MEMORIES OF WW2

MEMORIES OF WORLD WAR II

By Gilbert R. Kidd, 1922-2005
(as told to Kent Fletcher, grandson)

EARLY 1942… DRAFTED
He was drafted into the army. He was told he could get a deferment to help his dad (Earl Timms Kidd) get his crops harvested before he went into the army. But the individual at the draft board would not grant the deferment, so Gilbert decided to "pop" him. The individual was running around the table trying to get away from Gilbert and kept saying you cannot hit me, I am a government official! Grandpa Kidd (Earl) finally got him out of the office. He was drafted.

BASIC TRAINING
Gilbert boarded a train in OKC in early 1942, and the first stop was in the Arizona desert for training because he was to be deployed to North Africa to fight in the campaigns against the Axis powers there. During basic training he met a fellow soldier nicknamed ‘Rabbit’. Rabbit could make a very convincing animal call like a wounded rabbit hunting call, thus his nickname. Rabbit and Gilbert became fast friends and served in the same unit for the rest of the war. At the end of basic training Rabbit and Gilbert were allowed some leave time and went to Los Angeles for some R&R where Gilbert got two tattoos. One with Granny Kidd's name (Rachel) and one with his girlfriend at the time (it was not his future wife, Dorothy). The girlfriend's tattoo was a sore spot with Dorothy for years.

NORTH AFRICA
After basic training, Gilbert’s unit shipped out for North Africa off the east coast of the U.S. To help keep the troops in shape during the long sea trip, rope ladders were strung over the ship's mast. Soldiers had to climb up one side and down the other. Gilbert said it was quite scary with the ship rolling with the sea. He said you figured if the guy next to you could do it, you could too. Gilberts unit fought the north African campaigns which lasted until May of 1943. NOTE: It included campaigns fought in the Libyan and Egyptian deserts, and in Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia.
While in North Africa he and Rabbit would take a body bag and tie it to the jeep. They would then sell the bag to one of the locals and then drive off with the bag still attached. He said it was a wonder the locals had not used their large swords to retaliate.

SICILY
After North Africa, they were shipped to Sicily for the invasion of this island where Gilbert participated in the first amphibious assault of the war. He said the morning they were to load up in their landing crafts, the sea was very rough, and you had to time your jump when the landing craft rose up and down with the waves.

Some soldiers miss timed and broke bones jumping too far. In the rough seas, others fell between the landing craft and the ship and were crushed. Gilbert’s unit was in the third wave, but he said that the first three waves went in together so it did not matter. He was part of the first round of American soldiers to land on Sicily.

When the landing craft got close to the shore, the enemy shelling started. The navy sailor on the machine gun got scared and jumped down into the boat with them. Gilbert's officer told the sailor to get back up there and shoot back, but he wouldn’t do it.

As they approached the beach, they were going in facing direct fire from a German machine gun. The Navy landing craft veered away and skirted the gun to let its soldiers off to the side. However, as they turned away the German's machine gun sprayed down the side of the landing craft. Gilbert said the landing craft was being hit hard and the metal side of it was denting in from the machine gun bullets down the side just like a tin can. If the shells had ever broken through it would have killed them as they waited to jump.

When they hit the beach, they had been told to get off the beach as quickly as possible. As he ran up the beach, he noticed several soldiers were already down, so he tried to help some of them get up and get off the beach. He realized pretty quick, though, that the men he was trying to help were already dead.
(Kent Fletcher) One time grandpa wanted to see the movie “Saving Private Ryan” and since I had seen it, he asked me if I thought it would bring back bad memories of his war days. I told him yes, I thought it definitely would. Grandpa decided not to see the movie. (NOTE: Set during the Invasion of Normandy in World War II, this movie has graphic portrayals of similar beach assaults.)

They initially drove the Germans back on Sicily but knew they would counterattack. A group of American soldiers were supposed to blow the bridges to prevent the counterattack. They did not get the job done. The Germans counterattacked and were about to push the Americans back into the sea.

