of the credited contributors, and remain the property of those contributors.
Number 108
THE
Pictures, Short Stories and Anecdotes from PoorTown
© 2004 James D.
Pearce and Rebecca P. Pearce
All articles and photos in The PoorTown News are used with
the expressed consent
of the credited contributors, and remain the property of those contributors.
Number 108
BOOT CAMP,
1943
When I was called by Uncle Sam in May 1943 to report to
I had just been off the farm for two years, and only went to visit the
doctor when ill. Upon arriving at the induction center ~ after all the
preliminary paper work ~ we were instructed to strip. We were then lined up and
filed through a line of doctors. We were poked and probed in every place
possible. I passed the physical and on the spot volunteered for the Navy. In the
Navy, you get three square meals, a clean bed to sleep in, and water to take a
shower each day.
After returning home, I received a letter telling me to report to Sampson
Naval Training Base,
Upon arrival there, the first thing that happened was a haircut, if you
can call it that. My head was shaved. Then we were issued clothing. We were then
put into companies with a regular Navy Chief as commander of the company. My
Company was No. 311. Each day, we were up at 5:30 AM and in bed by 9:00 PM. In
between we had "muster" at 6:00 AM, breakfast at 6:30 AM, and then on
to our day of training.
Training consisted of marching around a track with a 60-pound sea bag on
your shoulder; calisthenics, rowing a boat on the lake, entering a chamber
without a gas mask and then having tear gas piped in and you having to find your
way out, marching with rifles and jumping overboard in water 12 feet deep,
whether you could swim or not.
There was little time for recreation or just goofing off. This was the first time that many of us had ever been away from home and there were many homesick boys there. Our chief was tough and demanded respect. We had to salute him whenever we met him. If you did not, there were consequences such as push-ups and other forms of punishment. If you were too much out of line, it was the brig on bread and water for three days. Needless to say, we learned fast the power of authority. The 13 weeks went by pretty fast, and this was the end of Phase One of my Navy life.
Julius Shoulars, WWII
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
WWII ~ NAVY
BASE, ARMY GARB
After 13 weeks of training, I received a leave of two weeks to go home.
After the two weeks, I was to report back to
We traveled by train from Sampson to
The tent had bunk beds and a pot-bellied coal stove for heat. The stove
put more smoke into the tent than flowed out of the stove pipe. (Some tents were
burned due to overheating of the stoves). The stove’s pot-belly would turn a
cherry red.
We arrived during the rainy season and all of the ground was mud. The
camp had wooden walkways for us to move from place to place. If you stepped off
the walkway, you were knee deep in mud.
We were assigned to an experimental outfit called a Naval Beach
Battalion. (Remember, I stated that I joined the Navy for three square meals a
day, a clean sheet to sleep on and hot water for showers. So far, it hadn't
happened.) We were issued paratrooper boots, Army jackets, Army pants, Army
helmets, Navy underwear and an M-1 rifle. (I was in the Army!)
Now our training began in earnest. We would go on marches with full
packs, run the obstacle courses, climb rope ladders, climb a single rope with
knots in it ~ and we were sent out in Higgins boats to practice amphibious
landings on the beach. This training took place at
We then were sent to
One experience that stands out in my memory while training at
With the rising and falling of the boat, caused by the waves, and the
smell of the diesel fumes, I became seasick for the first and only time in my
life. Even today, I cannot smell diesel fumes without my stomach becoming
queasy.
Another experience while at
Needless to say, we were all in a state of shock. End of Phase Two of my
Navy life.
Below, Ruby Cooke (the future Mrs. Shoulars) and
Julius
enjoy a short break from the war during a leave
at his parents' home in
Photo courtesy Julius Shoulars
The living quarters at
Photo courtesy Julius Shoulars
Below, Roxobel-Kelford schoolmates Pete Austin and
Julius Shoulars pose
for a gag photo in a photographer's studio in
chance meeting in Times Square
during World War II
Photo courtesy Julius Shoulars
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
WWII ~
SHIPPING OUT
We returned to
After dark, several of us got our heads together and decided to sneak out
of the bivouac area and go into town to get warm, making sure we returned before
dawn the next day, so as not to be missed. Well, we lucked out on that one.
