|
German Parachutists?
"At midnight on 22 Dec 1944 approximately, a German Fokker, similar
to the one above, flew over our position in Rencheaux, Belgium at maybe
500 feet. A string of German paratroopers jumped and descended on our
position. We all fired madly on the 'troopers. One of our guys shot one
as he landed on his foxhole. When the dust settled, we found that they
were straw filled dummies. That was a weird time."
I joined [the 508th] just in time for the 'Bulge'. Another
thing. At the time, I had a carbine and it jammed after a couple of
shots---I threw it away and got an M1. Things jammed in the cold.
Another irony is that I am sure that if we had concentrated our fire on
the Fokker we could have easily brought it down.
A couple of days earlier a couple of British Spitfires strafed us and,
to be fair, they then strafed the Krauts across the river!
NOTE: The aircraft in the photo that Ed supplied was
mistakenly identified as a Fokker. It is actually a Junkers JU-52
and was often used as a parachutists delivery vehicle for the German army.
|
