Cable from Normandy July 16th written by William Shadel war correspondent
I had this story on my mind all week wanted to share . I feel like its a window into the past or a small little time machine view of the past. Grab a cup of coffee, sat a spell and give thanks to our brave soldiers . God bless the US.....Peter
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Cable from Normandy ,
With the first army in Normandy July 16th -- The Battle of the Hedgerows here in Normandy is a battle of small arms . It doesn't take many days touring the battlefront to find the key man in his fighting . he's the man who dares to stalk the hedgerows, draw fire from cleverly concealed Boche, then snap-shoot his way to the next hedge . A rifle or a BAR is the only thing he can carry . A field no larger than our football fields, usually smaller, but enclosed always by man-high hedges , is his battleground .
Machine guns are set up on flanks to spray the hedges and give covering fire for advance . Mortars and artillery lay down their fire ahead .But the Boche is dug in , either inside or below the bank that supports the hedge .Here he sticks it out until our advance reaches a position close enough for a bayonet rush . Then he gets out and , in scattering , gives you your first sight of him. and your first chance for a shot. The shooting ranges are close. Most shooting is hurried . Rifle grenades , bazookas ,hand grenades are used blindly on hedges where Germans may be waiting . Unless they are rushing forward, riflemen have no target to shoot at . That is the general picture . But the stalker , the scout , the man who crawls along the hedgerows or waits with binoculars for signs of movement ahead , is more valuable here than ever .
Corporal Al White of Rutherford NJ who roams the front as a combat reporter , waited three hours to locate an enemy observer known to be directing mortar fire on our troops . Finally silhouetted in the lowering sun , with enough light in back of him to show the outline of his upraised arms,the German was spotted behind the hedge . The range was 400yds . Corporal White gave the M1 eight clicks. No windage was required. He fired and his observer said he maid a hit . The mortar fire ceased and that night our advance showed up the dead German officer .
A battalion was held up on a slope fronting a river . Staff Sargent R.C. Hull of Colorado Springs Colo noticed some enemy movement behind a hedgerow across a river and an opening where Germans crossed . Hull lay in position awaiting a chance for a shot . Over a period of less than half an hour he fired seven shots at Germans crossing the gap . Each shot was witnessed by either a major or a captain watching through glasses . They testified seven Germans were killed or wounded .
Then there was Pvt. Frank R. Kasperek, of Stanton Va. In an outpost of a defensive position along the hedgerows,
Germans were trying to set up a Machine gun on their flank to traverse a field which must be crossed in any forward movement of our troops . By working with an observer , Kasperek would be tipped off when to expect Jerry to be crossing the gap in the hedgerow . As they came into view Kasperek would fire . His marksmanship accounted for eight Germans during the day from this one position .
There are hundreds of incidents like that on every division front . The men trust their M1's. I have heard to many complain of an occasional all-important target which the carbine will not reach . Yes , for this phase of the Normandy fighting , its a doughboy's war , just as in Italy , and the rifleman are the "Men in the Hedgerows"
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