Time for the last post in the 'Letters from Cletus' series.
WESTERN UNION
Washington D.C.
7/14/44
Dear Mr & Mrs Carter,
Please find below the content of a Telegram we've received addressed to you.
HAVE LOCATED CLETUS+WOUNDS VERY SERIOUS+DOCTORS OPERATED FOR TWELVE HOURS+THEY HAVE INFORMED ME THAT CLETUS+++++ MESSAGE ENDS
The message was cut short due to an enemy air raid knocking out a communication station in England. We regret that have no further information on who sent the message or on the fate of the Cletus mentioned. We hope you know the originator of the message and can contact them for further information.
Western Union regret that we were unable to fully transmit the message in this instance.
Yours sincerely,
A. N. Williams
(Bureau Chief, Washington D.C. Office)
Showing posts with label Cletus. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cletus. Show all posts
Sunday, 15 July 2012
Saturday, 14 July 2012
Letters from Cletus 11
Time for the penultimate 'Letter from Cletus'. This one talks about the climactic Battle of London and what happens to Cletus and the Prof.
Dear Mr & Mrs Carter,
My name is Professor Jolyon Peregrine Montmorency Mountjoy but I believe your son, Cletus, usually refers to me as the Prof. No doubt you will have heard what happened to Cletus through official channels but I felt I couldn't leave it at that. So here is the story of that fateful day.
We had just arrived at our assigned sector in London when we encountered a German tank company probing our defences. Our tanks covered both flanks, our centre was held by artillery and an infantry company started to take up position in the buildings on our left. The German dispositions mirrored our own. The initial exchanges were inconclusive but as the German armour moved forward on our right flank the fire from our tanks destroyed the bulk of their unit forcing the rest to withdraw. Fire from our artillery and air support had knocked out their 88's as well leaving their left flank undefended.
Sadly things were not going so well on our left flank. Our infantry became pinned by enemy fire and the Germans moved up their infantry and assaulted. After a savage struggle our troops were forced back only for them to be wiped out to the last man by machine gun fire. Luckily our tanks on the right had swiftly moved forward to exploit the opening left by the retreating Germans. Seeing their flank about to be turned the Germans pulled back and we were victorious.
It was a few hours later that fate took a hand. The Russian officers had been joined by the sector commanders for a strategy meeting. I was there to help translate if needed and of course Cletus was there to keep me safe. The meeting had barely started when a German soldier burst in on us and started firing. He must have been left behind when the Germans pulled back. Everyone hit the floor and the guards returned fire mortally wounding the German but as he fell he threw a grenade at us. The cramped confines of the room meant that the blast would be devastating. It was then that Cletus saved us all. He grabbed his back pack and dived onto the grenade using his pack and his body to shield us. It was the bravest and most noble thing I have ever seen.
I was wounded in the explosion and passed out. When I awoke in the Aid Station Cletus was nowhere to be seen. I asked where he had been taken and was told that he had been very badly wounded and had been evacuated to a Field Hospital. The intense fighting in London has necessitated large numbers of the wounded be moved out of London and because of this I have been unable to determine whether Cletus' survived or not. I realise it may be unkind of me to ask but no doubt you will have heard of Cletus' fate from your War Department. I beg you to write me as soon as possible if you have so I may know whether to grieve or rejoice. Although I know that it will be of little consolation if the news is bad but Cletus has been submitted for a medal due to his selfless heroism.
I must close now as I have to write to Mary so she may learn what has happened to her husband. It is not a task I am relishing
Your obedient servant,
Jolyon Mountjoy
Tomorrow's post will see the fate of Cletus revealed.
Dear Mr & Mrs Carter,
My name is Professor Jolyon Peregrine Montmorency Mountjoy but I believe your son, Cletus, usually refers to me as the Prof. No doubt you will have heard what happened to Cletus through official channels but I felt I couldn't leave it at that. So here is the story of that fateful day.
We had just arrived at our assigned sector in London when we encountered a German tank company probing our defences. Our tanks covered both flanks, our centre was held by artillery and an infantry company started to take up position in the buildings on our left. The German dispositions mirrored our own. The initial exchanges were inconclusive but as the German armour moved forward on our right flank the fire from our tanks destroyed the bulk of their unit forcing the rest to withdraw. Fire from our artillery and air support had knocked out their 88's as well leaving their left flank undefended.
Sadly things were not going so well on our left flank. Our infantry became pinned by enemy fire and the Germans moved up their infantry and assaulted. After a savage struggle our troops were forced back only for them to be wiped out to the last man by machine gun fire. Luckily our tanks on the right had swiftly moved forward to exploit the opening left by the retreating Germans. Seeing their flank about to be turned the Germans pulled back and we were victorious.
It was a few hours later that fate took a hand. The Russian officers had been joined by the sector commanders for a strategy meeting. I was there to help translate if needed and of course Cletus was there to keep me safe. The meeting had barely started when a German soldier burst in on us and started firing. He must have been left behind when the Germans pulled back. Everyone hit the floor and the guards returned fire mortally wounding the German but as he fell he threw a grenade at us. The cramped confines of the room meant that the blast would be devastating. It was then that Cletus saved us all. He grabbed his back pack and dived onto the grenade using his pack and his body to shield us. It was the bravest and most noble thing I have ever seen.
I was wounded in the explosion and passed out. When I awoke in the Aid Station Cletus was nowhere to be seen. I asked where he had been taken and was told that he had been very badly wounded and had been evacuated to a Field Hospital. The intense fighting in London has necessitated large numbers of the wounded be moved out of London and because of this I have been unable to determine whether Cletus' survived or not. I realise it may be unkind of me to ask but no doubt you will have heard of Cletus' fate from your War Department. I beg you to write me as soon as possible if you have so I may know whether to grieve or rejoice. Although I know that it will be of little consolation if the news is bad but Cletus has been submitted for a medal due to his selfless heroism.
I must close now as I have to write to Mary so she may learn what has happened to her husband. It is not a task I am relishing
Your obedient servant,
Jolyon Mountjoy
Tomorrow's post will see the fate of Cletus revealed.
Friday, 13 July 2012
Operation Sea Lion: Letters from Cletus 10
WWPD's Operation Sea Lion campaign is coming to an end on Sunday and I plan to do a series of three 'Letters from Cletus' over the next three days to round things off. What follows is the first letter of the trilogy.
Dear Ma & Pa,
I got some news I hope you'll be real happy about, Mary and I just got married! I know this seems real quick as I've only known her a few weeks but I'm sure she's the one. But I'm getting ahead of myself so I reckon I better explain what's happened.
We got word a few days ago that we were being moved out to aid in the defence of London. Seems the Generals think that a big push is coming real soon from the Nazi's. Word is that the Royal Navy and the flyboys been hitting the Nazi supply ships in the Channel real hard and that iff'n the Nazi's don't take London real soon their attack is going fail on account of them running out of stuff.
I managed to ring Mary at the hospital to tell her we was moving out and I might not be able to see her for a while as we was likely going to be in combat. Then out of the blue she says she thinks we should get married! Well you coulda knocked me down with a feather. I asked her if she was sure and she said she was. Then she said that she loved me and she knew I loved her and what with the war and the chance that either of us could get killed she thought it was silly to not get married while we could and risk losing everything we had together. So I said yes I'd love to marry her and she started crying and laughing at the same time and I felt so happy like I was fit to burst.
We couldn't have got it done without the Prof's help though. When I told him Mary and me was getting married I expected him to say that it wasn't a good idea or that we was rushing things. But he said it was the smartest thing I'd ever done and that Mary was just the girl to sort me out. I asked him to be my Best Man and he said he'd be honoured to stand at my side. Apparently you have to get your C.O.'s permission to get married and you've got all these forms to fill out. But the Prof pulled a few strings and got everything sorted out real quick. I guess Russkies ain't that fond of regulations neither.
Even though we was getting ready to pull out the Russkies did everything they could to help sort out the wedding. They got a big tent set up where we could hold the service and then use it for the reception. They even sorted out some decorations and food. But if you ask me I reckon the Russkies was more interested in meeting the nurses Mary had invited to the wedding than helping me get hitched.
The big day arrived and I was more nervous than a cat in a room full of rocking chairs. Than I saw Mary walking down the aisle towards me looking like an angel in this beautiful wedding dress. The service was a bit of a blur but I remembered all the words and didn't make a fool of myself for once. She looked so beautiful, I couldn't stop smiling all the way through the ceremony I was so happy. Then the Chaplain said 'I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride'. I was just about to kiss her when all hell broke loose with the officers running in and shouting that the timetable had changed and we were moving out right now and to load our gear into the trucks. Mary just looked at me and gave a sad little smile and said 'go on husband, get out of here'. I grabbed her and gave her a quick kiss than ran to grab my gear and get onto the truck. I just made it as the truck was pulling out. I looked back and I just caught a glimpse of her waving goodbye I hope it's not the last time I see her.
The trucks took us to the train station were boarded a train for London, not the honeymoon I'd hoped for. That's where I'm writing this letter to you from. I have to finish now as the Sergeant's coming round to collect our letters.
Please add Mary to your prayers. Your loving son,
Cletus.
Tomorrow's letter will be about Cletus' role in the Battle for London. As for Sunday's letter you'll just have to wait and see.
Dear Ma & Pa,
I got some news I hope you'll be real happy about, Mary and I just got married! I know this seems real quick as I've only known her a few weeks but I'm sure she's the one. But I'm getting ahead of myself so I reckon I better explain what's happened.
