The Guns at Last Light: The War in Western Europe, 1944-1945 (149 page)

“
My heart and soul have been torn
”: Sorley,
Thunderbolt
, 62.

“
War happens inside a man
”: Sevareid,
Not So Wild a Dream
, 495.

Among the empty chairs
: AAR, Cannon Company, 16th Inf, and “Jack’s Letters,” Nov. 6, Dec. 8, Dec. 10, 1944, a.p., compiled by Rick Perry.

As fresh reserves came forward
: “Graves Registrations Service,” NARA RG 407, E 427, USFET General Board study no. 107; Ross, 219, 688 (
Great pains were taken
).

For the living, small pleasures
: diary, Harold S. Frum, Nov. 11, 1944, “The Soldier Must Write,” 1984, GCM Lib (“
90 percent boredom
”); Nickell,
Red Devil
, 80 (
burrows ten feet square
); Tapert, ed.,
Lines of Battle
, 214–15 (“
war stands aside
”); corr, T. R. Bruskin to wife, Dec. 5, 1944, a.p. (“
pulling the chain
”).

“
I’ve learned what it means
”: McNally,
As Ever, John
, 52.

“
I can see now
”: Blunt,
Foot Soldier
, V-mail photo, 154.

Operation
QUEEN
sputtered and stalled
:
SLC
, 578, 593, 616–17.
SHAEF in October had set quotas
. The highest awards required authorization from higher headquarters (“Awards and Decorations,” USFET General Board study no. 10, n.d., NARA RG 407, E 427, AG WWII operations reports, 97-USF-0.3.0).

The Roer, already in spate from daily rain
:
SLC
, 598 (
nearly two thousand tons
), 581, 594; Weigley,
Eisenhower’s Lieutenants
, 434–35; AAR, 12th AG, vol. 14, publicity and psychological warfare, NARA RG 331, E-200A, SHAEF records, box 267, 82–83 (
censors banned all reference
).

Certainly the enemy had been badly hurt
:
SLC
, 412–14, 583 (
even a hundred men
), 594, 457 (“
numerous frostbites
”).

“
It is entirely possible
”: Crosswell,
Beetle
, 798.

Winter always seemed to catch
: Bynell, “Logistical Planning and Operations—Europe,” lecture, March 16, 1945, NARA RG 334, E 315, ANSCOL, box 207, 13 (
Arctic clothing tested at Anzio
);
LSA
, vol. 2, 222–24 (“
serious fighting
” and “
precautionary measure
”); “Report of Observers, ETO, 11 March–21 Apr 1945,” Apr. 27, 1945, NARA RG 337, AGF OR #371; Cosmas and Cowdrey,
Medical Service in the European Theater of Operations
, 490 (“
Don’t you know
”).

“
General, the weather is getting cold
”: Robert M. Littlejohn, “Ports and Transportation,” n.d., chapter 27, PIR, MHI, 9; Andrew T. McNamara, “QM Activities of II Corps … and First Army Through Europe,” 1955, chapter 46, PIR, MHI, 147–48 (
delays in opening Antwerp
);
LSA
, vol. 2, 224–26 (
850,000 heavy overcoats
); “Jack’s Letters,” Feb. 4, 1945, a.p. (“
We can’t fight a winter war
”).

“
front-line troops fought
”:
LSA
, vol. 2, 227.

Far less than half of the requested underwear
: Ross, 599, 571 (
shrinking size 12 pairs
); Robert M. Littlejohn, “Helpful Hints to Would-Be Quartermaster Generals,” 1945, PIR, MHI, 3 (“
wool is essential to combat
”); Erna Risch and Thomas M. Pitkin, “Clothing the Soldier in World War II,” 1946, CMH, 4-10.2 AA 16, 244–51 (
seven million new pairs
).

The Army listed seventy different articles
:
LSA
, vol. 2, 233; Morris M. Bryan, “Quartermaster Planning,” n.d., chapter 45, PIR, MHI (“
jacket, field, M-43
”); Andrus et al., eds.,
Advances in Military Medicine
, vol. 2, 499–500 (
the
“
Clo
”); “Blankets,” NARA RG 498, ETO HD, admin file #500.

