Mediterranean Algiers Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 25, 1943, Algiers, Algiers Saturday september 25, 1943the stars and stripes weekly Pate 5lf nails u us lbs Camlla Saga by Seymour Korman Chicago Tribune and Mutual broadcasting system correspondent with the 5th army in Italy sept. 19 delayed a for ten hours last night and this morning a Little party of Infan-1 try which i accompanied a a party never numbering in o r c a than sixty a held me strategic Hill Southwest of Altavilla against the worst the germans could throw at us. Dug into Foxholes and clustered behind Little rises of ground we were raked by terrific fire from 88s, tank destroyers mortars machine guns and snipers. And the soldiers with me had Only rifles with which to reply and those Small arms could be used on few occasions for fear of giving away our exact location. It was a Battle that May never get a line in history books but to us who came Back the events on that Hill and the dark hours proceeding were our closest Brush with death. Not All my comrades came backs when we were forced at last to give up that ground. Squads will do that later when we firmly hold the Hill. And there were German dead More than we lost to be buried few stars it was about 8 of clock last night when i struck through the Fields and ravines to find the unit with which i had spent two weeks in various bivouac before coming into Italy. There were a few stars in the sky but the Moon had not yet risen. From afar i could hear the Thunder of the enemy 88s and above Salerno Harbor the flak show was on As our ground batteries strove to pick German raiders out of the sky. The Moon came up now Harvest Bright and fat out rivalling the flares Jerry was dropping. I reached an irrigation ditch and received and answered the Challenge. It was the Post i sought and i dropped Down into Gallant company including the colonel who must be nameless it. Col. Leslie g. Freeman Cortland new York 1st it. Forrest Richter Caldwell Idaho and a major from California who had been one of my favorite companions in bivouac. A a we be got a Tough task ahead of us a the colonel explained and pointed to that fateful Hill some five Miles away in a straight line but More than ten Miles Over Rocky terrain. Low ground to the Northeast gave a Saddle effect and it was by that Saddle that we had to mount in a flanking movement. A in be got two battalion units heading up there and this Headquarters company has to meet the colonel continued. A a we be got to get there before Daylight or else Jerry will pick us off like ducks on the Low ground on this Side. And there a no certainty he wont be picking us off the same Way even if we Are on the i told him i had seen a jeep mercifully he died. No one else was Hurt. Quickly we pulled off the tree timbers which had fallen across us and at the colonels command we debauched from the ditch. Which Way a a Forward of course a the col a our units were nowhere around. Our guess and it turned out to be Correct was that the others were pinned Down by artillery fire and unable to fulfil their Mission on time. A they a better be Here in a few hours a the colonel said. A a Well try to hold it alone but what Chance Well have at Daybreak is a now on All sides the German thudding in. We were encircled we had no communications and Only a handful of men. We were out of Contact with other units with the division with the army. We we Ere in Contact Only with the enemy. Two officers went out in a Hope of breaking through the Circle to get Aid. They ran smack into another German machine pistol Crew. The germans fired As Crew laying wire communications but it probably would be some time before they would catch up with us. �?�1 can to wait a said the commander. A a our Mission is to get there and nowt the 88s opened up in Earnest. We saw gun flashes against the sky and in a few seconds we burrowed into a ditch. I was glad that Light travels faster than Lead. Three times the evil guns banged but their misses fell far away from us. A three times and not a hit a the colonel said. A we win the Cigar for no sooner had he spoken than the 88s roared again. And now we did no to dare peek above the ditch to observe the flashes for those last shells hit about 50 Yards ahead of us. A a they have us bracketed a Freeman muttered. A a hold. a a get ready to run a the commander called. But that terrible scream from a Shell which meant it was going to hit right at us sent us blowing up More Earth in the Bottom of the ditch As we panted and prayed. The Shell smashed into a tree at the end of our ditch. Tree trunks and tree limbs went flying Over us. Shrapnel pocked out gaping