WW2 Vet George Perrine's Story PART 2
PART 2
FORWARD:
We were lucky enough to meet this fine fellow - George Perrine, United States Army, 2nd Armored Division – on D-Day 70th anniversary, 2014. He is sharing his story, in his own words, of his time during the war.
It is a long tale so we will be posting it over a few days so look for the rest of the story.
By George Perrine
After being wounded by shrapnel when my armored car was destroyed from anti-tank gun fire I was evacuated for treatment.
I was hit by four pieces of shrapnel. One piece penetrated my left leg on the shin and lodged in the calf area. Another small piece lodged in my left shoulder, another ripped off the top of my left thumb. The most serious and unusual wound was the large piece that penetrated the left chest area. The piece lodged between ribs but did not penetrate the lung. The next thing I knew, I had been evacuated back to the coast and was on a litter on the tank deck of an LST on the way back to Bone, Algeria.
I was treated in an army general hospital and a convalescent hospital July through September, 1943 and returned to the division. The 2nd Armored Division had always been committed to the cross channel invasion of France and the campaign in Siciliy was of short duration. The two echelons of the division sailed from Paermo, Sicily and Oran, Algeria. The two convoys joined up off Oran, departed the Mediterranean Sea and arrived in Liverpool, England, on Thanksgiving Day Eve, 1943, to our new home at Tidworth Barracks. It was a pleasure to get under roof after living for a year in the field.
By late May, we were aware our stay in England would end soon. All leave and furloughs were cancelled by June 1st. Last minute equipment checks were held, and we were told to get rested, “It’s time to move.” June 6, we moved out to the assembly area at the port of Southampton. The huge air fleet of American and British planes filled the sky all night June 5-6 and all day June 6. We knew this was not a dry run but the real thing.
The division moved into a wire-enclosed area and there was only one way out and that led to a loading dock onto a landing craft heading for a beachhead in Normandy. We boarded our LST on D+1, June 7th, and sailed that evening, taking 18 ½ hours to cross the channel and anchored off Omaha Beach. There was not much that could be seen from the LST deck. There was too much smoke and dust. After we moved in closer and anchored, we could see most of the smoke and dust was the result of army engineer units cleaning up y low tide, the ship was setting high and dry. The water receded 500-600 yards from the stern of the ship. Again we landed without getting the wheels of the vehicles wet. Still, that waterproofing had to be removed.
Our designated assembly area had not been captured at that time, so we assembled along a dirt road for the night, de-waterproofed all vehicles and were fully prepared for combat by midnight.
The Normandy Beachhead was always within range of German artillery. Most of it was unobserved, but still deadly if you happened to be in the area under fire. You soon learned to avoid the “hot spots” or move through the area at top speed. The main use of the reconnaissance companies was patrolling the roads behind the front ad acting as military police directing traffic. On occasion, we were inserted into the line as backup troops in any area threatened by the German attack. All remaining time was used in training, some of which was very deadly, like clearing German minefields.
The relatively safe stay in Normandy ended July 25, with the beginning of “Operation Cobra” the “St. Lo Break Out.”
However, prior to entering combat in “Operation Cobra,” the division received a 15 percent increase in personnel as a replacement for anticipated casualties during the coming campaign.
Continued…… Excerpt from next chapter – “My worst day of combat was August 8th, 1944. Our new objective was to reconnoiter a route to Barenton.”
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