Table of Contents < - - - return Chapter 27 - Coal Country < - - - next Don Bennett's War Chapter 26 - SS Armored Division _______________________ The next day was foggy but not too foggy to see the notches in the trees next to the road in which set charges of dynamite. The enemy had left before they had a chance to set off the dynamite, thus blocking the road to vehicles. That night a favorable situation must have developed for we were called on to execute a forced march to a town 12 miles away. As we came close to the town, we could see that it was on fire. We never knew who set the town on fire, our artillery or the Germans themselves. We passed through the town and holed up for a few hours in an untouched building. We were on our way again
the next day, hot on the trail of a SS armored division. Toward evening
we paused just back of a brow of a hill while some observers went ahead
to look for the Krauts. They could see quite a distance as we were in
open country now - clear fields on rolling hills. At dusk we moved down
a trail toward a town. While passing a house, a Frenchman came out and
started offering us drinks out of a bottle in his hand. I thought it
was water and took a glass, and downed in on the run. I caught my breath
a half mile down the road. this water was schnapps. As we came into
town a farm courtyard, a woman gave us apples about the size of apricots.
It was probably all she had. We met one of our tank forces in the town
and spent the night and the next day reorganizing and begging food off
the tanks, we got some, too! The tank force had moved out two hours
before we arrived, and left a detail to delay us. Most of these were
captured without too much of a fight and we had about thirty prisoners
to guard for the night. Our squad had that job and we took turns (by
twos) guarding them. I guarded by the door while another guarded those
by the front room of the house. When more prisoners were brought, I
stripped them of all weapons and possible weapons. I got a watch for
a souvenir off one of them. One prisoner tried to escape out a window
- he got out and a few steps away from the building before the other
guard shot him. We got a scare when some figures started moving down
the street. I held my rifle ready to fire, but as they came close, they
put their hands over their heads and yelled "prisoner". When
we two were relieved of guard duty, we were told to go down the street
and pick up five prisoners. We cautiously moved down the dark street,
keeping an eye out for any Germans, found the prisoners, and brought
them back without trouble, and went down another street to where our
platoon was resting in a house occupied by two nuns and two children.
We had breakfast and moved out at dawn. We learned later that the Germans
zeroed in on that house a couple hours after we left, reducing it to
shambles, killing the nuns and children and also some officers from
regimental headquarters who had moved up there. Chapter 27 - Coal Country < - - - next Table of Contents < - - - return _________________________ Copyright, Donald Bennett
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