The Army was said to believe that every GI
: Sherry,
In the Shadow of War
, 94; “Trench Foot,” n.d., NARA RG 407, E 427, AG WWII operations reports, 97-USF5-0.3.0, no. 94, 4–5 (“
none of which
”); “Clothing and Footwear,” chapter 56, PIR, 1959, Robert M. Littlejohn papers, HIA (“
nothing but a sponge
”); Ross, 602–3 (
none larger than size 11
); Harold M. Florsheim, “Quartermaster Supply,” n.d., chapter 40, PIR, MHI, 27–28; Lawrence B. Sheppard, “Supply of Footwear and Socks in the European Theater,” 1945, chapter 31, PIR, MHI;
LSA
, vol. 2, 228–29; Cosmas and Cowdrey,
Medical Service in the European Theater of Operations
, 492–93.

The first case of trench foot
: “Notes Taken at Trench Foot Conference,” Jan. 24, 1945, Office of the Chief Surgeon, Paris, Paul R. Hawley papers, MHI, 1–6; Chandler, 2320 (“
We are making some progress
”); Cosmas and Cowdrey,
Medical Service in the European Theater of Operations
, 494; Cowdrey,
Fighting for Life
, 267; corr, D. G. Gilbert to JT, Jan. 28, 1959, JT, LOC, box 38 (
one-quarter of all hospital admissions
); Ellis,
On the Front Lines
, 187 (“
long lines of cots
”).

Almost nothing had been learned
: The official report on trench foot in Italy, completed in Jan. 1944, took a year to reach the ETO (Cosmas and Cowdrey,
Medical Service in the European Theater of Operations
, 489).

Nor had the Americans learned from the British
: “Notes Taken at Trench Foot Conference,” Jan. 24, 1945, Office of the Chief Surgeon, Paris, Paul R. Hawley papers, MHI, 6; “German Training on Proper Use of Winter Clothing,” July 21, 1945, NARA RG 337, AGF OR #559; monograph, “Cold Weather Injuries,” n.d., NWWIIM.

Many GIs were told to lace their boots tighter
: Cosmas and Cowdrey,
Medical Service in the European Theater of Operations
, 490, 496; corr, W. H. Simpson to A. C. Gillem, Jr., Nov. 25, 1944, Alvan Cullom Gillem, Jr., papers, MHI, box 6 (
could lose a thousand men
);
LSA
, vol. 2, 229; “Trench Foot,” n.d., NARA RG 407, E 427, 97-USF5-0.30, USFET General Board study no. 94, 1–5 (
Purple Heart
); Cowdrey,
Fighting for Life
, 267; “Trench Foot,” XV Corps, Dec. 28, 1944, NARA RG 498, G-3 OR, box 10, 1–2.

As every buck private knew
: Sylvan, 172 (“
1 in 1,000
”); diary, Harold S. Frum, Oct. 21, 1944, “The Soldier Must Write,” 1984, GCM Lib (“
never realized its omnipresence
”); Miller,
Ike the Soldier
, 705 (“
trench body
”); monograph, “Cold Weather Injuries,” n.d., NWWIIM (
wedging newspaper
); OH, John Cappell, 8th Inf, 4th ID, NWWIIM (
sleeping platforms
); Cosmas and Cowdrey,
Medical Service in the European Theater of Operations
, 492–93 (
making their own footwear
); diary, Manton Eddy, Nov. 15, 1944, FCP, MHI (“
one dead Kraut
”).

The soldiers’ misery contributed to a spike
:
DOB
, 508–9; Sherry,
In the Shadow of War
, 96 (“
ghosted
”); “The Execution of Eddie Slovik,”
AB
, no. 32 (1981): 28
+
(“
Each moment of combat
”).

Those evacuated from the front
: Ewing,
29 Let’s Go!
, 88 (“
going back to the kitchen
”); “SHAEF Censorship Guidance,” No. 11, May 4, 1944, NARA RG 331, E 1, SGS, box 4; Reister, ed.,
Medical Statistics in World War II
, 43 (
929,000 men
); Cosmas and Cowdrey,
Medical Service in the European Theater of Operations
, 385–86 (
one in four admissions
); extract, censorship report, Sept. 1944, NARA RG 498, ETO HD, admin file (“
I can’t take much more
”).

In contrast to the Army’s nonchalance
: Copp and McAndrew,
Battle Exhaustion
, 110, 126; “Study of AGF Battle Casualties,” AGF G-3, Sept. 25, 1946, NARA RG 337, E 16A, admin div subject file, box 48, 2–3; Cawthon,
Other Clay
, 100 (“
Blue 88s
”); Cosmas and Cowdrey,
Medical Service in the European Theater of Operations
, 385–87 (
ninety returned to duty
); “Combat Fatigue,” n.d., NARA RG 407, E 427, 97-USF5-0.30, USFET General Board study no. 91, 1–4;
DOB
, 509.

competent treatment and all the Blue 88s
: Rush,
Hell in Hürtgen Forest
, 309 (“
Between the physical fear
”); Copp and McAndrew,
Battle Exhaustion
, 144 (“
The only way one could get out
”); Fussell,
Doing Battle
, 31 (“
after five months
”); Linderman,
The World Within War
, 356–57 (“
I’m not badly injured
”); “Study of AGF Battle Casualties,” AGF G-3, Sept. 25, 1946, NARA RG 337, E 16A, admin div subject file, box 48, 3 (
200 to 240 days
). Ten combat days typically equaled seventeen calendar days.

