Notes about February, 1945

There are several corresponding documents that I have read through that are of note.  One is a well-prepared summary of the movements of the 757th Tank Battalion between February 1944 and June 1945.  There is an entry in the log that reads:

1 Jan - 31 Mar 45: The Bn was in the Apennines during Jan, Feb and Mar with elements attached to 34th, 88th, and 91st Inf Div.  Aggressive patrolling by the Inf within the sector required direct fire support from tanks, but the enemy remained sensitive to any reconnaissance. To support these actions, additional tanks were placed in position where they could be more effectively used for direct fire.

It thus appears that the 757th was used by the different infantry divisions for tactical support.  From what I've
gathered doing a preliminary survey of the history of these infantry divisions, the 88th Infantry (or "Blue Devils") relieved the 91st Infantry (or "Red Bull") on 24 January.  Here's a quote (author unknown) from the 88th Infantry Division website:

After a brief interval out of the line, the Blue Devils were again committed on 24 January in relief of the 91st Infantry Division near Loiano and Livergnano. After more patrolling and maintenance of defensive positions, the Division was pulled out of the line again for further rehabilitation, but also special training intended to prepare it for the impending spring offensive.
http://www.88infdiv.org/wwii.html

While this is an interesting note, I think it's more important to our task because there is an indistinguishable note on January 24th of Vernon's journal.  I believe it says "Plumer left today."  Perhaps Plumer was a friend of Vernon's that was a member of the 91st, and he left when the 88th relieved the 91st.  Whatever the case, anything I'd proffer as an explanation would be pure conjecture, so I will revisit this topic later when it's been more well-researched.

As for the journal itself in February, there are few intersesting things:

1) February begins with another update about the advance of the Russians on Berlin.  This was an exciting time during the war.  The western powers were essentially holding their respective positions and waiting for the Russian army to take Berlin.  Note that in January the Russians predicted they'd be in Berlin within 300 hours of takig Warsaw, which Vern calculated to be January 29th.  They're a little behind schedule.

2) February 10 is the first and only entry I've seen so far where Vernon makes specific details about his medic duties.  I have the impression that while he took his position as a medic seriously, he did not care to reminisce about the details specific to the nature of that position.

3) Vern saw several movies this month.  He saw (what I believe was) "Take it Big" with Jack Haley.  You might remember Jack Haley in one of his more memorable roles pictured below:

I was unable to find a movie poster for "Take it Big."  It is not considered a classic, but it is listed at the Internet Movie Database for those who are interested.  He also saw "Hollywood Canteen."  This was a musical number with all sorts of stars - Jack Benny, Joan Crawford, the Andrews Sisters... the list goes on.  I found this old advertisement for it below:

He also the movie "Tampico," which he mis-spelled as "Tampiko."  This movie stars Edward G. Robinson and Lynn Bari.  I could only find this picture:

4) The last noteworthy item is a journal entry he made on January 1st.  I know the title of this post is "Notes about February," but remember - I'm not doing this project in chronological order.  Vernon made reference to sleeping on a "mule track" at night.  I've read a lot about Highway 65, which connects Loiano to Bologna.  Sadly, it sounds like this highway is the best thing this little town has going for it.  Below is a WWII-era picture taken of Hwy 65 in Loiano.  Perhaps the mule track Vernon slept in was beside this road: