European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 16, 1945, Darmstadt, Hesse                                By Ronald Caldwell yank Field correspondent guidebooks say that Oran is a City of Algeria with a population of but to thousands of now scattered Over the face of the it is More than Here on the Flat Gray beaches some made their first Landing on enemy heard their first snipers Bullet and saw their first friends Here too they got their first glimpse of a people they known before Only in the pages of travel the White and Majestic in the Winter rises High on the slopes of Djebel to those who saw it for the first time it was like looking at a newsreel or a movie set of balconies apartment sidewalk cafes and and White sheeted and turbaned officers and men swarmed together into the same tried to Date the same made Moi wandered alongside each other Down the dirty some paused to study the carved figures Over the opera or gathered in groups in the place de la or moved on to the place do and leaned on the sea Wall and stared Down at the crowded Harbor and the Blue others crowded into the hotel Continental or sat in the Wicker chairs of the american watching the passing the whole town was on but no trams ran and there was a 9oclock if you were there at that time you remember How the Arab kids followed you banging on their boxes and shoe Joe Merican and How almost before you knew it they had Learned enough English to say Okay and got chewing Bon Joe and you wont forget How you stood around open mouthed while the arabs sold women on the slave or harem Market in the open Field that later became tent or How you tried to talk to a Mademoiselle with an open French English dictionary in your the you were something to keep away but after the red Cross came there was a whole lot More to the gis settled on the vacant lots and Fields around the soon the entire Countryside was Blooming with brow Canvas Hospital Center opened up for and the can Astel repple dapple came into an air corps replacement Center moved in across the Road from the it was Winter and when the Rains came they came hard and the Fields grew gooey with slush and gis and officers alike slept on the Bare ground and sweated out those mile Long Chow lines for c and the very first air raids sent everybody diving for Slit trenches and sometimes you got so hungry you barged into one of the local restaurants and ordered a dozen eggs at one that was at the time the arabs wore Barracks bags for pants it was common to see one walking along with his legs through holes in the the string drawn tight around his Waist and some Guys name and serial number stencilled across the rear the stars stripes had not started publishing and the signal corps had not begun issuing its everybody was news at the Airport a steel mat runway was Laid and the fighting ships moved then the troops shoved for the tunisian when the Battle hardened men of the first army the old familiar places seemed to be either off limits or officers there were colonels and majors pulling my there were special Salute and you were inspected for dog tags and the Way your sleeves were a Bunch of Parade Happy Guys had moved in ahead of and for awhile it seemed As if that was All you were up and Down the Damn the French got a big kick out of and every evening gathered faithfully to watch the american Brit is French Retreat ceremony in the place do Joes als place and the Waldorf were doing a land office business in american an no club had opened with a Beer and snack Down in i the Madame had to shove the franc notes aside before they could move it was easy to get into the but you know what you had to take before you could get out no one who was there will forget the time the 1st division took waving franc notes and trying to tear the town the maps say that it really was not True that they were chased nor will anyone forget the time Roosevelt passed anyone who could get within 10 Miles of the Many notables came and went in those the red Cross opened several clubs and and the was moved can Astel moved out to the Beach resort of am Al Turk and become a rest Center and a Cje pot for Home bound out there the offi cers took Over the Best hotels and but the red Cross opened up a club for Ems on the if you there was the i then the officers the nurses Beach and the was the water was and the warm Sun made a glow on your but there was hell to pay if you were caught swimming without your dog the British took Over the Airport and lined the Field with Sicily and Salerno came and the troops were on the move the Harbor continued to be about the busiest in All of North and there were pcs to be taken care Hospital Center was a Busy at the Airport they put in two new replacements and trans fers flowed and Zeke Bonura organized an athletic there were foot and Camel touch basketball and contests Between was and red Cross the North african basketball play offs were held out at the baseball play offs were held in the former horseracing Staci and football games at the Arab finally the was most of them for then the last great Bunch of gis set out for the invasion of Southern the Oran of today is much As it must have been before the the Harbor is comparatively Many of the old landmarks Are can Astel and Hospital Center Are no tent City still held Down by a Small lbs service but tents no longer Dot the Fields the land in the Spring and autumn blooms with Flowers and the Green of Trees and plants oranges hang on the Trees and grapes on the at the airbase the at has moved and the fighting ships have moved most of the officers clubs have Joes als place and the Waldorf Are Only memories but the Art gallery is holding shows and Carmen and rigoletto have come to the opera the drinks seem the bars Are less and you can get music with your liquor the busses and trams Are running full Force and vast numbers of horse drawn carriages Clatter Down the Cobblestone the red Cross is still at the Empire native prices Are As High As the Navy now has the run of the you see very few soldiers these there Are still some lbs men in and the 176th my a combat out at the airbase there is the a very Small num Ber of British and South and a few special detachments such As weather and the there is no More teletype there Are no More signal corps and the stars stripes comes a Day late from or two or three Days if the weather is re placements pass through and Chi men sometimes Stop off on their Way the War has left this place far a Hun dred thousand or More gis Are having one of their fondest wishes come is going Back to the Guys who had it in the first the army publication issued weekly by Branch information a education War 205 fast 42d new York n reproduction rights restricted at indicated in the Masthead on the entered second class matter july at the Post office of Mew under the act of March subscription Price printed in the Page s