Saturday, October 24, 2020

More of the History Behind The Story

"Go for Broke"
442nd Regimental Combat Team in the Vosges Mountains, October 1944
(Source)

When I began this story back in June, with this initial post, I didn't really know where the journey would take me, well, "us" to be more accurate. Many of you have been following along since that day. I have to admit, your comments help me fix errors and keep me on the road to the finish. Not to mention the encouragement you provide to keep me at the task.

You might notice that the Brits and the Poles have rather fallen by the wayside as of late. We haven't heard hide nor hair of Sgt Billy Wallace of the Royal Scots Fusiliers since Operation Bluecoat back in August. Then newly promoted 2Lt James Fitzhugh of the 11th Armoured Division hasn't been heard from since August as well. Nor have the Poles of the 1st Polish Armoured Division been spotted since the Battle of Hill 262, also back in August.

There are reasons for those chaps not having been seen in these spaces as of late. (Mind you, they are all alive and well.) The biggest reason for their absence is that when I departed southward for the birth of the newest member of the tribe (who I am visiting with yet again) back in August. I mistakenly left all my notes at home.

A week in Maryland with time to write and none of my notes to hand. So I started a new chapter in this story involving seven German soldiers from Saxony, cut off and left behind after the German disaster in the Falaise Pocket. The survivors of a devastated division who somehow managed to get back to their lines, far away in Belgium. First episode of that was here.

Now we are seeing those fellows again, on top of a hill in the Hürtgen Forest trying to hold the line against men of the U.S. 1st Infantry Division with support starting to show up from the U.S. 3rd Armored Division. (Note that when referring to British units I use the British spelling. That's intentional.) Those Germans (now down to five of the original seven) were embraced by you, the readers, in such a way that I decided to keep them in the tale, to the bitter end if need be.

So we started with two guys from the Big Red One, Bill Brandt and his buddy Jack Wilson, both of whom made it a long ways before Brandt's wounding and subsequent evacuation in early September. Jack Wilson is still with us, he's a sergeant now, but of the two GIs the story opened with, only Jack is left. Of the Germans we met back then, only Horst Mellanthin and Jan Kołodziej are still alive, Mellanthin is in a POW camp in Texas (I didn't mention that before, might be a story in the future). Kołodziej managed to make his way to the 1st Polish Armoured Division using the nom de guerre "Paweł Kowalski." He lives yet.

None of the Brits or Poles involved in this story were directly involved in Operation Market Garden, the big British operation of the fall of 1944. While their units were still fighting the Hun, my mind drifted to the events along the Belgian-German border and the efforts of the U.S. Army to punch into Germany via Aachen and the Hürtgen Forest.

My great-uncle, John Gammell fought in the Battle of the Hürtgen Forest as a member of the 4th Infantry Division. He came ashore shortly after D-Day and fought all the way through France only to have his war end there in the "Green Hell" as it was called by the men who fought there. He survived his wound and lived to a ripe old age.

My Great-Uncle's Helmet
The German bullet scored, but did not penetrate, the liner underneath.
Talk about close calls!

So my mind, and the story went into the Hürtgenwald. Not far away is the Schnee Eifel, an area I've traveled extensively through, the scene for some of the opening stages of the Battle of the Bulge. You can see where this is going, right?

Well, the book writing thing restarted here, based on a story I'd written maybe 30 years ago, just playing around with an idea. A story which wound up somewhere (done with a typewriter, well before computers in the home were a thing), lost to history. I remember bits of it, the story of a German Tiger crew during the Battle of the Bulge. That short series, written over a few weeks in 2017, led to this current series. I've written other fictional bits (which you can find links to here, all of 'em) and occasionally someone would say, "You really need to write a book Sarge."

Yes, but where to find the time? Then this year it hit me, write the book here, on the blog. Sure some readers won't stick around but others might find it interesting enough to attract others. That seems to have happened, blog hits used to average about 500 a day a year or so ago, we're up to a thousand a day. It's somewhat gratifying, okay, it's very gratifying.

Where does it end?

Well this facet of the tale ends in the ruins of Berlin in May of 1945, maybe it will continue in the Pacific, I'm not sure yet. But this has been a lot of fun so far.

Though I try to keep the historical details as close to reality as possible, the Americans of the Big Red One and the Germans of the 275th Infantry Division in this tale are sometimes in places where they weren't historically. They might have been near a place, and I can't say for certain that these two divisions faced each other in combat, but for the purposes of this story, they do. So far valiantly with heroism on both sides.

That's the idea, show the common humanity while trying to tell a rousing story. So far it seems to be working.

While I'm on the road, I don't know if I'll get to another installment, but guaranteed the men of those two outfits shall return, and shortly.

I won't be in Maryland that long, so you shouldn't have long to wait.

I promise.



48 comments:

  1. Thank-you for sharing your excellent talent.

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  2. It's been quite the ride-along Sarge.....uh..... perhaps "May of 1945"....?!? Enjoy your kin.

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    1. But we haven't got to the time traveling episode yet!

      Argh! Fixed it...

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  3. As long as you write, I'll keep reading.

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  4. That suckling won't stay that way for long. They grow so dang fast it's amazing. Enjoy the little time you have before he grows out of this stage. I'll be here when you get back. I may go back and read up to this point again. Coffee is perking along, almost ready for a cuppa.

