Death Under Our Bomers
On April 5 we were marched near Nuremburg and were taking a ten-minute break. The German colonel extended the break to forty minutes and we started eating a few items of food which we had. I had a raw cabbage which had been given me. Stoney and I took some of the cabbage, some raw carrots, onions, and beets and cut them up in a salad. We also had bread and water.
As we finished we heard the air alarm and then saw our B-17's and B-24's coming our way. We all hit the dirt and waited. The first wave moved in and dropped their loads about five hundred yards from us. We could hear the bombs rushing down and felt the earth tremble when they hit. I got up and seeing Lt. Johnson from Birmingham, Alabama, who was formerly a radio announcer, standing there I walked over and asked him, "Is it easier sweating it out if you can see them?"
He said it was, so I stood by him during the next few minutes.
We gave a play by play description of what took place. The second wave moved in and we saw the marker leave the plane so we hollered, "Bombs away!" and then "Down, down, down, down, they hit." We could see the trail of smoke from the planes to the ground.
The second wave hit nearer. We could see the trail of smoke made by the bombs. The third moved in nearer and then the fourth and fifth came quickly. Each time we saw the marker and then down, down, down and then the explosion. The earth would shake, the buildings would fall apart and smoke rise up in the air. The fifth wave hit an ammunition plant about one hundred fifty yards away. The sixth wave dropped back on one of the other targets. The seventh wave hit the ammunition
plant again and must have had all incendiaries for the plant caught on fire. It looked like a fountain of fire for many hours.
The eighth wave, instead of coming in from left to right, came in from the front. Ack-ack had been breaking around the planes and some of our number were ducking falling flak. We stood there and called to this wave of bombers, "Move over, move over," for they were coming straight at us. Then we called out "Drop them, drop them," but we never saw a marker and then the planes were over us and we could hear the bombs coming down on us. The shrill, whistling noise will never be forgotten.
There were several bomb craters near by but I did not have time to get to one so I stayed on top of the ground. I hit the ground near a tree and everything broke loose. The earth shook! I went up and down and it seemed my ear drums would burst. I could feel rocks and dirt being thrown over me. The bombs hit hard and fast around us.
I wondered how I would feel being torn apart or dashed out into eternity. During it all I knew whether I lived or died I would be in the hands of God.
I opened my eyes but the dust and smoke limited my vision to fifteen or twenty feet. Then the ninth wave moved in and hit the target and then the tenth wave repeated what the eight had done. This time I got in a bomber crater and it was not as bad although several bombs hit near by.
After a few seconds, I crawed out and looked around. I saw a number of lifeless bodies. I wanted to run, hide, fly or anything to get away. I didn't think I could stand it -- then someone called out, "Water, water!" I thought, "I can give him my water," and I started. After that everything became natural. The Army had so trained us that in times like that we just acted. I went from man to man doing what I could. The guards moved all of the able-bodied out and left thirteen of us there to care for the wounded and deceased - four chaplains, three medics, and six others. We worked for an hour and a half and got about forty men on trucks and back to a hospital where we knew an American medic was stationed. Then we worked for two and a half hours on identification of the dead.
As we finished we heard the air alarm and then saw our B-17's and B-24's coming our way. We all hit the dirt and waited. The first wave moved in and dropped their loads about five hundred yards from us. We could hear the bombs rushing down and felt the earth tremble when they hit. I got up and seeing Lt. Johnson from Birmingham, Alabama, who was formerly a radio announcer, standing there I walked over and asked him, "Is it easier sweating it out if you can see them?"
He said it was, so I stood by him during the next few minutes.
We gave a play by play description of what took place. The second wave moved in and we saw the marker leave the plane so we hollered, "Bombs away!" and then "Down, down, down, down, they hit." We could see the trail of smoke from the planes to the ground.
The second wave hit nearer. We could see the trail of smoke made by the bombs. The third moved in nearer and then the fourth and fifth came quickly. Each time we saw the marker and then down, down, down and then the explosion. The earth would shake, the buildings would fall apart and smoke rise up in the air. The fifth wave hit an ammunition plant about one hundred fifty yards away. The sixth wave dropped back on one of the other targets. The seventh wave hit the ammunition
plant again and must have had all incendiaries for the plant caught on fire. It looked like a fountain of fire for many hours.
The eighth wave, instead of coming in from left to right, came in from the front. Ack-ack had been breaking around the planes and some of our number were ducking falling flak. We stood there and called to this wave of bombers, "Move over, move over," for they were coming straight at us. Then we called out "Drop them, drop them," but we never saw a marker and then the planes were over us and we could hear the bombs coming down on us. The shrill, whistling noise will never be forgotten.
There were several bomb craters near by but I did not have time to get to one so I stayed on top of the ground. I hit the ground near a tree and everything broke loose. The earth shook! I went up and down and it seemed my ear drums would burst. I could feel rocks and dirt being thrown over me. The bombs hit hard and fast around us.
I wondered how I would feel being torn apart or dashed out into eternity. During it all I knew whether I lived or died I would be in the hands of God.
I opened my eyes but the dust and smoke limited my vision to fifteen or twenty feet. Then the ninth wave moved in and hit the target and then the tenth wave repeated what the eight had done. This time I got in a bomber crater and it was not as bad although several bombs hit near by.
After a few seconds, I crawed out and looked around. I saw a number of lifeless bodies. I wanted to run, hide, fly or anything to get away. I didn't think I could stand it -- then someone called out, "Water, water!" I thought, "I can give him my water," and I started. After that everything became natural. The Army had so trained us that in times like that we just acted. I went from man to man doing what I could. The guards moved all of the able-bodied out and left thirteen of us there to care for the wounded and deceased - four chaplains, three medics, and six others. We worked for an hour and a half and got about forty men on trucks and back to a hospital where we knew an American medic was stationed. Then we worked for two and a half hours on identification of the dead.
posted by News at 9:31 AM
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