The life of an American soldier in world war II is described in the words and pictures of my grandfather Joseph C. Felix. His trip to North Africa is related in a letter to his brother-in-law and sister, Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Taylor. He gives his impression of the country, mode of travel and living conditions of both the native population and warriors. Selected pictures of other travels have been grouped together by country.
Morocco
"Torpedo" Alarm At Sea.
Well, the African campaign is over and now we can tell all about it.
"The ship we came over to Africa on was a former Matson luxury liner. Of course it was no luxury cruise for us as we were quite crowded and we also had to wear life belts at all times. We had boat drill every day and believe me there was no horseplay during the drills for we never knew just when we would have to abandon ship. We had only one alarm while on board, but it didn't turn out to be anything.
It was quite a thrill when we sighted Casablanca. There had been
quite a bit of speculation as to what kind of a town it was going to be.
Early one afternoon, we reached the harbor, and were we surprised when
we saw the size of the city. Casablanca is really a big place but not
as large as Indianapolis. When we tied up at the dock along with the
other ships of the convoy, we could see a lot of Arabs and they were
nothing like the Arabs we read about. We didn't land until the next
day. The convoy I came over on was the second echelon. When we
got there all the fighting for Casablanca was over. So when we landed
we met with no resistance, although there were still some snipers around.
We all had arm bands with American flags on them. You should have
seen 'yours truly' going down the 'gangplank.' Besides myself, I had
my cartridge belt full of ammunition, which weighed about 12
pounds, also my rifle slung over my shoulder, a pack and bed roll on my
back. The pack and bed roll weigh about 30 pounds. I also had my gas
mask over my shoulder. Then with my steel helmet on my head I made
quite an appearance. We had to put all that stuff on about one hour
before we landed. When the signal came for us to move off the boat we
had to pick up our barracks bags, which weigh at least 75 pounds. I
was really one tired, worn out soldier when we got off the boat. We had
to carry our barracks bags about a quarter of a mile where some trucks
picked them up. Then each unit marched into town in formation,
behind the colors. Then to climax the whole thing it rained like everything
while we were swinging along.
Move to Casablanca.
Finally we got on some trucks. We rode through the town and all the French cried 'victoir' to us. They were really glad to see us, as they had no easy time while they were under Nazi domination. We were taken out to Cazes airport where we were quartered in a hangar. We laid around there for a couple of days, then Company A of our battalion was moved into Casablanca.
We had to clean up our new quarters, which were in a garage. We had to sleep on the concrete floor on mattresses filled with straw, so sleeping wasn't too hard.
Our quarters were only a few blocks from the downtown section
and we frequently went there to see the sights. The parks are really
beautiful. They have all sorts of flowers. The people there were very
friendly and the French saw to it that the Arabs didn't cheat us. The
Arabs love to bargain and ask about three times as much as an
item is worth.
There is a beautiful cathedral there where I went to mass on Sunday. I'll send you a picture of it. While I was in Casablanca I didn't get to use any of my telephone or radio training. All I did was to run messages from the radio trucks to message centers.
On the night of Dec. 30, we had our first air raid. It is hard to describe a raid. We heard the drone of the planes and it sounded as though there were about three of them. Then the sirens began to sound the warning. Giant search lights poked about the sky and the anti aircraft guns began to fire. Very few bombs were dropped and they only hit some Arab houses. Several Arabs were killed. That is what makes this war so terrible, so many civilians being killed by air raids. Two of the German bombers were shot down. We were in bed when the planes came over and we automatically reached for our helmets.
How About the Food?
After we were there a few weeks, a Service Men's club was opened in
one of the theaters. It was a very nice place. It had a large garden
surrounded by high walls, a very nice outdoor dance floor and a lot
of tables. Inside was the theater and a bar, also tables and chairs
for writing letters and a game room where I spent many an enjoyable
afternoon and evening.
We used to eat at the restaurants about town. The food wasn't too good and as meat was strictly rationed, we got very little of it in the restaurants. Eggs, soup and vegetables were the main food. The cafes were about like you read about in France. They all had tables and chairs on the sidewalks and it was quite the thing to sit at one of them during the afternoon. At night, there was a blackout so it was difficult to get around.
On Christmas Day I went to mass at the cathedral and one of the American chaplains said mass and gave the sermon. "Noel," as they call Christmas in French, is very much like it is back home. Of course, due to the war, they haven't had much of a Christmas during the past three years.
About the time we really began to enjoy ourselves, and to find our way around, the rumors began to float about that, we were leaving Casablanca.
Transportation over here is mostly by carriage, donkey cart and bicycles. Before the war the French said that automobiles crowded the streets but where gasoline became scarce other forms of transportation came into use.
We passed gum and candy out by the handfuls to the children, and gave a lot of cigarettes and matches to the adults. The cigarettes and matches were rationed and of very poor quality, so that American cigarettes were quite a treat.
The Arabs were mostly poor and it was a common sight to see them beg for the scraps left in our mess kits. I really felt sorry for the kids as they always looked half starved. They were always coming to our medicos for treatment for cuts and bruises and to have teeth pulled.
The first week in January the rumors about our moving became facts, and on Jan. 8, early in the morning we left Casablanca. It was a trip of over 1,200 miles and took seven days.