A Soldier's Odyssey: To Remember Our Past as It Was

A

Soldier’s Odyssey

To Remember Our Past As It Was

FRANK W. MARESCA

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Copyright 2012 Frank W. Maresca.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written prior permission of the author.

ISBN: 978-1-4669-1705-7 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4669-1706-4 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012903495

Trafford rev. 09/17/2012

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CONTENTS

Dedication

Foreword

Prologue

Part One

A Brief History Of Camp Breckinridge, Kentucky

The Camp Layout

Around Camp Breckinridge

Recreational Facilities

The 75Th Leaves Louisiana For Kentucky

Waiting For The 75Th

F Company Marches To Its New Quarters

The New Commanding General Of The 75Th

The First Day At Camp Breckinridge

Training Mix

Camp Life, And Humorous Moments

General Orders And Regulations For Interior Guard Duty

Staffing Changes

Camp Life, And Serious Moments

More In, And Out Amongst The Ranks Of The Company.

The Inspector-General, Visiting Dignitaries, And Parades

Other Great Men That Were In The Company

The Merry-Go-Round Nears Its End

The Camera

Promotions

Lt. Harmonds Heads A Program To Select Men For Sniper Duty

We Lose Some More Good Men

The Alert

Team Selections

The Last Merry-Go-Round

The Departure Sequence

Train Movement-October 15Th And 16Th Of October, 1944.

How F Company Left Breckinridge For Camp Shanks

Junior Girls Canteen

Kindness Remembered

A Gallery Of Photos

Part Two

Foreword

Preface

Camp Shanks

The Banquet

Our Quarters At Shanks

The Six Hour Pass

To Brooklyn For A Boat Ride

We Leave Camp Shanks

The Ferry Ride

H.M.S. Franconia

Franconia’s History, And Career

Epilogue

Postscript

Boarding The Franconia

Sleeping On The Bounty Main

The Morning After

Mess Aboard, And What A Mess!

Bulling With The British Cooks

Life Saving Activities

Life Preservers

Boat Drill

Officer’s Mess

Calisthenics

Memorandum

Schedules For Conducting Drills And Exercises*

The Tides That Bind!

Sunday, The 22Nd Of October, 1944

The Sunday Evening Meal

We Play Bingo!

Halifax Harbor

The Convoy

The Weather On The High Seas

Latrine Poop Or Scuttle Butt

The Main Deck

The Telescopic Sight (Gun Scope)

Seasickness

Cornelius J. Murphy

The Mercer Estuary

We Get The Call To Get Off

Wales

A Coach Ride Into History

Llanelli

Llanelli (Formerly Schllanelly)

The Drill Hall

The Bedding

Hum De Dee, Hum De Doe!

The Hot Water Caper

The March To The Harbor Camp

The March To The Harbor Camp

Our First Impression

The Harbor Camp

Prembrey Harbor Area

The Harbor

The Export Process

Munitions

The Park

The History Of The Harbor Camp

The Location Of The Harbor Camp

Within The Harbor Camp

The Wire Fence

The Camp’s Buildings, And Other Structures

The Two Pillboxes

The Nissen Huts (Quonset Huts)

The Interior Of A Hut In The Harbor Camp

The Messhall/Kitchen/Supply/Px/Building

The Wash/Shower/Latrine Building

The Coal Pile

On Duty At The Harbor Camp How It Began

Overseas Chow

Assembly

The Exercises

So We Took Hikes!

Jamison Was For The Birds

The Return To Camp

Go For This, And Go For That!

Details! Details! Details! Guard Duty

On Guard

Gun Drill.

Details, Details, Details (Cont).

Company Buglar

Supply Clerk

Post Exchange (Px)

Our Baby Px

Company Clerk

Jeep Driver

Communications Operators

Latrine Orderly

On Your Own Time

The Stars And Stripes

Famine In Supply

Sweet Tooth!

We Could Have Danced All Night But We Didn’t!

Prembrey Village

Heat Over The Misuse Of Our Mail

The Camp Dance

The Thanksgiving Dinner

Passes To London

December

We Get Ready To Go! The Alert

The Old Vic

We Leave The Harbor Camp

Ms Leopoldville

The Motor Ship (Ms) Leopoldville

France

France Le Havre

The Rain And Mud Encampment

40 & 8’S

Another Way To Travel

Part Three

Combat

Explanatory Note

Foreword

F Company In Combat In The Eto

The First Combatants

Replacements

Ardennes Offensive

Introduction

Author’s Notes

The Forced March

The Farm

The Truck Ride

The Next Stop: Septon

Monticello By The Outhre River

Durbuy, Erezee, Briscol

Briscol

Map A

Map B

The Drop

The New Additions

Map C The Big Sweep

The Roadside Houses

Background Photos

Tanks Ar Comin!!!!

We Move Up To Take A Defensive Position

We Get Caught In The Open

The Clough Incident

By Way Of A Clarifying Note:

Our First Prisoners

We Rescue Our Wounded

Lost In The Woods

We Move Up Again

Were They Germans?

Potential Replacements

The Dark, Forbidden Looking Mansion

What A Difference A Day Makes . . . .