We got word a few days ago that we were being moved out to aid in the defence of London. Seems the Generals think that a big push is coming real soon from the Nazi's. Word is that the Royal Navy and the flyboys been hitting the Nazi supply ships in the Channel real hard and that iff'n the Nazi's don't take London real soon their attack is going fail on account of them running out of stuff.
I managed to ring Mary at the hospital to tell her we was moving out and I might not be able to see her for a while as we was likely going to be in combat. Then out of the blue she says she thinks we should get married! Well you coulda knocked me down with a feather. I asked her if she was sure and she said she was. Then she said that she loved me and she knew I loved her and what with the war and the chance that either of us could get killed she thought it was silly to not get married while we could and risk losing everything we had together. So I said yes I'd love to marry her and she started crying and laughing at the same time and I felt so happy like I was fit to burst.
We couldn't have got it done without the Prof's help though. When I told him Mary and me was getting married I expected him to say that it wasn't a good idea or that we was rushing things. But he said it was the smartest thing I'd ever done and that Mary was just the girl to sort me out. I asked him to be my Best Man and he said he'd be honoured to stand at my side. Apparently you have to get your C.O.'s permission to get married and you've got all these forms to fill out. But the Prof pulled a few strings and got everything sorted out real quick. I guess Russkies ain't that fond of regulations neither.
Even though we was getting ready to pull out the Russkies did everything they could to help sort out the wedding. They got a big tent set up where we could hold the service and then use it for the reception. They even sorted out some decorations and food. But if you ask me I reckon the Russkies was more interested in meeting the nurses Mary had invited to the wedding than helping me get hitched.
The big day arrived and I was more nervous than a cat in a room full of rocking chairs. Than I saw Mary walking down the aisle towards me looking like an angel in this beautiful wedding dress. The service was a bit of a blur but I remembered all the words and didn't make a fool of myself for once. She looked so beautiful, I couldn't stop smiling all the way through the ceremony I was so happy. Then the Chaplain said 'I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride'. I was just about to kiss her when all hell broke loose with the officers running in and shouting that the timetable had changed and we were moving out right now and to load our gear into the trucks. Mary just looked at me and gave a sad little smile and said 'go on husband, get out of here'. I grabbed her and gave her a quick kiss than ran to grab my gear and get onto the truck. I just made it as the truck was pulling out. I looked back and I just caught a glimpse of her waving goodbye I hope it's not the last time I see her.
The trucks took us to the train station were boarded a train for London, not the honeymoon I'd hoped for. That's where I'm writing this letter to you from. I have to finish now as the Sergeant's coming round to collect our letters.
Please add Mary to your prayers. Your loving son,
Cletus.
Tomorrow's letter will be about Cletus' role in the Battle for London. As for Sunday's letter you'll just have to wait and see.
Friday, 6 July 2012
Operation Sea Lion: Letters from Cletus 9
Time for another letter home from Cletus to his family. This one is a bit different.
Dear Ma & Pa,
Hope you are are all well. I'm fine, in fact I'm great, I'm terrific and everything's wonderful. I've met this girl, her name's Mary and she's a nurse at the hospital where the Prof was bring treated. Remember I told you I'd got a 48 hour pass to go see the Prof, well military hospitals don't like visitors cluttering up the place so you ain't allowed that long to talk. I'd planned to stay the night in the local army base and come back and see the Prof the next day before I headed back to my unit. But that ain't what happened.
My time visiting the Prof was up and Mary was just going off duty so she offered to show me the way out. As we were walking out she said she'd heard all about me from the Prof. Seems he couldn't get to sleep one night so Mary had sat and talked to him when she could. She said that night shifts are kinda boring when everyone's asleep and she was glad of someone to talk to. The Prof had told her all these stories about me and she'd wanted to meet me to see if they was all true. I told they probably was but I ain't really that dumb it's just that things go wrong around me sometimes. She just laughed and said she didn't think I was dumb at all, in fact she thought I was kinda sweet.
I didn't know what to say to that, you know how I git all tongue-tied around girls. So I asked her if she knew somewhere I could get a good meal. She said she did and told me to follow her. As we walked along she asked me how long it had been since I'd had a home cooked meal. I had to think, it seems like a whole world ago since I sat down to eat with you all. I worked it out and told her it had been about a year near as I could figure. So she said that was far too long and said it was about time I'd had some good English home cooked food and that she was going to cook me a meal. I told her she didn't need to do that what with the rationing making food scarce. She just said nonsense and that she wouldn't take no for an answer. She sure is a feisty little thing.
We soon got to her place, she called it a cottage. It was a cute little place with a big garden full of vegetables, she even had a few chickens out back. No sooner had we got inside than she shoo'd me out into the garden and told me to pick some peas and dig up a few potatoes. I had to laugh it was almost like being back home with you ordering us all about while you got to cooking. I brought the vegetables in and she set me to peeling and chopping while see busied her self about the kitchen. Before I knew it the meal was ready, it wasn't as good as your cooking Ma but it was still good to have a home cooked dinner.
After dinner we just sat and talked. I told her all about you and what it was like back home and growing up on a farm and she told me all about her family. Her Ma and Pa was killed in an air raid back near the start of the war. She does have a brother in the RAF though, but he was shot down and taken prisoner last year. The next thing we knew it was getting light, and we realised we'd talked through the whole night. I told her I better leave so she could get some sleep but she wouldn't hear of it and told me I could sleep in the spare room. So I did.
I woke up a few hours later to the smell of breakfast cooking. I went down stairs and found Mary in the kitchen. I hardly got through the door before she sat me down at the table and told to me to eat up. There was lots of good food but she had these black things she'd fried up called black pudding. I asked what they was but she said it was best not to ask so I didn't. The rest of the day is a bit of a blur. We went out into town and she showed me the sights and I bought us lunch in a restaurant. Then we went to see a new John Wayne film at the cinema.
Before I knew it, it was time for me to head back to base. Saying goodbye to her was real hard to do. I didn't want to go. But she told me to stop being silly and to get on the train. I turned to go but she grabbed me and gave me a big kiss right there on the platform. Then she told me that if I didn't write her every day I'd be in big trouble. I just said yes ma'am. I wanted to say more but the train started pulling out so I had to go. I got halfway back to base before I realised I'd completely forgotten about visiting the Prof again. I hope he forgives me.
I've written to Mary lots now and even seen her a few times when I could get a pass. I've enclosed a photo of her. It's not the best but you can she how she's real pretty. I've got to go now, I'll write you again next week.
Your loving Son,
Cletus
P.S. How do you know when you've found the right one?
Dear Ma & Pa,
Hope you are are all well. I'm fine, in fact I'm great, I'm terrific and everything's wonderful. I've met this girl, her name's Mary and she's a nurse at the hospital where the Prof was bring treated. Remember I told you I'd got a 48 hour pass to go see the Prof, well military hospitals don't like visitors cluttering up the place so you ain't allowed that long to talk. I'd planned to stay the night in the local army base and come back and see the Prof the next day before I headed back to my unit. But that ain't what happened.
My time visiting the Prof was up and Mary was just going off duty so she offered to show me the way out. As we were walking out she said she'd heard all about me from the Prof. Seems he couldn't get to sleep one night so Mary had sat and talked to him when she could. She said that night shifts are kinda boring when everyone's asleep and she was glad of someone to talk to. The Prof had told her all these stories about me and she'd wanted to meet me to see if they was all true. I told they probably was but I ain't really that dumb it's just that things go wrong around me sometimes. She just laughed and said she didn't think I was dumb at all, in fact she thought I was kinda sweet.
I didn't know what to say to that, you know how I git all tongue-tied around girls. So I asked her if she knew somewhere I could get a good meal. She said she did and told me to follow her. As we walked along she asked me how long it had been since I'd had a home cooked meal. I had to think, it seems like a whole world ago since I sat down to eat with you all. I worked it out and told her it had been about a year near as I could figure. So she said that was far too long and said it was about time I'd had some good English home cooked food and that she was going to cook me a meal. I told her she didn't need to do that what with the rationing making food scarce. She just said nonsense and that she wouldn't take no for an answer. She sure is a feisty little thing.
We soon got to her place, she called it a cottage. It was a cute little place with a big garden full of vegetables, she even had a few chickens out back. No sooner had we got inside than she shoo'd me out into the garden and told me to pick some peas and dig up a few potatoes. I had to laugh it was almost like being back home with you ordering us all about while you got to cooking. I brought the vegetables in and she set me to peeling and chopping while see busied her self about the kitchen. Before I knew it the meal was ready, it wasn't as good as your cooking Ma but it was still good to have a home cooked dinner.
After dinner we just sat and talked. I told her all about you and what it was like back home and growing up on a farm and she told me all about her family. Her Ma and Pa was killed in an air raid back near the start of the war. She does have a brother in the RAF though, but he was shot down and taken prisoner last year. The next thing we knew it was getting light, and we realised we'd talked through the whole night. I told her I better leave so she could get some sleep but she wouldn't hear of it and told me I could sleep in the spare room. So I did.
I woke up a few hours later to the smell of breakfast cooking. I went down stairs and found Mary in the kitchen. I hardly got through the door before she sat me down at the table and told to me to eat up. There was lots of good food but she had these black things she'd fried up called black pudding. I asked what they was but she said it was best not to ask so I didn't. The rest of the day is a bit of a blur. We went out into town and she showed me the sights and I bought us lunch in a restaurant. Then we went to see a new John Wayne film at the cinema.
Before I knew it, it was time for me to head back to base. Saying goodbye to her was real hard to do. I didn't want to go. But she told me to stop being silly and to get on the train. I turned to go but she grabbed me and gave me a big kiss right there on the platform. Then she told me that if I didn't write her every day I'd be in big trouble. I just said yes ma'am. I wanted to say more but the train started pulling out so I had to go. I got halfway back to base before I realised I'd completely forgotten about visiting the Prof again. I hope he forgives me.
