A Machine Gunner's War: From Normandy to Victory with the 1st Infantry Division in World War II - Hardcover

Andrews Jr., Ernest Albert "Andy"; Hurt, David B.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1636241042 ISBN 13: 9781636241043

Publisher: Casemate Publishers, 2022

Synopsis

Ernest ‘Andy’ Andrews began his training as a machine gunner at Fort McClellan in Alabama in July 1943. In early 1944, he arrived in the UK for further training before D-Day, ahead of the 1st Infantry Division deploying on the evening of June 5th on the USS Henrico. Due to a problem with his landing craft, Andrews only reached Omaha Beach on the early evening of June 6th, but his experience was still a harrowing one. Fighting in Normandy, he was nicked by a bullet and evacuated to England in late July when the wound became infected, before returning to participate in the Normandy breakout. Following the race across France in late August, he participated in the rout of several retreating German units near Mons, Belgium, and his outfit approached Aachen in mid-September. For a month, Andrews’ squad defended a bunker position in the Siegfried Line against repeated German attacks, then after Aachen surrendered, the unit fought its way through the Hurtgen Forest to take Hill 232. Early on the morning of November 19th, he engaged in his toughest battle of the war as the Germans attempted to retake Hill 232, where he was again wounded.

After surgery and a month’s convalescence he rejoined H Company in time to fight in the Battle of the Bulge. His unit then participated in the fast-moving Roer to the Rhine campaign, then the battle to expand the Remagen bridgehead. Breaking out from the Remagen bridgehead, Andrews’ squad stumbled on a German tank unit and this time he narrowly escaped death. Following a rapid advance up to the Paderborn area, the unit raced to Germany’s Harz Mountains, where the Wehrmacht was trying to organize a last stand. They ended the war fighting in Czechoslovakia, where Andrews witnesses the German surrender in early May. Following occupation duty, he returned to the States in October 1945.

This vivid first-hand account takes the reader along from Normandy to victory with Andy Andrews and his machine-gun crew. The war shaped the author’s postwar life in countless ways, and in 1994, he made the first of three return visits to the European battlefields where he had fought.

About this title

About the Author

Ernest Albert "Andy" Andrews Jr. served as a machine gunner in the U.S. 1st Infantry Division during the Second World War. Following the war, he earned a degree in Christian education, and served in several positions in the Presbyterian Church. He died on April 22, 2016. Andy was predeceased by his wife Hellon and is survived by his daughter Sarah, his son Al, and four grandsons.

David B. Hurt received a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Florida and a M.A. in International Affairs from Florida State University. He worked with William Lubbeck as the co-author of At Leningrad's Gates: The Story of a Soldier with Army Group North (Casemate, 2006). He currently serves as an academic advisor at a college in Knoxville, Tennessee, USA.

Edition details

• Publisher: Casemate Publishers
• Publication date: 2022
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1636241042
• ISBN 13: 9781636241043
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 384