The Return To The Cauldron

In Memorium

The Defensive Positions In The Hell Hole

The Big Dig

Our First Night On The Combat Line

Second Day In Defense

Third Day In Defense

The Lady With The Red Bandana

Fourth Day In Defense

The Beginning Of Offensive Activity

Sweep #1, . . . Sweep #2

Sweep #3: We Hit Pay Dirt!

Sweep #4 (Afternoon)

Croix St. Jehenne

Sweep #5 (Morning)

Sweep #6 (Afternoon)

Sweep #7 (Morning)

Sweep #7 (Afternoon)

The Rocket Attack

The Med-A-Evac System

Len Becker

Addendum 1

Addendum 2

Addendum 3

Addendum 4

Addendum 5

Addendum 6

Addendum 7

Addendum 8

Addendum 9

Addendum 10

Addendum 11

Footnotes

FRANK W. MARESCA

F COMPANY

2nd BATTALION

289TH REGIMENT

75TH DIVISION

FRANK W. MARESCA

75th DIVISION

DEDICATION

To my wonderful wife Grace, now deceased, whose ideas, support, and instructions made it possible for me to put together the mass of material that I collected from researches and contributors to this book.

To three men of the 75th Infantry Division Association: Ted Breeden, former Division Historian, Jack Knapp, and Edwin Taylor, comrades of F Company, who instilled in me the idea of writing about our lives together in training, and in combat.

Last, but not least, to the many contributors who telephoned or sent photos, clippings, and research material to help me tell the story that I was shaping to be called A Soldier’s Odyssey.

To one, and all, I say thanks! A poor substitute for what these people have done. But, until some better way comes along to express one’s appreciation, Thanks will have to do.

FOREWORD

PART ONE

Part one tells how we in the ranks of Company F, 289th Regiment, 75th Infantry Division, labored long, and hard to make ourselves ready to be a part of America’s Army Ground Forces.

When we came into the service, we were in the words of General Omar Bradley . . . . rushed to a maturity for which we had not planned or even dreamed of. Before entering the Army, we had been students, mechanics, accountants, farmers, grocery clerks. Then with an accelerated training program, we were transformed into Army Buck Privates.

The maneuvers in Louisiana, and the experiences in Camp Breckinridge, Kentucky, gave us additional tools, and skills to become combat ready soldiers. For example, on maneuvers, we went through field exercises so realistic that they made it possible for us to face the Germans in the Bulge as equals. At Breckinridge, we learned to live with unexpected changes, and losses. We lost over 30% of our manpower to transfers to other units. The gaps in the ranks were partially filled with new men, men we had to bond with on the double.

Our training at the Camp was repetitive. Compass problems by day, and then by night. Frequent trips to the Grenade range, and the other ranges to fire, and re-fire the Bazooka; to handle, and explode Shape Chargers; to increase our skills in sniper firing, hand-to-hand fighting, and so on.

When the Company departed for the European Theatre of Operations (The ETO), we instinctively knew that we were going to head into something that was dark, and all encompassing from which there would be no turning back. We were to learn, at a terrible price, what men before us had learned in similar situations: to survive you had better be prepared! Be ready! Stay alert! Do your duty!

PROLOGUE

The April to October period of 1944, was crammed with preparations of all kinds. During this time, the Company received intensive training in combat procedures in the hills of Kentucky; went through a number of physical examinations; were issued some updated equipment; sent home personal items, and got ready to move east to Camp Shanks where nature was stripping itself for a long hard winter.

At Camp Shanks the men of F Company went through a blizzard of paper reviews, and changes; had to adhere to time constraints, and suffered the ever-present plague of being in the Service, namely Rush and Wait!

The Company took a ride on a troop train, and a New York ferry to a pier in Brooklyn to board the good ship HMS Franconia to go Over There! The boat ride over the tempestuous Atlantic was a Mal de Mer event. The Company was off loaded in Liverpool.

F Company stayed a month in southern Wales. First, being crammed into a Drill Hall, and then living in Quonset Huts along a bleak shore.

It crossed the channel on the ill-fated British Control ship, the MS Leopoldville. It had to go over the side using nets to come ashore at Le Havre, France. From there it was trucked to the World War I mud flats in Northern France, and then to the combat zone in 40 and 8 boxcars.

Riding the boxcars it saw up close the carnage that the war produced. In Namur, Belgium, it lumbered through its rail yard squeezing by piles of twisted rail tracks.

It was stopped by British soldiers when it crossed the border into Holland, and told that the Bulge had begun, and the Germans were a short distance away.

It backed into the rail yards of Liege only to be attacked by V-1s (Buzz Bombs).

Off loaded outside of Huy, it was thrown into a chaotic forced march to find quarters for the night.

In its first night in the combat zone, it bedded down in a barn loaded with hay. Moooooo! Naaaa! Oink! Oink! Neeee! Neeee!

The next day, it went trucking in the rain to reach the combat line. It spent the night trying to sleep in a field by a roadside. In the early morning, it arose in the fog like zombies.

It spent part of the day in the March of Silence. It went through hamlets, villages, and by farmhouses seemingly unoccupied.

In the afternoon, it conducted its first sweep for Germans, walking 3 to 5 yards abreast through woods, up hills, along fire lanes, and finding nothing.

Late at night it caught a few hours of fitful sleep in some roadside cottages only to be awaken to panic yelling to get outside, and take cover . . . . Tanks! Tanks!!