After that experience we returned to
Another incident of interest was meeting Pete Austin in
In January we were loaded aboard an English ship, the HMS Aquitania, to
be transported to
After a rough five-day North Atlantic trip, we landed in
We only had two meals a day: Breakfast consisted of hot dogs and
sauerkraut and for the second meal we had hard-boiled eggs and mutton. (Can you
imagine eating that for five days? I thought to myself, "I will starve on
this trip." But I was lucky and became friends with a British cook who
supplied me with canned peaches for the entire trip. There were only a handful
of US Navy personnel on board, and they consisted of mostly beach battalion
members.
Back in the States I was assigned to the Transportation Department of the
7th Beach Battalion. When we arrived in
Upon arrival in
The Cunard White Star liner Aquitania took Julius to
Photo courtesy Julius Shoulars
Julius, right front, buddies
Photo courtesy Julius Shoulars
Salcombe and Ilberstowe Point Estuary,
Photo courtesy Julius Shoulars
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After picking up our equipment in
We had no mess hall, and we had to march to downtown Salcombe to a hotel
named The Mariner where we were served our meals in the basement.
At that time of year, the daylight hours in Salcombe were from
approximately 4 AM until 10 PM. Our amphibious training began immediately; we
trained in the surrounding areas.
We would have liberty on occasion and go to the nearby towns and consume
fish and chips. These meals were fried fish and fried potatoes served in a
newspaper. Boy, were they good!! Again our training was marching in the
countryside, taking calisthenics in the morning, performing on obstacle courses
and practice landings. All in all, life was not too bad in
There was an incident that happened which was kept secret for many years.
I will refer to this as the Slapton Sands incident. There was a small village in
a cove in the area that was named Slapton Sands. The people of the town were
ordered to relocate so that the landing exercises could be performed there. The
beaches were equivalent to the beaches of
The troops were loaded aboard LSTs 515, 496, 531 and 58 for the practice
landings. The convoy proceeded south until it was joined by the escort vessel
HMS Azalea and then tracked east and northeast to a point where it was joined by
LSTs 499, 289 and 507. The LSTs were lined in a single column, proceeding at a
very slow pace. They were going to
German E-boats based in
The E-boats launched torpedoes at the LSTs. LST 507 was torpedoed; a few
seconds later, LSTs 289 and 531 were torpedoed. The LST 511 was also hit by
German gunfire. The LSTs 507 and 531 were sunk. The loss of life from this
incident was 946 servicemen. (soldiers and sailors).
There were more men who drowned than were killed by the attack. The
Allies learned a lesson from this experience: The servicemen wore a waist life
jacket approximately six inches in diameter. The lifebelts were attached around
the waist; therefore the servicemen with 60-pound packs on their backs turned
over in the water, head-down and feet-up, resulting in the drownings. After that
incident, the servicemen were instructed to wear the lifebelts under the
armpits. The incident was kept secret so as not to inform the Germans of their
success.
The Beach Battalion was fortunate in this incident, as we were not on
board these ships but were transported by motor vehicle to Slapton Sands. We
were on the beach at this particular time.
All personnel, both Army and Navy, took an oath not to reveal what had
happened.
7th Beach Battalion members make practice landing at
Slapton Sands,
Photo courtesy Julius Shoulars
Below, Company C, 9th Platoon, 7th Beach Battalion
files up British beach
near Salcombe on the
Photo courtesy Julius Shoulars
The living quarters at Salcombe
Photo courtesy Julius Shoulars
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
THE
In the latter part of May 1944, we were ordered out of the camp at
Salcombe and trucked to a staging area in the English countryside. We were not
allowed to write or receive letters, we were not allowed any liberty, nor were
we allowed any contact with the outside world. This was pre-invasion time. The
staging areas were enclosed with barbed wire and tough gun-toting individuals.
If you strayed close to the wire, you were reprimanded by the guards. After a
stay of approximately three weeks in the staging area, we were loaded on a truck
and transported to towns and cities with waterways leading to the
We all knew something was about to happen and looked forward to it with
mixed feelings. Some were excited, some were apprehensive and some were scared.
My particular group was loaded aboard a sea-going craft and on board we were
stacked together like sheep. We then left the harbor to wait in the channel for
our trip to
A storm came up in the channel and we were all ordered back to port, but
were not allowed to disembark. Early on the morning of the 6th of June, 1944, we
went to sea again and the invasion of
On the morning of the 6th at "H" hour, troops began landing on
the beaches of
The US 1st Army landed on Omaha and Utah, with the 4th US Division
landing on Utah, and the 1st and 29th US Divisions landing on Omaha. Attached to
the 4th US Division was the 2nd US Naval Beach Battalion and attached to the 1st
US Division was the 6th US Naval Beach Battalion.
