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Essay Two
The Command Post Tent
"Hey, Devlin, straighten your pole ... No, straighten it! Don't you know what
straight means?"
"How the hell can I straighten it with Gillis pulling on the rope? Let up on it,
Gillis! ... No, not that much!"
"OK, Harris, you have to move your pole toward me a little. Maybe six inches.
That's … good. Now, Smith, tighten ... "
S/Sgt Hallick is superintending the erection of one of our two CP tents. In WW II
each battalion or higher unit in combat had at least one. They were a tribute to the
fixation - practically a paranoia - for "light discipline," the attempt to insure that no light
showed in any area where there were troops.
The CP tent of those days had an almost flat roof about six and a half feet high, so
that anyone of average height could stand erect inside it. It was made of a heavy, dark
OD, opaque canvas, on a framework of a ridgepole, about a dozen vertical wooden poles
and innumerable stakes and guy-ropes. Setting one up was a substantial task for five or
six men, but once erected on reasonably level ground, it could be made completely light-
proof. To insure this, somebody, usually Sgt Hallick or Sgt Johnson, had to go outside at
dusk when there was a light inside and walk around looking for leaks, being careful not
to stumble over or bump into any of the ropes while doing so. He would take care of
streaks of light along the bottom edge by kicking or scraping dirt into the cracks. If he
found leaks along the walls and seams, he would bellow instructions to those inside to re-
lace, re-tie, or otherwise adjust the tent itself.
The purpose of all this noisy and apparently trivial light-proofing was to keep
enemy night patrols, aerial or ground, from locating the tent and perhaps dropping a
bomb or tossing a grenade into it. It was almost too successful, as we shall hear later.
There was always a problem of lighting the interior, which was dark day and
night. There were a few small windows with blinds, which could be rolled up in the
daytime, but they didn't let in enough sunshine for the amount of careful plotting done on
the FDC firing charts. In the summer time, the tent walls could be unlaced and rolled up
to let in the outdoors, but after the weather turned cold, we quit doing that.
I once visited the CP of another battalion who had painted the ceiling of their tent
with white paint, and that improved visibility considerably, but we never got around to
trying it, partially because we were never sure of being in one place long enough for the
paint to dry.
We did try several sources of light. The two most successful were the Coleman
lantern and the sealed-beam truck headlight.
A Coleman lantern, when hung from the ridgepole, gave off an intense white light
in all directions except directly under it. It hissed noisily, produced considerable heat, and
required frequent attention, pumping to maintain air pressure, adjusting the flame,
refilling, and treating the mantle with tender, loving care. It was a fire hazard, too,
although we never had one explode.
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