In the attack the German tanks smashed, and flatten jeeps, and weapons carriers before heading back to where they came from. The Company did not suffer any casualties. It followed after them however, to locate, and destroy their infantry support.

It conducted a 12-hour forced march to another sector of the combat line to aid in the taking of the important crossroad village of Grandmenil.

It made sweeps, went on patrols; got involved in house to house fighting; got ambushed; went through a number of artillery duels, incoming 88s, and Screaming Minie attacks. It was severely mauled by its own artillery fire (Friendly Fire).

The Company carried out a number of assaults; took prisoners, and suffered casualties: Killed in Action, Wounded, Captured. However, the numbers involved here were dwarfed by the casualties resulting from the bitter cold, the ice, and snow; the lack of warm winter garments; the hunger, and lack of sleep.

Replacements in terms of enlisted men, and officers filled the ranks left vacant by the Originals of the Company.

What was left of the Company came home during the summer months of 1945.

The story of the Odyssey ends with photos taken under combat conditions, and during moments of camaraderie, and reunion.

PART ONE

From a green Division to the most sought

after Division for the Army’s Order of Battle

F COMPANY FROM

CAMP BRECKINRIDGE,

TRAIN RIDE

TO SHANKS

JANUARY 21, 1944

TO

OCTOBER 17, 1944

Insignias of units that either made up the 75th Infantry Division

or were assigned as support.

(+) marks the location of Camp Breckinridge, Kentucky

The States of Kentucky and Tennessee

A BRIEF HISTORY OF CAMP BRECKINRIDGE, KENTUCKY

The Camp of the war days was situated on the gently rolling hills of the northwestern section of Western Kentucky. Its northern boundary was made up of Route 60, and the tracks of the Illinois Central Railroad. It was a scant 2 or 3 miles to downtown Morganfield from the Main Gate.

The Camp was named in honor of Major General John Cabal Breckinridge of the Confederate Army. He fought at Shiloh, Chickamuga, the Wilderness, and was one of the defenders of Richmond during the last days of the Civil War.

Construction of the camp was begun in March of 1942, and was completed six months later in September of 1942. It consisted of over 1500 buildings; about 1450 of these buildings were the mobilization-type barracks seen at Fort Wood, Fort Dix, and Fort Meade.

The Camp was laid out in a horseshoe configuration. See map of same on the pages that follow. An oddity about this layout was the position of the Parade Ground. It was placed in the middle of the camp proper, and ran from one length of the camp to the other end. The main roads (A to F) ran east to west. Cross roads on either side of the parade grounds, 1 to 19, and 20 to 38, and roads like West, Main, Warehouse, and East, ran north to south.

A number of infantry divisions received training (basic, and advance) at the camp during WW II. They were the 98th, 25th, 92nd, 75th, and the 83rd.

The Camp went through ups, and down following the war. First it was deactivated on February 5, 1946. Next, it was reopened in 1948 as a training station. Then, plans were drawn up to make it a training camp for police, nationwide. It even was considered as a site for the Airforce Academy. Still later, it closed its gates, only to open again to train troops for the Police Action taking place in Korea. After that war, the Defense Department toyed with a number of ideas. For example, a summer camp for training the Army Reserves, and National Guard troops.

Then in 1965 it became the Job Corp Center for the nation. Through all of these changes, the camp kept getting smaller, and smaller in size. Its structures, mainly the barracks, were left to decay, and fall apart. As the result, the Government contracted that they be torn down.

There is little left today of what the men of F Company were a part of, or remember. The photos that follow shows a barracks on Road 13, one block from where F Company was billeted, and a barrack’s window. They speak volumes about the end of the Camp that brought so many men of the Company together for the most terrible conflict ever waged by man.

Today the site of the camp, and brief on its history are marked by a double-sided plaque erected by the side of Route 60 which passes right in front of the entrance to the main gate.

Gone but not Forgotten.

Peyton Heady remembers when Camp Breckinridge was in full swing.

What once was!

All that is left of our beloved barracks are a very few crumbling buildings like the one in the newspaper article above. This shell of what once was, is just a short distance from where F Company had its compound. That was between Warehouse Road, and Road 12.

This article, and the one that follows titled Old Barracks window, were taken from Section G Insight, Evansville Courier, Sunday, October 6, 1991.

THE CAMP LAYOUT

The skeleton map that follows shows what the living areas of the camp looked like after construction in 1942.

The layout of Camp Breckinridge, Kentucky

Crammed onto the areas between the road configurations were over 1500 buildings. There were about 500 Barracks, 12 Chapels, 11 PXs, 200 Mess Halls, 4 Theaters, a full fledged Hospital, a Stockade, and a number of administrative, service, maintenance, recreational buildings, and shops.

With regard to the positioning of the barracks to form a company compound; each barrack held two full platoons of an infantry company, or between 60 to 80 men. Two barracks were assigned to house the 4 platoons of an infantry company. In addition, there was a building that served as a combination Dayroom, Mailroom, and the Company Commander’s Headquarters (the CQ). Lastly, there was a small warehouse-like building that served as the Company’s Supply room, and repair shop.

There were about 10 barracks, 5 mess halls, 5 combination buildings which served as a Dayroom, CQ, and Mailroom plus 5 buildings that served as a Supply room in most of the squares between the roads on the preceding map. In other words, there were 5 companies assigned to a square.

