Shelling Crossroads

I went back to this one place to pick up the guns on the Gothic Line. And all day, from the advance area that we were at, the Germans had been shelling every crossroad. Two shells into every crossroad, except the one we were going to pick up the guns at. Now, I’m out and on my bike, and just going to give the starter a kick and ‘swhoosh’ - in come a shell right into the crossroads. And there was a Provo Corps doing point duty. He went down in a heap. All the wires came down around us and the bricks and stuff whipped around us. So I just dumped the bike, run back, said to the officer, probably (inaudible) was on fox troop then, “Get the men out of the vehicles. Get them into the basements. There’ll be another one in.” Everybody bailed out when they seen my face and got into the houses on the side of the road. And within seconds, in came another one. Now I went to the bike and it was, gas was draining out of the tank. There’s not much gas in those little old Nortons and it was still, had gas in it. Got it up, kicked it twice and said, “Let’s get out of here,” and away we went. But the German’s very methodical, but for some reason he hadn’t fired on that crossroad all day.