On the 23rd we went through Bastogne and on to the front where C Battery registered and we started digging in. We were near Medendorf which isn't on my map of Belgium. It was my impression that we could fire into Germany so the border could not have been more than seven miles.

The sixth section's first round in combat on Tuesday, Nov. 24th was 20 mils off. We fired eleven other rounds with the correct deflection (butterflies).

There were reports of enemy patrols in the area on the 24th and the next night we heard machine gun and carbine fire.

On Thursday the 26th we spent our first night underground. All of the howitzer sections build dugouts. We dug out a big space and put logs over the top and dirt on top of the logs. In ours one could stand up in the middle but there were sleeping wings east and west where it was only high enough to sit up. All of the time we were at Medendorf we kept improving our underground homes. I think ours would have been safe against anything but a direct hit. We had a little stove for heat and a wooden door. It really wasn't so bad. on the door we even had some pin ups (remember Betty Grable). Unless the dugouts were filled in I imagine they would have lasted for at least ten years. I think some of the people who went back to Europe for a mini-reunion said they couldn't find them.

Before we moved into the dugouts we slept in the tarp with it under us and over us both. The guys in the middle were pretty warm.

At first we were supporting the 2nd Infantry Division which had seen a lot of action. They left the front lines shortly before the "bulge".

On October 27th "Buzz bombs came close." These were the V-l rockets the Germans used toward the end of the war. They were unmanned and didn't seem to be flying very high. The fastest pursuit planes in those days could fly about 300 miles an hour and I don't think they could catch the V-l rockets. Flames came out of the back and they made a scary sound when they flew over. It was even more frightening when you couldn't hear them any more because that meant they were going to fall. Many of them were headed for Liege, Belgium which was nick named "Buzz Bomb Alley." I don't think the bombs were very accurate.

German artillery was shelling some of the surrounding outfits but I don't remember any falling close to us before the "Bulge". Sometimes when I was trying to go to sleep, shells would land in the vicinity and I would offer a prayer that went something like this "Dear Lord, protect me from the shells or if not please accept me into your heavenly Kingdom." Then I would go right off to sleep.

An artillery shell coming in makes a terrifying sound. Before it hits there is something between a whistle and a screech. You had a split second to hit the ground. Years after the war I was in a movie theater seeing a war picture and a shell came in. The sound track must have been the real thing because I almost jumped under the theater seat.

On the 28th "our. heavies went over." When our four motor bombers went over it was a sight to see. Wave after wave they came until you wondered how anything was left in Germany. Later we would see first hand.

The next day the general from the 2nd Division came around inspecting and we were told that an "88" hit Holtzclaw's jeep. One of the German's main weapons was the 88MM rifle. The rifle shoots a rather flat trajectory, while a howitzer fires a higher arch and a mortar fires higher still. The length of the tube (barrel) has something to do with it.

We dug an ammunition pit but later heavy rains started filling it with water and we had to lift the ammo out again. The roof leaked on the dugout too but we kept working on it and making it more livable.

On November 2 there was a rumor of a threat of a counter attack. Some time before the "Bulge" the Germans must have moved a lot of equipment to the front. Apparently they did a good job of concealing it.

On Nov. 5 we had a night alert "for the cavalry had a tough close in fight with patrols." Donald Elmore and I were up 22 hours.

I was counting the rounds that our section had fired in combat. We passed 123 rounds on Nov. 6. We were right next to the Siegfried Line. I wonder how they happened to name it that. It might have been from a Wagnerian opera as Wagner had a strong influence on the philosopher Nietzsche who in turn had a strong influence on Hitler.

Buzz bombs were "thick" on the 7th. There was a heavy snow on Nov. 9th and we made some snow cream, "not bad". I think Elmore knew how to make it. It was still snowing on the 10th. On Armistice Day we fired a concentration at 11 AM and planes (ours) went over right after that. The second section hit a tree near the howitzer and the shell went off (nobody hurt).

"Drank beer and sang songs with Hermann. This is the first mention of Donald Hermann in my diary. He and John Wilberforce McWilliams joined us at Camp Campbell after having been at the University of Cincinnati in some program in which the army sent men to college. John was probably the smartest man in the outfit but he never progressed past Private First Class. Maybe that is more evidence that he was sharp. These two men had a great influence on my life whether they knew it or not.

After the 275th was broken up at Camp Bowie, Texas, Hermann and I were sent to Fort Lewis, Washington, along with John Borkowski the barber. Hermann and I became better friends than ever and decided to hitchhike across the country (him to Detroit and me to Washington, D.C.) when we got out of the army. We thumbed to Long Beach and visited John McWilliams. John was getting ready to enroll in college. Hermann and I separated in Iowa but I stopped by Detroit to see him too. He also was getting ready to go to college. I caught the bug from them. Actually I liked college so well I might have been going yet but the G.I. Bill ran out. However, before I visited them, going to college never crossed my mind.

On November 12th we fired some smoke. By then we had about a foot of snow. The next day there was a rumor that Himmler had replaced Hitler (apparently unfounded).

We ducked from a buzz bomb on the 15th and passed 200 rounds fired in combat. I got 18 pieces of mail the next day. "Enemy planes over us" on the 18th. Remember "Bed Check Charlie"? A German plane came over nearly every night about the time we were settling in for the night. So we gave him a nick name.

The little book says that I wrote to Donald Terrill on the 19th so he must not have been with the outfit then.

News was good on the 21st. The French took some strategic gap, the 3rd Army was in Germany and Metz was falling to allied forces. On Thanksgiving (Nov 23rd) Agee came over and had turkey with our section.

By the 25th the French were in Strausburg. "AA's open up at Buzz Bombs" on the 26th. We passed 400 rounds on Dec. 2. There was rain, snow, and sleet on Dec. 4 and we had to work on the roof of the dugout again.

On Dec. 5th the sixth section was selected to move up closer to the front and fire propaganda leaflets over the lines. Somehow the leaflets were inside of the 105 shells. So we followed a half-track that had Colonel Clay, Lt. Dofflemeyer and I think Cotton Corneilson in it. We went four miles into Germany and set up. The book says we fired 25 rounds. About the time we were finishing up, enemy mortar shells started landing nearby. It was thought that it would be best to leave before they got us zeroed in. The half-track pulled out first and in their haste they forgot a rather short Lieutenant, so Duffy had to ride back with us. It wasn't very sporting of the Dutchmen to fire high explosives at us when we were only shooting paper at them. It was the first time we had fired paper since spit balls in grade school.

About the 10th of December the 2nd Infantry Division was replaced in the front line by the 106th (Golden Lion) Division. They had not been in combat before

Dec. 13 "Laid around most of day. Nothing much to do."

A weird thing happened at Medendorf. Several of our men in the sixth section reported that they heard a man screaming at night. The sound seemed to be coming from the direction of the mess truck but nobody there every heard it. We talked about it but Kestner and I didn't take it too seriously. Kestner pointed out that when you are on guard duty at night and looking out into the darkness you can see just about anything. Maybe you could hear things too. Then one night I heard it! Let me tell you it sent chills up my spine.

Either Nanny or Elmore agreed with me that the next time we heard it we would take flashlights and go out and find him or whatever it was. The next day was December 16th.

DeLoyd Cooper is the Historian for the 275th Armored Field Artillery Battalion Association.
Copyright © 1999 DeLoyd Cooper. All rights reserved.
Revised: November 4, 2004