I like this reply Jack! It made me chuckle! It reminds me of the line my 11th AB friend told me, "we were always trying to introduce the japs to a few ounces of good old American steel!"

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...this army made up of ex-resistence men and named by the Prince Himself, became known as the STOOTTROEPEN(Stormtroopers).
Nulli Cedo = I'll give way to no one.

Scott

Good to have you back Jack, some of us were wondering if everything was okay. I missed your juicy stories. A sweet little nurse that would not let you go ? Thank you again for telling things as they were. Never thought about the absence of fraternizing, but but can that was to be expected. if you had been pow, you certainly won't have received cigarettes from the Japanese.

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Thank you Skip, all is well, one very pretty nurse that lives up the street from me stops to chat when she catches me outside, or at the market. She's single and drives a BMW, but I don't want to lead her on, I'd just break her heart. If she's a stalker, she's a very attractive one.

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All the Best
Jack

Jack,

How did your wife like living in the US when you first brought her over?

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Best Regards,
Not Slipdigit

Hello Jeff,

She thought California was great, she didn't care too much for Dakota, too cold for a city girl. In a small town like Parker back then, they didn't take well to newcomers, I never knew if it was her accent, or the fact they thought the hometown boy brought some alien from overseas into their circle of life. But, when we walked together, all the men's eyes would just about pop out of their heads, and all the plain Jane local girls hated her. looking back, I wouldn't have changed a thing.

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All the Best
Jack

Did y'all ever consider living in Australia?

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Best Regards,
Not Slipdigit

Yes, we once bought some waterfront property over there in '53 with harbor view of the Sydney Bridge, but the kids came along, good job over here, one thing leads to another. You know the married life as well as I do Jeff!

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All the Best
Jack

Yes I do. I'm trying to get my city-born wife to move to my family land outside a small town nearby. Not any success so far.

After firing the 75mm guns, did your ears ring and did it affect your hearing at the time?

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Best Regards,
Not Slipdigit

Jeff,

Yes, some, if you know when the weapon is going to be fired, or you are the one pulling the lanyard, you open your jaw to protect your eardrums, it helps some. A number of times deafening blasts stayed wth me for days, Old Macrobe put out a burst from a thompson right next to my left ear one night, that ear whistles and rings from time to time.

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All the Best
Jack

My wife's grandfather had a grenade to detonate next to his ear (there was a piece of steel between them) and it had a ringing in it until he died. I can appreciate what you mean.

Was the transfer out of artillery your choice or was it foisted upon you?

Friend of yours from back then?

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Best Regards,
Not Slipdigit

Great to see you back Jack!

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...this army made up of ex-resistence men and named by the Prince Himself, became known as the STOOTTROEPEN(Stormtroopers).
Nulli Cedo = I'll give way to no one.

Scott

Jeff,

We had more men than we had batteries, I was told to report for training in Alice Springs, Australia. The force was assembling to relieve the Aussies in New Guinea.

Macrobe was a First Sergeant that was with me for quite some time, until he lost his leg at Mindoro.

Hello Scott, it's good to be back.

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All the Best
Jack

At the time, did you want to stay with the guns?

Afterward, were you glad you got involved with what you did?

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Best Regards,
Not Slipdigit

I never considered the decibels aspect of the 75mn guns. I remember seeing guys on pictures holding their hands on their ears, but I never thought about the poor man who was to pull the lanyard. I'm learning everyday here.

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Well, at the time, I'd had my fill of Aussie canned corned beef and waiting for the japs to attack us again. I was also quite ready to even things up with the japs.

Alice springs was an outback wasteland to be training for the jungle, but we hadn't had a taste of what was to come.

I don't know if the word glad can be used, we were successful to a degree in most of what we had to do.

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All the Best
Jack

Amazing you went to Alice Springs. I was told that this place was built righ tin the middle of nowhere in central Australia. It must have been pretty boring there compared to Sydney and Darwin , but then again you weren't there for tourism so I guess you had plenty of things to do with the training.

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Yes Skip,

It would have been the perfect location to train for North Africa.

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All the Best
Jack

Oh, was it so bad? I mean , you weren't really in the ourtback among the kangaroos, or were you really in the middle of nowhere ?

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It was the word that came to mind at the time. I guess what I was asking was after the war, did you prefer to have stayed with the artillery or what transferred to. You seem to have answered my question.

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Best Regards,
Not Slipdigit

I'm guessing you were under Sixth and/or Eighth Armies. Did you ever have an occasion to see or meet Generals Geiger or Eichelberger? Or were you always fully aware where your chain of command went?

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Best Regards,
Not Slipdigit

I am trying to figure out "My wife's grandfather had a grenade to detonate next to his ear", How do you do that and survive. Can you give the rest of the story !

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Work Harder ! Millions on welfare are depending on you.