208206 TEC5. Alva Lee Grout US Army Troop D, 3rd Platoon 85th Cavalry Reconnaissance Regt. from:Kalona, Iowa Alva L. Grout served as a CW Radio Operator with 85th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squad Mechanized, Troop D 3rd Platoon, 5th Armored Division, 3rd Army. The Radio Operator installed and operated tactical field radio transmitting and receiving equipment. Sent and received messages by Morse Code CW ICW and tone signals. Received and transmitted CW, ICW, and tone signals at about 20 five letter random code groups per minute. We also performed 1st echelon maintenance. Troop D consisted of 23 men who worked together as a recon unit using 2 armored M8 cars, 1 light tank, 3 Jeeps and a supply truck. Initially from landing to Battle of the Bulge, we didn’t have a light tank, M8 75 MM howitzer, instead we had 3 Armored M8 cars. In January 1945, 3 new replacements and I were assigned to a new 75mm Howitzer M8 light tank which replaced one of our armored cars. We nicknamed the new tank “DaisyMae”. I had my choice between being a mechanic or a radio operator. I thought the radio operator would be easier.
I served in World War II in Europe with a Reconnaissance Unit of the 5th Armored Division. My specialty was CW Radio Operator and Turret Gunner in an M8 Armored Car across France and then in a 75mm Howitzer M8 light tank across Germany. The CW radio required the use of the Morse code and a telegraph key to send messages. A small cryptograph unit was used to scramble outgoing messages and descramble incoming messages. Our job in recon was mainly to gather information on location and movement of the enemy and check on roads and bridges ahead of the main attack forces.
We trained in May of 1943 at Camp Campbell, Ky. The normal army training period for a radio operator was 6 months. Because of the war, this timeframe and our training was completed in 3 months, or 12 weeks. It was rigorous and we trained into the evening. We later went to the Mojave Desert in California to practice maneuvers. Then we were stationed at Fort Dix in New Jersey in December 1944 near New Brunswick. This was just before going overseas to England. It took 2 weeks to go from New York Harbor to England in the crowded troop ship. We travelled a similar path as the Titanic in the North Atlantic; we were in a “Liberty Ship”. We had daily abandon ship drills. We were supposed to put on life jackets and go to where lifeboats were located, but we never actually loaded anything into the water. We never knew when it was the real thing because of German U-boats in the area. We were stationed 25 or 30 miles west of London and trained around Southhampton.
We entered the war in Normandy on July 24th, 1944 when the front line was 20 miles inland at St. Lo. We were part of General Patton’s 3rd Army. We landed 10 miles from Utah beach, 10 minutes towards Omaha Beach. Our landing was accompanied by a massive air attack on the front line at St. Lo. Over 2,000 planes, mainly B-24’s and B-17’s filled the sky flying in tight formation. The planes were bombing St. Lo. off the map. The planes kept returning to England to refuel. Then they would return and bomb more. The noise and smoke was a sight to see even 30 miles away. Our Division took part in the break-through at St. Lo and then helped to encircle the German forces in Normandy in the action known as the “Falaise Pocket”. One of my best friends was the Lieutenant of our Troop D and rode with me in the M8 Greyhound Armored car. I befriended him while we were in England. He was from South Carolina; 21 years old married with no kids. I was usually in the lead car all the way across France and Germany in a group of 4 men in each car. My 2nd day after landing in Normandy I heard a “whoosh” sound and the lieutenant’s head was gone, blown off by a German Bazooka. The traumatic part was that his head landed right into my lap. I had to clean up the inside of the armored car. Out of these original 4 crewmembers I was the only to make it home. The other 2 member made it all the way through France with me, one died in the Battle of the Bulge, the last guy went AWOL and had a mental breakdown and was sent home. The armored car had a crew of 4 GI’s, it was made by Ford. Another GI in our outfit was also hit as the German snipers targeted officers and he was riding with his hat on. Another close call was when I was in another armored car in Eastern France but close to Belgium. We had crossed into Belgium but I thought we were actually in France. I was in the lead M8 with another guy. I was always in the lead armored car because in artillery testing I was the only one of a few able to shoot some targets at a certain distance. This was even more eventful when you realize I didn’t have the military training that some of the other members of Troop D did. I always have wondered if some of them messed up on purpose to miss being in the lead car. Anyway, this time in France Our Gun on top of the M8 jammed. A replacement Gi was manning our turret gun, I explained to him that the leather pouch on the side of the gun was for the empty shells that would eject from the gun, and if it filled up it would jam the Browning. The replacement was trained as the same facility as I was, at the Mojave Desert in California. This leather pouch must remain clear and emptied every once in a while, otherwise it would jam the gun. The gun became jammed and I asked our Driver to pull over so I could figure out the gun. The armored car that took my place in the lead was blown up just a minute later when we rounded a corner in Ernee, France. A German anti-aircraft gun, 88 mm was horizontal hidden in the town square. The first shell went right through the lead tank killing everybody inside. A second shell hit it again and ignited the shells in the M8. 4 of my friends were killed. I believe that was the time I felt was my closest call in my whole war experience.
