William B. Hanford - A Dangerous Assignment: An Artillery Forward Observer in World War II

The Stackpole Military History Series

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GENERAL MILITARY HISTORY

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Guerrilla Warfare

An Artillery Forward Observer
in World War II

William B. Hanford

STACKPOLE
BOOKS

Copyright 2008 by William B. Hanford

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10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Hanford, William B.

A dangerous assignment : an artillery forward observer in World War II / William B. Hanford.

p. cm. (Stackpole military history series)

Includes index.

ISBN 978-0-8117-3485-1

1. Hanford, William B. 2. United States. Army. Infantry Division, 103rd. 3. United States. ArmyRadiomenBiography. 4. World War, 19391945Scouts and scouting. 5. World War, 19391945CampaignsWestern Front. 6. World War, 19391945Personal narratives, American. 7. Radio operatorsUnited StatesBiography. 8. SoldiersUnited StatesBiography. I. Title.

D769.3103rd .H36 2008

940.54'1273092dc22

[B]

2008004306

eBook ISBN: 978-0-8117-4636-6

W e young men in the World War II generation grew up in the twenties and were fascinated with World War I. We saw dozens of movies about it, and most veterans of that war had thick picture books filled with photos of shell-wrecked buildings, huge cannons, three-winged German warplanes, and trenches. But we were most thrilled by photos of a place called no-mans-land.

In the First World War, no-mans-land remained unchanged for months, and the deep shell-holes, barbed wire, and brokenlimbed leafless trees faced by men in rat-infested trenches became familiar to us kids. We learned that observers in that war were up in balloons above or behind the trenches, and that pilots brave enough to fly into heavy machine-gun fire from the trenches vied to become a different kind of ace by shooting down large numbers of those balloons, though none of them became famous like Eddie Rickenbacker or the Red Baron.

In World War II, no-mans-land became the bailiwick of the forward observer. It was usually several miles across, and often the only soldiers dug in were those manning the outpost lines (OPLs). In my experience, the main lines of resistance (MLRs) for both armies were towns or concrete bunkers, more often than foxholes or trenches.

A 105-millimeter howitzer battery had five officers: battery commander, executive officer, intelligence officer, motor officer, and forward observer (FO). All but the executive officer occasionally went to observation posts (OPs), but only the FO went to OPs in no-mans-land, and only the FO went forward with the infantry on an attack into no-mans-land. The FOs duty, when on an attack, was to call for artillery fire when the infantry got pinned down by enemy defenses. The longer a column was pinned down, the greater were the casualties; therefore, competent and brave FOs were a blessing to infantrymen.

Offensives, when planned, were seldom expected to last more than two to three weeks. When the unitcompany, battalion, regiment, division, corps, or armyreached its goal or found it too costly to continue the advance without a resupply, it would stop and dig in.

Supporting units, the rear echelon, would then bring up army and corps headquarters, field hospitals, ammunition and fuel dumps, ordnance and motor repair, transportation corps, laundry, and field shower companies, along with many other lesser units, such as lice control. All such supporting personnel were necessary to the war effort. These outfits would locate in a central city, usually within fifty miles of the front, while the infantry spread out in two front linesan outpost line and a main line of resistancewith artillery battalions two to three miles back.

Between the outpost line and the enemy was no-mansland. When the war was static, the two sides were either building better defenses or preparing for the next offensive. During this time, the FO was looking for the highest ground from which he could see enemy movement, often in or near his infantrys OPL. If this required going into no-mans-land, he was expected to go there while doing his best to avoid observation by the enemy.

When on the attack, the FO was in his greatest danger (though not to be compared with that of a rifleman), but while his army was in a static position, and when manning an OP, the FO was in more danger than most other soldiers. The prime targets during these times were called targets of opportunity. Even when well hidden, an observer could expect an occasional round of artillery or mortar fire to seek him out. The FO, if he was experienced and clever, could discern the points from which his enemy FO might have good observation, then bring fire on those places. An FO for either army was always a target of opportunity for his counterpart.