The following card shows a typical layout as described in the preceding paragraph.

There were a number of training ranges scattered throughout the vast acreage that was within the camp’s boundary. There were:

(1) Assault range with pull-up targets for the firing of the M1, and the BAR.

(2) Cross-over ranges for firing the M1, the Carbine, and the BAR.

(4) Firing ranges with set distances of 100, 200, 300, and 500 yards, respectively.

(5) 1,000 Inch ranges for firing the 22, the M1, BAR, the light, and heavy MGs.

(1) Pistol range with distances marked at 15, 25, and 50 yards. This range was used to qualify on the Sub Machine Gun, as well.

(2) Mortar ranges

(1) Hand Grenade range with trenches, built-in dugouts, and pillboxes.

(3) Attack Courses for squad, and platoon exercises

(2) Technique firing ranges for firing the 30, and 50 caliber MGs

(1) Village Fighting Course (the Nazi Village)

(1) Demolition range

(1) Gas Chamber

The Photo spread which appears on the following pages, is intended show what some of the camp looked like back in the days when the 75th occupied the premises. It is followed by a set of pictures taken by Ed Taylor, formerly of the 1st platoon, F Company. His photos show what some of the camp looks like today.

MAIN ENTRANCE (1942 to 1946)

Old barracks window.

This picture speaks volumes! It doesn’t need any clarifying comment.

The Hospital at Camp Breckinridge was a completely modern hospital. It was located on Road H-1, near the Main Entrance Gate. See map in the section Camp Layout.

The Post Hospital was staffed with specialists from all medical disciplines. The Hospital was supported in its work by twelve dispensaries, and 3 dental clinics. These were located near regimental headquarter buildings, battalion posts, and at the end of some company streets.

Post Hospital

A close-up view of the Post Hospital cantoment. A blow-up of the hospital in follows.

The copy-photo is of the Camp Headquarters also known as the Post Headquarters. See map under The Camp Layout. The Post consisted of buildings grouped to form a compound.

The Compound was bound on four sides by Main Entrance Road, and Roads B, C, and 27. The Headquarters Building faced Main. The rest faced the other roads.

Generals Prickett, and Mickle had offices in the main building. Other officers like Colonels McFadyen, Cashin, Throckmorton occupied offices in the other buildings with their staff.

The Camp’s main flagpole stood directly in front of the main Headquarters buildings. It too faced Main Entrance Road.

The picture to the left was taken by Ed Taylor of F Company. His photo shows the flagpole of today. It occupies the same spot occupied by our flagpole of 50 years ago.

The area just in back of the flagpole in Ed’s picture, is where the Post Compound stood. The road in the background that’s running from left to right, is Road 27.

Ed took this picture while standing on the Main Road.

SERVICE CLUB TWO 38746.jpg

Service Club one

There were 3 Service Clubs. They provided a large dance floor, a cafeteria, and misc., recreational equipment. Clubs 1, and 2 were located on the Main Entrance Road. Club 3 was on Road C.

Rectangle marks where the camp was.

AROUND CAMP BRECKINRIDGE

As mentioned in the brief history, the camp was the next door neighbor to the town of Morgenfield. The town had a theatre; a billiard parlor; a couple of saloons; a high school gym where the local town folks held dances for the men; several drug stores, and a candy shop. These had old fashion marble top ice cream counters, and soda fountains where one could taste a little bit of home when having an ice cream soda, or a sundae while listening to the jukebox.

There was also a USO Club on Main Street which provided a library, a snack bar, showers, auditorium, lounge, dance floor, writing room, and a projection booth for weekly showing of movies. See the following.

USO Club, Morganfield, Kentucky

The town had a swimming pool five minutes from the business section on East Main Street. There were Duck pin, and ten pin alleys near Main Street.

The following picture, which was taken by Ed Taylor of F Company, shows downtown Morganfield as it is today. The picture was taken on West Main Street just up the street from N & S Court Street. That’s the Courthouse on the corner of Court, and Main.

Main Street, Morganfield

The big draw for the men of the camp, however, were Henderson, 25 miles up on Route 60 in Kentucky, and Evansville, Indiana. Evansville was five miles north of Henderson. Both towns were river towns on the Ohio.

Henderson had a USO Club on Main Street. Like the one in Morganfield, it offered a variety of services to the men from the camp: beds, library, snack bar, recording machine, radio, phonograph, table tennis (Ping Pong), etc.

Evansville was the particular favorite of the men from Breckinridge. It was a soldier’s town! The natives were friendly. The town had every conveniences for making a soldier feel happy for a couple of hours.

The main focus for fun was along Main Street in the river section of town. On both sides of the street were bars, eating places, and what have you.

On weekends, it seemed that every guy in Camp Breckinridge was in town; all 35,000 to 45,000 of them! No matter where you looked, you saw GIs, wall-to-wall GIs! It was so bad, that one got the idea, that a 12 hour pass was meant to simply give one a chance to waste time trying to get a drink or a bite to eat, or ride back and forth on the bus between the camp, and the town.

