Hello everyone:

 

This thread is about the uniforms and service of my father John Coulston. Better known as Jack. After seeing the movie Fury and reading the thread Fury, I was inspired to try to put together a thread about my fathers experiences as an officer in the 899th Tank Destroyer Battalion. I have been saving these pictures over the years from here and there for 40 years. He wrote a small story about his experiences. So I'm going to post some pictures and then quote some of his memories.

 

I'v been trying to trace his route through WW2 for many years now. I would welcome all questions and comments. This is going to take some time over the next few months.

 

Here is the first picture I have and I believe it's at Camp Ord in 1939

Keepem' Coming!

CMTC Memories

 

"The first year I was in CMTC was at Monterey, California. It was the home of the 11th Cavalry and the 76th Field Artillery. 100% horse. We did basic soldier drill with close order drill, done as it was on horseback: "Twos left and right", "Right front into line", "Line of Platoons", "Fours left or right" Then we had to do two or three hours per day on equitation, and all the rest of the drill, military courtesy and discipline, tactics and techniques of cavalry, This was hard work, spit and shine.

 

We were issued yellow artillery boots with lace hooks on both sides. We were issued wool shirts and breeches, a field jacket, overcoat and coveralls. Above all a campaign hat with a yellow hat cord signifying cavalry. This was to be flat as issued, but all managed to have a significant tilt up on each end

 

After 30 days we had a graduation parade. We went by the reviewing stand as a column of platoons with the band playing Custer's song Gary Owen. First time at a walk, second at a trot. Those hay burners really perked up and were hard to hold. One or two would get away and head to the stable, much to the amusement of the review stand.

 

I did this for two summers. The second was at Fort Ord. It was just being started and the tents were out on the edge of a huge parade ground that was constantly moving dust.

 

Four of us from CMTC were asked to ride as color guard in the Rose Bowl. On the way through the tunnel into the stadium, a football player told me if my horse pooped on the field he would rub my nose in it."

ROTC-Pasadena Junior College

 

"I kept up with my training by joining ROTC. The drill I had learned already, so I soon became an officer and carried a sword instead of a rifle. No more cavalry, just close infantry close order drill, but very little else. This kept on until Pearl Harbor."

 

 

Cavalry

 

"After Pearl Harbor, finally, Mom and Dad said I could enlist. The school passed us in all classes because we had enlisted. So, on January 7, 1942, I boarded the train with a lot of steel mirrors and knitted sweaters as gifts and enlisted in the Cavalry at Fort Riley Kansas.

 

We got to Riley, were fingerprinted and sworn in. I sent all my extra cloths home, then waited a week in the same cloths, to be sent to Fort Leavenworth Kansas to get uniforms, shots and whatever. They went out of their way to give us good fitting uniforms.

 

We now had 3-buckle boots, that were an improvement. We filled a footlocker with gear and eventually went back to Fort Riley, to be assigned to C Troop, 5th Squadron, Cavalry Replacement Center at Republican Flats in Kansas.

 

We, at this month, were paid $30 a month, but due to my experience, I was soon made Corporal and received $54 a month.

 

January and February were cold and snowy in Kansas. The nearest town was Junction City, where in the early days there were signs saying Dogs and Enlisted men were not allowed in the stores and restaurants. I was only 19, so a weekend steak and a movie was a big deal for me.

 

We marched and maneuvered and we spent time on the range with M-1s, .45 caliber, submachine guns, 37mm etc. I had done so much of this at CMTC and ROTC I stood out and was recommended for Officer Candidate School.

 

My grandfather died while I was at Riley and I got leave to come home. It was fun to swagger around Pasadena Junior College in my boots. spurs and campaign hat, but most of my friends hat left, so when leave was over, it was not hard to leave. I was ordered to appear at an OCS interview on my return.

 

I went before a board of officers and was interviewed and quizzed for an hour, then dismissed. Ten days later I was notified that I had been accepted and was ordered to join the 8th Cavalry OCS on the post of Fort Riley in June.

 

Our uniforms were the same, only we wore an OC8 pasted on the left pocket. We had to really shine. No dust on the boots at the end of the bed., sheets folded up and taut or we got demerits. Summer khaki starched and pressed.

 

If you were ever in Kansas in June, July, or August, you can imagine how it was to dress for inspection and then have to ride for an hour. Sometimes we went right through the stables and into the PX thus avoiding heatstroke."

