Page 38 of the report included a letter the Chaplain had written for each member of the crew to send home when they arrived back in England for resupply. The letter read: “You have probably been worried about me since the invasion began, and I just want you to know that I am getting along fine. We have not been hit, and have suffered no casualties, although we were in the first wave and have been in the thick of the battle.
“I can’t tell you too much about it now, but I can give you an idea of some of the highlights. We have seen just about everything you can imagine in the line of modern warfare. As we crossed the English Channel, we passed through what was supposed to be one of the most effective minefields in the world, but we got through safely. When we got across, we shot at enemy gun emplacements, tank and troop concentrations, ammunition dumps, observation posts and other vital targets.
“There have also been many unpleasant sights, but I won’t tell you about them now. At one time, we had 27 enemy prisoners on board but had to send them to another ship, which took them back to a prison camp. They did not look like supermen to me. We also had 29 wounded U.S. Rangers aboard, who were brought to us by a small boat from an isolated beachhead. Their wounds were treated on board, and only one died. He had been lying wounded on the beach for two days before we could get him aboard, and he was just too far gone when he got to us…”
After the resupply was completed, they returned to Normandy, where the USS Texas took a hit to the conning tower (armored pilothouse of a warship) and the shell glanced up to the bridge (room or platform from which the ship can be commanded). Eight men were hurt, and one man died, so the ship headed back to England to care for the injured and repair the ship. Among those on the bridge was a “note taker” recording the experience on the battle. I assume these notes were used by the two men who authored the report. The trip to Plymouth, England took about nine hours. After making repairs to the ship in Plymouth and Belfast, the ship was cleaned and painted to go to the Mediterranean area.
Page 46 of the report contained the following warning from the Captain to his men en route to Algiers: “The feminine glance, that over a cocktail seems so sweet; may be less charming over shredded wheat.” From Algiers they went to Taranto, Italy, and then off to southern France to assist in the ongoing battle. The USS Texas left the battle in France on July 17, 1944, went to Palermo, Sicily, and the following day went to Algiers, where they arrived on Aug. 1. After a stay in Algiers, they left for Oran, arriving on Aug. 31 and from there, left for New York on Sept. 4, with their expected arrival around Sept. 14.
Before closing their report, the writers complimented the officers on the ship by name, while telling a bit about them as well as the Chaplain, who was instrumental to them in gathering the information for their report.
Jeff Hall, of Honey Brook, contributes columns to Berks-Mont Newspapers.
