Post by Jim West - Indiana Military Or on Mar 2, 2007 9:19:40 GMT -5
Not a great time for me to throw a question out since I'm heading off on
vacation soon... So, if my responses are slow, please understand...
As I transcribe my father's (Lt. Gerald Pratt's) letters & the post V E day
retrospectives he added, many questions come up. This is one. In January,
Dad & the remnants of his battery were reassigned. Dad became part of A
battery of the 592nd.
In a retrospective written post censorship (in August of '45) he tells of
the battery's move from Rahier to Fosse on January 8th. He wrote, "The
tractors were helpless on the icy roads so that the guns were hauled by
trucks. The trucks made he trip in half an hour but the tractors took
nearly 5. They slid madly from one side of the road to the other
occasionally on hills turning completely around. Wound in their tracks were
miles of wire collected from ditches along the way. Half the communications
on that front were ripped to shreds."
I'm interested in any related memories this account elicits.
I am also interested in just which piece of tracked equipment this account
describes. I understand that the 592nd fired 155mm howitzers. Does anyone
know exactly which "tractor" they tried to use to pull these?
On answers.com I found a picture of an M3 Half-track. The description says
that it was intended as an artillery tractor. Is this the piece I should be
envisioning on this run or something else?
Thanks!
Connie
590th offspring
vacation soon... So, if my responses are slow, please understand...
As I transcribe my father's (Lt. Gerald Pratt's) letters & the post V E day
retrospectives he added, many questions come up. This is one. In January,
Dad & the remnants of his battery were reassigned. Dad became part of A
battery of the 592nd.
In a retrospective written post censorship (in August of '45) he tells of
the battery's move from Rahier to Fosse on January 8th. He wrote, "The
tractors were helpless on the icy roads so that the guns were hauled by
trucks. The trucks made he trip in half an hour but the tractors took
nearly 5. They slid madly from one side of the road to the other
occasionally on hills turning completely around. Wound in their tracks were
miles of wire collected from ditches along the way. Half the communications
on that front were ripped to shreds."
I'm interested in any related memories this account elicits.
I am also interested in just which piece of tracked equipment this account
describes. I understand that the 592nd fired 155mm howitzers. Does anyone
know exactly which "tractor" they tried to use to pull these?
On answers.com I found a picture of an M3 Half-track. The description says
that it was intended as an artillery tractor. Is this the piece I should be
envisioning on this run or something else?
Thanks!
Connie
590th offspring