The U.S. Army then dropped in the 82nd Airborne for reinforcements.
(NOTE: The attacks by airborne troops were carried out just after midnight on the night of 9–10 July 1943, as part of the invasion.)
Gilbert said they didn’t know they were coming and thought they were German paratroopers, and they were shooting the paratroopers as they dropped from the sky. (Kent) When grandpa shared this story with me, he was watery eyed.) He said all this occurred because a group did not do their job of blowing the bridge.

ITALY
The 45th fought their way up Italy and Gilbert had several stories. I (Kent) asked Gilbert what his rank was while he was in the army. He said he was a private, a corporal, then a sergeant, and then a private again. He and Rabbit had a way of getting into trouble and would lose rank as a result. He said one night he and Rabbit played a trick on the Captain.
They cooked a dog one night they’d shot and then made a beeline to the Captain's tent and tried to ‘share’ the meat with him. They thought it was funny, but the Captain did not. He lost two stripes.

When in Naples he decided to take a bath. He told me that evidently the Germans were watching because as soon as he got in, the Germans started shooting at him. He only had time to grab his helmet and dive into his foxhole without his clothes.

On another adventure he and Rabbit decided to buy a grinder organ that was being pulled by a donkey. They wanted to try the organ out first before buying (wink wink). Gilbert was the donkey. They were on a steep hill and he lost control, so they ran. The organ crashed and wound up in pieces.

While in Italy he got to see R.J. (his brother) two different times who was also in the Army in an armored unit.

Gilbert was wounded once that he told me about. He had taken a bullet off his hand. It became Infected, but he did not want to get it looked at because he didn’t want to be removed from his unit. A colonel saw his hand wrapped up and asked him what was wrong. He told him and the colonel sent him to his doctor. Gilbert said it probably saved his hand, and he got to stay with his unit.

FRANCE/GERMANY/DACHAU
After Italy they thought they would be involved in the D-Day invasion at Normandy. But Gilbert’s unit was sent instead into France from the Mediterranean Sea in another amphibious landing. They fought to the town of Worms, along the Rhine River. They started at 4:00 am one morning and by 4:00 pm that afternoon their tanks were rolling into Germany. They had built a bridge across the Rhine in 12 Hours! (NOTE: This is in reference to March 1945 when a British engineering battalion was able to construct two bridge crossings across the Rhine in a very short time.)

Gilbert explained they had fought in North Africa, Sicily, Italy, France, and Germany. He said to put it plainly they were mean battle-hardened troops. He said it was a good thing too because of what they found in Dachau. He said even though they were hardened, experienced veterans, they could not believe what they saw when they liberated that camp. How could one human being do that to another. He said some people do not believe that Dachau, Auschwitz, and Nazi atrocities actually happened. Gilbert said it DID happen, he saw it with his own eyes.

END OF WAR
After the war ended in Europe, he had enough points to be discharged. The soldiers in Europe without enough points were being sent back to the states to be processed to go to Japan. Then, the war ended in Japan. He was sitting in Europe with enough points to be sent home and not sent to Japan. Around October he finally got on a ship headed to the states. They assigned 4 soldiers to 3 bunks, so you slept in shifts. He said you did not care if it was crowded and uncomfortable, you were going home!

When they finally sailed into New York Harbor by the Statue of Liberty, battle-hardened men were seen crying. He said you wondered the whole time if you would ever make it home and now you were back!

From New York he was shipped to Fort Chaffee, Arkansas. Once there if you were going home you were required to have an honorable discharge emblem, nicknamed the ‘ruptured duck’, sewn onto your uniform to be discharged. This was done at Fort Chaffee by captured German POWs brought to the US for service labor while they were imprisoned. It was late in the day and the POWs decided they were tired and the U.S. soldiers lined up to have their ‘ruptured ducks’ sewn on their uniforms were told to come back the next day. Gilbert said it took a little bit, but they ‘convinced’ the POWs they were not as tired as they thought.

From Arkansas, Gilbert hitch-hiked almost 300 miles to get home to Walters, Oklahoma.
HOME, SWEET HOME!

