Found My Dad's WWII Diary, Oct 1943 - Jan. 1945

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I have been wanting to put this up for relatives and friends to read if they so desire. This was written by hand in a tiny leather-bound tablet. GI's in WWII were really not supposed to keep a diary, but Daddy did anyway. I have typed it here just as it was written in the tablet. It is kind of long, but hope someone will find it interesting.

_________________

Sidi Ahamed, Africa

Bari, Italy

Gioia del Colle, Italy

            Having joined the Army Air Forces, October 28, 1942, and after training in San Antonio and Albuquerque, New Mexico, leaving the United States August 21, 1943, and now beginning this record October 1, 1943, I arrived in North Africa Sept. 4, 1943, and now beginning this record October 1, 1943, my nineteenth birthday:

Bizerte:

Fri. Oct. 1, 1943

           

The boys in the tent gave me 3 pks cigarettes, my only present. I played chuck buck & poker. Both games combined, I won about 7 bucks. I sent a postal money order to Mama, this 200 francs ($40). My day off is next Mon. Got a V-mail from Mama dated Sept. 16, ‘43.

Sat. Oct., 2, 1943

            Got up at 6 AM. Felt kind of sick all day. Got a V-mail from Mama dated 18th Sept. 43. Also a cable gram dated 24th Sept. Lost a buck & a half in a chuck-o-buck game and poker. Have guard tonite from 2 till 6 AM. Typed up Mama a V-mail and sent it.

Sun. Oct. 3, 1943

Stood guard this AM, sleepy as hell this morning. Wrote a letter to Willie this afternoon. Rumor has it that we will move soon. I have tomorrow off. I am going to Tunis soon. The name of this place is Sidi Ahamed. It’s 5 miles from Bizerte.

Mon. Oct. 4, 1943

Didn’t go to Tunis, felt bad. Had to get up early this morn to go to the latrine. Got a V-mail today date Sept. 20, 43. Got my first Caller-Times dated Sept. 22nd 43. Wrote Mama a V-mail tonite. Saw a show tonite but I had seen it before.

Tues. Oct. 5, 1943

Didn’t get any mail today. Looks as if we’ll be pulling out soon. HQ Sq. pulled out by plane this afternoon, don’t know where to, but I guess we’ll go to the same place.

Wed. Oct. 6, 1943

Wrote Mama a letter tonight but dated it the 7th. Got 2 V-mails, 1 written 21st & the other 22 Sept. 43. Saw a B-26 run off the runway today about 2 PM. Kind of mashed up. That made 2 B-26s in less than a hour that cracked up. Changed jobs today, took Tennessee’s place. PX day. Ate my 1st Baby Ruth in over 6 weeks. Had 2 shots today, small pox & typhoid. Thought I lost 100 Francs in PX line.

Fri. Oct. 29, 1943

Supply & HQ are in Italy. True love. Zillmer & I went to Tunis. Sure is nasty. We went off the alert. We got quite a stay here. We have a floor in our tent now. Built it last May. Still working for Clark. Got 3 V-mails today. All from Mama, dated 14, 16, & 17th Oct. 43. Yesterday had 2nds at PX. Wrote & mailed Jessie’s letter for the 2nd time this afternoon. Wrote Mama a letter this PM and will mail tomorrow. Hope we get paid Sunday. Rained like hell during chow. Thundering & lightning now. Muddy as hell outside.

Mon. Nov. 8, 1943

This is the worst day we have had since being in North Africa. Rains off and on & the winds blowing like hell. I got a letter from Mom dated the 14th Sept. & one from Dorothy Hoskins dated the 21st of Oct. In Mama’s letter there was a silver bracelet, I am very happy.

Thurs. Nov. 11, 1943

Send home 20 bucks this morning. 2 V-mails from Mama. I Air Mail from Sis. Mailed a letter to Ruby Lee Pair. Sea Hawk showed in the Mess Hall tonite.

Sun. Nov. 14, 1943

Everybody has today off. Had fried chicken for dinner today. My first in a hell of a long time. Washed up my socks and white stuff. No mail in several days. The Fighting 69th was on Fri. nite and Perry of the Planes was on last nite. Today was a dam nice day. Guess I have to read the Stars & Stripes, it just came in. Took in 3 pictures today. Saw “I Dood It” at the Mess Tent.

