FINDING THE GERMANS

One reconnaissance trip made an indelible impression on the Allies and brought back the reality that the Germans were indeed still in the area. Two soldiers had been sent ahead to scope the area. Marching quietly into town, the soldiers were amazed at the amount of German items still scattered on the ground. The buildings in the town circled around the center marketplace. German guns and tanks sat in the center of the town. Building by building the soldiers hid in the shadows and moved slowly along. Nothing. Finding a hedge along one side of the town, the soldiers advanced and then quietly looked through the green wall. Right in the middle of town, not far from the Allies were completing their mission sat a group of German soldiers eating lunch.

The soldiers froze and decided to return to base. Just as they moved back to disappear out of sight from the Germans, they were spotted and shots rang out. By the time they were discovered the two-man reconnaissance team had put enough distance between them and the Germans that the shots missed. Pressing onward in the direction of camp, the men had one goal. Make it safely back to camp without being shot. The Germans had made it safely to their tanks and were determined to not let the two Americans get away. The huge 88 mm canon was pointed directly towards the departing soldiers. The Allies had one advantage. The German engineering was behind the construction of the American tanks. German tanks could only shoot in one direction and only after the first shot had been fired could the direction of the tank cannon change. This one small factor gave the Allies the advantage and the soldiers were able to stay out of range and make it safely back to camp.