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	MEMORIES OF WORLD WAR II
	By Gilbert R. Kidd, 1922-2005 (as told to Kent Fletcher, grandson) EARLY 1942… DRAFTED He was drafted into the army. He was told he could get a deferment to help his dad (Earl Timms Kidd) get his crops harvested before he went into the army. But the individual at the draft board would not grant the deferment, so Gilbert decided to "pop" him. The individual was running around the table trying to get away from Gilbert and kept saying you cannot hit me, I am a government official! Grandpa Kidd (Earl) finally got him out of the office. He was drafted. BASIC TRAINING Gilbert boarded a train in OKC in early 1942, and the first stop was in the Arizona desert for training because he was to be deployed to North Africa to fight in the campaigns against the Axis powers there. During basic training he met a fellow soldier nicknamed ‘Rabbit’. Rabbit could make a very convincing animal call like a wounded rabbit hunting call, thus his nickname. Rabbit and Gilbert became fast friends and served in the same unit for the rest of the war. At the end of basic training Rabbit and Gilbert were allowed some leave time and went to Los Angeles for some R&R where Gilbert got two tattoos. One with Granny Kidd's name (Rachel) and one with his girlfriend at the time (it was not his future wife, Dorothy). The girlfriend's tattoo was a sore spot with Dorothy for years. NORTH AFRICA After basic training, Gilbert’s unit shipped out for North Africa off the east coast of the U.S. To help keep the troops in shape during the long sea trip, rope ladders were strung over the ship's mast. Soldiers had to climb up one side and down the other. Gilbert said it was quite scary with the ship rolling with the sea. He said you figured if the guy next to you could do it, you could too. Gilberts unit fought the north African campaigns which lasted until May of 1943. *NOTE: It included campaigns fought in the Libyan and Egyptian deserts, and in Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia.* While in North Africa he and Rabbit would take a body bag and tie it to the jeep. They would then sell the bag to one of the locals and then drive off with the bag still attached. He said it was a wonder the locals had not used their large swords to retaliate. SICILY After North Africa, they were shipped to Sicily for the invasion of this island where Gilbert participated in the first amphibious assault of the war. He said the morning they were to load up in their landing crafts, the sea was very rough, and you had to time your jump when the landing craft rose up and down with the waves. Some soldiers miss timed and broke bones jumping too far. In the rough seas, others fell between the landing craft and the ship and were crushed. Gilbert’s unit was in the third wave, but he said that the first three waves went in together so it did not matter. He was part of the first round of American soldiers to land on Sicily. When the landing craft got close to the shore, the enemy shelling started. The navy sailor on the machine gun got scared and jumped down into the boat with them. Gilbert's officer told the sailor to get back up there and shoot back, but he wouldn’t do it. As they approached the beach, they were going in facing direct fire from a German machine gun. The Navy landing craft veered away and skirted the gun to let its soldiers off to the side. However, as they turned away the German's machine gun sprayed down the side of the landing craft. Gilbert said the landing craft was being hit hard and the metal side of it was denting in from the machine gun bullets down the side just like a tin can. If the shells had ever broken through it would have killed them as they waited to jump. When they hit the beach, they had been told to get off the beach as quickly as possible. As he ran up the beach, he noticed several soldiers were already down, so he tried to help some of them get up and get off the beach. He realized pretty quick, though, that the men he was trying to help were already dead. (Kent Fletcher) One time grandpa wanted to see the movie “Saving Private Ryan” and since I had seen it, he asked me if I thought it would bring back bad memories of his war days. I told him yes, I thought it definitely would. Grandpa decided not to see the movie. (NOTE: Set during the Invasion of Normandy in World War II, this movie has graphic portrayals of similar beach assaults.) They initially drove the Germans back on Sicily but knew they would counterattack. A group of American soldiers were supposed to blow the bridges to prevent the counterattack. They did not get the job done. The Germans counterattacked and were about to push the Americans back into the sea. The U.S. Army then dropped in the 82nd Airborne for reinforcements. *(NOTE: The attacks by airborne troops were carried out just after midnight on the night of 9–10 July 1943, as part of the invasion.)