The FReeper Foxhole Remembers The Poles at Cassino (5/11-5/18 1944)

Good morning everyone!

Good morning feather.

We hit 54 yesterday

we hit 22 yesterday.. 54 would be a heat wave that I would invite ..

Thanks. We don’t hear much about the Free Polish Forces.

Well it ends today. Rain and cooler is coming back tomorrow.

"The Rescue" October 22-23.

A week earlier, Col. O. Dobey (nicknamed "The Mad Colonel of Arnhem") of the British 1st Airborne Division, who had escaped from a German hospital after being made prisoner, had swum across the Rhine and contacted Colonel Sink. Dobey said there were 125 British troops, some ten Dutch resistance fighters who were being sought by the Germans, and five American pilots hiding out with the Dutch underground on the north side of the Lower Rhine. He wanted to get them back, and he needed help. Sink agreed to cooperate. As the crossing point was across from Easy's position, Sink volunterred Heyliger to lead the rescue patrol. Or, as Gordon put it, "We would furnish the personnel, the British would furnish the idea and, I suppose, the Band-Aids. A fair swap, by British standards."

Dobey was in contact with the Dutch underground on the far side via telephone (for some reason, the Germans had never cut those lines). He designated the night of October 22-23 for the operation. The American 81st AA-AT Battalion would fire tracers over the river with their Bofors guns to mark the spot where the Dutch would bring the men waiting to be rescued. To allay German suspicion, for several nights before the operation, the 81st fired tracers at midnight.

On the appointed night, Heyliger, Lts. Welsh and Edward Shames, and seventeen men selected by Heyliger followed engineer tape from the dike down to the river, where British canvas collapsible boats had been hidden the previous evening. It was, as usual, a murky night, with a drizzle adding to the obscurity. The shivering men edged the boats into the river. At midnight, the Bofors fired the tracers straight north. The Dutch underground blinked the V-for-Victory signal with red flashlights from the north bank. Easy began paddling as silently as possible across the river.

The men crossed with pounding hearts but without incident. They leaped out of the boats and moved forward. Gordon had the machine-gun on the left flank; he set it up and prepared to defend against attack. Cpl. Francis Mellett had the machine-gun on the right flank. Private Stafford was at the point for the column seeking contact with the Dutch underground, Heyliger immediately behind him.

Stafford moved forward stealthily. There was no firing, no illumination. This was enemy territory, completely unfamiliar to the Americans, and it was pitch black. "The absolute quiet was almost petrifying to me," Stafford remembered.

Stafford took another cautious step. A large bird flew up not more than a foot away from his face. "I am positive my heart stopped beating," Stafford recalled. "I flipped off the safety on my M-1 and was about to fire when Lt. Heyliger calmly said, 'Easy.'"

They continued on and shortly met the British troops. The first one Stafford saw "hugged me and gave me his red beret, which I still have." A British brigadier stepped forward and shook Heyliger's hand, saying he was the finest looking American officer he had ever seen.

Heyliger motioned for the British to move in column to the boats, urging them to keep silent. But they just could not. Pvt. Lester Hashey recalled one saying, "I never thought I'd be so glad to see a bloody Yank." Lieutenant Welsh, who was in charge down at the boats, grew exasperated with the Brits who kept calling out "God Bless you, Yank," and told them they would all get killed if they didn't shut up.

The British got into the boats; Heyliger pulled his men back in leapfrog fashion; soon everyone was ready to shove off. Gordon was the last one back, and in the trailing boat crossing the river. "There was a certain amount of excitement and urgency," he said, and he was certain the Germans would sink them all any moment. But they were never spotted. By 0130 the entire party were safely on the south bank and crossing no-man's-land on the way to the American front line behind the dike.

The next day Colonel Sink issued a citation for gallantry in action. He declared that "the courage and calmness shown by the covering force was a major factor in this successful execution. So well organized and executed was this undertaking that the enemy never knew an evacuation had taken place.

"All members of this covering force are commended for their aggression, spirit, prompt obedience of orders and devotion to duty. Their names appear below."

Gordon's name is there. When I suggested that he must be proud to have volunteered for and carried out so well such a hazardous operation, he said the only reason he went along was that Heyliger had selected him. "It was not a volunteer operation. I'm not saying I wouldn't have volunteered, I'm just saying I didn't volunteer."

4 above at my place this morning

Ouch!

but I didn't understand it back then. Now, I do...

That was true for me too, it took till I got a little older to understand.

