Mediterranean Algiers Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - August 7, 1943, Algiers, Algiers                                Saturday August 7, 1943the stars and stripes weekly Page 5 a-36�?Ts do big Job As attack bombers by James a. Burchard stars and stripes staff writer eyeing the target one Hundred is their Lucky number. This unusual shot shows the intent faces of a p-40 War Hawk group As they listen to an officer briefing them for their 100th Mission on their 100th Day of operations. With 95 enemy aircraft to their credit before the Mission five additional victories that Day brought their total up to too. Victory claimants included maj. Robert l batterer Columbia Conn. Capt. John c. A. Watkins Baltimore my. 2nd it. Philip c. Whiteside. W. Frankford 111. Of Paul l. Maret Atlanta and of Lewis e. Brown Otway Ohio. Saaf photo the last four Miles Jerry mines hidden everywhere along san Stef Arn a death Highway somewhere in Sicily in an air Force office behind the front line a Telephone rang. A major picked up the receiver which immediately began to crackle words of urgency. A a Rush up some planes to Knock out a German artillery position. Four big guns Are kicking hell out of us. By their flashes we figure their Mao co ordinance is a a of a said the major. He Hung up then hurriedly put through a Call to an a-36 Airfield. Not Long after the gun Battery was spotted it was silenced. A formation of at tack bombers led by maj. John p. Crowder jr., of Richmond va., planted their bombs squarely on the target. It was a big help to the 1st division. That could be considered a fair example of the part the a-36 s Are playing in blasting the Axis out of Sicily. A goodly number of them moved into a sicilian Airfield in july and began operations the following Day. For two weeks before they had been Over the Island in their triple threat role of fighting bombing and strafing. Their pilots swear by the a-36 s and will Tell you the planes can do anything. Said maj. Crowder to my opinion its the Best Sinai engine fighter in the world and r can to be improved As a bomber. When you go into a vertical dive i and put the sights on a target you can drop your bombs in a Pickle  before they switched Over of their present jobs the a-36 pilots hew other types of fighters. As you May recall the a-36 is a bomber version of the Mustang. The Mustang p-5l was first used in England by British pilots who went on Low Altitude strafing missions Over French roads. They earned the Nick name of a a train  the first published trial of the a-36 came on june 7 when Amer a ans dive bombed Pantelleria. Since then they be been in the thick of things the ghastly shriek of their dive brakes being heard wherever an enemy target could be located. Italians in particular. Fear the a-36 s. They Call them Hill divers a and they re lust about right. Since they began tossing Lead around the landscape june 7. The a-36�?Ts of this Squadron have been on Many missions. Their bag includes 60 trucks destroyed and 31 damaged five locomotives three Landing barges one radio installation one Power Plant and four .88 guns destroyed. They smashed two fridges and damaged five armoured vehicles. Twice jumped by enemy planes they shot Down one me-109. During july they set what they believe to be a record number of sorties for a Squadron of fighter bombers. But still they re not satisfied. They want bigger and Belier targets such As boats docks and the like. They re absolutely certain their bombs and machine guns can pulverize bigger game. What a More say the pilots Axis targets in Sicily Are becoming few and far Between. A-36s Are sure death to truck convoys but few enemy trucks now dare i to venture Forth in Daylight. Its not like the Early Days of this i i Campaign w Hen you could Nail 20 to 30 at a crack. Still there s some i Solace in blasting ammunition dumps gun emplacements and troop concentrations. And just the sight of the a-36 s screeching into Battle is very bolstering to the spirits of the ground troops. Their own losses have been Small considering the great amount of work they do. One of the men lost is a prisoner whom the boys actually saw just before his Cap a Ture. He was shot Down in Northwest Sicily. Just before he bailed out he was attacked by a Macchi j 202. On their ship radios the oth i ers heard him shout a a of no Vou Don  with that he riddled the Macchi until it fell smoking toward the Earth and then leaped himself. He landed in a Small town and when last seen was running Down a Street with soldiers after him. Support of the troops by a-36s is As near foolproof As possible. Officers Are stationed with certain units to inure Complete and rapid co operation Between ground and air. Sometimes infantry will make direct requests for air assistance. The theory of troop support is swinging Back to the original american idea of close and constant Contact with the fighting men below. If a Hill is the next infantry objective for instance the a-36s will paste it hard. The men about to attack that Hill at least know they re receiving plenty of help in the clutch. Mountainous terrain provides a major problem frequently necessitating Glide bombing. In Sicily their in been very Little fighter opposition. But a-36 pilots Are confident that their Stubb winged pets hav1 the Speed Maneule ability and fire Power to handle anything the germans can throw at them. With american forces in North Central Sicily there was no triumphal procession into san Stefano you walked the last Lour Miles sometimes sticking to the curving coastal Highway overlooking the Mediterranean sometimes threading your Way through the debris of blown out Bridges sometimes climbing j Steep bypasses always treading with the fear of god in your Leary i feeling sure that your next step would land on a mine. It is not a pleasant walk those four Miles to san Stefano. You Are with the Point of company a go of an infantry battalion advancing up the Roan. You Are about two hours behind the retreating germans. You think another company has come Down from the Hills and beat you into 1 town but you re not quite sure. You March in extended order and you keep looking for snipers in the Hills and mines under your feet. Your eyes soon gel tired from looking but you keep on looking first at the Hills and then the Road. Army mobility a jeep passes you by it is the first vehicle through the bypass and you think it is going to get into town before you. You curse the mobility of the army. The jeep enters a Tunnel and there is a muffled explosion. The medics Start to run Down to the a Tunnel and someone says hey i you d better let me go first and an Engineer with a mine Detector begins sweeping