"Hells Corners" by Zen Karp (excerpt from H.L.I. and WWII)
"Hell’s Corners"
First Lessons of War
Les Buissance / Villons les Buissance
Captain Walter Griggs lay prone with the men under his command. The selected HLI soldiers of pioneer platoon had spread out about a double arms width across and lay down to clear their individual lane of mines by inserting bayonets into the ground in front of them on a forty five degree angle. It's called prodding.
While prodding, if you hit something, you were to mark the spot and carry on; later would be the unnerving task of mine removal. As if prodding for mines wasn't unnerving enough.
No one heard the round close in on them. That was the horror of the 88 or any other field gun when it fired right at you...you would never hear it. If you could, then you knew it was going by not at you. It was a lesson of battle that some never got the chance to learn from. Walter was wounded by the explosion and evacuated. For him, the war was already over.
No one had yet known that this area was under observation. If you were to stand at the particular area, which was an intersection of two dirt roads, and look inland, towards the village of Buron, it would be difficult to see the highest peaks of its buildings a mile away, even the chateau's tower. Over the weeks spent at Les Buissance, the enemy maintained eyes on what became known as "Hell's Corners".
Inside the twin hamlets of Les Buissance and Villons les Buissance the entire 9th Brigade had compacted itself, including the tanks of the Sherbrookes and a host of other support. It was a fortress position, but it was also an overcrowded fortress to the point of violating the basic principals of deployment in combat.
In England, every combat soldier from the section right up to the division had been taught they must disperse as best as possible to avoid heavy casualties from the enemy's shells and aircraft. The idea of thousands of men and material being crammed into such a minute area seemed almost ludicrous; and throughout Normandy more soldiers and materiel continued to arrive in an invasion bridgehead which was not yet expanding.
"The whole battalion position only covered a few hundred yards front."
Don Cooper was a 26 year-old sergeant in mortar platoon. The six 3" tubes dug themselves in next to a small church. This church was an observation point for Sergeant Cooper, where he was to observe and direct the mortars onto targets of opportunity many times.
Static Soldiers Establish Routine
Lt. Col. Griffiths also knew that little could be done about the compact conditions. Across the allied front, the British, Canadians and Americans were all experiencing difficulty in capturing their D Day objectives. His battalion's role was to hold in his present area until the orders for a large scale attack were given. In the meantime, the HLI of C, under continuous shelling, settled into a routine existence.
There was a rotating shift assigned to picket the front line from a slit trench, while others could be involved in some sort of work detail, such as unloading trucks or digging defenses. But there was also time for rest, eating, and washing; and this time was what every soldier relished. Time alone to sleep, write letters, and time to smoke and joke with friends. Unfortunately, every so often the Germans would remind them there was a war on.
The mortar and artillery barrages came and went suddenly almost daily and nightly. Sometimes it was mortars, from the Germans in Buron. These bombardments were deadly, but the Nebelwerfers were the most infamous weapon of this static war the HLI found themselves in.
Nebelwerfers were rockets fired from launchers which were mounted on a wheeled chassis. They were compact and easy to deploy in comparison to their destructive ability. The troops called them Flying Ashcans in reference to their general size, or Moaning Minnies because of the sound they made flying through the air. They fired a pod of six rockets in rapid succession, thus delivering six devastating blasts in a small surface area.
First Lessons of War
Les Buissance / Villons les Buissance
Captain Walter Griggs lay prone with the men under his command. The selected HLI soldiers of pioneer platoon had spread out about a double arms width across and lay down to clear their individual lane of mines by inserting bayonets into the ground in front of them on a forty five degree angle. It's called prodding.
While prodding, if you hit something, you were to mark the spot and carry on; later would be the unnerving task of mine removal. As if prodding for mines wasn't unnerving enough.
No one heard the round close in on them. That was the horror of the 88 or any other field gun when it fired right at you...you would never hear it. If you could, then you knew it was going by not at you. It was a lesson of battle that some never got the chance to learn from. Walter was wounded by the explosion and evacuated. For him, the war was already over.
No one had yet known that this area was under observation. If you were to stand at the particular area, which was an intersection of two dirt roads, and look inland, towards the village of Buron, it would be difficult to see the highest peaks of its buildings a mile away, even the chateau's tower. Over the weeks spent at Les Buissance, the enemy maintained eyes on what became known as "Hell's Corners".
Inside the twin hamlets of Les Buissance and Villons les Buissance the entire 9th Brigade had compacted itself, including the tanks of the Sherbrookes and a host of other support. It was a fortress position, but it was also an overcrowded fortress to the point of violating the basic principals of deployment in combat.
In England, every combat soldier from the section right up to the division had been taught they must disperse as best as possible to avoid heavy casualties from the enemy's shells and aircraft. The idea of thousands of men and material being crammed into such a minute area seemed almost ludicrous; and throughout Normandy more soldiers and materiel continued to arrive in an invasion bridgehead which was not yet expanding.
"The whole battalion position only covered a few hundred yards front."
Don Cooper was a 26 year-old sergeant in mortar platoon. The six 3" tubes dug themselves in next to a small church. This church was an observation point for Sergeant Cooper, where he was to observe and direct the mortars onto targets of opportunity many times.
Static Soldiers Establish Routine
Lt. Col. Griffiths also knew that little could be done about the compact conditions. Across the allied front, the British, Canadians and Americans were all experiencing difficulty in capturing their D Day objectives. His battalion's role was to hold in his present area until the orders for a large scale attack were given. In the meantime, the HLI of C, under continuous shelling, settled into a routine existence.
There was a rotating shift assigned to picket the front line from a slit trench, while others could be involved in some sort of work detail, such as unloading trucks or digging defenses. But there was also time for rest, eating, and washing; and this time was what every soldier relished. Time alone to sleep, write letters, and time to smoke and joke with friends. Unfortunately, every so often the Germans would remind them there was a war on.
The mortar and artillery barrages came and went suddenly almost daily and nightly. Sometimes it was mortars, from the Germans in Buron. These bombardments were deadly, but the Nebelwerfers were the most infamous weapon of this static war the HLI found themselves in.
Nebelwerfers were rockets fired from launchers which were mounted on a wheeled chassis. They were compact and easy to deploy in comparison to their destructive ability. The troops called them Flying Ashcans in reference to their general size, or Moaning Minnies because of the sound they made flying through the air. They fired a pod of six rockets in rapid succession, thus delivering six devastating blasts in a small surface area.
posted by scot at 12:13 PM
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