A Combat Engineer's Tale Continued: I didn't know the Thermometer could do that.

Jack Frost has apparently found his way to South Carolina. For the past week it has been hovering around freezing during the day and dipping into the low teens at night (Fahrenheit). For South Carolina this is cold, and for an entire week of it is just down right not natural. However, it does make one take appreciation for the fact that no matter where I am, I can have heat. Casey and I were out conducting Home Visits today in this coldness (again, this is cold for us) and it really brought home one the stories my Grandfather told me.

Back in 1944, in Belgium, the temperatures that I am seeing would have been a God send to the Soldiers. My Grandfather did not know the exact temperature, but he assured me that it was cold. He said that he had never been so cold in his life. To make matters worse it snowed almost constantly. With the cold came an inability to dig proper fighting holes...fox holes, sorry. Marines dig fighting holes, Army digs fox holes. Moving on. However, this did give my Grandfather something to do other than make bridges and plant mines. He and the rest of his platoon systematically checked and repaired any earthworks between the lines. Every once in a while they would help with the "fox holes" if need be.

With the issue of the cold I asked how they stayed warm. He said simply that it was difficult. After a little time to think, he continued. He said that while the were on the front lines, they were not allowed to start or make a fire. Smoking a cigarette was out as well. With no fires they had to bundle up. With the limited supplies in the department of clothing, when ever they had the chance to go to town, they stocked up. Pickings were slim there as well, with the German occupation having ground any type of commerce to a halt and the Allies not conducting themselves much better, lets just say demand exceeded supply.

He then went on to say that it got so cold at night that he could not sleep for shivering, even when the shelling did not keep them awake. To stay alive they huddled together. The odd job did not hurt either. Digging a hole, making earthworks, and planting mines meant moving, which kept you warm, to a point. However, clearing a minefield under sniper fire and shelling would also help to get the blood going.

But usually the only times they would ever actually thaw out was when they were pulled back from the front lines. There they could build a small fire. This was made difficult with the wet tinder and fuel. But, this was easily rectified by prying open a rifle casing or two to get things started. Once or twice, he said, a local would take pity on them and invite them into there home, give them food and lodging for the night. This practice was highly discouraged by the brass, but when your cold, who cares.

Here, I make it seem as if the battle raged in one spot for weeks at a time. But, this was not the case. The battle lines were always moving. For the Allies it was mostly forward, once the 75th and the rest of the reinforcement showed up to the fight.

With this ever changing battle line my Grandfather and his platoon were often called on to fix a tank that slipped into a ditch after having first pulled it out of the road to clear up traffic. Keeping the roadways clear was an ever present hurdle. Sometimes, they were not pulling a Sherman out of the way, but a Panzer or Tiger tank that the Germans had to leave behind. If the Allies advanced quick enough to keep the Germans from flipping those monstrosities, the engineers got lucky. Flipping through the pages of the book I saw a picture of a Tiger Tank upside down.

For those of you that do not know a Tiger tank weighs around 55 tons, only ten tons less than a modern M1A2 Abrams.

I looked closely at the picture to see a crater or some other kind of evidence as to how the feat was accomplished. Seeing none, I turned to my Grandfather. He said sometimes they used explosives, if they were in a hurry. Explosives being expensive and harder to come by at this time for the Germans. But, usually they would use another tank, and pulleys if they had them. I asked if he ever saw it done and he said no. That he only suspected. Because that is how they usually righted the Tigers or dragged them out of the way.

Then came a little picture of a contraption that looked an awful lot like a still. My Grandfather was quick to point out that despite the fact that they would have enjoyed a good swig of shine, water was more important. With that came a rather important job, maintaining, guarding, cooking, and purifying water. Funny how he always side stepped the questions about guarding or where those rifle shells came from.

To be continued...

Semper Fi Deus

Goose