I've written to Mary lots now and even seen her a few times when I could get a pass. I've enclosed a photo of her. It's not the best but you can she how she's real pretty. I've got to go now, I'll write you again next week.
Your loving Son,
Cletus
P.S. How do you know when you've found the right one?
 |
| Mary's the cute one on the right in the middle row. |
Friday, 29 June 2012
Operation Sea Lion: Letters from Cletus 8
Time for another letter home from Cletus. This week he encounters one of the most effective killers of the war.
Dear Ma & Pa,
Hope everyone back home is fine. I'd like to say me and the Prof was both ok but it ain't the truth, we've both been real sick.
It all started about a week ago. We'd moved to a new bivouac area closer to where our next operation was going to be. We'd been there a couple of days when folks started to get bad stomach pains and the runs. We all blamed the cook cos his food ain't so good. But it got worse and worse. Folks couldn't get to the latrines on account of everyone needing to go at the same time so folks were going wherever they could. The smell was worse than Uncle Jethro's pig farm in summer. Then the Prof and I started to get the stomach pains and they was real bad, like to double you over with the pain. The runs was real bad too, worse than I ever got from eating green apples and there was blood in it too. That's when I got real scared cos I know that ain't good. Then some doctors arrived in camp, I guess someone must have called them in. They took one look at the state of us and the camp and moved us all out to a field hospital, said we'd got something called Dystentery.
When we got to the field hospital they cleaned us all up and gave us some sulfa drugs and lots to drink. Some of the worst cases they stuck a needle in their arm which was connected to a bottle of something. I think they called this a drip. I asked one of the orderlies about it and he said it got fluids into the blood for those that couldn't drink enough. Most of us got fixed up pretty quick but the Prof was in a real bad way on account of his being so old that they moved him to another hospital.
After a couple of days we was given the ok and sent to a new camp where someone had moved all our equipment. But we had new tents and cots and stuff cos the old ones was in a real bad way cos of the runs. Turns out it weren't the cooks fault after all. Seems someone else had bivouac'd in the same area a bit upstream from where we were and their latrines were badly sited and fouled the stream where we got our water. The Docs said we was lucky we just got Dysentery cos we could have got much worse. But I'll tell you we sure didn't feel lucky.
We weren't cleared for combat yet so I managed to get a pass to go see the Prof. I was real worried about him cos I hadn't heard anything about how he was doing. I sure was relieved when I got to the hospital and they told me he was going to be ok. He'd lost a lot of weight but he said they'd told him he was going to be released in about a week. I knew he was alright when he started complaining about the food. He said they was giving him lots to eat to get his weight back up but it all tasted like baby food. They wouldn't let me stay long but they said they'd tell my unit when he was discharged so I could come get him.
That's all I got to tell you this time. I'm ok now so don't you be worrying about me.
Your Loving son,
Cletus
Dear Ma & Pa,
Hope everyone back home is fine. I'd like to say me and the Prof was both ok but it ain't the truth, we've both been real sick.
It all started about a week ago. We'd moved to a new bivouac area closer to where our next operation was going to be. We'd been there a couple of days when folks started to get bad stomach pains and the runs. We all blamed the cook cos his food ain't so good. But it got worse and worse. Folks couldn't get to the latrines on account of everyone needing to go at the same time so folks were going wherever they could. The smell was worse than Uncle Jethro's pig farm in summer. Then the Prof and I started to get the stomach pains and they was real bad, like to double you over with the pain. The runs was real bad too, worse than I ever got from eating green apples and there was blood in it too. That's when I got real scared cos I know that ain't good. Then some doctors arrived in camp, I guess someone must have called them in. They took one look at the state of us and the camp and moved us all out to a field hospital, said we'd got something called Dystentery.
When we got to the field hospital they cleaned us all up and gave us some sulfa drugs and lots to drink. Some of the worst cases they stuck a needle in their arm which was connected to a bottle of something. I think they called this a drip. I asked one of the orderlies about it and he said it got fluids into the blood for those that couldn't drink enough. Most of us got fixed up pretty quick but the Prof was in a real bad way on account of his being so old that they moved him to another hospital.
After a couple of days we was given the ok and sent to a new camp where someone had moved all our equipment. But we had new tents and cots and stuff cos the old ones was in a real bad way cos of the runs. Turns out it weren't the cooks fault after all. Seems someone else had bivouac'd in the same area a bit upstream from where we were and their latrines were badly sited and fouled the stream where we got our water. The Docs said we was lucky we just got Dysentery cos we could have got much worse. But I'll tell you we sure didn't feel lucky.
We weren't cleared for combat yet so I managed to get a pass to go see the Prof. I was real worried about him cos I hadn't heard anything about how he was doing. I sure was relieved when I got to the hospital and they told me he was going to be ok. He'd lost a lot of weight but he said they'd told him he was going to be released in about a week. I knew he was alright when he started complaining about the food. He said they was giving him lots to eat to get his weight back up but it all tasted like baby food. They wouldn't let me stay long but they said they'd tell my unit when he was discharged so I could come get him.
That's all I got to tell you this time. I'm ok now so don't you be worrying about me.
Your Loving son,
Cletus
Friday, 22 June 2012
Operation Sea Lion: Letters from Cletus 7
Time for another letter home from Cletus. This week he talks about fighting a Panzerspahkompanie and learning to speak Russian.
Dear Ma & Pa,
Hope everyone back home is doing ok, me and the Prof are both fine. I got another letter from you this week. It seemed kinda thick and I was worried it was bad news. So I was real pleased when I seen that it was some photographs that you'd sent. It sure was good to see you all again, made me feel like I was back home for a while.
Seeing as how it looks like I'm gonna be with these Russkies for awhile the Prof decided to try and teach me how to speak some Russkie. The tank crews is helping me out some too. I thought I was getting the hang of it so I decided to try it out on the Russkie Captain. He comes round to check on the Prof every morning and to tell him what they need him to do that day. I wanted to say 'Good Morning' to him and that part was easy. I also wanted to say that I was proud to be fighting with his unit and looked forward to pushing the Nazis back into the sea. The Russkies is always taking like that, they sure do hate them Nazis. I got out the dictionary the Prof gave me and sort of got the words down on paper. The Prof wasn't about so I got some of the Russkie tankers to help me say it right. I read it out and told 'em what I was trying to say and they told me some of it was wrong and told me what to say word by word kinda like remembering a poem.
I decided to speak to the Captain the next morning so I said the phrase over and over so I'd get it right. Next morning I was pretty sure I'd remembered it right and waited for the Captain to come round. There was a bunch of the guys who'd helped me hanging around. I thought they was there to see if'n I said it right. Anyways the Russkie Captain comes round and asks for the Prof and I says my phrase to him. Well he looked at me like I was touched. Then all the fellers burst out laughin' and the Prof comes out to see what's goin' on. Turns out the Russkie tankers thought it'd be real funny to teach me the wrong phrase. Seems I'd told the Captain that I thought he was real attractive and that I'd sure like to go to a dance with him some time. Boy I sure felt dumb. Lucky for me the Captain wern't mad, leastways not with me. But he tore into the Russkie tankers real hard, guess he didn't 'preciate being made the butt of a joke.
We saw more action this week but things didn't go too well. We'd been ordered to try and take this village and it's river crossing. But when we arrived the Nazis was already there. Our tanks were strung out over the countryside so we only had one platoon ready for action. We tried to hold some houses on our side of the river as well as the road we needed to get back to our lines. The Captain took some of the KV's to probe the river crossing but they came under artillery fire and then we saw some Tigers crossing the river to threaten our flank. We did a bit of long range shooting without much happening. The Prof was trying to direct the rest of our tanks onto our position when a bunch of Puma armoured cars appears on our right flank. Fearing that we'd get cut off from our lines the Captain started to move back from the village. Then our other platoon arrived on the Nazis right flank and started to try and take the river crossing from behind. But them Nazis wern't having none of that and raced them Pumas round our rear to cut us off. They sure was fast little suckers and surprised the heck out of us moving so quick. The Prof started to call in our Sturmis but more Pumas kept showing up. The Prof managed to call in the Sturmis to finish off the first group of Pumas but the next group hid in some woods where they couldn't be seen. With our route back to our lines in danger of being cut the Captain ordered us to pull back.
We got back to camp ok be we was beat and just hit the sack. Seems like no matter what we do, win or lose, things don't change. It's just one fight after another and it starts to get to you after a while. Food don't taste like much of anything, you're on edge all the time and sometimes you wake up in the middle of the night scared to death, certain that there's someone nearby who wants to kill you. It ain't no way to live but there don't seem no end to it, lessun you get killed. The Generals and their big plans don't mean much to us at the front. Taking some ground don't mean didly if it costs you a friend. It's got so we ain't fighting for freedom or apple pie no more, we're just trying to stay alive. I know it sounds bad but all I'm trying to do these days is keep me and the Prof safe and that's getting harder all the time.
Your loving Son,
Cletus
A report on the battle Cletus refers to can be found here.
Dear Ma & Pa,
Hope everyone back home is doing ok, me and the Prof are both fine. I got another letter from you this week. It seemed kinda thick and I was worried it was bad news. So I was real pleased when I seen that it was some photographs that you'd sent. It sure was good to see you all again, made me feel like I was back home for a while.
