Roving Reporter
By Ernie Pyle
In Tunisia –
When correspondents first came to the Tunisian front last fall, there were no special facilities for them and every man was on his own. Some got around by hitchhiking on Army vehicles. Some bought French sedans. They wrote wherever we could; sitting in their cars or in some bleak country hotel. They got their copy back to the city by many methods, including the one of walking up to anybody about to get on a plane and saying:
Hey, Joe, would you mind taking this in for me?
Things are different now. The Army Public Relations Office has set up an advanced post well back of the lines. They look after a regular aerial courier service back to headquarters and send out our mail to us. They have a few jeeps to dole out to correspondents, and for a while they had a house where meals were served and correspondents could throw their bedrolls on cots when they came back from the lines. The PRO hopes eventually to acquire tents and tables and cots and a regular kitchen crew, so that it can move right along with the advancing troops, just like a circus. We’ll be covering the war in style.
Jeep from Ford City man
When I was first in Tunisia, I traveled by hanging around some headquarters until I hit somebody who was going my way by truck or jeep, then threw my stuff on and set out. A little later, I was lucky enough to get a jeep. The man responsible for that was Capt. Ed Atkins, of Ford City, Pennsylvania, who controlled a certain motor pool. He and Lt. Max Kuehnert did so much for me in the way of little things all through the campaign that it will take me 10 years to repay them.
Only two or three of us had jeeps at first, so we always tried to double up. I shared mine for some time with Don Coe of the United Press. Will Lang of Time-LIFE and I made a couple of trips together. And some of the time I wandered around alone, although that isn’t wise anymore, for you need one man to watch the rear for strafing planes.
On the jeep, we carried everything we had – bedroll, typewriter, musette bag, tent. We also carried extra cans of gasoline, a camouflage net, and a box of canned rations, in case we got stuck somewhere away from an Army kitchen.
We knew where all the gasoline dumps were throughout the 100 miles or so of American front. We’d simply drive up to one, tell the soldier in charge we needed some gas, get out our pliers, tap a couple of five-gallon cans, and pour it in. He’d say, “Who’s this to be charged to?" And we’d tell him any outfit number that popped into our heads, or even some mythical unit such as “the Sahara Task Force.” He’d seldom put it down anyway, for obviously it was Army gas going into an Army vehicle.
Stalled British trucker stands popeyed
I remember once a stalled British truck flagged us down, and the kid driver said he was out of gas. Much to his astonishment, we said we’d give him five gallons. And when he asked if we had a form for him to sign and we said, “Hell no, just pour it in,” his amazement was complete. These crazy Americans, they make things so simple.
Correspondents on the prowl sleep wherever they stop. Usually, you can find a bare tile floor in some old farmhouse being used as a headquarters. We’ve discovered that after a few nights on the floor or on the ground it doesn’t seem hard. I believe I’m about the only correspondent who frequently pitches his pup tent. Some correspondents carry folding camp cots, but I don’t because I haven’t got one, and secondly, it’s much warmer sleeping right on the ground.
Our main difficulty has been in keeping warm. I have my bedroll cover and two blankets under me, then three blankets over me, plus mackinaw and sometimes the canvas top to the jeep. You always sleep with your clothes on, taking off only your mackinaw and shoes.
The greatest mistake I made in this campaign was in not bringing a sleeping bag and rubber mattress from home. They’re just as light to carry as a bedroll, twice as comfortable, and three times as warm. I think about half our line officers did bring sleeping bags. But now that spring is here, it isn’t so important.
Just one bath in 5 weeks
Oddly enough, you don’t get up terribly early at the front. Breakfast at a field headquarters usually runs till 8:30 a.m., so you can sleep till around 8. If it’s a semi-permanent headquarters, you eat at tables in a tent. If it’s a field kitchen, you’ve served on trays from the back end of a truck, and you eat standing up.
Most officers manage to wash once a day, but I personally go more on the enlisted man’s psychology and just skip it. Between Dec. 28 and March 1, I had just one bath. When I finally went into the city and had my first bath in five weeks, it was too much for me. I came down with a seven-day cold.