Many
years ago, Uncle Dick’s youngest son Ted had to write a paper for
college, so asked his Dad for some of his childhood memories. We’ll
write about those in another story. Uncle Dick also wrote to Ted
about a bit of his WWII experiences. Knowing that he was in the 243rd
Field Artillery, I have woven what Uncle Dick typed to Ted with a
history of the 243rd
. from
their website of:
Uncle Dick’s
memories are in bolded black and a larger font, and the History of
the 243rd
is in normal type. Uncle Dick's daughter Julie who proofread this
story for me wrote back: “Thank
you for writing Dad’s story, Pat. He would have been 92 this
September 16. I miss him.”
My
time in the Army was 3 years 4 months and 19 days with about 18
months of that over in Europe. I was in a heavy artillery outfit—the
243rd
Field Artillery. I was 19 when I went in and felt very patriotic
about it all. I wanted to do my part for the defense of this great
country of ours. I felt very lonesome at first but it was something
you got used to.
When
I was in the South taking my Army training it was in Mississippi (at
Camp Shelby) that I got my first taste of discrimination. It was
strange to get on a bus and see that all blacks had to go to the last
seat across the back. They never argued about it, they just did
it--that was the law. I felt sorry for them, and I’ve been happy
to see the change come about.
The
243rd Field Artillery Battalion fought in World War II under General
George S. Patton in the Third US Army. The battalion is one of a very
few who used the 8 inch gun, which fired a 240 pound projectile as
far as twenty miles. The huge gun came in two loads and was towed
with tractors and put into position with a crane.
In
June 1944, the 243rd
boarded the ocean liner The Queen Elizabeth with 15,000 troops. After
six crowded days on board, they arrived at the rainy coast of
Scotland.
Once
in England, the 243rd
was assigned to Camp Stanage Park, just inside the Welsh border of
Knighton and Bucknell. The battalion was assigned to the 3rd
Army under the leadership of the already famous Gen. George Patton,
Jr. The 3rd
Army units began its drive towards Normandy at the end of July.
“The
battalion boarded LST’s in the Weymouth Harbor on the morning of
Saturday, August 5th.
The naval craft moved out of the harbor to join a huge convoy bound
for Utah Beach.”
The
first real fear that I can recall was when we boarded the LSTs
(landing craft) in England and headed across the English Channel to
Utah Beach. The sea was just full of ships at the time, but you
never knew if you were going to plow into a mine or not. It was
rather shocking when we landed in France to see the buildings, houses
and churches all knocked apart by shells but then you got used to
that too. It was pretty rough sometimes especially during the winter
months or when there was cold rainy weather but during the summer it
wasn’t too bad. After a while you didn’t think the war was ever
going to end—it just went on and on.
The
ships beached late on the night of the 6th,
two months after D-Day. On the night of the 9th,
combat orders came to the battalion for the first time. It was to go
into position outside of St. Malo.
The
fortress citadel of St. Malo was being held by a garrison commander
who would not give up in the face of long odds and a lengthy siege
seemed quite possible. With the huge guns used on the citadel that
day, the ‘Madman of St. Malo’ gave up and the 243rd
were successful.
The
243rd
now moved on with the 8th
Corps to begin the siege of Brest on the coast of Brittany.
“The
march across the peninsula was one of the highlights of life in
France for the men of the Battalion. Thousands of French people,
joyously celebrating the liberation of their home country, lined the
road from St. Malo to Lasneven to watch the American troops moving up
for the battle.”
During
the Brest campaign, the 243rd
destroyed 23 enemy gun positions in one week. As the campaign wound
down, the 243rd
was sent to the Front near Metz. This five day march provided the men
with a rare sight-seeing tour—Rennes, Laval, Le Mans, Chartres,
Paris, Chalon-su-Marse and Verdun. It was now the beginning of
October, 1944.
The
243rd
fought all through November and December, moving to cross the Moselle
River and follow the doughboys and tanks as they approached the Saar.
A
few days before Christmas, the first heavy snow of winter fell and
soon froze the ground. The ice and snow continued until late
February. Meanwhile, the tide of the Battle of the Bulge began to
change.