Seeing as how it looks like I'm gonna be with these Russkies for awhile the Prof decided to try and teach me how to speak some Russkie. The tank crews is helping me out some too. I thought I was getting the hang of it so I decided to try it out on the Russkie Captain. He comes round to check on the Prof every morning and to tell him what they need him to do that day. I wanted to say 'Good Morning' to him and that part was easy. I also wanted to say that I was proud to be fighting with his unit and looked forward to pushing the Nazis back into the sea. The Russkies is always taking like that, they sure do hate them Nazis. I got out the dictionary the Prof gave me and sort of got the words down on paper. The Prof wasn't about so I got some of the Russkie tankers to help me say it right. I read it out and told 'em what I was trying to say and they told me some of it was wrong and told me what to say word by word kinda like remembering a poem.
I decided to speak to the Captain the next morning so I said the phrase over and over so I'd get it right. Next morning I was pretty sure I'd remembered it right and waited for the Captain to come round. There was a bunch of the guys who'd helped me hanging around. I thought they was there to see if'n I said it right. Anyways the Russkie Captain comes round and asks for the Prof and I says my phrase to him. Well he looked at me like I was touched. Then all the fellers burst out laughin' and the Prof comes out to see what's goin' on. Turns out the Russkie tankers thought it'd be real funny to teach me the wrong phrase. Seems I'd told the Captain that I thought he was real attractive and that I'd sure like to go to a dance with him some time. Boy I sure felt dumb. Lucky for me the Captain wern't mad, leastways not with me. But he tore into the Russkie tankers real hard, guess he didn't 'preciate being made the butt of a joke.
We saw more action this week but things didn't go too well. We'd been ordered to try and take this village and it's river crossing. But when we arrived the Nazis was already there. Our tanks were strung out over the countryside so we only had one platoon ready for action. We tried to hold some houses on our side of the river as well as the road we needed to get back to our lines. The Captain took some of the KV's to probe the river crossing but they came under artillery fire and then we saw some Tigers crossing the river to threaten our flank. We did a bit of long range shooting without much happening. The Prof was trying to direct the rest of our tanks onto our position when a bunch of Puma armoured cars appears on our right flank. Fearing that we'd get cut off from our lines the Captain started to move back from the village. Then our other platoon arrived on the Nazis right flank and started to try and take the river crossing from behind. But them Nazis wern't having none of that and raced them Pumas round our rear to cut us off. They sure was fast little suckers and surprised the heck out of us moving so quick. The Prof started to call in our Sturmis but more Pumas kept showing up. The Prof managed to call in the Sturmis to finish off the first group of Pumas but the next group hid in some woods where they couldn't be seen. With our route back to our lines in danger of being cut the Captain ordered us to pull back.
We got back to camp ok be we was beat and just hit the sack. Seems like no matter what we do, win or lose, things don't change. It's just one fight after another and it starts to get to you after a while. Food don't taste like much of anything, you're on edge all the time and sometimes you wake up in the middle of the night scared to death, certain that there's someone nearby who wants to kill you. It ain't no way to live but there don't seem no end to it, lessun you get killed. The Generals and their big plans don't mean much to us at the front. Taking some ground don't mean didly if it costs you a friend. It's got so we ain't fighting for freedom or apple pie no more, we're just trying to stay alive. I know it sounds bad but all I'm trying to do these days is keep me and the Prof safe and that's getting harder all the time.
Your loving Son,
Cletus
A report on the battle Cletus refers to can be found here.
Friday, 15 June 2012
Operation Sea Lion: Letters from Cletus 6
In this week's letter home Cletus talks about a trip into town and what happens after the shooting stops. The report on the battle mentioned in this letter can be found here.
Dear Ma & Pa,
Hope everyone back home is doing ok. I'm writing this letter the day after my birthday, 21 at last! But I ain't feeling so good right now on account of the celebrations. That wodka stuff sure packs a punch and close as I can reckon we got though a few jug fulls last night.
But I didn't just spend the day drinking. Somehow the Prof got us a 12-hour pass to go into town to celebrate my birthday. He said that he was going to try and show me some of England without the Nazis shooting at us! We got into Worcester town about 10am and the Prof proceeded to show me round. We saw some streets full of real old houses. I know you wont believe me but the Prof said some of these houses was over six hundred years old! I thought he was yankin' ma chain at first but he said it was the God's honest truth. Then he showed me round this big church he called a cathedral. Oooo ee was it big or what! You could fit our church back home into it ten times over or more. It had all these real pretty windows full of colored glass that made up pictures of the saints and a bunch of other things. It ain't never seen nuthin' like it.
We was getting a mite peckish so the Prof took me to this real fancy eating place right by the river and he bought me lunch. He said it was his birthday present to me. We had roast beef and potatoes and something called Yorkshire puddings. I wern't sure about having a pudding with my beef but when it arrived I saw they was like the popovers we have back home. We even had some wine with our food just like them rich folk do. When we was done we went out onto the balcony and had us a couple of cigars. It was the best meal I'd ate in a long time and for a while we forgot all about the war.
When we got back to camp the russkies threw me a party too. I guess they must have fixed up their still cos we had plenty of that wodka to go round. I don't remember much about the rest of the night 'cept there was lots of singing and dancin'.
We've just been told to move out as we're going into action again. I'll finish this letter when I get chance.
It's been a few days since my birthday now and things didn't go to good for us in the battle. We got told to clear out some Hungarians so we could take a supply dump. The russkies split up into two forces one each side of this river and then they advanced. Didn't seem like we was going to have too much trouble cos all we could see was a bunch of infantry and a tank near some woods that was supporting them. Then this bunch of Panthers ambushes the russkies north of the river and starts knocking out their tanks. The tank supporting the infantry turned out to be a Tiger and it knocked out one of the russkie tanks south of the river. The russkies returned fire but it looked like their shells was just bouncing of the nazi tanks. Pretty soon the northern force was near wiped out, what was left pulled back. It looked like we might take the southern objective as our tanks closed in on it when two more Tigers appeared and knocked out most of our tanks so they had to fall back as well. Near as I can tell we lost eight out of eleven tanks.
We'd been back in camp about a day when the word came that the area was safe for a while and we could go and try to recover the bodies of the fallen. I hadn't done this afore but we was so short-handed on account of the losses that they needed help so I got 'volunteered'. I got into the truck and I saw it had loads of white cotton mattress covers in it. I asked what they was for and they said that's what they put the bodies in on account of they ain't got no coffins.
We got to the battlefield and started to look for bodies. We found some that must have got out of their tanks after they'd been hit. What we found ain't something I want to talk about too much cos it wern't a pretty sight. Course I'd seen dead soldiers afore but these were friends I'd been celebrating my birthday with the night before. Leastways I think they was, some of them was hit so bad it was hard to tell who they was. We had a medic with us whose job it was to work out who the ones we couldn't identify for sure were. I don't know how he did that and I'm not sure I want to know.
We got the mattress covers out of the truck and put the identified bodies into them. Some of them had limbs missing and we had to find them and put them in with the bodies if we did. I didn't think it could get any worse then they told us to bring the bodies out of the burnt and wrecked tanks. What we saw in there was awful, but the worst part was the smell. It didn't smell bad like a dead possum, it smelt like meat that had been left in the stove too long and that ain't right. We had to get the bodies out of the tanks if we could. I won't say what we had to do to prise the bodies free but I reckon I ain't gonna sleep well tonight.
When we'd done what we could we headed back to camp. Someone had dug a big grave and we put the bodies into it. They found a russkie chaplain from somewhere and he said the words over the bodies while we filled in the grave. They put up a marker but it didn't have no names on it. I asked but they said it was just to mark the spot and iff'n they could they'd come back one day and bury them proper.
The camp's kinda quiet now on account of us having lost so many men but I can't go to sleep. Every time I close my eyes I see terrible things. Things no one should ever have to see. But you know what's worse? Knowing that this ain't over and that I'm going to be seeing things like what I saw today over and over again.
Pray for me Ma, I sure could use some of the Lord's comfort right about now.
Your loving son,
Cletus
Dear Ma & Pa,
Hope everyone back home is doing ok. I'm writing this letter the day after my birthday, 21 at last! But I ain't feeling so good right now on account of the celebrations. That wodka stuff sure packs a punch and close as I can reckon we got though a few jug fulls last night.
But I didn't just spend the day drinking. Somehow the Prof got us a 12-hour pass to go into town to celebrate my birthday. He said that he was going to try and show me some of England without the Nazis shooting at us! We got into Worcester town about 10am and the Prof proceeded to show me round. We saw some streets full of real old houses. I know you wont believe me but the Prof said some of these houses was over six hundred years old! I thought he was yankin' ma chain at first but he said it was the God's honest truth. Then he showed me round this big church he called a cathedral. Oooo ee was it big or what! You could fit our church back home into it ten times over or more. It had all these real pretty windows full of colored glass that made up pictures of the saints and a bunch of other things. It ain't never seen nuthin' like it.
We was getting a mite peckish so the Prof took me to this real fancy eating place right by the river and he bought me lunch. He said it was his birthday present to me. We had roast beef and potatoes and something called Yorkshire puddings. I wern't sure about having a pudding with my beef but when it arrived I saw they was like the popovers we have back home. We even had some wine with our food just like them rich folk do. When we was done we went out onto the balcony and had us a couple of cigars. It was the best meal I'd ate in a long time and for a while we forgot all about the war.
When we got back to camp the russkies threw me a party too. I guess they must have fixed up their still cos we had plenty of that wodka to go round. I don't remember much about the rest of the night 'cept there was lots of singing and dancin'.
We've just been told to move out as we're going into action again. I'll finish this letter when I get chance.