In Evansville there was a large USO Club which offered a dormitory, dance floor, writing room, and other facilities. The Club was located on the corner of Eighth, and Main Streets. There was also an Information Center operated by the USO. It was on Third, and Vine Streets, one block north of the Greyhound Bus Terminal. See the photo of the Terminal that follows. It came from the collection owned by Ted Breeden, our former Historian.

The Red Cross operated a Canteen which was next door to the Louisville-Nashville Railroad Depot. The Salvation Army also operated a Mobile Canteen. It was stationed on Fifth, and Main Streets. See postcard-photo on the next page.

The troops used a couple of bus lines to make their connections to Morganfield, Henderson and Evansville. Private buses operating out of the Post Bus Depot on C Road, maintained regular scheduled runs to the Morganfield terminal on North Morgan Street. Similar transportation was available between the Camp Bus Depot to Henderson, Evansville, and other points.

With regard to railroads; Henderson and Evansville offered the nearest rail transportation. Henderson was serviced by the Louisville-Nashville line which ran out of the station located on 4th, and Clark streets. Evansville was serviced by both the Louisville-Nashville and by the Chesapeake-Erie-Illinois lines out of the Fulton Avenue Station.

BUS DEPOT, EVANSVILLE, INDIANA

Sinkers & Java by the Salvation Army

RECREATIONAL FACILITIES

The Camp had very substantial indoor, and outdoor recreational facilities. Camp sports programs were coordinated through the Post Athletic Office located in the Field House on Road B.

The Field House was large enough to accommodate the playing of four basketball games at one time. It had a complete gymnasium to insure year-round activity.

Baseball, and softball diamonds were situated in various company areas. The main diamond was near the intersection of Main Entrance Road and Road C.

As expressed before; there was a Dayroom set-up for every company. This provided indoor recreation per the CO’s direction. He decided what could be housed/not housed in his Dayroom.

The Field House was situated on Road B, between Road 25, and the Main Entrance Road during our Camp days. It was across from the Post Headquarters. Refer to Recreational Facilities for a brief description of its interior.

Below are two views of the Field House as it was back in 1943, and 1944.

The photo was taken by Ed Taylor of F Company, 289th. It shows the Field House as of 1992. Note the changes to the windows, the lack of a chimney, and the enclosure of the front entrance.

The copy-photo shows the interior (in part) at the time the 75th was at the Camp. At the time of the photo, the House was being used to classify troops arriving at the Breckinridge.

F, 289th TAKES 75th CAGE TITLE

Champs Trounce 275th Team, 55-28, As 3,000 Watch Game

Scoring baskets at a torrid pace, Company F of the 289th Infantry last Thursday won the 75th Division basketball championship by defeating Company of the 275th Engineers, 55 to 28, before a throng of 3,000 which included the division’s three generals, at the field house in the finals of the division tournament.

There was no doubt from the first few minutes of the game as to who would be the champion, as the 289th team grabbed a first quarter lead of 14 to 6 and increased it handily each quarter. Three of the most interested spectators at the game were Brig. Gen. F. B. Prickett, division commander; Brig. Gen. Gerald St. C. Mickle, assistant division commander, and Brig. Gen. Foster I. Tate, division artillery commander.

The scoring landslide was led by George Gividen with 20 points and Bill Crabtree with 15, the two scoring enough points to win for the 289th five. Harry Weiselberg was another instrumental factor in the victory, handling the biggest share of the guard’s duties and doing a capable job of directing the team. Jim McNaughton was the 290th’s best man both on offense and defense, scoring 10 points and setting up most of the team’s offense.

After the game, Gen. Prickett presented trophies to both teams.

THE 75TH LEAVES LOUISIANA FOR KENTUCKY

Various elements of the 75th began boarding the troop trains sitting on the sidings in Zwolle in the early morning of April 12. The trains were from the Illinois-Chicago and Louisville-Nashville lines.

These troops trains were made up of some 60 to 80 coach cars, a mail car, several baggage cars and a mess car. A caboose brought up the rear. These trains were capable of moving a regiment of men. A separate train was used to move the regiment’s supplies, some of its rolling stock, and equipment. Truck convoys were used to move the rest.

Large coal-fired locomotives with their coal tenders, were hooked in tandem to pull these trains. See below.

WAITING FOR THE 75TH

While the Division was winding-up its part in the maneuvers in Louisiana in late March to early April, men from other units were being reassigned to them, and waiting for the Division in the camp. These were men who were former MPs, were part of the ASTP, or were from Airforce units.

They were unassigned in the beginning. Instead, they were kept in a sort of Labor Pool, and detailed to whatever part of the camp for work. Work in this case might include cutting grass, picking-up garbage cans, shoveling coal, unloading boxcars, and trucks, washing windows, and doing a dozen other details in addition to the standard ones like KP, etc.

Some of these men who ended up in F Company were Jack Knapp (MP), Willard Perry (Airforce), Harold Harer (MP), Leslie D. Anderson (Airforce), and Al Roberts (Airforce).

The train trip between Zwolle, and Camp Breckinridge took about a day, and a half. The First troop train was made up of men of the 289th. It left the Zwolle Depot on April 12th. It arrived in late afternoon of April 14th on the tracks in the warehouse area of Camp Breckinridge.

In those days, two set of tracks ran down between the warehouses. Trains coming in on the Illinois Central tracks running along side U.S. Highway 60, would use a curving track to shunt the trains into the warehouse area. Trains backed into the area so that the engine could easily pull its cars or boxcars out onto the main line when they had been unloaded.

