Late September, 1944--France--First Firing Position September 22

September 13-30, 1944--We are on the move at this time.  Drove on slippery and icy roads with the trailer, which kept sliding.  Drove all over the town of Burg-on-the-Vire, and slept outside of the town of Beaufort.  Raining hard tonight, and slept in my tent alone.

September 15--Drove up on reconnaissance to four miles from the front line. Drove over 120 miles, looking for a new position.  Later this evening, we moved up 25 miles.  We are five miles behind the line.

September 18--Drove through many small towns. Still raining, and the mud was so bad that I had to put chains on the Jeep.

September 19--Drove 250 miles from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.  Drove all along the front.  I was just a few miles from the Swiss border.  Was up on the line 20 miles from the town of Belfast. 

September 21--Drove about 60 miles to the 6th Corps Headquarters for some information.  Then drove to Vesoul "blackout".

September 22--Led our 12 guns and trucks up the mountainside to a position 15 miles from Belfort.  We traveled 108 miles today. From here, I can look over the border into Switzerland.  The Swiss towns have large white crosses painted on all the house tops. 

September 23--Drove to a town where we had observation, and waited all day for our guns to register. We now have our guns in position again, and are firing.  This was our first time to fire in France. 

September 24--We are now less than two miles from Switzerland up at the Observation Point.  We can see Belfort and Belfort Pass in the distance.  At midnight, we got shelled heavily.  I was scared stiff, and I could hear shrapnel flying all around me.

September 27-30--Drove to Mesh, and St. Hippilie.  Got shelled heavily.  Drove to an old French fort a mile from the front.  Moved to a new area one mile west of Montecheroux.  We are in the Vosges Mountain area, and Germans are holding the Belfort Gap.

Letters Home--Only two letters were sent from Robert during September 1944. See Previous Posts.