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Fear is Normal Colonel George Taylor, Infantry, Sicily: “Fear of being afraid is the greatest obstacle for the new man in battle to overcome. There is no reason for shame in being afraid. Men who have had excellent battle records freely admit they are scared stiff in battle. The important thing is that every soldier must be taught all he needs to know so well that battlefield thinking is reduced to a minimum; automatic, disciplined reactions to battlefield problems must be the rule.
“In battle the worst element is mental and nervous exhaustion. There is no real rest under fire. The ability to withstand fire is more important than all the knowledge in the world.”
SICILY—ITALY—ATTU
NIGHT ATTACK
Surprise Saves Lives Major John R. Patterson, Infantry, Sicily: “The mission of our battalion after landing south of Gela in Sicily was to capture the airport at Biscari. The battalion used the silent night attack. The three rifle companies were in line with the heavy-weapons company in reserve. To reach its line of departure, the battalion crossed two precipitous ridges using two control lines, then climbed the cliff at the airport to the line of departure. All this was done silently under cover of darkness.
“The attack was started with a hand grenade. We didn’t fire until the Germans counterattacked. We went in with bayonets and hand grenades and caught some of the Germans undressed and dressing. The MK IV tanks fired their guns but wouldn’t close on us. The enemy knew their men were all about, so fired their machine guns and rifles mainly into the air.
“The first counterattack came in two hours, and there was one about each hour thereafter until 1600. They had all emplacements wired and fixed with trip-wire booby traps. We removed the traps and used the emplacements during counterattacks.
“We found a line of airplane bombs wired to blow up the area; we de-activated them. A German plane landed just as we were ready to leave the line of departure. Later, one of our men grenaded it.