were cleaned up or driven off by the ground forces, and the threat was then eliminated, leaving a good
chance for the allies to trap the whole 7th Army.
In the afternoon we went through Le Mans, our first large city. There were thousands of people
lining the streets, apparently going mad with joy, almost hysterical, upon being liberated. They kept
screaming "Les Americains, Viva Les Americains". About the time we were passing through the main
part of town where the people were the thickest, several truckloads of Heinies were brought in, going
back to the PW cages. The howls of rage, the jeers and hooting was almost frightening, something none
of us had ever heard before. Some of the people we noticed had objects in their hands, threatening to
throw them at the prisoners, but some members of the crowd managed to prevent such happenings. A
maddened crowd is a terrifying sight.
After winding their way through that happy reception we went into position on the high ground
to the east of town. Everyone thought that we were on the way to Paris, for we were across the main
road leading to it, but events happened in the past few days that changed our plans. The 90th was given
the job to close as fast as possible the newly formed trap that was at that time, encircling the German
7th. Many were the groans of disappointment when the fellows found they were not ready for Paris, as
yet.
While waiting for final orders on just what was going to happen, the boys took advantage of the
streams around there to clean up and go swimming. A mental bracing for all, after so many days of
"eating dust" and always on the move.
The day before we were to take off, two liaison officers arrived from the outfit we were to
follow: the French 2nd Armored Division. All that day the roads were choked with their tanks and
other vehicles moving up for the jump off.
On the morning of the 11th we "jumped off" and headed for the territory where the Heinies were
gradually being encircled. The French outfit was a hard-driving bunch, and a group that had no more
regard for their own safety than anything else. They would run onto traps, but instead of backing off
and handling them from a distance they just poured gas to their tank and crushed everything that stood in
their way. They were "Hell on Wheels" and twice as hard on their own equipment. We passed through
Doucelles, where on the twelfth Sgt. Lebak, Cpl. Whitlock and Pvt. Ray Clark came back to the outfit,
after convalescing in England. The thirteenth saw us in Conde-Sur-Sarthe and again some more came
back to the battalion; namely Lt. Raley, Cpl. Harkick and Pvt. Semone.
On the fifteenth we went through Alencon, a place well bombed, Forges, Sees, Marmouille, and
came to rest at Nonant-le-Pin, where the battalion did its first firing in several days. We had our first
accident in firing on the sixteenth, Charlie Battery had a muzzle burst and some of the boys were hurt,
though none were evacuated.
Today we learned a little more about this trap that we were closing. Told that the next few days
would be the most critical period in the Battle of France. That the enemy had been driven into a pocket,
whose opening we were close, near Falaise (including Chambois, Le Bourg-St. Leonard, and Ste.
Eugenie). We were on the southeast side of the trap while the British, Canadians and Polish were
coming down from the northwest driving this large group of enemy troops in front of them.
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