Post by floydragsdale on Mar 18, 2013 18:55:49 GMT -5
Sounds From The Front
106th Division Soldiers were already familiar with sounds of machine gun fire, rifle fire and the booms from artillery shells when they assumed their positions during the month of December 1944 in the Schnee Eifle area on the German/Belgium border. Nevertheless, there were new sounds to become accustomed with.
The rat-a-tat noise of the German machine gun. The sounds from the much-feared anti-aircraft/anti personnel German (88) artillery weapon, the German Burp-Gun and other noise making equipment such as tanks, trucks and various other vehicles.
Then completely different were the shrieks from the screaming me-mies and the puttering sounds from a German flying rocket (Buzz Bomb). The Buzz Bomb was harmless when flying over-head, however when the motor quit and the device hit the ground it seemed as though the explosion shook the very center of the earth.
Not only was it essential to recognize the noise all these weapons created, a Soldiers life depended on being able to judge approximately where and when those projectiles were going to explode.
A well trained German 88 Gun Crew could take their gun from anti-aircraft to anti-personnel fire in six to eight seconds. An American plane flying overhead would draw fire from the 88 gun crews on the ground however, the minute the plane was gone an American Soldier on open ground was likely to be the next victim, in just seconds.
A trained ear could determine if a missal was American, or German. The sooner a Soldier became knowledgeable about all those sounds he was more apt to have some longevity up front.
Yet, when a Company was advancing across open ground German 88 artillery fire was, at times, aimed directly at those advancing troops. The only sound they made was a whizz-bang noise, less than a fraction of a second long, which did not give a Soldier enough time to hit the ground.
A Soldier subjected to this sort of condition had a 90 to 95% chance of being killed, wounded, taken prisoner of war, or going to the hospital with something.
Front line duty was, indeed, hazardous to a Soldiers health, definitely in an Infantry Rifle Company.
Floyd
106th Division Soldiers were already familiar with sounds of machine gun fire, rifle fire and the booms from artillery shells when they assumed their positions during the month of December 1944 in the Schnee Eifle area on the German/Belgium border. Nevertheless, there were new sounds to become accustomed with.
The rat-a-tat noise of the German machine gun. The sounds from the much-feared anti-aircraft/anti personnel German (88) artillery weapon, the German Burp-Gun and other noise making equipment such as tanks, trucks and various other vehicles.
Then completely different were the shrieks from the screaming me-mies and the puttering sounds from a German flying rocket (Buzz Bomb). The Buzz Bomb was harmless when flying over-head, however when the motor quit and the device hit the ground it seemed as though the explosion shook the very center of the earth.
Not only was it essential to recognize the noise all these weapons created, a Soldiers life depended on being able to judge approximately where and when those projectiles were going to explode.
A well trained German 88 Gun Crew could take their gun from anti-aircraft to anti-personnel fire in six to eight seconds. An American plane flying overhead would draw fire from the 88 gun crews on the ground however, the minute the plane was gone an American Soldier on open ground was likely to be the next victim, in just seconds.
A trained ear could determine if a missal was American, or German. The sooner a Soldier became knowledgeable about all those sounds he was more apt to have some longevity up front.
Yet, when a Company was advancing across open ground German 88 artillery fire was, at times, aimed directly at those advancing troops. The only sound they made was a whizz-bang noise, less than a fraction of a second long, which did not give a Soldier enough time to hit the ground.
A Soldier subjected to this sort of condition had a 90 to 95% chance of being killed, wounded, taken prisoner of war, or going to the hospital with something.
Front line duty was, indeed, hazardous to a Soldiers health, definitely in an Infantry Rifle Company.
Floyd