holes in cur shelter. But one piece of shrapnel did not go into the Earth. It Tore a Hole in the Back of a Captain near Freeman. The Captain gasped and one of our men jumped on three germans Onel yelled. A that a our Best Hope. The nearer we get the More Defi Laded Well we raced across broken Fields up Hills and Down Hills. Always the 88s followed bracketing us but they weren to scoring direct hits. A a we Are getting a close haircut tonight a the colonel remarked. We reached the Ridge before the one that was our objective. Stealthily w e climbed. Suddenly some of our men raced to the Side of the Ridge and jumped on three germans gathered around a Schmeitzer machine pistol. In an instant we had a guard around the nazis and were disconnecting their Field Telephone. A a As we pressed up the last Ridge rifles and machine guns wont into action and the big shells came the rapid birr of German machine guns Cut the night. We crouched Low reached the top of the Ridge and leaped behind what scanty Protection it afforded. It was Midnight now and we were at our objective but we were alone the americans Dove into a ditch. Slugs Tore into the shoulders of the cornered officers. Somehow they crawled out of their ditch and trailing blood found their Way Back to our Post. We gave them what first Aid we could and fixed rude bandages. The commander went around checking up Quot be a machine pistol shots a. On the rest of us and directing us to dig Foxholes. We crawled beneath the Trees and dug frantically with Small shovels and our of men and guns in Italy he knew German Altavilla sept. 19 delayed a pfc. Peter Schneider a Bronx n. Y., fighting Man of Swiss descent Speaks German like a native. That a Why 18 Jerries today lie dead on the Crest of the Hill above Altavilla. Advancing up the Hill in a nine Man american patrol Schneider heard German orders coming from the other Side. He translated them for the squad Leader who stationed his men accordingly. Then Schneider began to give his own orders. A a move to the left a he shouted in hitlers language. The nazis moved and yank rifles went off. By the time Schneider was through giving orders the entire nazi patrol was wiped out including the officer whom Schneider took care of with the 5 the army in Raly sept. 22 delayed a the St sergeant from a a deep in the Bart of Texas and 28 other Anks were too gravely wounded it be moved from the German eld Hospital near Altavilla when in Jerries pulled out. For four Days one captured Merican doctor aided by italian Jas ants took care of the wounded Ien until the americans caught p with them. Now the top kick y in an american evacuation Hospital marvelling at his Luck. Luck a with an Arm and a leg shattered by mortar fragments with bloody scabs All Over his body with an Eye that might never see again. He had been in the army for la years without getting a Chance to fight. Then he went up the Hill at Al to Villa in those Early desperate Days after the Landing. This Texas youth fired 40 round from his Tommy gun before he was blasted off the ground. When he regained consciousness he was at a German Aid Horatio with the 5th army in Italy horatius at the Bridge had nothing on a squad of la combat engineers that gloomy Day when it appeared the German tanks might push through to the Beach. The squad was sent to protect a Bridge across a Gully on the North Side of the Sele River. Armed with two 37 my. Guns one .50 Caliper and two .30 Caliper machine guns a slight weapons to hold off Mark ivs the squad dug in. Seven German tanks crossed the Field toward the Bridge but the gunners held their fire. The observer in the first tank was a German major. When he spotted one of the 37s, he shouted an order but his words were drowned out by the blast of the gun which stopped the tank in its tracks. The major was unhurt and he and his Crew started to run. All were Cut Down by machine gun fire. Other guns to the rear of the engineers opened fire and the tanks withdrew. The nazis did not Cross the Bridge that Day. The yanks who held the Bridge were sgt. Dominick Polilli Philadelphia Cpl. Bill Charretier Concord a. Cpl. Andrew Meganack Doylestown a. Cpl. Clarence Thines Buffalo n. Pfc. James f. Cleveland Huntsville a. Pfc. Floyd Mcdougal Sistersville w. A. Pfc. R. B. Lee Winder a. Pfc. Frank b. Vitus Joliet 111. Pvt. Alfred Hall Rocky Mountain va., and two men who were too modest to give their freed with the 5 the army in Campagna sept. 20 delayed a american soldiers liberated today 150 jewish refugees who had fled from Germany to Italy and then had been interned when Mussolini imitated hitlers anti semitism. The refugees mostly austrians warmly received the first yank patrol in Campagna composed of pvt. Edward Friedman Brooklyn pfc. Alfred Chavez. Fort Collins Ohio pvt. Tony Hejnal Cleveland pvt. Harry Bernstein Bronx n. Y., and pvt. Henry Hubbard Columbus a. The refugees had been quartered in an old dominican Monas Tery and when they saw German soldiers retreating toward the town two weeks ago they All made for the Hills. They lived on the food they found on Trees and Bushes until they returned a couple of Days ago. One of the first things they asked was permission to join the american army and were disappointed when told they probably could not. Many of them had relatives in the United states and at least two had Learned they had sons in the army. Fingers. It was a Cool evening but we were sweating. And always around us sprayed the slugs of shells. Big Zero we were a big Zero to the enemy again. It was 0400 hours and i had just clawed out the last of my foxhole when my major approached with sgt. Charles furst. A a we re going to try to break through the ring a the major said a and bring help. Otherwise you Guys wont have a Chance at Dawn. Take care of my Marcase and a a ill give them Back to you in the morning a i said. A a maybe a he said. We Shook hands and he and the sergeant Bent Low and streaked toward the perimeter of the Ridge. Five minutes later i heard machine pistol shots and a foreboding came Over me. Ten More minutes and furst came sprinting backs alone. A they got the major a he gasped. A they shot him in the Chest and the head and the Mouth. He a i crawled into the foxhole with my helmet on tightly and tried to sleep. It was no go. Enemy bullets were singing overhead and shells were wrenching the Earth every few minutes. Dawn came now with awful certainty. The italian sky was cloudless and there was not even Hope of a morning Haze. And the furies were released. Shells came across so rapidly now that the whine was continuous. A a where is our own artillery a i asked myself but i knew the answer. We were out of communication and our big guns far Back did no to dare Shell the Hill which our own troops might be holding. Sgt. Ray Justice Huntington w. Va., and private Louis Mays Natchez miss., were in Foxholes a few rods away carrying on a Calm conversation about wine women and War. Mays called out once Quot there a a Bee buzzing above my �?�8hut up and be glad it Isnit a Buzzard a Justice said. He stuck his head out of his foxhole and pulled it Back quickly As sniper bullets Tore up the Earth roman ruins with the 5 the army in Italy sept. 19 delayed a nothing but ruins remained in Eboli formerly a town of 25,000 population a when two officers entered this morning a full half hour ahead of the first company of infantry. Tile germans had blown the Large Bridge and Railroad underpass leading to the town. Two Black cows were grazing disconsolately Between the ruins of two buildings. The evidences of the fierce struggle were everywhere in the sector around the Sele River. In one pasture the charred frames of eight German armoured Hal tracks gave mute testimony to the effectiveness of american mines the germans had made their last Strong push nere to drive the americans off their beachhead and had failed. They got the nearby. A a in a Gonna take a shot at that Kraut a he shouted. Superb heroism there was a momentary Lull and i reared slightly above the Earth level to see another sergeant anticipating Justice s wish. In a Superb but doomed act of heroism this lad raced across the ground toward the sniper. One of the enemy a bullets Tore into his head but As he fell the sergeant pulled his trigger and the sniper died before the american did. It was 1000 hours a wed been i the Hill ten hours. A figure crept to my foxhole and whispered a a we Are going to make a break for it. It is impossible to hold on without it was the colonel. I crawled out i saw the others coming out. Then we half straightened and ran to the Southern Edge of the Hill. The enemy fire came angrily after us. We went on and in a few minutes met the advanced elements of one of the battalions wed been waiting for. The colonel made up his mind immediately. He was going Back with reinforcements in another Effort to hold the Hill. A but you go Back with the wounded and write the Story about us a he told me. We Shook hands and i left him making plans for a new assault. Freeman and Richter were assigned to Lead us Back. We went slowly four of us carrying one wounded Man six assisting the others. One Soldier had lost most of his nose from a machine gun Bullet s Impact and he was worrying that his girl might not like his looks any More. We assured Lam she would be very proud to be his Girt
