Thurs., Aug. 12, 1943—Flew by C-47 to Comunali Airdrome, Sicily (near Gela). Our new home for awhile. Saw Junior today.
Fri., Aug. 13, 1943—Got lots of mail & pictures from Mary Alice and the folks.
Sat., Aug. 14, 1943—Two missions for Sqdn. today. Axis is about through in Sicily. Went to see Junior at photo trailer this evening. As of 8-14-43 our Sqdn. has run 119 missions (928 sorties).
Sun., Aug. 15, 1943—Our mission was cancelled today because nearly all of the Germans have gotten out into Italy.
Mon., Aug. 16, 1943—Just one small corner of Sicily is still holding out. Tomorrow should finish it.
Tues., Aug. 17, 1943—I almost hit a drunk soldier today when he took a bottle of wine away from a Sicilian without paying him & had the man crying and kneeling down on the ground. I can’t stand that.
Wed., Aug. 18, 1943—Sick today with G.I.’s. Had to get up to puke tonight.
Thurs., Aug. 19, 1943—Squadron moved by truck from Comunali to Gerbini #10, south of Mt. Etna. Been sick all day and have a sore back & ribs.
Fri., Aug. 20, 1943—Capt. McRae gave me some pills to take & sent me to bed. Mt. Etna, a few miles N. of here, is smoking.
Sat., Aug. 21, 1943—Feel O.K. today. Jr. sent for Mac & me in jeep tonight, and we went over to photo trailer and sang.
Note for Aug. 14. 1943: On Aug. 14, a 97th gunner accidentally shot another gunner in the leg with a .45. Very bad wound, but he’ll recover.
Sun., Aug. 22, 1943—Washed clothes today.
Mon., Aug. 23, 1943—Mac [McLaughlin], Don [Beetem], Dave [Frieze], & I hitchhiked to Lentini & Syracuse (Siracusa) & back today. Rough rides over rough roads . . . A jeep accident today killed boy in the 86th & injured Maj. Hughes & some others.
Tues., Aug. 24, 1943—Mac & I went over to photo trailer tonight and sang with Junior. We had the 2 Red Cross girls for an audience. The 97th Enlisted Men’s Club opened tonight; half the men drunk.
| August 24, 1943 Malaventano (Gerbini #10), Sicily McLaughlin, Beetem, Frieze, and I hitch-hiked to Lentini and Syracuse and back yesterday. It was easy enough to catch rides, but the roads were the roughest, most patched-up affairs I’ve seen in quite awhile. Convoys of landing barges and trucks moving up toward Messina didn’t facilitate matters much. (I imagine the Italian landing is not far off.) All of these towns are filthy, and most of the people seem to be living in at least as poor conditions as the Arabs in Tunisia. Of course, some parts of most of the towns have better living conditions, but slum districts are prevalent in all of them. Going into Syracuse (Siracusa) we saw many caves in the sides of rocky hills with people living in them. Wandering down the side streets of Syracuse we looked right into the houses, which seemed to consist of one room in which the whole family slept on beds and pallets on the floor, and saw tired, stolid-looking people sitting around their room, with dirty, naked babies playing on the floor about them. They lived, ate, and slept in the one room evidently. Public urinals for men (I don’t know what the women do) are one of the interesting sights in Sicilian towns (they’re prominent in Africa, too). These institutions are very open affairs at both top and bottom and the entrances. Even the casual observer of the users of these public facilities could pick out the various colors of water let—if he were so inclined—they are that open to public view. Along the road between here and Syracuse were many “pillboxes,” most of them horribly smashed into bits by artillery and bombs. One large one which had controlled a sharp turn in the main road was nothing but bits of stone. It took three days to dig out all the bodies for burial. We got back too late for supper, and that ended the trip to Syracuse. – – – – – – – – – Some of the boys who have been to the airdrome this side of Catania say it is one of the worst sights they’ve seen yet. Dead bodies are still in many of the ruined planes, and the stench is terrible. The Germans booby-trapped the bodies (according to the British stationed near there); so, rather than get themselves killed by the German dead, the British are just leaving the bodies there. Preventing burial of their own dead seems to me to be one of the most inhumane tricks in this war. – – – – – – – – – Another item noted in our wanderings yesterday: We saw several Italian soldiers wandering around carrying rifles. These same men had been shooting at our forces a few days before. Of all the screwy wars, this one takes the cake! I think these guys had been turned loose because they are Sicilians, but I still don’t get the point—their guns still shoot. If I wander about this island any more, I’m going armed. – – – – – – – – – |
Wed., Aug. 25, 1943—One of our pilots was cleaning his .45 in his tent this evening when it accidentally fired, went through another tent or two, and hit and killed one of our gunners. This gunner had been overseas a year and had 43 missions. He was a nice fellow. The pilot is as nice a man as I know. Poor guy had hysterics. I hope this doesn’t affect him permanently. What a tragedy.