I had a guy in my Troop D that was a short thin red-haired guy that was a goof-off. I was always worried that “Skeeics” was his nickname was going to shoot me. Skeeics rode behind me when we were en-route and traveling in the armored cars. I was always telling him to point his gun to the left or right, not to point it in front of him, or right at my rear. We always rode with the safety off. We would get into some really intense discussions about this. One time we were pulling into a French dairy farm to spend the night and Skeeics machine gun went off near me. I really yelled at him and he laughed it off saying he missed me by a lot. Skeeics died at the Battle of the Bulge.
On August 30th, 1944, we were thrilled to be part of the liberation day parade in Paris. The French underground had liberated the city a few days before. Our vehicles were 4 wide going down the Champs-Élysées, and I was in our M8 Armored car, 3 vehicles from the front of the parade. The French people love a parade, and they gave us a tremendous welcome. When the German army came into Paris, the French didn’t fight, but just surrendered because they didn’t want their beautiful city damaged by war.
We would go fishing while in Europe. We would throw a grenade into the water and fish would be stunned and come to the surface.
About 2 weeks after leaving Paris and traveling through a corner of Belgium and across the tiny country of Luxembourg, we reached the German border. A few days later on September 14th, 1944, we were part of a small combat unit that crossed the German border from Luxembourg. I believe this action made world headlines a few days later. Also Patton ordered this penetration as a diversionary tactic. We entered Germany and camped on a hill and we could view German troops and Tank’s covered in camouflage. There were around 100 American Soldiers. One of my friends in our jeep “Tex” Donald Rosson from Kerrville, Tx was a Rambo type of guy and volunteered to sneak into town and check it out. He was really gutsy; he said “I’ll find out”. He was with 2 other soldiers. They simply drove into a small town, Small town west of Trier. I remember most of the town’s people had left but a few stayed behind and were waving white stuff, sheets and such to surrender. Tex and 2 other Soldiers drove over a bridge, into town and grabbed a soldier off the street and threw him over the hood of the Jeep and drove back to camp. The German soldier who looked about 16 years old didn’t talk at first. He was beaten and kicked, then started talking and told them that the concrete bunkers were not armed because the soldiers had been diverted to Russia. I guess they had no idea that Americans were that close to them. We stayed 2 days, and were pushed back to our lines I had a lot of concern for getting my tent. Each pup-tent was shared by 2 soldiers with each soldier having been issued a side. I had wrangled 2 halves so I had a tent all to myself. When the Germans countered after 2 days, we left in such a hurry that we basically left most of our supplies at that camp site on the hill, and I was upset I had to leave my tent behind. I hastily rolled it up and tied to the back of our Jeep. That night I set it up I could see bullet holes through the tent. Our border crossing was a 3 mile penetration through lightly manned concrete bunkers of the Siegfried Line. This was when another war-time close call happened. This was the 3rd time was when I was in a Jeep on a reconnaissance trip that earned his group of no more than 100 men world fame by being the first group of American soldiers that entered into Germany. This close call involves them leaving Germany on that episode we were being chased by the Germans when we retreated back into Luxembourg. We were only 1/8 of a mile behind us and shells were whizzing about us. At some point General Patton has issued direct orders to attack the town. Our commander at the time knew it would have been suicide and Patton was doing it for political reasons. It was a political move to divert attention from the facts that lead up to the movie “A Bridge Too Far”; Attention was diverted from the bridges to Allied action at German borders. Our commander Captain Carlson was defied orders and wouldn’t take his men in because they were so outnumbered, we were recon and had no infantry with us. Carlson saved all of our lives; he was later demoted to a tank driver after refusing to obey orders. He wasn’t sure if the German line was armed and by what force. Americans would not be in Germany until February 1945.
