Letters To Home - October 8, 1951

Grafenwohr, Germany
October 8, 1951

This was a surprise move. The outfit got back in Schweinfurt late on October 6, and we were put on orders to re-pack, get cleaned up, and get ready to move out soon. We will be staying here until Thursday or Friday. I finished my guard duty just about the time the outfit got back, so am now with them.

The weather has been quite cold since we arrived, almost like January in stead of October. It snowed a bit on Saturday, but the weather has been clear since then. Should be warmer back in Schweinfurt.

We finish up with all our tests tomorrow. So far, we've been top-dog on all of them. We haven't done any firing since we arrived, but tomorrow our gun is supposed to be the base piece, and we should do quite a bit of firing. On Monday we got some new ammo to shoot. It's a regular high-explosive shell without a fuse. When you get the projectile ready to shoot, the fuse is separate, and has to be screwed in. From what I'm told, the new fuse has a amall radio transmitter built in, and after we shoot the thing and it travels five seconds away from the muzzle, the transmitter turns on and starts sending out radio waves. As soon as the projectile comes within 20 feet of the intended target, it explodes.

On Monday evening we shot a few of these rounds, but there were some heavy rain clouds about half-way to the target, and when we shot, the shell went into the clouds and exploded. I guess the same thing happens if you shoot through heavy fog.
The people in the ammo section say the fuse is quite sensitive after it gets out of the muzzle about 500 feet, but before you shoot it, it's just as safe as any other fuse. The ammo people say you don't want to shoot it during a heavy rain storm, or shoot over a heavy wooded area. Quite a thing.

Masny thanks for the records I ordered. They arrived Sunday in very good condition. Just what I wanted. Some of my jazz-loving friends can't wait to hear them as soon as we get back to Schweinfurt.

When we get back to Schweinfurt, we'll be going on border patrol again. According to the schedule some of us have worked out, we'll come off patrol just after Thanksgiving day. I can probably get a pass to go Christmas shopping in Frankfurt.

Getting late, so will close. The newspapers are coming in good shape now. Write soon.