Morning Feather.

You're welcome.

Thanks for your service.

Welcome Home!

On This Day In History

Birthdates which occurred on February 12:
1211 Henry VII Roman catholic German king (1220-35)
1585 Caspar Bartholin Malmö, physician, theologian, writer on anatomy
1588 John Winthrop English attorney/puritan/1st Governor of Massachusetts
1665 Rudolph J Camerarius German botanist/physician (sexuality plant)
1768 Francis II Florence Italy, last Holy Roman emperor (1792-1806)
1791 Peter Cooper industrialist/philanthropist (Cooper Union)
1809 Charles Darwin Shrewsbury England, discovered evolution (Origin of species)

1809 Abraham Lincoln Hodgenville KY, (R) 16th President (1861-65)

1828 Robert Ransom Jr Major General (Confederate Army), died in 1892
1838 Charles Carroll Walcott Brevet Major General (Union volunteers), died in 1898
1880 John Llewellyn Lewis union leader (United Mine Workers, 1920-60)
1893 Omar Bradley General of Army WWII "The GI General"
1904 Ted Mack Denver CO, TV host (Original Amateur Hour)
1914 Gordon Tex Beneke saxophonist/bandleader/vocalist (Glenn Miller Orchestra)
1915 Lorne Greene Ottawa Canada, actor (Bonanza, Battlestar Galactica)
1919 Forrest Tucker Plainfield IN, actor (O'Rourke-F Troop, Dusty Trail)
1923 Franco Zeffirelli Florence Italy, movie director (Romeo & Juliet)
1926 Joe Garagiola St Louis MO, sportscaster/host (Today Show)
1930 Arlen Specter (Senator-R-PA, 1981- )
1930 Gerhard Rühm writer
1931 Constance A Morella (Representative-R-MD)(rino)
1934 Bill Russell Monroe LA, NBA star (Boston Celtics, Olympics-gold-56)
1935 Ray Manzarek keyboardist (The Doors-Light My Fire, Unknown Soldier)
1936 Joe Don Baker Groesback TX, actor (Eischied, Walking Tall, Fletch)
1938 Johnny Rutherford auto racer
1944 Moe Bandy Meridian MS, country vocalist (Just Good Ol' Boys)
1956 Paula Zahn Omaha NB, news anchor (ABC, CBS This Morning)
1958 Arsenio Hall comedian (Alan Thicke, Arsenio, Coming to America)
1969 Josh Brolin actor (Johnny-Private Eye, Jimmy Hickok-Young Riders)
1980 Christina Ricci actress (Wednesday-Addams Family, Mermaids, Casper)

Deaths which occurred on February 12:
1242 Hendrik VII Roman Catholics German king (1220-35), commits suicide
1804 Immanuel Kant German philosopher (Zum ewigen Frieden), dies in Königsberg, Prussia at 79
1929 Freiherr Albert von Schrenk-Notzing German para-psychologist, dies at 66
1942 Grant Wood US painter (American Gothic), dies at 49
1945 ... de Jong Dutch vicar/resistance fighter, executed
1947 Sidney Toler actor (Charlie Chan, Dark Alibi), dies at 72
1971 James Cash Penney US founder (J C Penney), dies at 95
1976 Sal Mineo actor (Exodus, Rebel Without a Cause), stabbed at 37
1979 Jean Renoir French writer/director (Human Beast), dies at 84
1982 Victor Jory Dawson City Yukon Territory Canada, actor (Adventures of Tom Sawyer, 1st Lady, Jigsaw), dies at 79
1982 Cornelis Rijnsdorp Dutch writer (Culprit), dies at 87
1983 Eubie Blake ragtime-composer/pianist (Memories of You), dies at 100
1991 Robert Wagner mayor (NYC-D-1954-65), dies
1993 James Bulger English child beaten to death at 2, by 10 year old boys

