St. Hilairc ... LaChapelle Rainsouin

The afternoon of August 5 brought our first daylight air raid as the Battery escorted the 731st Field Artillery Battalion with their 155mm Long Tom cannons through St. Hilaire - about 16 miles east of Avranches. There was no warning but the sudden crackle of German machine guns as a flight of Messerschmitts (ME-109's) swooped low over the convoy with their guns blazing. Although Battery gunners were boxed in by buildings along the street, they filled the air with tracers and appeared to score some hits before a flight of American P-47 Thunderbolts roared by in pursuit of the Germans.

Steel slugs from the ME-109's had raked the street and left some holes in our equipment but we suffered no casualties.

Fortune was less favorable that night. The Luftwaffe on its evening patrol spotted the Battery's supply trucks still on the road at 2300 and plunged to the attack with bombs and bullets. Our cook, Staff Sgt. Oscar Nigle, was killed almost instantly, his kitchen truck damaged, and his kitchen crew severely shaken up by the bomb concussions.

An hour and a half later, bombers located the main groups of the Battery dispersed around the 155mm Long Toms a few miles away. Flares from the bombers, hanging by small parachutes, glowed like golden balls of fire, illuminating our positions with a pitiless glare. Above the glare we could hear the uneven throb of the bombers' engines as they circled overhead.

Then came the bombs! As I frantically tried to scoop out a foxhole with my folding shovel, two trucks carrying 155mm shells were hit and began to explode. The whine of hurtling fragments from the large shells added to the din and the danger of the falling bombs. Meanwhile, following strict orders not to fire at aircraft at night, the Battery's guns remained silent. Some men sought shelter in adjoining hedgerows, some in foxholes, some just hugged the ground, and others sat in their half-tracks cursing the falling bombs.

Almost miraculously, it seemed, our crews were unscathed although the artillery troops were not as fortunate and sustained several casualties.

On August 7, we advanced through Fougeres and Mayenne to La Chapelle Rainsouin, arriving there at dusk. It was soon discovered that there was no one between the artillery and the German infantry so the Battery's half-tracks were deployed for ground defense. About midnight, orders came to pull back three miles since a German tank-led counterattack was expected and our tanks would move in where we were. Later on, we could hear some of the ensuing battle before dawn, and when we moved forward the next morning we saw that our previous positions had been overrun by the Germans before they were intercepted and driven back by our armor and infantry.