By
mid- March, the 243rd
was near the Rhine River. “At 0230 on the morning of March
28th,Charlie
Battery fired a six-round concentration in support of VIII Corps
troops northwest of Weisbaden, and the 243rd
had fired its last round in the European war.”
“During
its eight months of combat, it (the 243rd)
had participated in the major battles of St. Malo, Brest, Metz,
Thionville, Saarlautern, Dilligen, Endsdorf, Saarbrucken,
Moselle-Saar Triange, Ardennes, Saar River and Rhine River. It fought
under two armies and four corps, gave support to 16 Infantry
Divisions, four Armored Divisions, two cavalry squadrons and two
Ranger Battalions.”
I
missed seeing your mother very much and I tried to write every day.
It was hard sometimes because of censorship you couldn’t say too
much about where you were and what you were doing. We were engaged
when I went overseas. I didn’t want to get married yet in case I
came back maimed or hurt in some way.
Europe
was great. I always took every advantage of any sightseeing trip
that came up. I once had a two week vacation to the Riviera. We
were camped near Munich in Southern Germany at the time. Then I went
over to London a couple of times, saw Big Ben, Tower of London,
Oxford Street, Hyde Park, Buckingham Palace and most everything else.
Uncle
Jack Kinsella adds this story that Dick told at Algonquin one year:
“He told us about a time after Germany had surrendered and his unit
was stationed just outside some German town—a town just a few days
before his unit had pounded the hell out of with their big shells.
It was announced that the townspeople were having a concert that
night in a park in the center of what was left of the town. He
decided he would like to go but none of his buddies were interested.
So he went alone. After getting there he looked around and then
realized that he was the only American soldier there—he was
surrounded by hundreds of Germans. Dick said, “I was scared as I
couldn’t help thinking, I hope none of them know it was my group
that had destroyed their town.” It turned out OK. He enjoyed the
concert and no one paid any attention to him.”
Most
of this was done after the war and then after that I came home. Your
mother and I were married soon afterward, on May
3, 1946.
6 comments:
What a collaboration this blog story was--so fascinating!
Thank you to all, and Uncle Dick, so proud of you!!
Love,
In the process of researching aspects of my father's military history, I've learned a lot about a side of my father I knew little about. He never spoke of it to us, even though we asked. I've learned more through this research and with Pat's help than I ever knew before. Thanks Pat. You're amazing. And I'm very proud of my father. He was a brave man.
Thank you for adding to and organizing Dad's story, Pat! I never dug as deep into his unit's history. It is quite a coincidence that when I went to London & Paris with my French club in high school I traveled across the English Channel, landed at St Malo and went to the church on the top. We then traveled on through several small towns through Lemans and on to Paris. I am sure I showed my Dad the photos and told him about the trip, but he never told me that I had followed the same route he traveled with his army buddies! He must have had quite a few memories he would rather forget.
What great pictures of Uncle Dick!
So glad to read this. I think that, painful though it may be, we need to know soldiers' stories. Especially we need to hear that often the reality they lived is not at all like what we might have assumed a war was like. Their experience is an important part of the whole community.
I thought that Uncle Dick also served in Italy and maybe even North Africa. Wasn't that part of a story that Chuck put up a while ago?
Another story that my Dad tells about memories that Uncle Dick told him has to do with when Uncle Dick visited London. He was walking down a street and was shocked to run into a good friend from Rochester. The friend, also a soldier, said, "I'm getting married tomorrow. Would you be my best man?" So Uncle Dick was his best man, the friend brought his English wife to Rochester after the war, and I was good friends with their daughter when we were in high school together. Now I'm on Facebook with all of them, as well. (Dad, if I goofed up any of the details, please correct.)
Happy to tellyou of my favorite brother-in-law! And when Pat puts up his story of his growing up years, you will see another side of him yourself!
He was a gentle man! A man of Faith who tried to live it as he saw it! Never did I see him intentionally hurt any one or do anything but try to help everyone. He was very handy with tools as arec all his boys and his daughter also!
He was a person it would behoove us all to emulate!
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