Tues. Nov. 16, 1943

I am guard tonite. 1st relief. 6 till 10. Still no mail since the 11th. Took a shot last nite. Also signed the payroll. Some more of the boys left today in the 17.

Wed. Nov. 17, 1943

Clark made Tech today. I guess he’ll be hard to get along with. It doesn’t look I’ll even made anything. Saw a show in the Mess Tent. No mail today. Said it has been going to Italy. PX Day today. My first Baby Ruth in weeks. Got 4 pks of good cigs for a change. Zillner on guard, 2nd relief.

Thurs. Nov. 18, 1943

Still no mail. Made office bigger. Got 2 more pks cigs & another pk of gum from PX today. Saw Virginia City in the Mess Tent.

Wed. Nov. 24, 1943

Tomorrow’s Thanksgiving. 21 turkeys. Got 3 letters yesterday and 3 tonite. Changed jobs yesterday, am back with ??? place. Went to the show last and tonite in the Mess Tent. It’s rumored President Roosevelt was in Tunis & Oran with some high German official. Some of the boys say they saw him in both places. This has been going around for a week now.

Tues. Nov. 25, 1943

Today is Thanksgiving. For dinner we had turkey, dressing, cranberries, gravy, peas, corn, beans, butter (real), candy, cake, pie, coffee, and an orange. They gave us a pk of cigs, box of candy, cigar. No mail at noon.

Tues. Nov. 30, 1943

I got some mail in the eve of the 25th. We quit work in the shop Fri. We moved out of our grounds where we had been camped since Sept. 9. Last Sun, at about 1 PM, went on board a LCT at the naval base in Bizerte lake. Stayed on the Ship in dock from Sun. eve till Tues. morn (today). We are going to Italy. Somewhere in the step of the boot, I think. This kind of craft is quite rough. I may get seasick. I hope I saw N Africa today for the last time. I believe we will end up in Bari Italy.

Wed. Dec. 7, 1943

The sea was kind of rough all day. The Island of Malta was on the starboard side all day. Felt kind of bad late this eve, but didn’t heave.

Thurs. Dec. 2, 1943

When we awoke this morn both Sicily & the Toe of Italy were on the port side a long way off. 10 o’clock now and the Toe is visible. There is a rather high mountain to be seen, looks pretty. The sea is OK this morning.

Sun Dec. 5, 1943

We are now at Bari, Italy. We got to Taranto, Italy on the 3rd, but we didn’t get off the boat till yesterday, the 4th, 3 months to the day that we got to N Africa. We came from Taranto to  Bari by truck. We got here yesterday eve. They had a big raid on the 2nd. Glass was in piles all over town. We had an alert yesterday eve late, but nothing came of it. We could get one tonite, the moon is right.

Bari, Dec 13, 1943 (Mon.)

Had an air raid tonite about 6:30. A lot of flares were dropped. A few fell in our area. We also had a raid on the 10th. We have had several alerts since getting to Bari on the 5th of Dec. They had a big raid Fri. the 3rd before we got here. 15 ships were sunk. An ammunition ship blew up. ???? says he feels as if the planes will be back tonite. (To hell with the bombs, I am going to bed.)

Gioia, Jan 2, 1944

We moved here from Bari, Dec 19, 1943. We have been living in barracks ever since we got here. We moved to a new set last week. We have had no air raids or alerts since moving here. The town is about a half mile walk north of the air drome.

Gioia del Colle, Mon. Jan 24, 1944

Today was my first day off. Went to town. Remember the 2nd 11th of Jan. They say I am going in Cpl the 1st of Feb. Hope I make it for Mama’s sake. The bomb group moved in last week. There’s a chance of a raid again now. The weather sure has been nice here for the past 2 weeks.

Wed. Feb. 9, 1944

2 days ago we had a nice snow. Last  nite I got a fountain pen from Sis & Ray. A Parker.

Wed. Feb. 17, 1944

It snowed pretty heavy this morning. It was all gone by this afternoon. Got a V-mail from Willie Schumacher last nite. Somewhere in England. I was counting on him coming here.

Sun Feb. 20, 1944

Went on guard last nite at 10 PM and got off at 2 AM this morning. Caught a cold during this shift. Had guard from 8 till 10 AM and from 2 till 4 PM. Feeling kind of bad this eve. Went to church tonite in the Mess Hall. Heard somebody from the office was up for a rating. Rumor has it we’re going home soon.

