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Upstarts
followed by wire truck, so that the local telephone lines between the new CP and
the firing batteries could be laid by the time the position was occupied. Behind him came
(4) the CO's of A, B, and C Batteries, with a jeep apiece and a back seat full of people
who might stay at the new position to help guide the batteries in when they arrived. And
at the end (5) the Survey Officer in a jeep with his crew in a small truck, so they could
survey in the gun positions and have the locations ready to plot when the Fire Direction
Center arrived. All in all, a column about a quarter mile long.
It was also one, which took awhile to assemble, even after everyone had been
notified. So every time the message from Div Arty came, I would leap up, excited, and
ask, "Sir, shall I call everybody and get the recon parties up here?"
Costain would have answered, "Of course! Why are you wasting time asking
stupid questions? And tell 'em to hurry!"
Eric Peach would stretch and look at his watch. "10:45. By the time they all got
here, it would be almost chow time. Tell them to be here at one o'clock." Eric didn't
believe in doing anything on an empty stomach.
When the recon party did get on the road, we would drive up somewhere near our
goose egg and the CO's jeep would stop. I would dismount and come up to his side,
where he would be staring at the map in his lap. "Bob," he would say, "where are we?"
I would consult my own map, peer at his, and reply, "I think we're about here,"
putting my finger on the spot. By then Capt Jacobs would arrive and give a second
opinion. Then each of the firing battery commanders, Captains John Klas (A), Bob
Wilson (B), and Lew Fauble (C) would arrive on the scene and indicate where he thought
we were. Just as we were about to take a vote, Lt Ray Wright, the Survey Officer, would
arrive from the end of the column and settle the argument, because everyone knew that he
would be exactly correct. He always was.
When we turned off the road and came into our goose egg, Eric Peach would look
around, be dissatisfied, and end up putting one or more batteries somewhere outside our
assigned area, probably into someone else's. I never understood why, but he always got
away with it, too.
I think the reason Major (later Lt Col) Peach was a popular commander was that
he was human, and he didn't expect super-human efforts from himself or any of his
subordinates. And he was a successful commander because he was 'bright and because he
followed Costain.
It was under Eric Peach that we started out on our new mission.
The Douvre River flows most of the way across the base of the Peninsula. The
82nd Airborne Division had a bridgehead across it, and the 359th Infantry, which we
supported, was to go down and relieve them, then attack south and break out of the
Peninsula. The 82nd was spread altogether too thin. Paratroopers may be the world's
finest fighters, but even they have limitations.
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