 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
Chapter 19
Cease Firing, End of Mission
I believe it was the 344th FA Bn that achieved a coup by firing the first artillery
round into Germany. Of course it was a publicity stunt, and they cheated to do it: they
moved one howitzer section forward several miles to get within range, fired one or two
rounds for the photographer, then hitched up and went back where they belonged. But
they did get a lot of publicity for it: illustrated write-ups in the Stars and Stripes and in
home-town newspapers, and the rest of us were all jealous.
And now we saw an opportunity for a scoop of our own. We were nearly across
the narrow part of Germany and coming down the Saal River in Thuringia. The
inspiration may have come the night we had our CP in a fabulous castle. I don't
remember any details of the castle except for parquet floors and a sense of history
because I wondered if it was where the Elector [Landgrave? Duke?] of Thuringia had
hidden Martin Luther when he was on the run.
Anyhow, the situation was that we were headed toward Hof, near the westernmost
tip of the pre-Hitler boundary of Czechoslovakia. We could be the first to have gone all
the way across Germany and fired into the next country!
We made our plans, selected the battery-by lot, I think - who would send one
howitzer section forward within range of the border as soon as it was reasonably safe.
And a day or two later the time came. We picked a spot on the map and told the
battery commander to find an exact location for the howitzer. Then we called the Public
Relations Officer at Division Headquarters and asked him to bring down a photographer
to record the occasion.
"What!" he said. "You must be joking. Don't tell me you are planning to fire into
Czechoslovakia for a publicity stunt!"
"Why not?"
"What do you mean, 'Why not?' The Czechs are our friends! We're here to liberate
them from German oppression, not to shoot up their country. "
"But-"
"Look, you can shoot at Germans in Czechoslovakia, but not at the countryside.
Think how the second-generation Bohemians and Moravians in the States would react!"
We radioed the battery commander to bring his gun back.
We did enter Czechoslovakia shortly after that. I am vague about the details, and
can't even get a map location, but I do remember that it was in the Sudetenland, the
German-speaking part of the country, and the people didn't seem any more enthusiastic
about our arrival than the Germans themselves. But then we were pulled back out, and
the 90th Division turned to drive southeast, along the German side of the national
boundary. I understood that this was by agreement with the Russians. They were to get
the credit for liberating their fellow Slavs.
223
|
 |
|