After a due length of time our "Steel Clad Snake" (courtesy of News-week moved on its merry way to --

Sibbe, Holland, where the hospitality of the ever kind Netherland Folks was felt by all. Here we experienced the most heart-felt welcome that was ever our pleasure to receive. The evenings were spent playing cards and eating pie and waffles, of which our kind hosts never tired of plying us with. T/5 'Wolf' Wolhauer was plagued with a great deal of sometimes too ribald ribbing from the Machine Gun Platoon, but passed it off in his customary good natured way. We, the 49th were supposed to move out in attack and relieve the 35th Infantry Division at the Roer River Spring floods and the Heinies blowing up some dams prevented this j so after many false alerts at each one of which, the wire crew had to take up and relay the wire, Sgt. Pettigrew claimed to know every inch of it by heart: we moved out to --

St. Odilienberg on the Roer River in holding positions relieving the British 7th Armored Division, who were needed elsewhere, and most of all needed a rest as they had been going ever since they had landed on the continent. The battalion HQ was located in a fine old Chateau that showed absolutely no signs of war in the least. Capt. Look was in school and Capt. Dugas took over the S-2 job -- in a professional way! Capt. Potter at this time was S-3. It was here that S-3 Sgt. Cohen came into possession of that famous British army pistol -- boy was he proud! While here we had the opportunity to watch firsthand the great barrage that was a preamble to the Roer River crossing by the 35th Infantry Division. A fortnight later we mounted up and started for --

Alderkirk in Germany-on an offensive, all our own, upon arrival there our ever mischievous Tolley decided to go on one -- he did -- ask anyone from the Recon Platoon. Task force Roseborough left Alderkirk for --

After a terrible period of moving, moving and then packing up and moving again -- the guy who thought up war forgot one thing as a weapon -- we found that you can go kaput from lack of sleep too -- We were relieved by CCR and CCA, no one knows where they were, while the fight was going on (you can laugh now) and started on a long march that took us thru Brunswick and ended up in Derenburg, where Tillman found out that a tree burst don't give a doggone for a foxhole and Yarman learned that a peep isn't too good protection against shrapnel, and oh yes where did you go that night in Blankenburg with the Recon Platoon Ralph? ? ? From Blankenburg to Elbingerode and kaput Heinie equipment to Rubeland to Uslar where the much awaited for V-E Day overtook us. With V-E Day came the period of sweating out the Pacific and various other things. 'Frattin' became quite the rage for all ranks, Pietro set up a rest center, (question - where could one rest upon return to 'duty' -- from the boys to whom Pietro played host I hear that you were considerably more fatigued upon return that upon departure). Sooo - Pietro's playground became a haven of pleasure in the humdrum of garrison life in 'non-frattin' Germany. The British soon came and occupied the territory we were assigned to, at Uslar, and so we moved to - - -

Rokycany, Czechoslovakia, where the only thing worthy of mention was the relief felt at being able to speak to a civilian without fearing the '65 dollar question'. Should I remind the wire crew of the line to 'C' Co. and the trips out there, and I could mention the loss of our officers and high point men, and of V-J Day, which has so recently come to pass. In closing I take this opportunity to thank one and all of the folks back home who were the reason for the Victories our armies achieved in the field, and express a heart-felt wish to see all at home soon:

EDITOR'S NOTE: With all due apologies to the men of Bn. HQ Detachment, we wish to express our regret for the loss of the original manuscript. Cause not yet determined.