Thurs., Aug. 26, 1943—97th had mission today on Italy. Strangely enough, although they hit gun positions, there was no flak.
Fri., Aug. 27, 1943—A DB-7 burst into flames over us last night & crashed about a mile away. Don’t know what caused it. We have air raid alerts nearly every day, but nothing’s happened so far.
Sat., Aug. 28, 1943—Catania & Augusta evidently had raids this morning. There was beaucoup flak thrown up. One big bomb fell fairly close to this field. We may be getting it again soon.
Sun., Aug. 29, 1943—The “G.I.’s” have me bad. I’ve messed my drawers twice in three days because I couldn’t make it to the latrine . . . Heavy enemy raids on Catania & Augusta last night. Flares, flak, tracers, & bombs lit up the sky a big part of the night.
Mon., Aug. 30, 1943—More raids on Catania & Augusta today. Enemy planes over us at various times but no bombs dropped on us. I’m on guard tonight—graveyard shift.
Tues., Aug. 31, 1943—Got tooth filled this morning. Another engagement with dentist next Tuesday.
Wed., Sept. 1, 1943—Mission today on Italy (by 97th). I’d like to go on some more missions, but Jr. delivered an ultimatum.
Thurs., Sept. 2, 1943—Sqdn. had two missions on Italy today. Italian invasion starts tomorrow.
Fri., Sept. 3, 1943—Invasion started this morning. 97th had one mission on gun positions.
Sat., Sept. 4, 1943—No missions today, I went to photo lab and printed pictures.
Sun., Sept. 5, 1943—Pay day. Went to church this evening. One year overseas today.
Mon., Sept. 6, 1943—Took bath today. Mac, C.B., and I took turns pumping and squirting the water. Cold!!
Tues., Sept. 7, 1943—One mission on Italy today by 97th. The Sqdn. now has 1015 sorties . . . Had tooth filled at dentist’s today.
Wed., Sept. 8, 1943—Italy surrendered this afternoon. Enemy planes are supposed to land here tomorrow and the crews surrender.
Thurs., Sept. 9, 1943—Dental appt., 11:00. One tooth filled. The 97th had one mission today over Italy.
Fri., Sept. 10, 1943—Junior sent to hospital today with trench mouth infection of tonsils. Mail from Mary Alice.
Sat., Sept. 11, 1943—Mail from the folks today.
Sun., Sept. 12, 1943—Went to see Jr. at 4th Field Hospital. Red Cross girls took me. He’s feeling better.
Mon., Sept. 13, 1943—Worked on flight certificates today. The darned flies around here nearly drive you crazy.
Tues., Sept. 14, 1943—Abie [Carroll Abrahamson] was in a jeep wreck tonight. He came into camp cut up around the face and almost incoherent. Chester and I took him over to the Medics. (Later: It turned out that “P.H.” Hale was with him in the jeep, had been knocked unconscious in the crash, and was put in the hospital, where he died later.) (Abrahamson is an enlisted bombardier; Hale, an engineer.)
Wed., Sept. 15, 1943—Dental appointment at 9:30. One tooth filled.
Thurs., Sept. 16, 1943—We’ll move to Italy probably tomorrow or next day.
Fri., Sept. 17, 1943—Junior and Collins came back from hospital today.
Sat., Sept. 18, 1943—Saw Jack Benny, Larry Adler, and Winnie Shaw in person at show held in the open at 12th A.S.C. Hq. near Lentini. It was really a good show.
Note to Thurs., Sept. 16, entry: Move to Italy cancelled indefinitely (unofficially).
Sun., Sept. 19, 1943—Orders to move at 6:00 tomorrow. We packed tents & equipment on trucks tonight.