The Lifting of the Fog

[connie]

See Floyd's post (in dates and Places in division history) under
"When the Sun Came Out"
106thdivision.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=dates

The fog that covered the area hampered the Allied Air response to the German attack. The day that fog lifted and the sun came out was a glorious day for the troops on the ground that saw the sky fill with planes.

Any other memories of the fog, its impact, or the lifting of that December fog?

[floydragsdale]

It was a bright sunny morning, after a snowy night; the white stuff was knee deep as G Company was advancing toward a tiny Belgian hamlet.

A hand signal halted the Company. Most of G Company was in a valley, yet about twenty of us were on the side of a hill waiting for a sign to continue the advance.

A German soldier spotted those of us on the hillside. Suddenly all hell broke lose with gunfire directed at "those American Soldiers" on the side of the hill.

I had been observing the surrounding terrrain. It gave me the impression of having been there before when gunfire commenced.

The night before a dream, maybe a nightmare, awakened me into a cold sweat. The image in the dream was similar to the surroundings at hand. A German soldier pointed his weapon at me, fired it and in that dream I had the feeling of dying. Needless, to say that woke me up. I don't believe I slept any more that night.

At the sound of gunfire all of us on the side of the hill hit the snow. I felt a burst of gunfire penatrate my clothing in the chest area. Another burst skimmed across my back.

Remembering my dream, I knew it was necessaary to lay there and under no circumstance move a muscle. Another burst of gunfire went through my clothes below the belt-line.

Our Company Commander, about ten yards behind me, was shot through the head; he died later that morning. A G.I. laying near me was shot in the hip. One man in our machine gun section made a dash for the bottom of the hill; his legs were shot out from under him. He almost died from the loss of blod that morning. Few men on the side of that hill survived that action.

The morning sun on the fresh snow created a fog between G Company men and the German soldiers.

Under those conditions, some of us on the hill side were able to crawl toward better cover.

That is one time foggy weather conditions were most welcome to the survivors on a hillside somewhere in Belgium during that January morning 1945.

This sounds like an incredible story; nevertheless, I had the experience and lived to write abour it.

Floyd
424th Regiment

[connie]

Floyd,

Your word pictures are powerful.

Thank you.

Connie

[Carl W.]

Indeed very powerful words Floyd. I wonder, was this near Manhay?

[floydragsdale]

I do not know, Carl. Unless we paid attention to road signs, most of the enlisted men simply didn't know where we were. Our officers rarely gave us that information.

At this point during the B.O.B. I was taken to a Hospital. So, I was "out of the action"for about ten days.