The following article was published in The Home-Town News, St. Lambert, Montreal 23, P.Q., Vol. 11, No. 8, November 1, 1945.
Art Holmes and Gun Crew Experience Tough Time As German Heavies Blast Position for Fifteen Minutes
SGT. ART HOLMES, RCA (1939), son of Mr. and Mrs. Albert Holmes, 460 Maple Avenue, relates how in January of this year, when Canadian troops were moving out of Italy to France, his regiment was deployed in defensive work behind Lamone River. It was a strenuous job and every day was fraught with danger. The strategy was to send a battery of guns to draw the attention of the enemy and to harass-fire him. It was important to move position before Jerry returned the fire.
On one particular day, the gun position was chosen on the rise in front of a house. They had lambasted enemy positions and it seemed that Jerry hadn’t spotted their whereabouts, so it was decided to remain in the same position until their task was completed.
Front page of The Home-Town News, St. Lambert, Quebec, Vol 11, No 8, November 1, 1945.
Art was on the ranging gun. He received directions from the spotter plane, and the whole troops took cue from his hits. “Later it transpired that Jerry wasn’t asleep,” says Art. “He was verifying our troops’ position. Once he had done so things began to happen. It was early one morning and the crew had just been changed, when Jerry blasted us for fifteen minutes.” Art and four of his crew went into the house as shells fell around his gun. Telephone lines were ripped out, shrapnel hit the gun, setting all charges on fire, and a shell hit the adjoining house. None was hurt.
Earlier in the campaign, however, results were not quite the same. For two nights in the Gothic Line the ack-ack was stopped because of our concentrated artillery fire and the troop came in for some fierce straffing.
Art and his crew were lying near their gun on the first night, when Jerry came over and dropped anti-personnel bombs. These bombs exploded just above ground and sprayed a shower of shrapnel in all directions. Some fragments hit the gun behind them and exploded an ammunition wagon; other pieces of shrapnel whizzed over their heads, one hitting Art’s bombardier in the face.
For more articles from this issue of The Home Town News, see:
“Old Originals” from St. Lambert volunteered to serve during WWII.
St. Lambert Roll of Honour – 1945.
Saint-Lambert’s Sgt. Coveney received two direct hits in Italy during WWII.