Feb. 21, 1944

Went back to work today. Still have my cold. 6 months ago today we left New York City and the States. The ground is kind of muddy yet. Wrote Sis and Ray a letter. Tomorrow is off from work for me. Bought a pistol last night, 16 bucks. Let a guy take it over to the 88th.

Gioia del Colle, Feb. 23, 1944

I was off today. Slept late. Got my fountain pen back from Mama. Think we will be leaving here soon.

Mon. Feb. 28, 1944

We have been restricted to the camp since last Fri. Fleas. Got a shave today, also a hair cut. I feel sick dam it. I bumped into the same wall twice last week, one nite after the other. I had a headache this afternoon.

Sun, 5 Mar 44

On guard today.

Tues. 21 Mar 44

On guard.

Fri. 24 Mar 44

The ground was white this morning. It also snowed yesterday morning.

Tues. 28 Mar 44

It snowed just a nice bit this morning. High wind for the last 2 days and cold as hell. It rained mud last week from Mount Vesuvius. The ash is still falling but it’s not so bad now. The ground is a hell of a lot blacker. Went to the show in Gioia tonite. Bob Hope in “They Got Me Covered.” Got a new DSN today 405. Typist Clerk.

Sun Apr 2, 1944

Took a roll of film today.

Sun Apr 9, 1944

Was on guard yesterday. Had my first cake since being overseas. Got our Bronze Star today.

Wed April 12, 1944

Early this morning 12:15 am, we had an air alert. I guess what I hear is true. The Jerries are trying to get this field. They have moved in AA guns, installed air raid sirens, and you now have to wear your steel helmets on guard. They even spread out the ships tonite. Yep, looks as if we might have a little trouble around here.

Thurs. April 13, 1944

A big list of ratings came out this morn. No use lying. I thought sure as hell I’d be on it. I know I was up for Cpl. My buddy Tus made Sg tho.

Sun Apr 23, 1944

Just got off guard this afternoon, tired & sleepy as hell. I understand we won’t have Sundays off anymore. From now on we go to the rest camp 3 days every 6 weeks. I guess the bomb group being here has something to do with that.

Sun April 30, 1944

This morning about 5:00 o’clock, the 464th Bomb Group left this field for their first mission, somewhere in Europe. On the way to the target, they encountered no opposition what so ever. When they returned in the afternoon, not a bomb had been dropped. What happened is not so clear to me, but the account I got was something like this: As the formation began the bomb run, the leader developed a leak in his oxygen system and failed to release his bombs. The rest, as they saw no bombs fall, did not drop theirs either. As they swung out on the run, and over the harbor, there were two ships below, yet still no eggs were laid. They then came home and didn’t run into any flak on the whole trip. Someone sure got an eating out, I heard. I have seen two Bomb Groups come and go at this field and both got took down a notch or two.

Tues. May 2, 1944

This morning about eight, 39 bombers went out. There seemed to have been another ball up somewhere. Only half the planes dropped their bombs. One forgot to open his bomb bay. From this raid, two aircraft are missing.

Mon. May 8, 1944

Had an alert at noon today and also tonite at 10:30. Must have been some Jerry planes over Bari.

Wed, May 10, 1944

On guard today, 2nd relief.

Thurs. May 11, 1944

This eve, during chow, we had an alert & had to get our helmet, gas mask, and gun. The planes were said to be 30 miles away. However, they didn’t come over. I guess they got stopped.

Mon. May 15, 1944

They shot down 2 planes -- last Thursday. I just heard today.

Thurs. May 18, 1944

PX tonite. Serviced planes last nite till midnite. They went on another raid this morning. None missing.

Tues. May 30, 1944

A little fireworks over Bari last nite. Had an alert here.

Sun. June 4, 1944

Went on a little trip this morning, a sort of sightseeing. Went to Naci, Putignans, Castellana, Monopoli, Polignans, and Bari, and home to Gioia.

Tues. June 6, 1944

Early this morning about 8, heard the long awaited day had come. We are doing well in Italy. One of our officers sighted the largest convoy he’d ever seen while flying from Africa to Italy. They will invade from Italy to France someplace.

10:50 PM Sat June 17, 1944

There are a lot of lights, spot lights over Bari right now and some flashes. Maybe they are having a raid.

Tues. June 27, 1944

Dam if I don’t think I am going crazy. Time sure is getting heavy on me. Just the same old thing day in and day out. Maybe I can make it. I just wonder when they are going to invade in Northern Italy behind the Germans.