a path for mein i you Are suddenly glad you Are an i infantryman but Only for a non i Ute. The Sun is not the straps of the Light Field pack Are cutting through the sweat soaked Wool shirt and the Blue Mediterranean is tantalizing. You a a Tor a cry match since everything in your pockets is wet with sweat. In return you pass the cigarettes and they clean out your last pack. On the Bend in lie Road Are what look like Small Shell craters in the Asphalt surface you wonder who did the Nice shooting and then a smart sergeant says watch out for those soft spots they re anti i tank  sure enough an Engineer comes along and probes with a Bayonet and it strikes Metal. A a take it easy a  says the i Guy w How a working with him. Those i things Are Touchy the two get Down on their Knees around the mine and from a few Yards off it looks like they re shooting craps. If you re a Damn fool you come i closer and. Hooking Over their shoulder you see them dig out the dirt around the mine and then work their hands under the mine to see if ifs boobies. That is if it will explode when lifted up Satis by Cut. Jack Foisie special to the stars and stripes j tied the Engineer called Joe lifts out the German Teller mine and the other Guy unscrews the Caps and refuses it. Quot now ifs completely harmless a says Joe and he lays it Down very carefully Way off the Road. There Are a pile of those Teller mines they look just like an oversize discus. You be been walking for Ever an hour now and while lines of Salt begin to appear on your sweat soaked shirt. Your canteen is still half full but me water is More than lukewarm. There is a spout of Cool Mountain water emptying into a Cement Basin in the Shade of a Grove of big leafed Trees. How about a ten minute break a Okay j but you d better jump from the Asphalt to the Bank those shoulders Are always mined Cool and soft so you in a Over the soft shoulder Anu land on the Bank you lean Back and relax. The i weight of lie pack leaves your j shoulders. The grass is Cool and t soft. You stretch out Flat and that i saves your Lite. The Guy who had been marching in front of you j yes that fellow carrying the Browning automatic Rule had been the first to refill his canteen from that spout of Cool water and 1 the first to find that the germans had put a ring ols mines around the loot of the Basin. You arc uni pled to take to the Railroad tracks which go straight across into town but then Vou remember the jeep in the Tunnel. This is Good country for snipers and you look for them. The commander of the Point talks in his Walkie talkie to be company commander who is perhaps a ii if mile behind with the main body of men. It i it decided to reconnoitre the Road Block at the Entrance to the Bridge two men Are selected and you Are not one of them. A halt is called while they go ahead. The y walk on opposite sides of the Road one 25 Yards in front of the other. They disappear around the Bend. Two minutes of silence will mean that the Roadblock is undefended. There i a sputtering crackle and then several More in rapid succession. Tin command Quot disperse left and right is Given. The rifles Are no longer on the shoulders i hear the Click of the safety on Hie Rifle of the Man next to me. There Are several More crackles. Your steel helmet be longer feels heavy you feel like ducking behind a tree but the others Are Only dispersed looking with their eyes and ears. There is another crackle it seems to come from the direction of the Bridge. One of the two scouts comes running Back. A a mines. All around the Bridge. A patrol from another company coming Down from the Hills ran into them got quite a few. They need a doctor a the scout reports. Quot doctor up front pass the word Back a orders Hie Point commander. The word is passed Back doctor up front a there is More talk on a Walkie talkie it is decided to try and get the Doc through the engineers will be up shortly but there is no time. You reach the other Bank and there above you on the ledge is an italian civilian All smiles and a mixture of languages. He is War ing sandals made out of rubber tires. Naturally tie announces right off that he lived 23 years in Brooklyn they All have it seems. Okay Joe Tell us about that later. What we want to know. Can you Lead us around the minefield. He leads you along tile Bank until you come onto the wounded and the dead about 50 Yards in front of you. You were taking the same path that these men had taken. Hie file backs up. This time the italian who once lived in Brooklyn is ordered to take us up Over the Ridge and then swing around to the Road. The old Man explains that he is very old and cannot make the Hill. There is nothing to do but to go on without a guide. Shoot the old Man. You say. No remember that he was in the Lead and would have been the first one to go. Blame it on the tumbling of an old Man s mind. Glued to soil you climb the terraced Ridge and then turn toward the Road. Your eyes Are Glia d to that soil. You follow Iii that a exact footsteps of the Man in front of you. A die Man in the Lead perhaps lie follows in the footsteps of god. Every snap of a Twig each rattle of a Pebble makes you twitch and shiver. If you think at All it is perhaps about what you said in your last letter Home. The Leader reaches the Bank overlooking the Road. He jumps and lands on the firm Asphalt surface. He is Safe. The next one jumps. Ile is Safe. Each one jumps and is Safe you jump and you Are a i e. The doctor walks in the Middle of the Road Down to the Bridge. I Here is a cart at the end of the Bridge. It was the touching of this cart that set off the first of the mines. The doctor goes to work. You enter san Stefano. The town people pathetically Friendly come out to Greet you. You ask in your Best Broo Lynese italian ii there Are any snipers in town. The people say there Are not. You ask if there Are any Booby traps. The people say there Are none. You pass your sweaty wrist across your eyes. You no longer look at where you Are about to step. I i j Only the. Posing with his nurse makes it. Hyman Goldberg a Bombardier of Norwich Conn., almost forget the Day he came Back from a Hying fort Mission in a rather punctured condition. Although he had a Hole in his Back four inches in diameter plus a couple of two Inch openings and Shell fragments in his stomach and Side he dropped his bombs squarely on the target and refused first aids until the enemy fighters were taken care of. He is shown Here two months and three operations later with 2nd it. Luella Martin off North Adams mass. Pinned on his Robe next to the purple heart is the distinguished sender Cross personally presented by la Gen. Carl a. Spaatz Naaf commander