“
Morale is a darkling plain
”: Martin R. R. Goldman, “Morale in the AAF in World War II,” 1953, AFHRA, historical study no. 78, 4.

The Army’s surgeon general recommended
: Palmer et al.,
The Procurement and Training of Ground Combat Troops
, 231–32; “The Execution of Eddie Slovik,”
AB
, no. 32 (1981): 28
+
. (“
Under present policy
”); “Military History of the Second World War: The Corps of Chaplains,” 1946, CMH, 4-3 AA, 86 (“
faith in a friendly universe
”).

George Patton had encamped in a villa
: Codman,
Drive
, 202–3; Hirshson,
General Patton: A Soldier’s Life
, 553 (“
impossible bric-a-brac
”); John K. Rieth, “We Seek: Patton’s Forward Observers,” 2002, a.p., 101 (
German rail guns
);
PP
, 566; diary, Oct. 24, 1944, Hobart Gay papers, MHI, box 2, 539 (
broke the windows
).

Patton swanned about Lorraine
: D’Este,
Patton: A Genius for War
, 655, 691, 689; Hirshson,
General Patton: A Soldier’s Life
, 521 (
$250,000 offer
); diary, Oct. 28 and 29, 1944, GSP, LOC MS Div, box 3, folder 8; Blumenson,
Patton: The Man Behind the Legend, 1885–1945
, 241;
PP
, 557–58 (“
May God rot his guts
”).

“
How long, O Lord
”: Codman,
Drive
, 202–3.

“
Send me a couple of bottles
”:
PP
, 567, 570.

Because of the
West Wall’s eastward bow
: Allen,
Lucky Forward
, 113 (
removal of XV Corps
);
LC
, 302–3; Wellard,
The Man in a Helmet
, 169 (
scores of manure-stacked Lorraine villages
).

Patton claimed that Metz had not fallen
:
PP
, 576 (
Germans had taken it
); Hirshson,
General Patton: A Soldier’s Life
, 544 (
Vauban told Louis XIV
); John P. Ludwikosky et al., “735th Tank Battalion in the Reduction of Metz,” May 1950, AS, Ft. K, NARA RG 337, 6–7 (
forty-three forts
); Rickard,
Patton at Bay
, 123 (
modern works faced west
); Bradley,
A Soldier’s Story
, 427 (“
blood the new divisions
”); Bradley Commentaries, CBH, MHI, box 42 (“
Leave it alone
”); OH, ONB, Dec. 1974–Oct. 1975, Charles Hanson, MHI, VI, 47 (“
too many casualties
”);
PP
, 566 (“
more daring
”).

Daring had thus far gained nought
: Doubler,
Closing with the Enemy
, 130 (“
most formidable
”); Meyer A. Edwards, Jr., et al., “Armor in the Attack of a Fortified Position,” May 1950, AS, Ft. K, NARA RG 337, 88–91 (“
100 old men and boys
”);
LC
, 264–66 (
walls seven feet thick
); Wellard,
The Man in a Helmet
, 173–74 (“
medieval fortress
”); diary, Oct. 4, 1944, Hobart Gay papers, MHI, box 2, 522 (“
could not allow an attack
”).

It failed anyway
: Patton,
The Pattons
, 268 (“
or not come back
”);
LC
, 270–75 (
first substantial reverse
); Wellard,
The Man in a Helmet
, 174 (
bad news out of the papers
); Tapert, ed.,
Lines of Battle
, 189–90 (“
Those low bastards
”).

“
Had a bad case of short breath
”:
PP
, 568–69.

“
tired, aged appearance
”: Wellard,
The Man in a Helmet
, 185;
PP
, 568–70 (
pleaded for a postponement
).

He woke at three
A.M.
on Wednesday, November 8
: PP, 571;
LC
, 317–19.

Bradley phoned at 7:45
: Codman,
Drive
, 213 (“
almost sorry
” and “
relaxed and talkative
”);
PP
, 571.