The Afro-American (July 29, 1944)
ARTILLERYMEN IN FRANCE CORRECT OFFICER WHO THOUGHT THEM QUARTERMASTERS
Tan gun crew stuns Germans; Nazis call artillery ‘whispering death’
Part of mixed unit; boys with long toms called Army’s best
By Ollie Stewart, AFRO war correspondent
With advanced U.S. forces, France –
We were about three miles from the German lines. Heavy gunfire was continuous and German ack-ack was spattering mushroom bursts of flak as our planes dived over their lines and our observation grasshopper planes sailed placidly along, spotting the German guns and radioing back their positions.
When a white colonel saw colored troops in the midst of all this, he said: “This is the first time that I have ever seen quartermasters up so close to the front line.”
Staff Sgt. Eugene W. Jones of 1611 W Butler St., Philadelphia, replied:
Sir, we are not quartermasters, we are field artillery and we have just been given a firing mission. Want to watch us lay one on the target?
One of best in Army
That was my introduction to the first colored 155mm howitzer outfit in France, one of the best groups of artillerymen in the Army, white or colored. Two battalions have been in action for weeks and had a big part in the taking of La Haye-du-Puits. Another unit operating 155mm Long Toms has just arrived.
These hardworking gunners will tell you frankly that they know they are good. Their officers told me that they are good. White infantrymen who won’t budge unless these guys are laying down a barrage say that they are good and German prisoners ask to see our automatic artillery that comes so fast and so accurate.
Late in the afternoon, I was conducted to a cleverly concealed gun of one battery engaged in shelling a target miles away by 1st Sgt. John Clay of Louise, Mississippi.
As we arrived, Staff Sgt. W. G. Gaiter of Seaside Heights, New Jersey, had a field phone in his hand and said quietly “fire mission” and all twelve men jumped to alert. “Base deflection so and so,” said Gaiter, and the men automatically twisted dials causing the big gun to swerve to the described position. “Load with charge so and so and fire.” Gaiter snapped.
It happened so quickly that I had no time to put my fingers to my ears. Boom, went the gun, and you could hear the heavy projectile whispering on its way. “Cease firing, end of mission,” said Gaiter, and the men had the gun open and clean even as he spoke. End of mission means that the target has been demolished, which usually comes after one shot from these boys.
New Jersey lad ace gunner
Gunner at this post was baby-faced Donald Morre, 21, of New Brunswick, New Jersey. He was at Rutgers when drafted. The kid is known as one of the best gunners in the Army. The boys tell a story of another outfit firing at a German observation post in a church steeple during the fight for La Haye-du-Puits. They missed several rounds, but Moore and his gang blasted the steeple at first shot. I saw what was left of the church.
Others in the gun crew are: Cpl. Ozzie Jones of Birmingham, Alabama; Cpl. George Hood, Pvt. Perry Cockrell and Pvt. Eseasy Redmand, all of Lexington, Mississippi; Pvt. Willie Allison of Columbus, Georgia; Pvt. Isaac Rolle of West Palm Beach, Florida; Pfc. Lester Dobson of Patterson, Georgia; Pfc. Allan Davis of New York City; and Pvts. Jefferson Stockard of Oxford, Mississippi; Nathaniel Davis of Chula, Mississippi; and Eddie Scott of Reddick, Mississippi.
Artillery whispering death
The Germans call our artillery whispering death because the shells don’t whine and the lads sit at the guns day and night, ready for the phone to ring. Before arrival of the Long Tom the group had two white and two colored battalions, but now it has three colored and one white battalion, with white officers except two chaplains, Capt. H. C. Terrel of Birmingham, and Lt. Carranza Holliday of Longview, Texas.
On the roads nearby and all around the gun crews are signs of bitter fighting. Our boys entered the area before the mine detector crews and found dead Germans and Yanks and many cattle. I saw dead swollen livestock all around that perfumed the neighborhood; also much discarded equipment, German and American. I saw one American helmet, still full of clotted blood, where a sniper had scored a direct hit on the helmet.
Snipers were still around and I approached each hedgerow cautiously. That first night, I wrapped a blanket around me and slept in a foxhole without undressing. The gun crews had their shoes on for five days. There was no laughter or loud talk as every man realized that this is serious business, with death stalking all day and hovering in the air at night.
Save thousands of lives
Unmindful of this, however, these men take pride in taking the lead in every big push and they will have performed a memorable service for the Allied cause. Their accurate fire preceding advancing infantry columns has saved thousands of lives and softened many targets the gunners never see.
As I crawled through the brush to a camouflaged position, a message came over the field phone that enemy planes were approaching the area. I was already nervous and dived into a foxhole dug by the Germans, but these men stayed at their posts, some manning machine guns, others cursing Jerry as they calmly scanned the sky overhead.
Stewart describes work of artillery unit in Normandy
By Ollie Stewart, AFRO war correspondent
With advanced U.S. forces, France – (by cable)
Every member of our field artillery unit that I have talked to in this sector has expressed nothing but contempt for the German 88s when compared to the 155mm howitzers they operate.
This unit, a part of a four-unit artillery group including a battalion of 105’s and two 155mm Long Toms, has been termed “one of our best units” by the colonel at corps headquarters.
All are specialists
Every man in the unit is a specialist with a definite job to do for which he has had intensive training. To fire one shell requires the use of precision instruments and the latest equipment known to modern warfare.
The headquarters or command post is the nerve center which directs the fire of all battalions under its command. The battalion headquarters likewise has a fire direction network of phones to direct the fire of three firing batteries under its control, and finally the battery commander directs the fire of his four guns.
Experts in unit
All along the line are radio experts, observation post experts, surveyors, computors, gun crew chiefs, machine-gunners, recorders and dispatchers. Dug in the ground, the draftsmen chart the exact position and elevation of the gun necessary to score a hit on the target, and also the power charge to be used.
The guns are dispersed but the fire of all of them can be directed on any given area.
When the big push begins and a heavy barrage is called for, the corps commander may order “serenade,” which means that perhaps the battalion will aim to fire all guns simultaneously so that the target is completed blanketed by fire. The effect is frightfully devastating and a wide area is pulverized.
Usually, however, the artillery is used to knock out gun positions, tanks, or ammunition dumps. The muzzle of the howitzer is covered except when firing to keep the enemy from spotting the position. After firing, the barrel is lowered and hidden.
The battalions have their own mine detector squads and signal section for stringing wires.
Our troops 9% of invasion force
SHAEF, England –
Colored soldiers, now constituting nine percent of U.S. troops in Normandy, are contributing generously to the Allied effort, the War Department recently announced.
Maj. Gen. Cecil R. Moore, chief engineer, in this theater, recently praised their accomplishment of engineer tasks. He said that one battalion volunteered its free time for six weeks to expedite special programs of construction.
An engineer firefighting company is credited with saving millions of dollars’ worth of such vital supplies as gasoline, paint, lumber, and other stocks in depot of the United Kingdom.
Two colored signal construction battalions in Normandy have earned praise for signal installations there. They rehabilitated German communication lines and instruments for our use and captured a number of prisoners.