Notes about April, 1945 (Part 1 of 3)

As I promised in my notes at the end of March, April 1945 was quite the explosive month!  The many months of planning, fortifying their positions, and deceiving the enemy as to troop movements and whereabouts paid off.  The men of the 757th Tank Battalion, along with the 85th, 88th, and 34th infantry division mobilized like they had never before, and began the northward march. 

I've decided to split up my analysis of April into three sections for numerous reasons.  First, I don't have the time to do all of the necessary research for the month of April, work nine hours a day, and spend time with my beautiful wife all at the same time.  Second, notice that Vernon was able to describe the month of March in a little bit over two journal pages.  April is 14 jam-packed journal pages.  And third, there are several

Corresponding Scans (4/1/45-4/30/45)

April 1, 1945 - April 30, 1945

April
1945

1.) Easter Sun. 6th day here. Went to Mass + Comm. this a.m. but no confession.
2.) Mon. 7th day with Asslt. Red Cross girl came here today with doughnuts.
3.) Tues. 8th day with Asslts. Received picture of D. Spiltz today.
4.) Wed. 9th day with Asslt. Wrote a letter to D. Spiltz.
5.) Thurs. 10th day with Asslts. Should get relieved today but didn’t.
6.) Fri. 11th day with Asslts. Should get relieved today for sure. Got relieved this morning was back at camp by noon at Loiano
7.) Loiano. Artillery went up big barrages tonite at 10:30 to 11. It wasn’t an attack just time on target shooting
8.) Loiano. Another barrage went over tonite same as last nite. Soon the summer offensive will begin + its supposed to be the biggest ever staged in Italy yet. It is said the skies will be black with planes + artillery barrage will be bigger than ever. Reason for such an offensive is that they don’t want another Cassino episode or stalemate.

757th Tank Battalion - Medical Detachment

This is a picture of the 757th Tank Battalion - Medical Detachment.

Vernon's hand-written inscription on the back reads:

Med. Det. 757 Tk. Bn. (L.)


Taken Feb. 26 - 1953

Reading front row,

left to right

1. Leo Palucki

Notes about March, 1945

I have been incredibly busy scanning a lot of pictures, and haven't had an opportunity to post my notes about March, 1945 yet.  My hopes are to post my notes later this evening.  I will say that there are a lot of documents (pictures, medals, etc.) that complement the month of March very nicely.

I will make sure to post these and my historical analysis shortly.

UPDATE

The month of March is very sparse in terms of content, and somewhat not surprisingly also creates a few mysteries.  There are a few people mentioned, and I want to make sure information about them is made clear first.

1) On March 1, 1945, Vernon writes "Golden went home on furlough today."  I can only assume this is reference to fellow 757th Tanker, Solomon B. Golden.  He is pictured in my post here .  He is fifth from the left in the second row of men.

Corresponding Scans (3/1/45-3/31/45)

March 1, 1945 - March 31, 1945

1945
March

1.) Thurs. 5th day today with assault. Golden went home on furlough today.
2.) Assault Plt. Friday.
3.) Sat. 7th day with assault. Few shells come in but not close at all.
4.) Sun. 8th day with assault. 2 years today we came overseas.
5.) Mon.) Relieved today.
6.) Tues. Went to Florence on rest.
7.) Rest camp
8.) Rest camp
9.) Rest Camp
10.) Came back today. Bn. Is attached to 34th Div.
11.) Loiano
12.) Loiano.
13.) Loiano.
14.) Loiano.
15.) Loiano.
16.) Loiano.
17.) Loiano. Received letter + picture of Dolores Campbell today + she is pretty nice.