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Upstarts
I zigged and zagged for the nearest trees. There I flung myself on the ground in a little
hollow out of sight until my heart and lungs got back to normal.
The only two times I was seriously frightened by enemy fire were in the bombing
of the chateau I mentioned in "The Glamour War" and this occasion, in which I could be
sure the sniper had me, personally, in mind. I felt a little bit like Nicholas in War and
Peace during his first time in battle: "Why are they shooting at me? Everybody likes me!"
It was not too long after this that both Major Dull and Capt Smith were wounded.
The records show that Maury Smith was only slightly wounded in action (LWA), but it
must have been worse than that, for he was evacuated and never came back to us. A
Major Bob Booth took over command of the 2nd Battalion, and Lt Don Wilbourn (our
only West Pointer besides Costain) was assigned as Liaison Officer with him. They were
both brilliant young officers, and they made a good team.
Near the south end of the 359th sector, occupied by the 3rd Bn, was the newly-
deserted village of Gravelotte. It had only two streets, one running east-west and pointed
straight at Fort Jeanne d'Arc (and occasionally raked with fire from it), and an inter-
secting one running north-south. The north-south one ran along a bare ridge more or less
parallel to the valley I described as our front line and clearly visible from Fort Jeanne
d'Arc.
About three-quarters of a mile north along this road and on higher ground was a
large stone farmhouse named Malmaison. It was used as an OP by at least one Corps
Artillery battalion and some other outfits, and was frequently shelled by the enemy, being
an obvious place for an OP.
About half-way between it and Gravelotte was another farmhouse, not quite as
elevated as Malmaison, where our C Battery had an OP. It was never shelled. I don't
know why. Someone theorized that it belonged to a high-ranking Nazi collaborator, and
maybe it did. There was no one to ask: both farmhouses were deserted except for our
troops.
Anyhow, I'm glad it was never shelled, because I used to visit it from time to
time, leaving the jeep in a gully behind the road, out of sight, and walking up to the
farmyard, keeping the farmhouse between me and the lowering fort. A dead German lay
in the cobbled courtyard, and the body stayed there all the time we were there. Someone
should have notified the Graves Registration Team to come and get it some night after
dark, but no one ever did. Aside from that, it was a good OP, giving a full view of the
slope on the far side of the valley.
From the farmhouse to the first buildings of Gravelotte was only a couple of
hundred yards (two football fields), so I tried walking down the road to get there. I was in
full view of any enemy who might be looking, but no one fired at me. I guess individual
soldiers wandering across the open had a low priority as targets. Anyhow, I made that
walk a number of times later during our stay, and always without incident.
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