When the 289th arrived at the camp, it detrained with all its equipment. Duffle bags were unloaded from the baggage cars, and piled on the warehouse platform. Reference the picture of the detraining. In it the men are seen marching off in a column of threes between the tracks. The column is a long one, stretching the length of the train. Note the car marked by an arrow; that’s the Mess Car. Duffle bags have been piled up along the edge of the platform.

In the pictures below, and on the pages that follow, we get a glimpse of the warehouse area mentioned in a prior paragraph. One of the pictures shows what the area looks like today. Note the absence of tracks.

In the 1942-1945 period, boxcars, and troop trains unloaded supplies, and troops on the platform (see above, and the photo on the preceding page), or in the track area which ran between the warehouses. See the photo on troop detraining.

The Warehouse area today; photo was taken from the closed end of the warehouse area. In this photo the platforms are seen on the left in lieu of the right. In our days, one set of tracks lay on the dirt area along side of blacktop road. The second set lay near the opposite side of the macadam road.

The copy-photo shows the front entrances of barracks on one side of a company street. The 5th, and 6th buildings down from the front right side are the Mess Hall, and Supply Room, respectfully.

Further down the street, are two one-story buildings facing onto the street. The nearest one is the Dispensary.

The barracks in the photo, and during our time, were heated by a forced air furnace fired by coal. The furnace, and the hot water boiler were located behind the double doors which can be seen outside the second barracks from the right side of the photo. The bins next to the double doors housed the coal for firing the furnaces.

A word about dispensaries; there were 3 dispensaries in Camp Breckinridge. One was on Road 1 off Road D. The second was on Road 19 off Road D. The third was on Road 38 off Road B. Men in barracks on Roads 20 to 25 went to the hospital because of its proximity to their barracks.

F COMPANY MARCHES TO ITS NEW QUARTERS

The Company under command of its CO, 1st Lt. Peterson marched down Warehouse Road passed Roads A, to C, and began to pass across the huge parade ground.

The men of the company were surprised at its size. It was the biggest parade ground that they had ever seen. They spotted three baseball diamonds scattered on the grounds. They saw the grounds stretching for blocks on both sides of their line of march. They noted that barracks bordered the north, and south boundaries of the parade grounds. As they moved forward, their NCOs quietly told them that their barracks, which were just up ahead, were on the edge of the parade ground too.

The Company turned left onto Road D, and drew up before barracks standing in an area between Warehouse Road, and Road 12. See the Skeleton Map at the beginning of the section: The Camp Layout. After the At East, the CO told them to settle in as quickly as possible. Camp life would begin in earnest on the morrow.

1st Sergeant Allen assigned the barracks. The 1st, and 2nd Platoons would occupy the first barracks with the first Platoon being quartered on the 1st floor, and the second Platoon on the 2nd floor. The 3rd, and 4th Platoons would take over the second barracks in the same fashion.

He then pointed out where the Company’s Mess, Dayroom, Supply Room, and CQ were. He said that chow would be held at 1800 hours. He asked that the Platoon Leaders get each man assigned to a cot, and draw his bedding from Supply. While there, they were to pick up their duffle bags which had been dropped off by a work gang.

Bedding in this case consisted of a mattress, two blankets, and a pillow.

The Platoon Leaders ordered their men to place their rifles in the rifle rack so that they could easily find them when they were needed. Then they had them make-up their cots according to the Army method. After that, they directed them to empty their duffle bags, and store the bulk of their clothing, and personal articles in their footlockers, and to hang their dress shirts, pants, jackets, overcoat, etc., on the rack behind their cots. They were ordered to put their steel helmet, gas mask, field pack, and extra leggings on the shelf above their cots. Shoes or boots were to be placed in line under their cots.

The men completed these chores in time to answer the call for chow. Expecting a special hot meal, they got warmed over Cs, fresh bread, and coffee. Seems the cooks (Frank Morene, Booth, Hurst) did not have sufficient time to make a hot meal. The men griped!! However, they were hungry enough to eat anything!

After chow, the men wrote letters home, took showers, and hit the sack without being told.

SQUAD ROOM 41189.jpg

During World War II, squad rooms were occupied by rifle platoons numbering about 38 men. Platoon Officers, and Platoon Sergeants were billeted in other quarters.

The Platoon’s three Squad Sergeants occupied the NCO Room which was right across from the latrine. The Assistant Squad Leaders, and the men occupied the 36 cots lined up near the walls, 18 on each side.

In the copy-photo only 9 cots with footlockers can be seen in the photo. Note the vents in the ceiling for distributing hot air heat.

The doors in the background led out to the company’s rear assembly area. To the right was the one story building housing the Dayroom, and the Old Man office, the 1st Sergeant’s office, the Mailroom, and the Personnel Clerk’s office. All these rooms with the exception of the Dayroom, were known as the C.Q. A bulletin board stood near the entrance to the clerk’s office. The board looked very much like the one in the photo on the next page minus the protective cover.

To the left was the Mess Hall, and the Supply Room with an equipment repair shop.

The object between the doors in the photo is the Gun rack. When F Company was at Breckinridge, the rack stood at a right angle to the doors.

This Picture was taken by Ed Taylor of F Company, 289th.