* Gilbert said they didn’t know they were coming and thought they were German paratroopers, and they were shooting the paratroopers as they dropped from the sky. (Kent) When grandpa shared this story with me, he was watery eyed.) He said all this occurred because a group did not do their job of blowing the bridge. ITALY The 45th fought their way up Italy and Gilbert had several stories. I (Kent) asked Gilbert what his rank was while he was in the army. He said he was a private, a corporal, then a sergeant, and then a private again. He and Rabbit had a way of getting into trouble and would lose rank as a result. He said one night he and Rabbit played a trick on the Captain. They cooked a dog one night they’d shot and then made a beeline to the Captain's tent and tried to ‘share’ the meat with him. They thought it was funny, but the Captain did not. He lost two stripes. When in Naples he decided to take a bath. He told me that evidently the Germans were watching because as soon as he got in, the Germans started shooting at him. He only had time to grab his helmet and dive into his foxhole without his clothes. On another adventure he and Rabbit decided to buy a grinder organ that was being pulled by a donkey. They wanted to try the organ out first before buying (wink wink). Gilbert was the donkey. They were on a steep hill and he lost control, so they ran. The organ crashed and wound up in pieces. While in Italy he got to see R.J. (his brother) two different times who was also in the Army in an armored unit. Gilbert was wounded once that he told me about. He had taken a bullet off his hand. It became Infected, but he did not want to get it looked at because he didn’t want to be removed from his unit. A colonel saw his hand wrapped up and asked him what was wrong. He told him and the colonel sent him to his doctor. Gilbert said it probably saved his hand, and he got to stay with his unit. FRANCE/GERMANY/DACHAU After Italy they thought they would be involved in the D-Day invasion at Normandy. But Gilbert’s unit was sent instead into France from the Mediterranean Sea in another amphibious landing. They fought to the town of Worms, along the Rhine River. They started at 4:00 am one morning and by 4:00 pm that afternoon their tanks were rolling into Germany. They had built a bridge across the Rhine in 12 Hours! *(NOTE: This is in reference to March 1945 when a British engineering battalion was able to construct two bridge crossings across the Rhine in a very short time.)* Gilbert explained they had fought in North Africa, Sicily, Italy, France, and Germany. He said to put it plainly they were mean battle-hardened troops. He said it was a good thing too because of what they found in Dachau. He said even though they were hardened, experienced veterans, they could not believe what they saw when they liberated that camp. How could one human being do that to another. He said some people do not believe that Dachau, Auschwitz, and Nazi atrocities actually happened. Gilbert said it DID happen, he saw it with his own eyes. END OF WAR After the war ended in Europe, he had enough points to be discharged. The soldiers in Europe without enough points were being sent back to the states to be processed to go to Japan. Then, the war ended in Japan. He was sitting in Europe with enough points to be sent home and not sent to Japan. Around October he finally got on a ship headed to the states. They assigned 4 soldiers to 3 bunks, so you slept in shifts. He said you did not care if it was crowded and uncomfortable, you were going home! When they finally sailed into New York Harbor by the Statue of Liberty, battle-hardened men were seen crying. He said you wondered the whole time if you would ever make it home and now you were back! From New York he was shipped to Fort Chaffee, Arkansas. Once there if you were going home you were required to have an honorable discharge emblem, nicknamed the ‘ruptured duck’, sewn onto your uniform to be discharged. This was done at Fort Chaffee by captured German POWs brought to the US for service labor while they were imprisoned. It was late in the day and the POWs decided they were tired and the U.S. soldiers lined up to have their ‘ruptured ducks’ sewn on their uniforms were told to come back the next day. Gilbert said it took a little bit, but they ‘convinced’ the POWs they were not as tired as they thought. From Arkansas, Gilbert hitch-hiked almost 300 miles to get home to Walters, Oklahoma. HOME, SWEET HOME!

		To include your stories and other information in this site, Email us at Webmaster.
Comments, suggestions, additional info are always welcomed., Please contact: Webmaster