Ben

Your mail call #1636 from the Orengo"s and their pictures of Sospel in Oct, '44 showing  F co. entering the city by bridge brings back memories I'll never forget.

Merle Traver and myself were "ordered" to lead "D" Co. down the mountains into the lower side of Sospel. We had patrolled down the mountain from Hill 1098 earlier as scouts for "F' Co., so we got the job.  It was midnight and pitch dark, so footing was difficult and we had to be quiet as we snaked our way down. By morning "D" Co. had secured  a building, a beautiful chalet, that served as the German headquarters which they abandoned.  It was fully furnished and had lots of silverware etc. around the rooms.  (I latched on to an Ice tong for ice cubes which I still have to this day).

We stayed with "D" Co. that day and night hoping to meet up with "F" Co. the next day. We slept in one of the rooms and early in the morning we left. About a block away, all of sudden we heard a huge explosion, and turning around  we saw the chateau blown up in the air. The Germans had booby-trapped the building. I remember looking in the basement with "D" Co. officers for any signs of explosives, but found none.

Rushing back to the chateau, we saw complete ruins that sunk into the basement. If my memory serves me right (Merle can probably attest to this also) 4 troopers were killed and many injured. One trooper had a grand piano on top of him.

Merle and I could have been casualties if we had stayed a little bit longer that morning. I believe Trooper Floyd lost a leg that day. Come to think of it, that was 66 years ago in 3 days.

I hooked up to DSL and what a difference from dial up, but I have a lot learning to do .

Greetings to all

Mel  Dahlberg

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