Reported: MISSING in ACTION

1967 SULLIVAN MARTIN J.---LAWRENCE MA.
1967 WEISSMUELLER COURTNEY E.---ORLANDO FL. 1968 BROWN HARRY W.---CHARLESTON SC.
1968 GROTH WADE L.---GREENVILLE MI.
1968 GUNN ALAN W.---SAN ANTONIO TX.
1968 ROE JERRY L.---HOUSTON TX.
1969 FISHER JOHN B.---OCALA FL.
[03/11/69 RELEASED BY SIHANOUK]
1969 OSBURN LAIRD P.---WEBSTER SPRINGS WV.
[03/12/69 RELEASED BY SIHANOUK, ALIVE AND WELL 98]
1969 PRYOR ROBERT J.---OAK RIDGE TN.
[03/11/69 RELEASED BY SIHANOUK]
1970 BRADSHAW ROBERT S. III---LUFKIN TX.
1970 BREEDING MICHAEL HUGH---BLUE RAPIDS KS.
1971 MC LEOD ARTHUR E.---BAY SHORE NY.
[REMAINS IDENTIFIED 08/27/99]
1971 WILKINSON CLYDE D.---MINERAL WELLS TX.
[REMAINS IDENTIFIED 08/27/99]

POW / MIA Data & Bios supplied by
the P.O.W. NETWORK. Skidmore, MO. USA.

On this day...
1049 Bruno count of Egesheim & Dagsburg crowned Pope Leo IX
1111 German King Hendry V arrives at St Peter, Rome
1130 Pope Innocent II elected
1502 Granada Moslems forced to convert to Catholicism
1577 Spanish land guardian Don Juan of Habsburg signs "Eternal Edict"
1624 English parliament comes together
1733 Georgia founded by James Oglethorpe, at site of Savannah
1793 1st US fugitive slave law passed; requires return of escaped slaves
1797 Haydn's song "Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser" premieres in Vienna
1818 Chile gains independence from Spain
1825 Creek Indian treaty signed; Tribal chiefs agree to turn over all their land in Georgia to the government & migrate west by Sept 1, 1826
1832 Ecuador annexes Galápagos Islands
1848 Ballet "Faust" premieres, Milan
1850 Original Washington's Farewell Address manuscript sells for $2,300
1861 State troops seize US munitions in Napoleon AK
1865 Henry Highland Garnet, is 1st black to speak in US House of Representatives
1873 Congress abolishes bimetallism & authorizes $1 & $3 gold coins
1876 Al Spalding opens his sporting good shop
1877 1st news dispatch by telephone, between Boston & Salem MA
1877 US railroad builders strike against wage reduction
1878 Frederick Thayer patents the catcher's mask (pat # 200,358)
1879 1st artificial ice rink in North America (Madison Square Garden, NYC)
1879 News about slaughtering of Isandlwana reaches London
1880 National Croquet League organizes (Philadelphia)
1899 -47ºF (-44ºC), Camp Clarke NB (state record)
1908 New York to Paris auto race (via Alaska & Siberia) begins in New York NY; George Schuster wins after 88 days behind the wheel
1909 National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is founded
1912 Last Ch'ing (Manchu) emperor of China, Henry P'u-i, abdicates
1915 Cornerstone laid for Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC
1921 Soviet troops invade Georgia
1921 Winston Churchill becomes British, minister of Colonies
1924 George Gershwin's "Rhapsody In Blue" premieres at Carnegie Hall (New York NY)
1924 President Calvin Coolidge makes 1st presidential radio speech
1925 1st federal arbitration law approved by Congress
1933 German vice-chancellor von Papen demands Catholic aid for Nazis
1934 France hit by a general strike against fascists & royalists
1935 Great airship, USS Macon, crashes into Pacific Ocean
1938 Austrian chancellor Schuschnigg visits Hitler in Berchtesgaden
1938 German troops entered Austria
1942 3 German battle cruisers escape via Channel to Brest N Germany
1943 General Eisenhower departs Algiers to Tebessa
1944 Wendell Wilkie (R) enters presidential race
1945 San Francisco selected for site of UN Conference
1947 Daytime fireball & meteorite fall seen in eastern Siberia
1947 Record 100.5-kg sailfish caught, C W Stewart, Galapagos Islands
1949 "Annie Get Your Gun" closes at Imperial Theater NYC after 1147 performances
1949 Panic in Quito Ecuador, after "War of the World" played on radio
1950 Senator Joe McCarthy claims to have list of 205 communist government employees
1950 Albert Einstein warns against hydrogen bomb
1953 USSR breaks relations with Israel
1955 McGuire Sisters' "Sincerely" single goes to #1 & stays #1 for 10 weeks
1955 President Eisenhower sends 1st US advisors to South Vietnam
1957 Researchers announce Borazan (harder than diamonds) been developed
1962 Bus boycott starts in Macon GA
1963 Argentina asks extradition of Ex-President Peron
1964 Beatles 1st NYC concert (Carnegie Hall)
1967 Keith Richards, Mick Jagger & Marianne Faithful busted for drugs
1973 1st US POWs in North Vietnam released; 116 of 456 flown to Philippines
1981 Admiral Bobby R Inman, USN, becomes deputy director of CIA
1982 Wayne Gretzky scores 153rd point of season, tying NHL record
1984 Cale Yarborough, becomes 1st Daytona 500 qualifier, above 200 MPH
1987 Survivors of a black man murdered by KKK members awarded $7 million damages
1998 Intel unveils its 1st graphics chip i740
1998 US district judge T Hogan declares line-item veto law unconstitutional
1999 The five-week impeachment trial of Bill Clinton comes to an end, the Senate voted to acquit President Clinton of perjury and obstruction of justice.(BOOOO)
2001 Scientists published their first examinations of nearly all the human genetic code.
2002 The war crimes trial of former Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic began at the Hague in the Netherlands.