It's been a few days since my birthday now and things didn't go to good for us in the battle. We got told to clear out some Hungarians so we could take a supply dump. The russkies split up into two forces one each side of this river and then they advanced. Didn't seem like we was going to have too much trouble cos all we could see was a bunch of infantry and a tank near some woods that was supporting them. Then this bunch of Panthers ambushes the russkies north of the river and starts knocking out their tanks. The tank supporting the infantry turned out to be a Tiger and it knocked out one of the russkie tanks south of the river. The russkies returned fire but it looked like their shells was just bouncing of the nazi tanks. Pretty soon the northern force was near wiped out, what was left pulled back. It looked like we might take the southern objective as our tanks closed in on it when two more Tigers appeared and knocked out most of our tanks so they had to fall back as well. Near as I can tell we lost eight out of eleven tanks.
We'd been back in camp about a day when the word came that the area was safe for a while and we could go and try to recover the bodies of the fallen. I hadn't done this afore but we was so short-handed on account of the losses that they needed help so I got 'volunteered'. I got into the truck and I saw it had loads of white cotton mattress covers in it. I asked what they was for and they said that's what they put the bodies in on account of they ain't got no coffins.
We got to the battlefield and started to look for bodies. We found some that must have got out of their tanks after they'd been hit. What we found ain't something I want to talk about too much cos it wern't a pretty sight. Course I'd seen dead soldiers afore but these were friends I'd been celebrating my birthday with the night before. Leastways I think they was, some of them was hit so bad it was hard to tell who they was. We had a medic with us whose job it was to work out who the ones we couldn't identify for sure were. I don't know how he did that and I'm not sure I want to know.
We got the mattress covers out of the truck and put the identified bodies into them. Some of them had limbs missing and we had to find them and put them in with the bodies if we did. I didn't think it could get any worse then they told us to bring the bodies out of the burnt and wrecked tanks. What we saw in there was awful, but the worst part was the smell. It didn't smell bad like a dead possum, it smelt like meat that had been left in the stove too long and that ain't right. We had to get the bodies out of the tanks if we could. I won't say what we had to do to prise the bodies free but I reckon I ain't gonna sleep well tonight.
When we'd done what we could we headed back to camp. Someone had dug a big grave and we put the bodies into it. They found a russkie chaplain from somewhere and he said the words over the bodies while we filled in the grave. They put up a marker but it didn't have no names on it. I asked but they said it was just to mark the spot and iff'n they could they'd come back one day and bury them proper.
The camp's kinda quiet now on account of us having lost so many men but I can't go to sleep. Every time I close my eyes I see terrible things. Things no one should ever have to see. But you know what's worse? Knowing that this ain't over and that I'm going to be seeing things like what I saw today over and over again.
Pray for me Ma, I sure could use some of the Lord's comfort right about now.
Your loving son,
Cletus
Friday, 8 June 2012
Operation Sea Lion: Letters from Cletus 5
In this week's letter home Cletus talks about transferring to a tank unit and waking up to a nasty surprise. The report on the battle mentioned in this weeks letter can be found here.
Dear Ma & Pa,
Hope everyone is well. Me and the Prof are both fine. I got a letter from you this week, it sure was good to hear news from home. When I read your letters it's almost like I'm back home with y'all for a while. I sure do miss you. Things are pretty bad over here right now what with them Nazis pushing us back. Seems like we ain't gonna push 'em back into the sea any time soon. I'm still with the Russkies looking after the Prof, doesn't look like I'm ever gonna get back into the action.
The Russkies got some replacements last week and they was getting trained up on the tanks and Vladimir asked me if I wanted to come along with them. I said 'sure iff'n you'll let me shoot the gun' and he said ok. Well you could'a knocked me down with a feather I didn't figure they'd let me shoot the gun. So I jumped up on that tank grinning like a opossum shitting peach seeds.
I'd been reckoning that iff'n they let me go back into action I'd like to join a tank unit. Boy they sure do have it easy. They get to ride everywhere and at night you can sleep in the tank iff'n you want, and all the bullets and shrapnel just bounce offa the armor. Sure beats walking everywhere in the pouring rain loaded up like a pack mule and you don't have to hit the dirt when the shooting starts neither. Well we gets to the training area and I had to wait till they's almost finished training them new fellas before I got my turn. Vladimir waves me over and I got into the turret. Boy that was one tight squeeze, now I know why all these Russkies are little guys. I asked him how you use the sights and he just laughed. He said that Russkie tankers just head out after the Nazis fast as they can and get in real close then they open up the breach, look through it til they sees a Nazi tank then they put in a shell and press the trigger. So I looked through the barrel and sure enough you kin see the target. Then he loaded up a shell showed me where the trigger was and told me to shoot. So I did. That thing went off with a bang like I ain't never heard. I nearly soiled ma britches, I thought it was Judgement day and the devil hisself was coming for me. Then Vladimir says something to me but I can't hear him real well on account of my ears still ringing. Seems we was headed back to base cos the tank started up. Boy howdy I thought those things were loud but theys worse when your inside 'em. Now I know why so many of the Russkies are going deaf.
On the way back I was lookin' around the turret when I noticed this patched up area and a passel of dings and scratches on the walls. I asked Vladimir what they was and he said sometimes when you get hit by a shell and it don't go through it knocks off pieces of the armor inside the turret. He said that was real bad cos you get these metal splinters bouncing around the turret cutting the crew to pieces. What with that and the noise it was about then I decided that maybe having to walk everywhere weren't such a bad thing after all.
A few days later we got orders to move out. We was to head south and secure this road so some other units could link up with the Brits for some big operation. Everything went ok and when it got dark we pulled off the road into some woods for the night. We couldn't cook anything on account of us not wanting the Nazis to see our fires so we ate cold rations and settled down for the night. I tried to get to sleep but I got this itchy feeling between my shoulder blades something jes didn't feel right. The Prof asked me what was wrong and I told him I felt like there was a big ol' grizzly bear out there just waiting and watching. He said there ain't no grizzlies in England and to go to sleep. So I did but I knew something weren't right.
Come sun up we was fixin' to move out when we heard these tanks starting up. Someone shouted 'Nazis!' and then all hell broke loose. I grabbed the Prof and got him into cover while our tanks moved to the edge of the woods and started firing. Let me tell you that being in the middle of a bunch of tanks with shells going every which way sure is scary. I started to dig a foxhole and the Prof joined in and said the next time I got one of those feelings he was gonna take me real serious.
We couldn't see much but the prof got on the radio and started to call in our air support. I'm not sure what happened next but we saw Stukas coming in on bombing runs and we had rockets exploding all around us. Some of our tanks got knocked out too but we could see lots of smoke coming from the Nazi positions as well. We did see the Russkie commander light out after some Nazi assault guns and we saw one get knocked out. After what seemed like ages things quietened down. Seemed we'd hit them hard and they'd pulled out.
As close as we could figure things it seemed like we'd bivouac'd right in the middle of what turned out to be an Hungarian assault gun battery. Anyway we managed to secure our objective and soon this other Russkie unit comes down the road to meet up with the Brits. We headed back to base but we heard later that the combined operation was a bust and we'd got our butts kicked.
It was a couple of days later we saw our first refugees. There was this long column of people trudging north just trying to get away from the fighting. There was no menfolk, cos they was all fighting, just women and children and old folks carrying what they could on their backs or pulling a hand cart loaded up with what was left of their lives. But the saddest thing was the silence, even the young'uns was quiet. Seemed like all the life had being sucked out of them. I wanted to go help 'em, maybe give them some food. But the officers wouldn't let me, said there'd be a riot if we started handing out food and we didn't have enough to feed them all anyway. That night I didn't sleep so good. I kept dreaming that the refugees were all people I knew and I tried to go help you but I couldn't move. But the worse thing was when I woke up the next morning and realised iff'n we don't stop the Nazi's here you and Pa and everybody back home could end up jes like those refugees.
I know God has a plan for us all but right now it's kinda hard to see what it is. I'll write agin next week.
Your lovin' Son,
Cletus
The batrep on the combined operation mentioned can be found here.
Dear Ma & Pa,
Hope everyone is well. Me and the Prof are both fine. I got a letter from you this week, it sure was good to hear news from home. When I read your letters it's almost like I'm back home with y'all for a while. I sure do miss you. Things are pretty bad over here right now what with them Nazis pushing us back. Seems like we ain't gonna push 'em back into the sea any time soon. I'm still with the Russkies looking after the Prof, doesn't look like I'm ever gonna get back into the action.
The Russkies got some replacements last week and they was getting trained up on the tanks and Vladimir asked me if I wanted to come along with them. I said 'sure iff'n you'll let me shoot the gun' and he said ok. Well you could'a knocked me down with a feather I didn't figure they'd let me shoot the gun. So I jumped up on that tank grinning like a opossum shitting peach seeds.
I'd been reckoning that iff'n they let me go back into action I'd like to join a tank unit. Boy they sure do have it easy. They get to ride everywhere and at night you can sleep in the tank iff'n you want, and all the bullets and shrapnel just bounce offa the armor. Sure beats walking everywhere in the pouring rain loaded up like a pack mule and you don't have to hit the dirt when the shooting starts neither. Well we gets to the training area and I had to wait till they's almost finished training them new fellas before I got my turn. Vladimir waves me over and I got into the turret. Boy that was one tight squeeze, now I know why all these Russkies are little guys. I asked him how you use the sights and he just laughed. He said that Russkie tankers just head out after the Nazis fast as they can and get in real close then they open up the breach, look through it til they sees a Nazi tank then they put in a shell and press the trigger. So I looked through the barrel and sure enough you kin see the target. Then he loaded up a shell showed me where the trigger was and told me to shoot. So I did. That thing went off with a bang like I ain't never heard. I nearly soiled ma britches, I thought it was Judgement day and the devil hisself was coming for me. Then Vladimir says something to me but I can't hear him real well on account of my ears still ringing. Seems we was headed back to base cos the tank started up. Boy howdy I thought those things were loud but theys worse when your inside 'em. Now I know why so many of the Russkies are going deaf.
