I was watching yet another military documentary last night when I heard this little ditty that I thought was interesting enough to share with you good folk on here In March 1945, Patton sent a load of American troops with tanks and the like on a rescue mission some 60 odd miles beyond the fronline to rescue his son in law Lt. Col. Waters who was being held in a POW camp near Hammelburg. The raid turned into a bit of fiasco by all accounts. Patton's Son in Law had to be left behind due to him being shot in the initial attack on the camp. All the men involved in the rescue mission were eventually surrounded and were told to break up into small groups and try and make it back to Allied lines on their own. Consequently most of them were either killed or captured. The ironic thing in the story which kind of proves it to have been a waist of time. American units reached the camp a week later as they advanced into Germany. The Task Force breaking into the camp Further details: Task Force Baum - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia One can only imagine how pleased Eisenhower was when he found out about this Cheers Andy
One reason why we will have to get your addicted to the magazine Andy ..... sublimital message - subscribe , subscribe , subscribe .:p:p From my limited read on the subject they ended up having to retreat and some of the attacking force ended up as POW's. ( More than a few it seems ! Most of them.) Had it come off everyone would have been a hero and Ike would have been well pleased.
Does anyone know the circumstances under which Lt. Col. Waters was captured? For an screaming eagle to get caught, the battle involved must have been a rather nasty struggle.
Here you go matey, I don't think he was airborne though. Waters was captured in Tunisia at Dejebel Lassouda when Nazi-German forces attacked Sidi bou Zid during World War II. Further info on his career: John K. Waters - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Cheers Andy
Does anyone know the circumstances under which Lt. Col. Waters was captured? For an screaming eagle to get caught, the battle involved must have been a rather nasty struggle. I had typed a nice long explanation and, well, it disappeared as I was nearly finished with it... You'll have to settle for this. He was in his command post on the southern edge of the Dejebel (hill or mountain) Lessouda, when a formation of the 10 Panzer Division swept around the hill and fell upon the US forces. The disposition of the US forces were such that the units occupying other dejebles in the area were not mutually supportive of each other. His command group and the group of Col Moore of the 168th IR (the two units were mixed together on the hill) were brought under fire and were lost or dispersed. He was forced to hide from German probes and during the night, he stepped out from his hiding place under an overhang, thinking he heard footsteps from one of his own officers. They were a German patrol of 7 men and two Arabs. They fired their weapons at him as they spun around, barely missing him.
Here you go matey, I don't think he was airborne though. Cheers Andy U.S. Colonels are sometimes referred to as Screaming Eagles because of their rank insignia (of course, an eagle :p).
Ahh I see what you mean but I thought American Colonels were referred to as full bird Colonels as the Lt Col. (The rank below) was a gold leaf thingy like the American Major ensignia which is what Patton's SiL was at the time of capture. Cheers Andy
Ahh I see what you mean but I thought American Colonels were referred to as full bird Colonels as the Lt Col. (The rank below) was a gold leaf thingy like the American Major ensignia which is what Patton's SiL was at the time of capture. Cheers Andy Full bird is correct. It slang that is used to differentiate between Colonels and Lt Colonels. You can also hear them referred to as Full Bull Colonels. Screaming Eagles is a nickname for the 101st Airborne Division, due to eagle on the divisional patch they wore.
Full bird is correct. It slang that is used to differentiate between Colonels and Lt Colonels. You can also hear them referred to as Full Bull Colonels. Screaming Eagles is a nickname for the 101st Airborne Division, due to eagle on the divisional patch they wore. Roger that. I stand corrected.
My father Lt. James Clingan was in the camp and was recaptured the next day in a tree. He had a conversation with Major Stiller who was sent by Patton because he knew Col. Waters. The Germans found his diary on the ground and got mad after reading it but he denied owning it.