 

 

Ft. Riley

4th Platoon-Troop B-5th Squadron CRTC

 

3 buckle boots and 1903 Springfields

Great post with some great family history, Pete. Keep them coming.

 

-Dave

Guy in the middle with the whistle.

Notice the spurs on the boots.

Here again was another set of friends. We reported to our class in the same stone barracks the early Cavalry regiments had lived in before going to fight in Colorado and Texas.

 

We learned to drive Scout cars, 4-wheel drive with 1/4 inch armor. We drive 6 per car. 5 of us and an instructor. At first we put the transfer case in neutral and double clutched it by the hour. Then out on the roads of Kansas. I really learned how to drive there. Drive an hour, gave hand signals, spread out, close up, etc.

 

We had one horse platoon and three armor platoons. The armor platoons was where the motor pool work was done with the Scout cars. We still had equitation three times a week, only we didn't have to groom the horses, we just turned them in. We made night compass marches.(They did work most of the time.)

 

We drilled one hour a day. We shot 37mm guns, submachine guns, rifles and machine guns. We learned the logistics of loading trains down to the last nail and spool of wire.

 

The weapons course was tuff. You had to remember how a gun functioned. I memorized things like" the operating rod catch assembly pivots on the stud of the bullet guide. On our final weapons test there was a small stud that made the .50 cal. feed right or left. I assembled the gun and ended with the stud in my hand. The gun dry fired okay so I flipped the stud out the window. We had heavy tests and a lot of reading was necessary to pass the test. Also memorized were ordinance poems for the .45 pistol. "The four safeties were "grip safety, safety lock, disconnected or half cock."

 

As time went on, naturally, we were excited about the war and impending graduation. The last month, uniform salesman started calling on us. We had to graduate in boots, spurs and breeches. My boots were 3 buckle from Dehner Tank Boot Company. We had to have a blouse, Sam Brown Belts, shirts and a cap. All this was handmade. Brass, cross sabers, gold bars and spurs. We had a uniform advance, but it wasn't enough, ($125.00), so money from home helped.

 

The last days were spent wandering about the reservation at night with a compass. That really brought the chiggers out. Around the beltline was the worst.

 

Our whole class made it, minus one. The night before graduation, he was found climbing the outside the Mullbach Hotel in Kansas City so he didn't make it.

 

Graduation day came. Were dolled up and received our bars after the usual speeches. The enlisted cadre was waiting out front for us to give us our first salutes. In turn, they got dollars.

 

Then 2 weeks at home before reporting to the 899th Tank Destroyer Battalion at Camp Hood, Texas.

 

 

1 more corporal Picture. What type of boots are these?

new 2nd Lieutanent

Official ID

back of ID

Not sure if these are his originals.

backside-it says acid test.

 

Why are some big pictures able to upload but then smaller ones are only allowed?

What a great pictorial history of your Dad's experiences! Keep 'em coming! I like how your Dad's story really shows the evolution of Cavalry just prior to WWII. To answer your question, the lace up boots are the 1931 model Cav boots. It's what he described as issue during his CMTC days. The "three-buckle boots" are the model 1940. It looks like he must have had the earlier boots for some of his posting at Ft. Riley, too.

Great thread Pete. Awesome that you have all of this history and pictures of your fathers service.

Thanks very much, more to come.

 

That really looks like Camp Forsyth, with Custer Hill in the background. I was in these barracks in 86-88, when they moved my unit 1-4 Cav down from Custer Hill to renovate the barracks up there. Nice, drafty, critter infested WW2 left over buildings, lol. Incredible story and pics so far, please keep them coming.

1 more corporal Picture. What type of boots are these?

Pete, this is a great thread. My Dad was an instructor at the Tank Destroyer School, C Troop, in 1944, wonder if they ever crossed paths.

 

Larry

What they said, GREAT!

Pete, this is a great thread. My Dad was an instructor at the Tank Destroyer School, C Troop, in 1944, wonder if they ever crossed paths.

 

Larry

 

Probably not. They took the train to New Jersey 12/23/43. Maybe later. It was a small world.