On the way back I was lookin' around the turret when I noticed this patched up area and a passel of dings and scratches on the walls. I asked Vladimir what they was and he said sometimes when you get hit by a shell and it don't go through it knocks off pieces of the armor inside the turret. He said that was real bad cos you get these metal splinters bouncing around the turret cutting the crew to pieces. What with that and the noise it was about then I decided that maybe having to walk everywhere weren't such a bad thing after all.
A few days later we got orders to move out. We was to head south and secure this road so some other units could link up with the Brits for some big operation. Everything went ok and when it got dark we pulled off the road into some woods for the night. We couldn't cook anything on account of us not wanting the Nazis to see our fires so we ate cold rations and settled down for the night. I tried to get to sleep but I got this itchy feeling between my shoulder blades something jes didn't feel right. The Prof asked me what was wrong and I told him I felt like there was a big ol' grizzly bear out there just waiting and watching. He said there ain't no grizzlies in England and to go to sleep. So I did but I knew something weren't right.
Come sun up we was fixin' to move out when we heard these tanks starting up. Someone shouted 'Nazis!' and then all hell broke loose. I grabbed the Prof and got him into cover while our tanks moved to the edge of the woods and started firing. Let me tell you that being in the middle of a bunch of tanks with shells going every which way sure is scary. I started to dig a foxhole and the Prof joined in and said the next time I got one of those feelings he was gonna take me real serious.
We couldn't see much but the prof got on the radio and started to call in our air support. I'm not sure what happened next but we saw Stukas coming in on bombing runs and we had rockets exploding all around us. Some of our tanks got knocked out too but we could see lots of smoke coming from the Nazi positions as well. We did see the Russkie commander light out after some Nazi assault guns and we saw one get knocked out. After what seemed like ages things quietened down. Seemed we'd hit them hard and they'd pulled out.
As close as we could figure things it seemed like we'd bivouac'd right in the middle of what turned out to be an Hungarian assault gun battery. Anyway we managed to secure our objective and soon this other Russkie unit comes down the road to meet up with the Brits. We headed back to base but we heard later that the combined operation was a bust and we'd got our butts kicked.
It was a couple of days later we saw our first refugees. There was this long column of people trudging north just trying to get away from the fighting. There was no menfolk, cos they was all fighting, just women and children and old folks carrying what they could on their backs or pulling a hand cart loaded up with what was left of their lives. But the saddest thing was the silence, even the young'uns was quiet. Seemed like all the life had being sucked out of them. I wanted to go help 'em, maybe give them some food. But the officers wouldn't let me, said there'd be a riot if we started handing out food and we didn't have enough to feed them all anyway. That night I didn't sleep so good. I kept dreaming that the refugees were all people I knew and I tried to go help you but I couldn't move. But the worse thing was when I woke up the next morning and realised iff'n we don't stop the Nazi's here you and Pa and everybody back home could end up jes like those refugees.
I know God has a plan for us all but right now it's kinda hard to see what it is. I'll write agin next week.
Your lovin' Son,
Cletus
The batrep on the combined operation mentioned can be found here.
Friday, 1 June 2012
Operation Sea Lion: Letters from Cletus 4
In this week's letter home Cletus talks about the first battle he's been involved in since he and the Prof joined up with the Russian tank unit. The report on the battle can be found here.
Dear Mom,
Hope y'all are well. I ain't heard from you in a while on account of us moving around so much. I'm still looking after the Prof and it doesn't look like I'll be going back to my unit anytime soon.
I git that keepin' the Prof safe is important and tell the truth I'm kinda fond of the old guy. It's just that I feel like I'm getting an easy ride when everyone else is fighting real hard. So I asked the Prof if I could be like that Irish fella the Russkies keep talkin about. He said what Irish fella and I said the one that rides into battle on the tanks, name's Tank O'Deshanky or sumtin. He just burst out laughin agin and then he explained what he was laughing about to the Russkie officers we was with and then they started laughing too. Then the Prof explained that it wern't no Irish fella and that the word was Tankodesantniki (I had to git him to spell it for me) and it means tank rider and how back in Russia they had specially trained troops who rode on the tanks to protect them from enemy infantry. Boy I sure felt dumb. I guess the Russkie officers felt bad about laughing at me cos they were saying how I was very brave to want to go into battle on the back of a tank. Leastways that's what the Prof said they was saying when he translated for me.
Even though I ain't getting to fight no more we've still seen our share of action. About a week ago we was movin' to a new bivouac area when we run into some Nazi recon troops. Me and the Prof stayed back from the action on this little wooded hill where we could guide in the air support. The Russkies split up into two groups and sat and waited on the Nazis to come to them. We called in some air support but the poor fella got shot down as he made his attack run. Then things got worse. These three big Tigers (tanks not the animals) come rollin over this hill guns ablazin' and knocked out three of the Russkie tanks and made another one bail out in case it exploded. Things looked real bad for us as the rest of them Nazis was closing in real fast in these little armoured cars. Then the Prof managed to contact some more air support and guided it in right on to the Tigers. Well them Nazis lit up the sky like it were the Fourth of July but the planes (the Prof says they was called Sturmoviks) just kept right on a'comin and dropped their bombs right on top of them Tigers. When the smoke cleared two of them was knocked out and the third was runnin for home like his tail was on fire. The tanks that was hit real bad hung on in there with shells bouncin' off their armour like hail off a tin roof. The other tanks moved forward to push back the Nazis. Then I spotted some more of these armoured cars comin round the Russkie's flank and the Prof called in some more of them Sturmis who made short work of them. I couldn't see much more of the battle but turns out the Russkies smashed them Nazis real good and made 'em hightail it outa there.
I got some sad news though. You remember me telling you 'bout my Russkie friend Vassili? Well, his tank was one of those that got destroyed by them Tigers. So I guess he won't be able to avenge his wife and daughter after all. At least he's with them in heaven now. I know he wern't no Baptist like we are but can you ask the Pastor to say a prayer for him and his family.
I have to go now cuz the Prof wants to go eat. I'll write you agin next Friday.
Your lovin' Son,
Cletus
Dear Mom,
Hope y'all are well. I ain't heard from you in a while on account of us moving around so much. I'm still looking after the Prof and it doesn't look like I'll be going back to my unit anytime soon.
I git that keepin' the Prof safe is important and tell the truth I'm kinda fond of the old guy. It's just that I feel like I'm getting an easy ride when everyone else is fighting real hard. So I asked the Prof if I could be like that Irish fella the Russkies keep talkin about. He said what Irish fella and I said the one that rides into battle on the tanks, name's Tank O'Deshanky or sumtin. He just burst out laughin agin and then he explained what he was laughing about to the Russkie officers we was with and then they started laughing too. Then the Prof explained that it wern't no Irish fella and that the word was Tankodesantniki (I had to git him to spell it for me) and it means tank rider and how back in Russia they had specially trained troops who rode on the tanks to protect them from enemy infantry. Boy I sure felt dumb. I guess the Russkie officers felt bad about laughing at me cos they were saying how I was very brave to want to go into battle on the back of a tank. Leastways that's what the Prof said they was saying when he translated for me.
Even though I ain't getting to fight no more we've still seen our share of action. About a week ago we was movin' to a new bivouac area when we run into some Nazi recon troops. Me and the Prof stayed back from the action on this little wooded hill where we could guide in the air support. The Russkies split up into two groups and sat and waited on the Nazis to come to them. We called in some air support but the poor fella got shot down as he made his attack run. Then things got worse. These three big Tigers (tanks not the animals) come rollin over this hill guns ablazin' and knocked out three of the Russkie tanks and made another one bail out in case it exploded. Things looked real bad for us as the rest of them Nazis was closing in real fast in these little armoured cars. Then the Prof managed to contact some more air support and guided it in right on to the Tigers. Well them Nazis lit up the sky like it were the Fourth of July but the planes (the Prof says they was called Sturmoviks) just kept right on a'comin and dropped their bombs right on top of them Tigers. When the smoke cleared two of them was knocked out and the third was runnin for home like his tail was on fire. The tanks that was hit real bad hung on in there with shells bouncin' off their armour like hail off a tin roof. The other tanks moved forward to push back the Nazis. Then I spotted some more of these armoured cars comin round the Russkie's flank and the Prof called in some more of them Sturmis who made short work of them. I couldn't see much more of the battle but turns out the Russkies smashed them Nazis real good and made 'em hightail it outa there.
I got some sad news though. You remember me telling you 'bout my Russkie friend Vassili? Well, his tank was one of those that got destroyed by them Tigers. So I guess he won't be able to avenge his wife and daughter after all. At least he's with them in heaven now. I know he wern't no Baptist like we are but can you ask the Pastor to say a prayer for him and his family.
I have to go now cuz the Prof wants to go eat. I'll write you agin next Friday.
Your lovin' Son,
Cletus
Friday, 25 May 2012
Operation Sea Lion: Letters from Cletus 3
It's Friday so it must be time for another letter home from Cletus. This week he talks about meeting his first Russians.
Dear Mom,
Hope y'all are doing fine. Thanks for sending me my lucky coonskin cap. I wore it when we went on parade on account of it still being real cold here in England in the morning. The Sarge wern't too happy though. He come over to me looking fit to bust. Turns out I can't wear cos it's agin regulations or sumthing. The rest of the guys keep yankin ma chain 'bout it though. They's taken to callin' me Davy Crocket.