I remember thinking when we got into France from Omaha Beach that the war would probably be over in a matter of weeks. We were advancing at such a great pace but what happened is our supply lines were so stretched, we couldn’t get food and gas to the front lines fast enough, at least as fast as the soldiers were moving. Another difficulty was the black market of goods at that time. When the transportation trucks carrying gas for vehicles on the front lines, by the time they arrived they were mostly only half full of gas. It was thought that the negro drivers were selling gas to the French or Belgium people for a high price along the way, but I think all the drivers were doing it, black and white. The French people had not had gas for 4 or 5 years since the beginning of the war. Also Patton and Montgomery were feuding; the British Commander Montgomery hadn’t completed the conquest that had been expected of them. The British in general were more conservative in their troop advances. All of the supplies were coming in on ships but there were not really any good ports to enter, the best being Antwerp, Belgium as about the main and only port. The ports around Holland were still controlled by the Germans. I believe Germany made a mistake invading Russia because the Russians were ruthless. Sending Troops into Russia spread German troops thinner, thus contributing to them losing the war. The Germans were also at a disadvantage because they didn’t have the winter survival skills the Russians had. The Germans still had horses in their army due to the lack of gas.
Our 5th Armored Division was then sent North into Belgium to join the 1st Army. The “Battle of the Bulge” followed in mid-December. Our Division was on the North edge of the bulge in Belgium near the German border. The Battle of the Bulge started at 5:30 on December 16, 1944 when a lightening counterattack by 3 German Armies under the command of Field Marshal Gerd Von Rundstedt swept across the northern half of The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg into Belgium, with Antwerp as the objective. The assault, under cover of fog and rain, was initially very successful; opening a 45 mile-wide front, penetrating 60 miles at its farthest point. To stem this onslaught the U.S. 3rd Army, under the command of Lieutenant General George S. Patton Jr., was diverted from the Saar region of France. Swinging north his troops re-liberated northern Luxembourg and relieved, on December 26th 1944, the forces at Bastogne, Belgium. The U.S. 1st Army, of which we were attached now, fighting to the North, met with Patton’s 3rd Army on January 16th 1945 at Houffalize, Belgium. The weather, the enemy artillery and the casualties on both sides were unbelievable. This was Hitler’s last push even though they were losing the war. It was a large awful battle, fought in deep snow and record cold weather. I remember seeing dead soldiers being stacked up like cords of wood. I was in Troop/ Company D, our Troop A or Company A suffered %50 casualties in this battle. I spend a lot of time in a fox hold that I had dug. One time an officer came by and woke me up, there was so much artillery that there I counted 132 rounds going off per minute. The battle lasted 2 weeks. That was some of the coldest night I have ever experienced.
Later in January 1945, what was left of our Recon Unit was privileged to spend about 10 days with a farm family in Holland to recuperate and reorganize. We slept in the hay-mow next to the dairy cows. This was heaven compared to where we had been recently. The farmer’s three teen-aged daughters were also a welcome sight for all of us.
In Holland, our Division joined the 9th Army and headed East across North-Central Germany. When we entered Germany in the Spring we came up on an abandoned concentration camp at Bergen Belzen. I wanted to stop and get a fresh ½ side of a tent. I put my ½ tent up against the armored car, and it had gotten sprayed with bullet holes previously. The tires on the armored car were hit, but tires during war were made to seal over. We came across the recently liberated concentration camp at Bergen-Belzen. The fighting was about over once we crossed the Rhine River. We could run into German soldiers who wanted to surrender to the Americans instead of the Russians because the Russians would just shoot them. Unfortunately the Americans because they had no way to getting prisoners from the front lines back, would have to go ahead and shoot them, I myself never did. The officers in charge would always ask for volunteers for this. There were always some idiots who would volunteer.
We were stopped at the Elbe River about 45 miles west of Berlin on orders from 9th Army and told to wait for the Russians coming West. This was about 3 weeks before the war ended. The Elbe River had been agreed on by Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin as the meeting line of the 2 armies. The Elbe river bridge was blown up anyway so we couldn’t cross easily. From here I went to see the Buchenwald Camp. I wasn’t present when it was liberated, but I was there recently afterwards. I took 3 rolls of pictures of Jews, building, etc. I took the film to a town in Germany to be developed but the shop told me the film didn’t turn out, but he did give me a couple pictures of buildings. I’m sure this was done because he didn’t want the pictures going to the U.S. and being circulated. I have a stack of horrible concentration camp pictures that I bought along with a German Luger. I had another gun, but I sold it. From Buchenwald, I traveled to Paris and other places and eventually left to New York via Antwerp, Belgium in December. I was in Europe 2 years almost exactly.
About 7 months after the war ended, we were on our way home. One of the most welcome sights of my 3 years in service occurred on a cold, foggy morning on December 12th 1945 when the troop ship we were on sailed into New York Harbor and the Statue of Liberty came into view. It had been 2 years to the day since we had left the same harbor. The Harbor tug boats pulled us in and anytime troop ships arrived all the tug boats welcomed the troop boats with long continued blasts of their fog horns. It was incredibly loud! In summary, I feel very fortunate to have survived this conflict and to be here with you tonight 49 years later.
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