Attached to the 29th US Division was the 7th US Naval Beach Battalion, of
which I was a member.
There were underwater demolition teams (UDT) who preceded the invasion.
The UDTs consisted of Army and Navy personnel and included some of the Beach
Battalion members. These teams had the responsibility of destroying underwater
obstacles and mines to create a safer landing beach for the troops. The UDTs had
a 60% loss of life.
The 7th Beach Battalion medics and communication people went to the beach
with the early waves of the invasion. The balance of the 7th went ashore as
needed on later waves. Some of the 7th were sent back to the ships as there was
no room for them to land.
I had never before seen or heard tough young men from the streets of
large cities, who lived in the ghettoes, putting up prayers to God for their
safety.
The first day on
As we approached, machine gun fire, rifle fire and artillery were being
directed at us. Men were falling all around, either wounded or killed. Boats
were blown up in the water and also as they neared the beach. We scrambled
ashore and quickly started digging foxholes. The noise was deafening and you
could hear the wounded screaming for help.
The beach was littered with burning and wrecked vehicles and with the
wounded and bodies of those who lost their lives.
The water at the beach was red with blood on that morning of the 6th.
I remember as we landed we looked overhead and saw the entire sky filled
with Air Force planes. There were thousands of aircraft in the sky, going inland
to bomb the Germans and help the landings. Also, after we landed there was a
brave destroyer captain who saw we were in trouble securing the beach. He
ordered his ship in as close as he could, almost with the bottom of the ship
scraping the bottom of the channel, and opened fire broadside at the German
bunkers, all the time under enemy fire.
As darkness fell, we completed digging our foxholes. Those holes in the
beach were to be our private "suites."
Finally, after an exhausting and terrifying day, we crawled into our
holes and fell asleep, not realizing the height of the rise and fall of the
tide. We had dug our foxholes close to the water’s edge, thinking it would be
safer there.
Later that night, I was awakened by something bumping my feet. The tide
had come in and as it came in it brought lots of floating objects to shore. The
objects bumping my feet were body parts ~ an arm, a leg, a head.
To say I was scared is to put it mildly ~ a 19-year-old boy, never having
traveled far from home, awakening to this experience.
(A note about the cameras and some of the photos that follow. Cameras
weren't welcome on D-Day, but we Navy guys did not follow orders too well. I had
a lieutenant who had a camera under his jacket. Every time he could, he would
open his jacket and snap a picture. I had another officer who hid his camera in
his pants and would crawl into his foxhole and snap pictures. After three or
four days on
~
Below, an explosion sends a plume of water skyward
at 
Photo courtesy Julius Shoulars
Death and destruction on
Photo courtesy Julius Shoulars
Lowering tide leaves wrecks behind
Photo courtesy Julius Shoulars
Obstacles in the surf punctured landing craft,
anchored mines
Photo courtesy Julius Shoulars
Julius Shoulars is small figure at left, background,
at beached LST
Photo courtesy Julius Shoulars
Remnants of German defense position
Photo courtesy Julius Shoulars
The dead await attention at
Photo courtesy Julius Shoulars
The battle-weary huddle for rest
Photo courtesy Julius Shoulars
Tribute to the fallen at possibly the first official
burial service
on Omaha Beach,
Photo courtesy Julius Shoulars
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
THREE WEEKS ON
I will digress now and give you a breakdown on the organization of a
Beach Battalion. A Battalion is composed of a staff and 9 companies. The
companies are identified as: A, B and C with each company having three platoons
identified as A-1, A-2, A-3, B-4, B-5, B-6, C-7, C-8 and C-9. Each platoon
consists of approximately 42 men. The platoon is broken down into sections
designated as hydrographic, medical, communications and boat repair. The
hydrographic section has approximately 18 members, the medical section has
approximately eight members, the communication section has approximately eight
members and the boat repair has approximately eight members.
Each platoon had a Beach Master, usually a lieutenant; an Assistant Beach
Master, rated as an ensign and a Medical Doctor rated as a lieutenant or higher.