Seeing as how we done lost a bunch of guys in our last fight with them Nazi fellers we've been moved back to wait for replacements. We'd only been there a few days when the Lieutenant come up to me and told me I'd been detached to go babysit some English feller. I asked him how come I'd got to go and he said it was cos I was the best shot in the unit and this feller was real important.
Turns out this feller is some kind of expert on Russkies and he's been sent to a Russkie tank unit as their liaison and I get to go along to take care of him. I was real surprised when I met him on account of him being older than Grandpa. I could see why he'd need someone to look after him.
Things didn't start out too well between us though. We was riding to the Russkie unit in this truck and I tried being polite and introduced myself and said 'Howdy, Mr Don'. He looks at me real funny and says why are you calling me Mr. Don? I dun told him that I'd been told he was Oxford Don and I was brought up to respect my elders and not call him by his first name. He just looked at me for about a minute then burst out laughing. I was worried he was going to give hisself one of them heart attacks. But he didn't, then he 'splained to me that he was an Oxford Don which is kinda like a college professor and that his name was Professor Jolyon Peregrine Montmorency Mountjoy. Boy I sure felt dumb. But he didn't seem to mind and I think he took a liking to me cos he said I could just call him Prof.
Seems that the Prof was there to translate for the Russkies on account of them not speaking English much. I was to take care of him when we's away from the camp cos we'd be going into action with the Russkies. I asked the Prof what we was goin to be doing and he said he'd be handling the Russkies calls for air support and translating any radio traffic once the Russkies got into action.
The prof spent most of his time talkin bout stuff with the Russkie officers. He said it was all 'need to know stuff' and I didn't need to know. So I spent most of my time catching up on my sleep and wandering round the camp looking at the tanks. The Russkie tankers were friendly enough 'til they saw I had me some Lucky Strike cigarettes. Then they treated me like I was some long lost cousin. Seems Russkie cigarettes are terrible and they can't get Lucky Strikes. So I shared what I had with them and they shared this liquor they had called wodka. Can you believe it they made it themselves from potato peelings! It wasn't smooth like Pappy's 'shine, in fact it was like a porcupine being shoved down your throat.
We got to talkin best we could seeing as how I don't speak Russkie. I was trying to tell em how we make our moonshine but I couldn't make em understand. Then this feller called Vassili come over and he spoke some English. Seems he used to be a school teacher back in Russia. Anyways once he explained that I knew about stills they took me off into the woods next to the camp where they'd got their still. Boy! I could see right off that they was amateurs. They had the coil all wrong and a bunch of other stuff. So I told em I could fix up their still real good iff'n they could get me some stuff.
Well they took off like their tails was on fire and soon came back with the fixin's and we was a tinkering with their still and soon it was running slicker than spit on a doorknob. When they tried the first batch they couldn't believe how smooth it was. Everyone was slapping me on the back and toasting me and calling me tovarich, which the prof told me means friend. Boy those Russkies love to drink and we'd soon finished off the first batch.
We didn't get to drink the second batch though. I told the russkies they had to watch the still real careful like and they fixed it so that one of them was always there. Anyway that night I was sleeping in my tent when there's this big explosion. Well all hell breaks loose. The guards are shooting at something and there was tracers lighting up the sky like the 4th of July and the tanks were starting up their engines. I ran to make sure the Prof was alright and he was. Things calmed down soon after once the officers took control. A while later the officers come back to their tents looking real tee'd off. The Prof spoke to them and told me they'd found an illicit still in the woods and that it'd blown up and caused the whole shooting match.
Well the officers got all the men on parade and it seemed like they was tearing them a new one. But no one owned up about the still. I talked to Vassili later seems the feller s'posed to be watching the still had been pulled in for guard duty so no one was watching the pressure in the still. So, of course, she blew.
It was a real shame too because a few days later we could really have used us some shine. I was talking to Vassili when everyone got real excited because someone had just shouted that they was getting mail from back in Russia. Seems they ain't had no letters for months so everyone rushed down to mail call. Vassili was real pleased when his name wuz called, he's got hisself a wife and a little girl back home and he ain't heard from them in a coon's age. Everyone was settling down to read their letters when I noticed Vassili had gone real pale like. Then he starts crying and shouting and swearing and everyone's trying to calm him down and see what's wrong but he just stormed off. I asked Viktor, one of his friends, what was wrong. Seems Vassili's village was overrun by the nazi's and his family killed. The letter was from a friend of Vassili's who'd been out in the woods when the nazi's arrived. He'd said it looked like they'd lined up everyone in the village, including women and children, and then just machine gunned them and set fire to the village. I wanted to say something to comfort Vassili cuz he's my friend, but I couldn't think what to say. So I just said a prayer for them.
I saw him the next day and I've seen me some angry fellers in my time but the look on his face almost made me pity the first nazi he meets. Almost.
I have to go now cuz it looks like were fixin to head out somewhere. I'll write you agin next Friday.
Your lovin' Son,
Cletus
I'm not sure about the ending of this letter. I've always tried to include a dose of realism in each of them, but I'm worried I've gone too far this time. I'd be interested in your opinions of whether this is too dark for what is essentially a fun campaign or if I should continue in this vein. It's just that I think we shouldn't forget the effect the war had on the people involved, both military and civilian.
Dear Mom,
Hope y'all are doing fine. Thanks for sending me my lucky coonskin cap. I wore it when we went on parade on account of it still being real cold here in England in the morning. The Sarge wern't too happy though. He come over to me looking fit to bust. Turns out I can't wear cos it's agin regulations or sumthing. The rest of the guys keep yankin ma chain 'bout it though. They's taken to callin' me Davy Crocket.
Seeing as how we done lost a bunch of guys in our last fight with them Nazi fellers we've been moved back to wait for replacements. We'd only been there a few days when the Lieutenant come up to me and told me I'd been detached to go babysit some English feller. I asked him how come I'd got to go and he said it was cos I was the best shot in the unit and this feller was real important.
Turns out this feller is some kind of expert on Russkies and he's been sent to a Russkie tank unit as their liaison and I get to go along to take care of him. I was real surprised when I met him on account of him being older than Grandpa. I could see why he'd need someone to look after him.
Things didn't start out too well between us though. We was riding to the Russkie unit in this truck and I tried being polite and introduced myself and said 'Howdy, Mr Don'. He looks at me real funny and says why are you calling me Mr. Don? I dun told him that I'd been told he was Oxford Don and I was brought up to respect my elders and not call him by his first name. He just looked at me for about a minute then burst out laughing. I was worried he was going to give hisself one of them heart attacks. But he didn't, then he 'splained to me that he was an Oxford Don which is kinda like a college professor and that his name was Professor Jolyon Peregrine Montmorency Mountjoy. Boy I sure felt dumb. But he didn't seem to mind and I think he took a liking to me cos he said I could just call him Prof.
Seems that the Prof was there to translate for the Russkies on account of them not speaking English much. I was to take care of him when we's away from the camp cos we'd be going into action with the Russkies. I asked the Prof what we was goin to be doing and he said he'd be handling the Russkies calls for air support and translating any radio traffic once the Russkies got into action.
The prof spent most of his time talkin bout stuff with the Russkie officers. He said it was all 'need to know stuff' and I didn't need to know. So I spent most of my time catching up on my sleep and wandering round the camp looking at the tanks. The Russkie tankers were friendly enough 'til they saw I had me some Lucky Strike cigarettes. Then they treated me like I was some long lost cousin. Seems Russkie cigarettes are terrible and they can't get Lucky Strikes. So I shared what I had with them and they shared this liquor they had called wodka. Can you believe it they made it themselves from potato peelings! It wasn't smooth like Pappy's 'shine, in fact it was like a porcupine being shoved down your throat.
We got to talkin best we could seeing as how I don't speak Russkie. I was trying to tell em how we make our moonshine but I couldn't make em understand. Then this feller called Vassili come over and he spoke some English. Seems he used to be a school teacher back in Russia. Anyways once he explained that I knew about stills they took me off into the woods next to the camp where they'd got their still. Boy! I could see right off that they was amateurs. They had the coil all wrong and a bunch of other stuff. So I told em I could fix up their still real good iff'n they could get me some stuff.
Well they took off like their tails was on fire and soon came back with the fixin's and we was a tinkering with their still and soon it was running slicker than spit on a doorknob. When they tried the first batch they couldn't believe how smooth it was. Everyone was slapping me on the back and toasting me and calling me tovarich, which the prof told me means friend. Boy those Russkies love to drink and we'd soon finished off the first batch.
We didn't get to drink the second batch though. I told the russkies they had to watch the still real careful like and they fixed it so that one of them was always there. Anyway that night I was sleeping in my tent when there's this big explosion. Well all hell breaks loose. The guards are shooting at something and there was tracers lighting up the sky like the 4th of July and the tanks were starting up their engines. I ran to make sure the Prof was alright and he was. Things calmed down soon after once the officers took control. A while later the officers come back to their tents looking real tee'd off. The Prof spoke to them and told me they'd found an illicit still in the woods and that it'd blown up and caused the whole shooting match.
Well the officers got all the men on parade and it seemed like they was tearing them a new one. But no one owned up about the still. I talked to Vassili later seems the feller s'posed to be watching the still had been pulled in for guard duty so no one was watching the pressure in the still. So, of course, she blew.