OCS Cavalry class #8

 

Camp Hood Texas

 

The genesis of the 899th tank destroyer battalion was a regular army battalion, the 99th Anti-Tank from Ft. Lewis, Washington. Some of the cadre was from the 7th Infantry--"Can Do"-- that spent much time in China. Naturally, they were self-impressed and it tested young 2nd Louis to the upmost. Their ignorance offset their knowledge and ability, but for a while it was a challenge.

 

We met the Battalion Commanding Officer awkwardly. He was West Point, 1938 and an Infantryman, as were the rest of the officers. We blew in with boots and spurs, it chaffed those doughboys. We were walking towards the PX and walked past the Colonel and his exec. The executive officer Captain Hoyt K. Lorance came over and said "We have a habit of saluting our Colonel here." He was right, so we were good boys after that.

 

I was assigned to the recon company which consisted of three line platoons and a headquarters company. Our C.O was Eugene Wood, a first Lieutenant out of Washington State. He was later MIA and captured in France.

 

We were equipped with a "French 75" mounted on a half track and the recon platoon was equipped with a 37mm on a Fargo Mt. Dodge 3/4 ton. We spend time firing and doing problems with the local M-3 battalion.

 

The Battalion was to change to M-10s. It was an M-4 tank chassis with a Navy 3.50 gun. We also had a 50 caliber machine gun that was mounted in the rear of the turret and while the main gun was forward, the 50 could only be shot to the rear. If you tried to shoot both, the big gun would hit you with the breech block. The turrets were also open, but that didn't bother us, THEN. Each recon platoon was to have a 1/2 track command vehicle, and two M-5 A1 Light Tanks and four jeeps. There were about 30 men per platoon. The man that did most of the work was the platoon Sergeant.

 

We had the usual training tactics, etc. We learned all they could cram into us.

 

We lived in eight-man tents with a damn good stove in the center of them, but it was cold, cold, cold. We had so many GI blankets on, we could hardly move. Our uniforms were coveralls and boots. We either cut off cavalry boots or bought Dehner Tank Boots. We were then issued combat suits--a three piece suit, jacket, kind of a coverall and a hood. It was an outside material like canvas and a lining of wool--very warm.

 

We received our first M-10s and the next few weeks were spent on driver training and shooting. We had lectures on the war in Africa from observers and we felt with our M-10s we could do good work. We crossed and stormed the "Cowhouse" creek day in and day out. If they had one like that in Africa we would never had to leave Texas.

 

We then moved into barracks--what a joy. I wasn't sorry to leave the armadillos and corral snakes. Spare time was spent in Lampasas or Temple; the rest of the time we trained or drank Falstaff beer at the PX.

We did take a 25 mile march on foot. We carried our individual weapons. If you ever

tried to march 25 miles carrying a 45 cal. machine gun, it just doesn't work. The meat wagon followed to pick up the stragglers. Our company made it, but a few others could not make it. Why we needed to walk 25 miles to sit in a tank, I'll never know. We had time in the evening to drive halftracks to see what they could do. Outside of that forecasting the Texas weather was the main hobby. I learned to drive a motorcycle there. A cavalry Sergeant showed me all the details. He started it and said, "Are you ready?" I gave it a little throttle. He stepped on the clutch and away I went. I rode for an hour and a half, came back and put it up and never rode one again.

 

Finally, we got our orders to head for the P.O.E. (point of embarkation.) We loaded on the train December 23, 1942 (I think) at Copperas Cove. Officers had a car of their own just ahead of the caboose, so we spent a lot of time riding in the caboose. One very sentimental happening was, as we went through a small town in Iowa, one of my sergeants passed his home on Christmas day and saw his family gathered around their Christmas tree. That made us all cry.

 

We pulled into Ft. Dix, New Jersey and were stuck in tents again. Only this time with a Sibley WW1 coal-burning stove. We tried everything to light it--gas, hair oil, etc.--all to no avail. Finally, we had the C.Q. bring a dust pan full of coals to us and dump it in our stove. Then all we all we had to do was feed the coal into it.

 

We spent two weeks waiting for a boat. All we did was open and close the officers club. I did go into Brooklyn one day to order some recreation equipment which arrived while we were in Sebdo, North Africa.

 

Boarding day came and and away we went. We staggered on the boat with two barracks bags, tin hat and personal arms. Ten of us to a stateroom.. it wasn't too bad. The ship was the Kungsholm, a Swedish liner.