We stuck pretty close to our diggings for a while. Then
an infantry man claimed there was a tank out front and
behind a stone wall. They wanted us to give it a blast so
Faibish and I made a hundred yard dash back to the gun.
Jack pointed out where they thought it was so I took a
very quick aim and fired. I saw a cloud of dust where I
hit the wall. Then I heard some one holler somewhere in
front of the gun. Apparently there was one of the
infantry men dug in not too far in front of our gun. Gave
him quite a shock. Jack and I again raced back to our
trench expecting an 88 to blast our gun out at it was out
in the wheat field standing out like a sore thumb. Not a
shot was fired at us. Whether there was a tank behind that
wall we never knew.
XXIII. We were in that position for a couple of days. This date
must have been around the 16th to the 18th of July in the
area of Andre Sur Orne. After two days of sitting at this
point expecting a German tank attack they decided to
move us to another position where things were more
interesting. At least a lot more shelling. However we got
stalled en route being daylight. It was decided to wait
until dark as the road ahead of us was being constantly
shelled. So we laid low for a while. I can not remember
what was towing our gun as our own tower had been put
out of action by mortar fire back at the gravel pit. When
there came a lull we proceeded. There had been a rain so
we were staying on the road. It was one hell of a trip. It
was not far from our previous position. After flopping in
the ditches a few times I was soaked and plastered with
mud. By this time it was just about dark. Another wheat
field. We set up our gun, found a couple of small
trenches. Faibish took one end, and I took the other.
There was a blanket laying in mine and a German
automatic machine pistol which I took. Quite a prize. I
guess I must have been more tired than I realized for I
laid there not caring much about anything and fell
asleep.
XXIV. When I awoke it was broad daylight. Jack Faibish had
also done the same as I and was also getting up. This is
when I found the rest of our gun crew about a hundred
yards away in a German bunker. Quite a good one
compared to what we used to hurriedly dig. Things
seemed a little more quiet at this time and at this place.
Luckily we had some rations so got something to eat.
Off to the south west we saw a great column of smoke a
half to a mile away. It was our gun tower which had
been left at the gravel pit owing to its disability. A
mortar had made a direct hit on it. It burned with most
of our kit stashed on it’s top along with 5 thousand
rounds of 303 ammunition, hand grenades and some 17
pounder ammunition. We did not stay at this place for
long, moving again to another hotter spot where there
were definitely German tanks. I near saw any but they
sure seemed to be able to see us. It was here or
somewhere nearby that we lost some of our men. The
shelling was devastating. Mortars and 88s. We dug in
and kept our heads mostly down. We did not lose any of
our gun crew but two or more crews had members
killed.
XXV. Red Walkly, Sintaluta, Ken Harkness, Indian head.
Chick Fox of Indian Head . John Mucha of Indian Head.
Lloyd Baller, Grenfell .Wounded, Sergeant Walt Owens,
Colonel H. Murray, Lieutenant Jim Armstrong. Some of
the men were hit while in their trenches. It was not
uncommon to have mortars dropped into slit trenches
and of course a mound of dirt from digging a trench was
an invite for 88s, mortars, etc. I don’t think any man
could say he was not damn scared at times. Everyone
could relate to how close he came to being blasted. It
was also at this time and area that Sergeant Ab Davies
gun crew accounted for three tanks. Panthers I believe.
They were spotted crossing their field of fire , range I'm
not sure of. However, with Gordon Skinner of Indian
Head doing the firing starting with the rear tank, he took
all three out with a single shot for each tank. I thought it
was good strategy on the part of Sergeant Davies taking
on the rear ones first. They appeared to be completely
unaware of Davies gun. I personally never saw a live
German tank all through France. Of course they had the
advantage mostly as our troops wee the attacking forces
so they were usually waiting for us from well
camouflaged positions. As soon as our infantry , tanks,
etc. put on an offensive they came under devastating
fire. As soon as they were successful in getting their
objective we were to rush up our anti-tank guns for
support in the event of a counter attack which was often
mounted if the Germans had the resources. The only
catch here was our gun towers being a thin skinned
vehicle was useless against any kind of fire. So just hope
the Germans didn't counter attack before dark as that
was the only chance we had of getting up to an effective
position hopefully. It was not always that simple. In
theory our officers were supposed to look the situation
over along with Sergeant in charge of a gun and crew.
Then decide where a gun could be located for effective
fire power and at the same time reasonable cover for gun
and crew. This was quite easy to do on manoeuvres but in
practice under very intense fire sometimes made it
almost impossible. This is how we lost some of our
officers and NCOs. I saw at one place near May Sur
Orne four gun towers of 20th battery all burned out in
their effort to move up by daylight.
XXVI. We did most of our moving after dark. When we got the
order that a move was imminent we all became very
keyed up knowing it meant exposing ourselves driving
after dark or near dark, no lights, cooped up in a tin can ,
five to six men who could be put out of action with a 22.
As things became a little quieter at St. Andre Sur Orne,
there was another area close by being heavily contested
called Verrieres Ridge. It was a hot spot. Being on
higher ground, the Germans had an advantage. British
7th armoured along with Canadian tanks and 2nd division
infantry assaulted it with some success and heavy losses.
It seemed to me I saw more burned out Shermans than
mobile ones.
Rough life!
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