It was a real shame too because a few days later we could really have used us some shine. I was talking to Vassili when everyone got real excited because someone had just shouted that they was getting mail from back in Russia. Seems they ain't had no letters for months so everyone rushed down to mail call. Vassili was real pleased when his name wuz called, he's got hisself a wife and a little girl back home and he ain't heard from them in a coon's age. Everyone was settling down to read their letters when I noticed Vassili had gone real pale like. Then he starts crying and shouting and swearing and everyone's trying to calm him down and see what's wrong but he just stormed off. I asked Viktor, one of his friends, what was wrong. Seems Vassili's village was overrun by the nazi's and his family killed. The letter was from a friend of Vassili's who'd been out in the woods when the nazi's arrived. He'd said it looked like they'd lined up everyone in the village, including women and children, and then just machine gunned them and set fire to the village. I wanted to say something to comfort Vassili cuz he's my friend, but I couldn't think what to say. So I just said a prayer for them.
I saw him the next day and I've seen me some angry fellers in my time but the look on his face almost made me pity the first nazi he meets. Almost.
I have to go now cuz it looks like were fixin to head out somewhere. I'll write you agin next Friday.
Your lovin' Son,
Cletus
I'm not sure about the ending of this letter. I've always tried to include a dose of realism in each of them, but I'm worried I've gone too far this time. I'd be interested in your opinions of whether this is too dark for what is essentially a fun campaign or if I should continue in this vein. It's just that I think we shouldn't forget the effect the war had on the people involved, both military and civilian.
Friday, 18 May 2012
Operation Sea Lion: Letters from Cletus 2
Time for another letter home from Cletus. This week he talks about his first time in action. The actual batrep can be found here.
Dear Mom,
Hope y'all are well. Got a letter from the Pastor this week. He said everyone back home was praying for me to come home safe and that he was lookin in on you regular like to make sure you was all ok. Can you tell him for me I sure do 'preciate his kind words and prayers.
Well them Nazis done gone and invaded England and things ain't goin so well so fer. But we aint beat yet. I got me a chance to show them Nazis that us farm boys know how to shoot real good.
The Sarge got us up real early Monday morning, said we wuz heading south to somewhere called Hamp Shire. We was in the the trucks for awhile then we stopped real sudden like. The Sarge says to get out and get into cover real quick. Turns out we ran slap bang into the middle of a bunch Nazis south of this real cute looking village. The Leiutenant comes up and says we got to move up through these woods and fields to git these nazis offa some objectives. Didn't say whut these objectives wuz but I figured the Sarge would know whut we was supposed to do.
So we started to move up towards these woods with the guys in 1st platoon movin up through the fields to our right. We'z running forward and we could hear the mortars and artillery poundin them Nazis real good. Then these P-47s swoop in guns a blazin and I figured there'd be nothin left for us but I sure wuz wrong.
We got into the woods, they wuz just like the woods down by the creek back home, and I started to look see if'n I could bag me a racoon for supper. When these Nazis come running towards us guns blazin and they was all whooping and a hollerin fit to bust. But we let em have it and the boys in the 1st Plt opened up too. That stopped em cold, then the sarge says lets go get em boys and wez up and charging at em, guns firing and what wuz left of them just hightailed it outa there like the devil himself wuz chasin em. We kept after them then ran into some more of them hiding in some trees. We hit the dirt and let em have it. I think we got a whole bunch of them coz we couldn't see them no more.
Then we heard tanks, I was hopin they wuz ours but these tanks moves up and started to machine gun the heck out of the boys in the 1st plt. The Sarge said they wuz Tigers and we wuz in trouble now. We could see shells bouncing offa them and then the Lt comes up and says we pulling back cos our armor got beat up real bad and we aint got nothin that can take them Tigers. So we headed back to the trucks and hightailled it outta there.
That night we found out we'd hit em hard but we'd lost a bunch of guys too. Just about then I started shakin real bad and feelin like I was gonna throw up. The Sarge come over and said not to worry and that's just how you feel after a battle. I asked him if it ever gets better and he said you'd better hope you never feel good after killing a bunch of folks. I guess he wuz right cos then I got to thinkin bout what the Bible says about thou shalt not kill. Can you ask the Pastor if'n I'm going to hell now as I sure as heck killed me a bunch of Nazis today.
Your lovin son,
Cletus
P.S. I'll write you again next Friday
Dear Mom,
Hope y'all are well. Got a letter from the Pastor this week. He said everyone back home was praying for me to come home safe and that he was lookin in on you regular like to make sure you was all ok. Can you tell him for me I sure do 'preciate his kind words and prayers.
Well them Nazis done gone and invaded England and things ain't goin so well so fer. But we aint beat yet. I got me a chance to show them Nazis that us farm boys know how to shoot real good.
The Sarge got us up real early Monday morning, said we wuz heading south to somewhere called Hamp Shire. We was in the the trucks for awhile then we stopped real sudden like. The Sarge says to get out and get into cover real quick. Turns out we ran slap bang into the middle of a bunch Nazis south of this real cute looking village. The Leiutenant comes up and says we got to move up through these woods and fields to git these nazis offa some objectives. Didn't say whut these objectives wuz but I figured the Sarge would know whut we was supposed to do.
So we started to move up towards these woods with the guys in 1st platoon movin up through the fields to our right. We'z running forward and we could hear the mortars and artillery poundin them Nazis real good. Then these P-47s swoop in guns a blazin and I figured there'd be nothin left for us but I sure wuz wrong.
We got into the woods, they wuz just like the woods down by the creek back home, and I started to look see if'n I could bag me a racoon for supper. When these Nazis come running towards us guns blazin and they was all whooping and a hollerin fit to bust. But we let em have it and the boys in the 1st Plt opened up too. That stopped em cold, then the sarge says lets go get em boys and wez up and charging at em, guns firing and what wuz left of them just hightailed it outa there like the devil himself wuz chasin em. We kept after them then ran into some more of them hiding in some trees. We hit the dirt and let em have it. I think we got a whole bunch of them coz we couldn't see them no more.
Then we heard tanks, I was hopin they wuz ours but these tanks moves up and started to machine gun the heck out of the boys in the 1st plt. The Sarge said they wuz Tigers and we wuz in trouble now. We could see shells bouncing offa them and then the Lt comes up and says we pulling back cos our armor got beat up real bad and we aint got nothin that can take them Tigers. So we headed back to the trucks and hightailled it outta there.
That night we found out we'd hit em hard but we'd lost a bunch of guys too. Just about then I started shakin real bad and feelin like I was gonna throw up. The Sarge come over and said not to worry and that's just how you feel after a battle. I asked him if it ever gets better and he said you'd better hope you never feel good after killing a bunch of folks. I guess he wuz right cos then I got to thinkin bout what the Bible says about thou shalt not kill. Can you ask the Pastor if'n I'm going to hell now as I sure as heck killed me a bunch of Nazis today.
Your lovin son,
Cletus
P.S. I'll write you again next Friday
Friday, 11 May 2012
Operation Sea Lion: Letters from Cletus
You probably know WWPD are running a world wide Flames of War Campaign based on a fictional 1944 Axis invasion of Britain. Some of the members of the Exiles Gaming Group, including myself, have decided to play out a narrative campaign about an attack on our home county of Dorset, mainly around the Bournemouth and Poole area. Myself and Adam will be the heroic Allied defenders. Ben, who is aiding the Nazi invasion with his Hungarians, has written a background fluff piece for his forces and that has given me the idea to do something similar for my U.S. forces.
Dear Mom,
Hope you and Pa and Mary Sue are all well. I sure do miss you all. Thanks for the birthday cake you sent, it was a bit broke up but still tasted real good.
Things ain't going too well here in England right now. Looks like them Nazis is figuring to come pay us a visit. The Leiutentant gave us a briefing on whats going on and I thought he said some hungry'uns was gonna invade. So I asked him why they was a coming here cos the food ain't great and there ain't much of it as it is. Then the Sarge slapped the back of my head and told me they was Hungarians from Hungary and all the guys started laughing at me. I sure felt dumb, guess I should have spent more time in school learning, instead of playing Baseball.
Seems these Hungary fellas are allies of the Nazis. The Lt. says they been fighting Russians so they ain't gonna be no pushovers. But he says we're gonna get some tanks to support us from Division HQ and maybe we'll have air cover from some P-47's, and with that and some other surprises we got we're gonna push 'em back into the sea. I sure do hope so.
I hope you don't think you're boy's no coward Ma, but I sure am scared. Could you ask the Pastor to say a prayer for me and the boys. It's lookin like we're gonna need all the help we can get.
Your loving son,
Cletus
P.S. I'll write you again next Friday
Dear Mom,
Hope you and Pa and Mary Sue are all well. I sure do miss you all. Thanks for the birthday cake you sent, it was a bit broke up but still tasted real good.
Things ain't going too well here in England right now. Looks like them Nazis is figuring to come pay us a visit. The Leiutentant gave us a briefing on whats going on and I thought he said some hungry'uns was gonna invade. So I asked him why they was a coming here cos the food ain't great and there ain't much of it as it is. Then the Sarge slapped the back of my head and told me they was Hungarians from Hungary and all the guys started laughing at me. I sure felt dumb, guess I should have spent more time in school learning, instead of playing Baseball.
Seems these Hungary fellas are allies of the Nazis. The Lt. says they been fighting Russians so they ain't gonna be no pushovers. But he says we're gonna get some tanks to support us from Division HQ and maybe we'll have air cover from some P-47's, and with that and some other surprises we got we're gonna push 'em back into the sea. I sure do hope so.
I hope you don't think you're boy's no coward Ma, but I sure am scared. Could you ask the Pastor to say a prayer for me and the boys. It's lookin like we're gonna need all the help we can get.
Your loving son,
Cletus
P.S. I'll write you again next Friday
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