Holidays
Note: Some Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"

Booneville Indiana : Nancy Hanks Lincoln Memorial Day
Burma : Union Day (1947)
Georgia : Georgia Day/Oglethorpe Day (1733)
US : Abraham Lincoln's Birthday (Traditional)
US : No Talk Day
US : New Idea Week (Day 5)
US : Love and Laughter Keeps Us from Getting Dizzy Week (Day 5)
Snack Food Month

Religious Observances
Christian : Feast of St Eulalia
Methodist : Race Relations Sunday (2nd Sunday in February)
Orthodox : Feast of the 3 Saints-Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian
Orthodox : Commemoration of St Anthony of Cauleas, patriarch of Constantinople
old Roman Catholic : Feast of the 7 Founders of the Servite Order

Religious History
1797 Franz Haydn's AUSTRIAN HYMN was first performed for the Emperor Francis II's fifth birthday. Today, AUSTRIAN HYMN is the most common melody to which we sing the popular hymn, "Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken."
1807 Anglican missionary to Persia Henry Martyn wrote in his journal: 'Amazing patience, He bears with this faithless foolish heart and suffers me to come, laden with sins, to receive new pardon, new grace, every day! Why does not such love make me hate sin that grieves Him and hides me from His sight?'
1948 The Pentecostal awakening known as the "Latter Rain Movement" traces its origin to this date, when students at the Sharon Orphanage and Schools in North Battleford, Saskatchewan, Canada began experiencing a mass spiritual awakening.
1952 The Roman Catholic program "Life is Worth Living" debuted on television. Hosted by (then-) Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, the half-hour program aired on Tuesday nights. It became the longest-running religious TV series of its day, and ran through February of 1957.
1962 Swiss Reformed theologian Karl Barth predicted in a letter: 'The day will come when we shall no longer speak of Roman Catholic and Protestant Christians but simply of Evangelical Christians forming one body and one people.'

Source: William D. Blake. ALMANAC OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1987.

Thought for the day :
"No one can feel as helpless as the owner of a sick goldfish."

Question of the day...
If love is blind, why is lingerie so popular?

Murphys Law of the day...Fyffe's Axiom)
The problem-solving process will always break down at the point at which it is possible to determine who caused the problem.

Astounding Fact #87,306...
Your brain is 80% water.

1809 Abraham Lincoln Hodgenville KY, (R) 16th President (1861-65)

Remember when we actually used to celebrate his and George Washington's birthdays separately?

I know well how scary flushing a bird in darkness can be. On my way to a deer stand once, I walked into a covey of quail who flushed within three feet of me. Scared the heck out of me and there weren't any enemy around.

Thank you for today's thread. I was somewhat familiar with this battle, mostly based on the decision to bomb Monte Cassino from the air, and the debate it caused.

I was woefully unaware of who the foot soldier were and just how hard it was to acheive these goals.

A "Three Howie Salute" to the Polish Forces
and the sacrifices they made for freedom

Your're welcome Johnny. The Abbey Bombing was a very controversial decision. From what I've read, the Germans did not use the Abbey until after the bombing.

Yeah, been scared by birds popping out of the bush myself a few times.

Check out this website.

The link will take you to a page with diary entries about a Pole soldier and his trek across Italy.

http://www.polandsholocaust.org/italiiaa.html

Wherever our legions have been stationed, the Polish language lingers. And so a song, one of the easiest forms of learning a new tongue, is taken up here by Italian children who are born singers.

Thanks Johnny.

George Washington? Who's he?
/world-class sarcasm

George Washington, now I remember he was a slave owner wasn't he.

I sarcas therefore I am.