The hydrographic sections were responsible for finding channels in the
water and placing flags on the beach so the small boats could approach and
unload their troops or supplies. They served as traffic cops to keep the traffic
flowing smoothly across the beaches, and as litter bearers who helped transport
the dead to the cemetery on the beach, and any other job that needed to be done.
The medical section was responsible for treating the wounded on both
sides and designating the most severely injured so they could be evacuated
first. The communication section was responsible for signal flags, blinker
lights and radio communications between the Army and Navy.
The boat repair section was responsible for repairing and keeping as many
small boats flowing back and forth to the ships as possible. The staff was
commanded by the overall Beach Master, whose rating was commander, an Executive
Officer rated as a lieutenant, and a Communication Officer rated as a
lieutenant.
The enlisted men, numbering eight, had different ratings. Each company
had a commander and an assistant plus six enlisted men attached to the staff.
The total number of men in each Beach Battalion consisted of approximately 450.
The Beach Battalions were to control the beaches from the waterline back 100
yards.
The Beach Battalions did not have mess cooks as we were to be fed by the
Army. The Army was not interested in feeding the Navy. We lived on "K"
rations most of the time. After the beach calmed down, we could go back aboard
the LSTs and other vehicles coming ashore and get food. When this was not
available, we would find an Army supply truck coming ashore. One of us would
divert the attention of the driver, while others would unload food from the rear
of the truck.
There was one funny incident that happened in regard to getting food. One
day, several of us were standing on the beach and we heard coming toward us two
of our men running and yelling, "Dig a hole." These men had boxes
under their arms filled with food. We put the boxes in the hole and covered them
with sand. Coming down the beach toward us was an Army jeep with a lieutenant
and a sergeant. The lieutenant jumped out of the jeep and demanded, "Where
are those boxes you stole from us?" We claimed we didn't know what he was
talking about and after much discussion they left. The funny part was that the
lieutenant was standing on top of the boxes.
After being on the beach for approximately one week, a huge storm blew up
in the
The storm was so fierce that it devastated the docks and made them
useless. Due to the inability of the ships to bring in supplies, the landing was
in jeopardy. To solve the supply problem, more flat-bottomed boats and ships
were put into service to bring supplies directly to the beach. This plan in the
long run was better, as more supplies could be unloaded directly to the beach
rather than over the docks. Dilapidated
During the three weeks we stayed on
Below, at the first graveyard on
Photo courtesy Julius Shoulars
Low tide reveals extent of havoc that hit first
waves
Photo courtesy Julius Shoulars
Julius Shoulars, left rear, and comrades at beached
LST
Photo courtesy Julius Shoulars
German prisoners are lined up at water's edge
Photo courtesy Julius Shoulars
A "penthouse" foxhole on
Photo courtesy Julius Shoulars
Mounting guard over the gains
Photo courtesy Julius Shoulars
Julius, in third week
on the beach
Photo courtesy Julius Shoulars
Horsing around in the surf after the war moved
inland
Photo courtesy Julius Shoulars
Julius, right front, on Normandy shore with Harry
Scheer,
John Henshaw, (?) Caffrey and Tim Bryant
Photo courtesy Julius Shoulars
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
WWII ~ BACK TO
THE STATES
We returned to Salcombe the last week of June 1944, and stayed there
training and waiting for a second invasion of
I mentioned before that I was attached to Transportation in the 7th Beach
Battalion. I was assigned the duty of delivering mail to our comrades who were
wounded in
During this time the Germans were hitting
We took it pretty easy from June until October, when we were shipped back
to the good old
After a few days there, I was given 21 days travel time to report to the
Amphibious Base at Oceanside, California, and I went home for as much of the 21
days as I thought I could take.
I began training this time with the Marines in
We trained there for approximately 30 days and then 21 of us in the A-1
Platoon of the decommissioned 7th Beach Battalion ~ selected by Lt. Sam Byrd ~
were transferred to Astoria, Oregon, to go aboard the USS Karnes, APA 175.
The Karnes was named after
Julius Shoulars at
Below, Julius, right, and buddies "Bramhall"
and "Bryant,"
at liberty in England, before return to US
on way to the Pacific
The USS Karnes
Click here to see more
pictures
and the ship's history
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
MORE TO COME ! WATCH THE WEBSITE FOR REPORTS FROM THE USS KARNES.