The Bulletin Board in the picture is similar to the one that stood just outside of the main entrance to the Company’s CQ. That is, minus the protective roof.

Men of the Company were required to refer to it on a daily basis. Occasionally, a bit of good news would be posted, like a list of promotions to PFC or eligibility for the Infantryman’s Badge, and so on.

Like every Camp, and Fort in the USA, Camp Breckinridge had its Stockade for men who broke the law, or parts of the Code of Conduct. We all knew men who at one time or another spent time within the hallowed walls, and behind the barb wire fence of a stockade.

In addition to a stockade, Breckinridge had a POW Camp near the Stockade for axis prisoners. In our day, most of these were from the African-Italian campaigns.

The following copy-photos show what the stockade looked like at the Camp back in 1944. There are no photos of the POW Camp.

Ed Taylor of F Company, 289th, snapped the following picture while standing on the other side of Route 60, and the Illinois-Central Railroad tracks. The road in the picture is Convoy Road. As its name implies, this road was used whenever we were trucked out to the far reaches of Camp Breckinridge to take part in a field problem, or to run thru a firing exercise on one of the ranges. We used trucks when we were not required to march out to one of those far off places.

September 1992

THE NEW COMMANDING GENERAL OF THE 75TH

On April 15, 1944, Major-General Fay B. Prickett arrived at Camp Breckinridge with the last elements of the 75th fresh from maneuvers in Louisiana.

On April 16th, in accordance with Army Ground Forces Orders, Major-General Willard S. Paul transferred command of the Division to General Prickett.

The copy-photos are the first pictures of the 75th’s new C.G.

THE FIRST DAY AT CAMP BRECKINRIDGE

The Company Commander (CO), Lt. Peterson, gathered the Company around him after morning chow for a briefing about the future of F Company at Breckinridge. In other words, he was going to give them the Big Picture.

The first thing he told them was that per orders from the top, the Company was going to lose a number of its Officers, NCOs, and Ems. The first wave in losses would range up to 30% over the next two months, i.e., by the end of May. He said that the trend in losses would continue into October. These losses would be partially offset by men coming into the Company from other forces, e.g. ASTP, Engineers, Infantryman, Airforce, and MPs. He ended by saying that he was one of those scheduled to go, and that the list of those that were leaving with him would be posed on the Company Bulletin Board.

The Roster that follows contains the names of those who were to remain after the initial planned reduction. It also contains the names of some of the transferees. These are marked with an asterisk (*).

F Company Roster

April 17, 1944

Officers

As the result of the loss of 30% of its strength to transfers to other units based either in the states or overseas, the Company’s Table of Organization (T.O.) shrank from 180 officers, and men to 129 officers, and men by the end of May, 1944.

Men with * joined company on maneuvers, or were in camp when the 75th arrived at Breckinridge.

Major General

F. B. PRICKETT

Division Commander

TRAINING MIX

The men of F Company received a variety of training after the reduction-in-force. Regardless of any prior training, the men, whether original or new, got bits of basic training mixed with advance training. The latter included a lot of conditioning along with the repetitive firing of weapons, plus an introduction of new equipment, and field problems.

Phases of basic training that the men of the company had to go through again, and again included Bayonet Drill; infiltration problems which included a heavy emphasis on camouflage; field cleaning of equipment, especially at night; Village Fighting; the firing of various weapons such as the M1, the Carbine, the BAR, the MG 30, the Sub, the Grease Gun, the Bazooka, the 60mm Mortar, the Colt 45, and the Rifle Grenade.

Other phases of basic that the men had to go through a second, and third time included the Gas Chamber, the Infiltration Course, the Map, and Compass Course, the Obstacle Course and night, and daytime patrols.

They went over a variety of instructional procedures, as well. For instance: Giving First Aid in the Field; Digging in for a Tank Assault; setting up a defensive position which included the digging of two men foxholes.

They saw a slew of training films on everything from erecting a pup tent in rain, and snow to using the V-Mails as a short cut to writing home.

They went through a number of inoculations, short arms, eye, dental, and rectal exams. They went through all the steps for administering Pros (Prophylactic Kits). They were shown how to dispense morphine shots. How to brace broken limbs, and cracked ribs. They went over again how to purify fouled drinking water.

They were shown a number of field expediencies that could help them when they were in the field. For example; how to cool their drinking water using pebbles; how to reduce the dryness in their mouths by placing a pebble or an olive pit under their tongue.

They took long hikes as part of the toughening exercises. It was nothing to see these men carry out rapid marches of 5, 10, or 15 miles, and then go into a field exercise, and then cover the same distances on marches back to camp.

The village idiot who dreamt up the field exercises was cursed up, and down, and all around. His ancestry was always questioned. Men would let each other in on what they would like to do with this clown, and his helpers, if they could get their hands on them.

. . . Weapons we knew 80726.jpg

A Collection of photos on training at Camp B.

The photos that follow give some idea of the extensive training that the men of Company F received while at Camp Breckinridge. Sub headings, and statements have been added where it was deemed appropriate.

"HIGH PORT! ON GUARD! PARRY! THRUST! WITHDRAW!

SMASH! SLASH! HIGH PORT!".

Instructions on the Nomenclature of the Rocket Launcher (The Bazooka).

