor. While here, the boys took a fancy to having all their hair cut off. Before the day was over, most of the company were sporting white heads. Nobody minded, because civilization seemed so remote, so who cared how we looked. While here, we were attached to the Third Army. This Army was expecting the German Armies to attempt a breakthrough, through Saarbrucken. In this event, our mission was to travel to St. Avoid and attack the enemy's spearhead from the south. Our tanks were whitewashed so they would blend with the snow covered country. The attack never developed, so on Feb. 2nd, 1945, we left St Jure.