RSM Ted Rhodes is Killed by Zen Karp (excerpt from H.L.I. and WWII)
RSM Ted Rhodes is Killed
The Germans possessed also a giant railway gun, which did fire two car sized shells into the HLI positions. One was a dud, the other wounded RSM Ted Rhodes, who was from the original Militia crew from Galt.
By the time Padre Jock Anderson had the jeep loaded with him on a stretcher, it was dark. On his way back to the rear echelon, his jeep collided with a British one coming the other way. The particular British driver was known to be a lunatic when driving to and from the front, Jock knew about him from his trips back and forth; it was cruel luck that they collide with a load of wounded. The RSM did not survive the crash. He was immediately replaced by George Rutherford.
The shelling had taken its toll on the local livestock as well. Pigs, sheep, cattle and horses would all bloat and rot in the sun if not tended to. Private Jack Tufford, of Kincardine, was part of a work detail.
"There was a lot of dead sheep around over time, so our officer says to us we have to bury them. We didn’t dig deep holes, just enough to fit their bodies in and when we covered them, you could see all these little sheep feet sticking out of the ground pointing up...it marked their own little cemetery!"
Although the allies did have air supremacy from the beginning of the invasion, tactical sorties were flown by daring ME-109 pilots by day and slower JU-88s by night. Privates Bill Marshall and Nels Hilborn witnessed a strafing by an ME-109 once during daylight. The fighter came in low and fast, and soldiers not in their trenches dove for safety.
Bill should have dove for cover, but instead he looked up in amazement. The Wolf was strafing the ground with cannon fire, and he saw a friend, John DeMay, hit in the head. One second, the man was running for cover, the next, he dropped hard like a bag of cement, instantly dead. As the craft sped overtop, he could see the pilot plainly, wearing goggles, looking down onto the enemy ground troops. The pilot tipped his wings to his enemy, and was gone. The entire sequence of events lasted only a few of seconds.
The Germans possessed also a giant railway gun, which did fire two car sized shells into the HLI positions. One was a dud, the other wounded RSM Ted Rhodes, who was from the original Militia crew from Galt.
By the time Padre Jock Anderson had the jeep loaded with him on a stretcher, it was dark. On his way back to the rear echelon, his jeep collided with a British one coming the other way. The particular British driver was known to be a lunatic when driving to and from the front, Jock knew about him from his trips back and forth; it was cruel luck that they collide with a load of wounded. The RSM did not survive the crash. He was immediately replaced by George Rutherford.
The shelling had taken its toll on the local livestock as well. Pigs, sheep, cattle and horses would all bloat and rot in the sun if not tended to. Private Jack Tufford, of Kincardine, was part of a work detail.
"There was a lot of dead sheep around over time, so our officer says to us we have to bury them. We didn’t dig deep holes, just enough to fit their bodies in and when we covered them, you could see all these little sheep feet sticking out of the ground pointing up...it marked their own little cemetery!"
Although the allies did have air supremacy from the beginning of the invasion, tactical sorties were flown by daring ME-109 pilots by day and slower JU-88s by night. Privates Bill Marshall and Nels Hilborn witnessed a strafing by an ME-109 once during daylight. The fighter came in low and fast, and soldiers not in their trenches dove for safety.
Bill should have dove for cover, but instead he looked up in amazement. The Wolf was strafing the ground with cannon fire, and he saw a friend, John DeMay, hit in the head. One second, the man was running for cover, the next, he dropped hard like a bag of cement, instantly dead. As the craft sped overtop, he could see the pilot plainly, wearing goggles, looking down onto the enemy ground troops. The pilot tipped his wings to his enemy, and was gone. The entire sequence of events lasted only a few of seconds.
posted by scot at 12:20 PM
1 Comments:
I just read this excerpt and would like to tell you that I am the daughter of John DeMay. My father recently passed away December 19, 2006.
I was amazed to see this story here and would very much like to purchase "The Rememberance Project..
Thank you for allowing me the time to comment on this amazing project you are undertaking.
Please take care...
Lori Williams (nee DeMay)
brian.williams4@sympatico.ca
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