Gas mask drill—By the numbers 42378.jpg

Map reading 42497.jpg

A Field Exercise preparatory to Combat training.

Learning the lesson of silent killing.

A good thing to know 42604.jpg

Field Inspection:—Battalion strength. Inspection took place on the Camp’s Parade Grounds. The numbers mark some important sites. (1) marks the Main Road. (2) identifies Warehouse Road. (3) points out the location of the Warehouse area where the division entered the camp. (4) earmarks the Camp’s two water towers, one of which can be seen in the photo-copy of a track meet. The dot (ffk) marks a theatre just off Roac C.

The photo was taken from Road D.

CAMP LIFE, AND HUMOROUS MOMENTS

Soldiering at Breckinridge wasn’t all training, and no play! There was the usual extras such as KP, Guard Duty, and the disciplinary details to keep the Gripers Happy.

_ _ _ _

Payday was a big event! It was announced that a certain time of the day, usually in the afternoon, would be reserved for pay. When commanded, all the men, except the officers—they had a separate provision to take care of them—would line-up in single file before the Dayroom door. Inside at a small table sat the Pay Officer from the Finance unit, his helper, usually an NCO, and either the XO or the CO from the Company.

On the table in front of them was the Company Payroll, and the payroll box. The Payroll contained the names of each man in alphabetical order, along with his ASN#, rank, and the deductions taken from the magnificent sum that was his pay. These deductions covered allotments for the loved ones back home, laundry, bonds, and the good old GI insurance.

Speaking for the Privates; their lowly pay back in the early forties was $50.00 a month, state side that is. Monthly deductions were taken to cover insurance—$6.40, laundry—$3 dollars, bonds $3.75, and if an allotment was involved—$18 to $20 Dollars. The total sum of their pay after deductions ranged from a high of $36.85 to a low of $16.85 for a month. These princely sums had to last a man until the next pay period.

The lowly pay was one of the reasons why there was a lot of borrowing, gambling, and of course, arming the parents back home for money.

The SOP (Standard Operational Procedure) for getting paid went like this: Private Max Martell would enter the room after Richard Carter, the man in front of him had been paid, and would walk stiffly up to the table. He would salute the officer(s) seated at the table. Immediately thereafter, he would identify himself as Private Max Martell, Army Serial Number xxxxxxxx. The NCO or the XO would then find his name on the pay roster. The Pay Officer would then tell Max what his pay was, and would proceed to count out the money from the Payroll Box, and hand it to Max. Max would quickly count the money, sign the payroll, salute, and make way for the next man, in this case, Corporal Carl Slez.

_ _ _ _

One of the few joys of being in the Army was the chance to go to a PX, and guzzle a few beers, or have an ice cream soda at a nickel a throw! Another joy was to take in a movie at one of the camp’s theatres. The cost of seeing a movie was 10¢. A large bag of buttered popcorn went for 5 cents.

The movies started promptly at nineteen hundred hours, and ended around twenty-two hundred hours. These movies consisted of the latest films, many never seen by the public. The services always got the new releases several weeks in advance of a public showing. Also shown with the feature film were several shorts. For example, Looney tunes, sing alongs, the news as announced by Lowell Thomas, and the latest sports narrated by Stan Lomax. the list of these extras was a long one. We enjoyed them as much as the main feature!

_ _ _ _

Working a detail wasn’t always hard work, and drudgery! Take KP. Many of us viewed it as a means of escape, if one was put on it during the week. This way, you got away from making the long marches, and or sweating your head off working on a field problem. Besides, you didn’t have to make-up what you missed, and that was really great! On the other hand, being put on KP on a weekend was labeled a punishment. With such an assignment went any chance of going on leave.

There were light moments to being on KP. You could sit on your ass in company with such great guys like Davidson, Mark, and Cummings, and talk about everything under the sun while peeling potatoes; hundreds of potatoes. These conversations began with topics which nearly all were in agreement, e.g., Chicken shit as dished out by both the Officers, and NCOs; rumors from the latrine; sports; and of course, woman. Then it would turn to insights into one another’s character, and would swing to politics, and finally to religion. About that time Sergeant Morene (Mess Sergeant) would interrupt the rising spirited conversation to say he had enough spuds, and You All should start to clean up the pots, pans, and the grease traps.

_ _ _ _

Of all the chores one could get while on KP, cleaning a grease trap was by far, the dirtiest, and smelliest of them all. I know, because I was the most experienced in the Company when it came to cleaning them.

Once, while at Camp Howzie, Texas, I failed to shave the peach fuzz off my face, and I got thrown off guard duty. As a consequence, the Old Man ordered that I be placed on detail for a two-week period. I was to split the time cutting the company lawn with a bayonet; watering it using a bucket; and cleaning the two grease traps in the Mess Hall, everyday during my punishment.

_ _ _ _

You couldn’t clean one of those beauties without leaving some evidence of what you were up to. Within moments after starting to ladle the greasy, black ooze percolating within the slate maze that made up the heart of the trap, into waiting buckets, you began spilling the slime because of an unsteady hand. The unsteadiness was due in great measure to trying to avoid smelling the overpowering odor, by turning one’s head away from ladling the gut-wrenching sludge into the waiting Honey Buckets. The latter were equally bad! As a consequence, one found himself caught between stench rising from the open