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  5. While working the international arrival lines at Philly airport I learned to speak English, no we don't speak English, we speak American.
    Your use of English when English soldiers are speaking does colour the tone of conversation!

    I see from the caption that the soldiers in the painting are members of the 442 Regimental Combat Team. I'd read "Go For Broke" many years ago and there is much history in their story.

    As Jess said, you write, I'll read.

    Keep up the good work.

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  6. Thanks for background Sarge. I assure you we are not showing up just because it is here - you have an exceptional talent in writing and description. Looking forward to many more enjoyable morning over coffee and my computer. Thanks.

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  7. I don't buy many books. I use on-line resources and my local library. If/when these stories ever come out in a dead tree format, I will be among the first to order several copies.

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  8. I have to agree with all of the above...spend grandkiddo time...this one is on the East Coast at least!! Not to mention a real cutie!!!

    Besides this break lets the Muse rest and refresh...who knows what direction she will steer you in?? Just ask Old NFO or Peter.
    I'm enjoying reading it, and I'm not even much of a WWII buff.

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    1. Enjoying the time with the youngest grandchild.

      Thanks Suz!

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  9. Well written and detailed.
    Thanks!

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  10. So Gammell lived in real life, sorta. Cool.

    As to German POWs in Texas, well, there's all sorts of strange stuff about German and Italian POWs being hired as farm labor, some even falling in love and staying or going home and coming back. Only the hardcore Nazis really were kept totally locked up.

    As to serialized on the blog? Some of the best books in the 19th and 20th Century were all serial stories. There's this French homme, who wrote really long and involved stories, that were serially printed in newspapers. Chap by the name of Dumas... Heinlein and Asimov and Clark all wrote serially for sci-fi mags in the 30s through 50s, later combining the serial stories into books with from little to great revision and addition. Heck, even Tolkein wrote some of his stuff to be published serially.

    So, well, you're just embracing technology. And doing a darned good job at it, too.

    Now go go chase those links above to see if I remember what you're talking about.

    Enjoy the time with the Nuke the expanding family. Any idea on call-sign on Nuke 1?

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    1. Well, there have been a couple, his aunt calls him "Chunks."

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  11. Regarding your great uncle, further proof that the adage "I'd rather be lucky than good...Luck is more reliable." is still valid. Wow!

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    1. Poster child for "dodged a bullet."

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    2. having good quality helmet helps the luck very much...
      part of being good soldier is having this helmet on when it is needed

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  12. growing up I was really a hyperactive little git: always wanting to hear/see something in the next two minutes (or less). my parents tried hard and I grew up. tell you this though: serialization of a story this good sure does try my patience.

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  13. for those inbterested, Polish first armored div. was busy on the northern flak, liberating Breda in Holland on Oct.29th...
    http://www.ww2incolor.com/poland/Liberation+of+Breda+Oct+30+1944+People+of+Breda+and+Polish+Liberators.html
    https://www.thefirstnews.com/article/the-netherlands-commemorate-liberation-of-breda-by-polish-army-8319
    it seems the city still remembers its liberators well

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    1. Nice links, thanks Paweł!

      The commander of the 1st Polish Armoured, General Stanisław Maczek lived to the ripe old age of 102, dying in exile in Edinburgh, Scotland. He is buried with his men in Breda, the Netherlands, the city his unit liberated. Long may he and his valiant men be remembered.

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  14. Have fun with the Grandson, We'll wait.

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  15. Enjoy your grandchildren while you can. I am convinced that they are God’s gift to us in old age to make up for all the aches and pains that go along with our station in life .The wee one (or perhaps more appropriately the wee-wee one) is at that age where everything is new and a marvel to behold.

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  16. I have been wondering about that Tiger crew, but guessed that they would reappear in mid December. Unless they wound up in Normandy, and we're vaporized by NEVADA.

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  17. Hey AFSarge;

    your background and since you are doing some fiction, you can say "Artistic License" and be OK. Enjoy the stories, and I am on the list for a book :)

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    1. Sometimes I strain the boundaries of my artistic license!

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    2. Hey AFSarge;

      After watching "Pearl Harbor"...You gotta deviate pretty far to get close that.......lol

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    3. Well, I've got that going for me.

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  18. From one old AF sarge to another, please keep up work as it really shows your passion for history and creativity. I love how you've managed to accent the stories with pictures and art and how you've blended everything together. Keep it up. One slight suggestion however, is there a way to put a link to the initial post to get new readers started. I've been following since but a new reader might not want to go back 5 months- a page at a time.
    -tarheel (P275x0, J1C4x1)

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    1. That's a pretty good idea. Perhaps each post should have this link included.

      And thanks!

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  19. (Don McCollor)...When the Word came down that FDR had died, the Nisi reacted. "the men are attacking and the officers can not stop them"

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  20. Sarge, I know I'm not in a small group when I say I appreciate the work you put in. These stories have been quite entertaining. Your blog was always part of my daily blogroll: it's now one of the first I visit. The change is not just because of the storyline, although that had something to do with it. I've gotten to know you better, in a way, & am just more comfortable here. That's part me, but part you as well.
    I know I'm also not alone in believing that Somebody had an eye on your great-uncle! I'm glad to hear he had a full life.
    Take care, and blessing as always to you & yours,
    --Tennessee Budd

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