Sat. 22 July 1944

Two days ago, 3 Germans escaped from the stockade and they were caught in the 88th area. That was last Wed. I had to stand guard from 12 till 3 AM Thurs. morning. Yesterday, Fri. about 1:15 PM the Mess Hall caught fire. While the fire was being put out, an air raid alert sounded. About 15 minutes later the all clear sounded and the fire was put out. This afternoon at 4:30 a plane just returning from a combat mission with one engine feathered, crash landed. No one was hurt too bad but the ship is a job for the salvage crew. Yesterday, 11 months ago, we left New York.

Sun 24 Sept. 44

Went to Bari yesterday to see the stage play, “The Barretts of Wimpole Street.” Didn’t see all of it because we had a seat in the back of the theater and couldn’t hear what was being said; that was yesterday. This morning Siebs and I went to the “Green House.” This afternoon General Beverly gave Col Seid the Bronze Star. He said we had received 800 planes, transit planes, and serviced them. The Col said we would be here at Gioia for the next nine months. We should leave this spot by June of 1945.

Tues. Sept. 26, 1944

Winter and the rainy season have already set in. Coldest this morning than it’s been all year.  Had big rain yesterday at noon. Looks like rain now. It did rain.

Fri. Sept. 29, 1944

Rain....

Sat. Sept. 20, 1944

Rain.

Sun. Oct. 1, 1944

Rain. Today is my birthday just like any other day. It rained all day. Changed to ODs today.

Wed. Oct. 18, 1944

On Sun Oct. 15 went on pass down to the Toe of Italy to Cosenza. Arrived there 5:30 PM Sun evening. Stayed Mon., Tues., and left Wed 18 Oct. at 9:30 AM for Gioia. Arrived at Gioia at 2:15 PM Oct. 18, 44. Cosenza is 150 miles away. Had a very nice time.

Fri. Oct. 20, 1944

Rained all last nite and today at noon it is a little cooler than yesterday. To feel good outside, one must wear a coat.

Fri. Oct. 27, 1944

Seibs and I rented the room in town tonite. Two rooms, 20 bucks a month. The no. is 90 on the Taranto Hiway.

Tues. Oct. 31, 1944

Paid up rent of month of Nov. tonite.

Thurs. Dec 21, 1946

Returned from San Spirito Rest Camp this afternoon about 3:30 PM. Seibs, Halbert, and I left for Rest Camp last Sat morn 16 Dec at 9:00 in the morning. While we were there we rented bicycles. Halbert fell and cut his nose, had to have two stitches taken in his nose. Also went up to Molfetta third day we were there. Got the best I’ve had in Italy Tues. at Biniti right across the hiway from the Rest Camp.

Thurs. 28 Dec 44

Ice this morning.

Fri. 29 Dec 44

Ice this morning, too.

Mon. January 1, 1945

Stayed  up until midnite last nite to see the New Year in. Got just a little tight. There was a little fight in the club at about 12:30 AM. When I went to bed it was snowing. When I awoke the ground was white. The snow was almost gone by dark tonite. It is snowing outside now, 8:30 PM.

Tues., Jan 2, 1945

About 2 inches of snow on the ground this morning. It took turns, snowing, hailing, and raining all morning. It’s raining now. God what a country!

Thurs. Jan 11, 1945

Started snowing last nite. Was three inches deep this morning. It stayed with us all day -- Tonite at about 5 PM they threw a line all the way around the field. Cy and I were on the north side. Had to fall out in full field equipment. They are expecting trouble from the Eyties. Intelligence reports they are going to burn the town hall in Gioia tomorrow. We are subject to call at any time and must fall in at our assigned spot in the line. In case of an alert, Cy and I have about 400 yds to run. -- I think 90% of the men hope trouble comes. They have a pent up feeling against these sons of bitches. So have I.

Jan 18, 1945

Went on sick call this morning. Was sent to the 41st ADG Hospital in Gioia. Will stay here all nite and go to 26 General Hospital tomorrow morning.

Jan. 19, 1945

Arrived 26 General Hospital this morning. Checked in at 2 AM.

Jan. 22, 1945

Was snowing this morning when I awoke. Am going back to the squadron today or tomorrow.

Jan 25, 1945

Got back from 26 General Hospital this afternoon.