London Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 27, 1945, London, Middlesex                                Ati patrolling behind enemy territory red artillery clears Road to Berlin proof of american soldiers valor 1945 the communique said l but it takes initiative to do the Job of procuring vital information by de Wilcox War week staff writer it had in the Siegfried weather was dark Early and a i Guljit rain was falling a handful often stood beside a building and the sergeant spoke in Low he would direct a few words to each Man Point into the i my indicating it and the rain continued to fall and caused Little rivulets to run Down their the men stood listening to the sergeant and keeping their carbines and Thompsons butt up to keep the barrel j Sot a Damn Fine break on the patrolling is probably As Tough a Job and the sergeant glancing As is penalized As any detail the army can approvingly at the Low hanging sell give pm fits he they turned and started up the Muddy path the rail Sid keeping close it in the the night patrol Jas on its the patrol neared the fail embark nent they spread out leaving a 20 of gird interval Between each at a penal from the sergeant they were Over top of the embankment and sliding the cinder slope on the German the whole thing had been done than you could say Heinrich shortly after Midnight the patrol re the rain continued to fall and mud made sucking noise As they flogged along the path leading Back to o a a we were talking in the attic of a three Story House in which the company was the Captain squinted through a captured German scope and patrolling is the most dangerous theres something about it that fascinates i still go on patrols just for the kick of pitting my wits against there Are two kinds of the Captain theres the recon Naissance the dope on Jerry and get it Back As easily As pos we emphasize keeping out of sight and avoiding any fuss on recon armed to the Teeth but on combat be Eon some of the mud had been we set out in a group of any trashed from the blackened faces of the night three of the men no longer carried grenades taped to the front of their they had seen a Little Skir but All of the men had managed to get they brought a water soaked Kraut along with them for Good the German stumbled along relic halting every few minutes to pro test in Jerk one of the men told pushing Hira along the you never had it Good patrolling is Tough this Story is about those everyday gis who do an everyday it is the routine Side of its happening 24hours a never makes generally its dismissed with the terse action was limited to patrol behind those few lines of Type lies a Story of theres a Man who knows his patrol Captain Koenig the lieutenant came Over to where we were looking through the scope at a group of buildings 200 Yards away where the germans ill say one thing for said the you never get to know the Jerries for what they Are until you get real chummy with Ive been behind their lines so much i been Pickin up my mail from their orderly for rations n quarters you might Call Well they dont play by the if there Are any rules to fighting a  do anything to trick you and mislead you and they dont respect their our anybody wounded men or anybody ammo Stretcher bearing the Captain stepped up to the scope and wheeks it far to the he adjusted the Little wheel at the Bottom and turned to take a look at that Pillbox and Tell me what you think of ill Tell you a yarn about the Way Jerry lights i looked through the scope and saw a badly battered Pillbox that looked As if it had been under direct fire of heavy to besieged by torpedoes and Bazooka what hit that i asked the Captain we fired several rounds of 75s at that thing at almost Pointblank it silenced their guns for the rest of the Early last just As it was getting we saw an ambulance pull you could see the Large red Cross and then i could make out Stretcher bearers walk ing Back and Forth from the Entrance to the so i decided to closer when i looked at it through the glasses the is we rent taking wounded out on those were bringing in blew hell out of their phoney ammo truck with the red  do anything these there the lieutenant turned away from the scope and that Why i like to go after those jerks on combat seen them fire on our Graves registration truck not More than a week and they dont respect our medics and they Boob trapped their dead All through France and trigger Happy krauts weve got a Bunch of Good men Here in this company for the Cap Tain wiping his forehead with his there Arent Many companies that can show a record of fighting like ours with no kias on patrols since we had a couple shot up but they came through All these krauts were running up against Here Are if you make a Little noise they fire and give away their there still Tricky though and they yell at us in English telling us to hold it up or wait a there still but they Arent the soldiers we were up against in the the lieutenant said goodbye and started Down the creaking Hes leaving in a few the Captain As soon As it begins to get dark  take almost time you might say the Art of successful patrolling is built on the look and feel the Captain you have to rely on your ears and you got to know the sounds of the night and be Able to pick out the sounds that Are and when you hear shooting you must be Able to Tell if it is the enemy and what the weapon comes with practice and the Captain listened a moment and turned and peered out of the window straining to hear a sound that i  there on Mieir he can you Tell where they Are i said that i  and he gave me a rough they were headed straight for the Cluster of buildings where the germans i tried to see where they were and finally gave i was almost sympathetic with the boys were like flitting Milendy through the German just then there was the sudden blur of noise that comes from a German machine must be getting close the Captain observed in a few minutes you could hear a guttural voice hey hold it up a for me but the trick didst the yanks were on to jerrys tricks and they just let a pro Fane answer die in their clenched the boys who provide that action limited to dont have much to with where front a dozen to 40 men with the express purpose of contacting the enemy and giving it to him fast and into the Early hours of the mom combat patrols go out armed to the Teeth p m battalion officers poured Over the with plenty of firepower from automatic i Maia de by the the usually we try to include a tiny As it looked Bright for at Bazooka Ini the group you d be surprised make on the tie next morning we launched an dotted More than a score of Ger captured twice that number and Mother Strong pint on the Road the Impre Stefon that thing makes on the scares hell out of the most important thing about patrolling is patience and if a Guy is fired he  return the that Story was told by an officer of fire and tip his he is smarter of of the now fighting on German to hold his fire and move to another spot soil he was a Young fellow with Carrot and a patrol int much Good it it hair and he chattered away in a comes Back As soon As the germans open to Apical Jersey Rush of his name is Cottain Alfred he hails from i always try to do the thing that int 1 and in his outfit he is the Captain if those considered an authority of the gentle Art k of patrolling and see one of those Short krauts expect me to turn Back after a burst from one of their machine that just when in going to stick there i  univ t  items on the Bottom of and turn die tables on t f 7far1 or in a newspaper which was limited to i always just then Fred a soft dark haired gent from North