![]() How Smoyer answered those questions is the subject of an upcoming book, “Spearhead: An American Tank Gunner, His Enemy, and a Collision of Lives in World War II.” Written by Adam Makos, the engrossing book is a war story and a mystery. And it would force him to deal with another question that may not be limited to war veterans: How do you atone for a terrible deed when you’re not sure you’ve committed it? It would force him to reach out to an unlikely ally. Smoyer’s question would force him to return to Cologne 68 years later. Smoyer’s adrenalin turned to horror: Did I just shoot a woman? The car’s passenger door swung open and a person with a light-colored sweater embroidered with flowers crumpled to the street. The car crashed into the sidewalk, and then Smoyer saw something that made the pit of his stomach fall out. Bullets and tracers from Smoyer’s gun smashed into the car ordnance from another source also flew through the intersection. With orders to shoot anything that moved, Smoyer pressed the trigger. “Staff car!” someone yelled over the radio.Ī black Opel streaked into the intersection. Smoyer searched for it, scanning a hellish urban landscape of rubble, sagging streetcar cables and collapsed buildings. But then the enemy tank ducked behind a building. His M26 Pershing tank had just been engaged in a shootout with a German tank at a sprawling intersection in the town’s center. He gained a reputation for deadly accuracy as a tank gunner. After advancing a mere eight miles, the German attack ground to a halt.Clarence Smoyer during the war. To make matters worse, the Germans were now coming under fire from ground-attack aircraft. He had survived arrest, torture and imprisonment during Stalin’s purge of army officers in 1937. Soviet Commander of the northern sector of the Kursk salient. He was mortally wounded in an attack by Ukrainian nationalists in February 1944. Soviet Commander of the southern sector of the Kursk salient. ![]() He committed suicide at the end of the war. Nicknamed the Führer’s Fireman, Hitler considered Model one of his best generals. He had been key in the defeat of France in 1940 and, earlier in 1943, had stabilised the front after German failure at Stalingrad.Ĭommander of the northern German pincer. Between them, these four men commanded around 2.8 million men, 8,000 tanks and 4,200 aircraft…Ĭommander of the southern German pincer. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |