German Snipers

German snipersAfter France, these were times when we were always more or less superior. We had problems at times, but we were always more or less, you might say, three to one. This was because the Germans had been decimated . . . they had much less equipment and fewer aircraft . . . but they had sharpshooters. It’s like they say, in war even though you’re were well armed and everything, when there are snipers hidden in villages, they terrorize the men. Because five or six snipers at the entrance to any village or on a road can keep you pinned down. The snipers were the greatest danger. And snipers were the Germans’ specialty. All the same, it had to be done, because they were always retreating. When we knew where they were, you might say that we got a bit vicious. Because when we knew there was a sniper there, and we knew that he was in a certain house, we liked to call for the flamethrowers, as they were known. I don’t know whether they’ve ever described a flamethrower to you. There’s a fluid that they shoot, a material, a liquid that is released and it burns. If you were to fire it here, you would try to put it out, but it doesn’t go out. If you get yourself sprayed with that, even if you throw yourself in a river, it will burn so long as there is fuel . . . it’s quite a powerful fuel. Anyone hit with a flamethrower would die. Sometimes it was part of the armament in tanks. There were tanks with flamethrowers. They would fire a blast at the house where the fellow was hidden. It would make a booming sound. I saw guys running out, all ablaze. They would burn to death. But it was the only way of rooting out snipers. Unless you could do it with grenades . . . they hid in houses, but . . . the best way was always the flamethrowers. It was the best weapon for snipers. When you could reach them. But normally, when there were too many of them, they had to call for tanks, or call for aircraft to raze a block of houses. With the maps, they described more or less where they were located. There would raze the houses. If there were some who were still alive, sometimes they would come out with their hands up and say, “Friend!”Procedure when a German surrenderedWhen Germans surrendered, it had to be during a quiet time, because when you’re on the front line and two of your buddies . . . like you, you’re with me, and one is wounded and the other gets himself killed . . . you feel pretty mad because your buddies were like your brothers at that particular time. For one or two Germans trying to surrender at a time like that, it was very dangerous. There wasn’t much chance that the guys would live. They would approach, and some of your buddies or some person—whoever—would say, “We’ll take charge of them.” How could you leave your buddies on the line who needed you just to escort two prisoners who could very well have killed ten of yours? In those cases, you didn’t see them again. But when there were quite a few of them, you took them prisoner. However, for one or two, when we were in a position where we were in trouble, and we had our buddies who . . . probably the same was done on their side, too; I don’t know but, with us, that’s how it was done on the front line. If they don’t put that in the books, it’s because they are liars or they’re just not saying.