every soldier or would-be soldier before long."
 |
| John Edward in letter home (full letter below), April 5, 1943, family scan |
Final preparations were underway for the next campaign,
code-named Operation Husky. While plans were still top secret,
it was inevitable that the Allied Forces would soon head toward Europe:
In July, the Allies would invade Sicily and
pave the way for invasion of Italy and then Europe.
 |
| Gen Montgomery & Gen Patton review a map of Sicily, August-July 1943, Navy photo |
As previously seen during such times of transition, letters home
were sprinkled with special requests and instructions,
and often included some financial support.
John Edward wrote his mom that the Valentine card she sent
was "really something. This old heart of mine very seldom gets sentimental,
but today it got pretty close to it." He concluded:
"But sentiment is something we have very little of over here."
He also sent some poker winnings from games
he "got into in a few odd moments,"
along with encouragement to
"go out and buy yourself some new duds and stuff,
and show 'em what a glamour girl really is."
"There's nothing to spend your money for over here," he added,
and we're all of the opinion that 'you can't take it with you'
unless you are going back to the States."
Meanwhile, fifty-five DUKWs had been sent to North Africa
for examination, review, and training.
These newly developed 6x6 amphibious vehicles could
operate seamlessly between water and land.
 |
| Friend of John Edward inspecting underside of a DUKW, 1943-44, family scan |
A driver would no longer have to exit the vehicle to change operation
between propeller and wheels or to adjust tire pressure (on each tire)
for better traction on sand or higher speeds on land.
During a beachhead invasion, these vehicles could transport
more men and supplies quicker and safer.
 |
| Letter home, March 22, 1943, family scan |
"I'm
really sold on DUKWs, and as far as I'm concerned, I'll be content
to
finish out the rest of my time over here with them .... I've finally
got
to know the men [in his company] sufficiently well to operate
in a
pretty efficient manner -- and that takes time, and a
change would mean
going through all that again."
These March 22 and April 6 letters were microfilmed
onto V-Mail, (short for Victory Mail).
Developed to make better use of cargo space, about 150,000
V-Mails could be sent in one bag -- rather than
the 37 bags required for paper letters.
 |
| John Edward letter home, April 6, 1943, family scan |
In April, John Edward wrote that he had again been hospitalized
"with the same back injury that I had in December -- there
was some sort of a rupture in the "shock absorbers" between the
vertebrae -- and they offered me a chance to go back to the States.
"Erstwhile refused .... it's a darn cinch we're going to need
every soldier or would-be soldier before long."
He added:
"By
the way, there is one thing I wish you would do -- you, and probably no
one else,
will be informed in case anything happens to me."
He gave Virginia Murray's address in Brooklyn so that she might be informed.
"Otherwise, there is no occasion to write.
Remember that--don't write unless something happens."
 |
| Port Pass for John Edward, April 12, 1943, family scan. |
A few days later
he was
back at work.
The Port Pass
for "Duty in Port Area"
recorded his unit:
"138th Q.M.Co. Truck."
However, he would soon receive orders from Gen. Patton
to serve as a Staff Officer.
%20%20when%20on%20Patton's%20staff%20in%20N%20Afr%20&%20Sicily%20--%20BLOG%20.png){kind=spacer} |
| John Edward ephemera regarding his promotion to 1st Lt. The designation G-4 was used when he served on Gen. Patton's staff in N Africa and Sicily. 1943, family scan. |
John Edward explained:
it was the "convoy service moving troops from the West Coast of Africa
to the fighting area [in Tunisia] that caused me to be
requested by name to serve in a special planning unit."
This new assignment came with a promotion to 1st Lt.
 |
| John Edward letter home, May 1943, family scan |
The "mopping-up," as concluding operations were called,
was largely completed in North Africa.
During the next two months final plans and preparations
would be completed for Operation Husky.
It was during this time that John Edward received his new appointment
and wrote home that he was not pleased to be out of the field.
But he would go on to serve with distinction
on Gen. Patton's staff under (then) Col. Walter Muller.
"After being in a tactical outfit for 2 1/2 years," he wrote that
he felt like a "square peg in a round hole -- or should it be square head?
But so help me, I'll get out in the field again, and soon. Here's one boy
who wants to keep on being a soldier -- not a 'Staff Officer.'"
It was around this time that John Edward wrote “Binnion”
on an
early version of masking tape and placed it above the
right front pocket of his uniform.
With this aid, when someone asked his name and
he began to stutter “B-b-b-b-b-b-b-innion,”
John Edward would say, “Lt.” and point to his last name, “Binnion.”
(While cloth name tags or stencils were worn
by some of the Army
Paratroopers and Army Air Force Pilots,
it wasn’t until 1953 that the Army mandated name tags for
all personnel.)
This name tag came to the attention of Gen. Patton when
“dad was working in a Command Tent.
A message came in for Gen. Patton, who had just left.
Dad went to the door and called, 'Hey Joe.'
Patton came back and waved to him, and dad waited.
Patton asked, 'Why did you call me Joe?'
Dad said, 'Because I couldn't said G-g-g-g-g-eneral P-p-p-p-atton.'"
John Edward Binnion II
Of course, General Patton's question referred mainly to
use of the name Joe, a nickname for privates.
But John Edward's answer was related to stuttering.
Joe was an relatively effortless word to say:
the soft consonant sound of J is much easier to pronounce
than a hard consonant such as B or P; and Joe is
a short
one-syllable word, followed only by the O sound.
"According to the obituary in the Wichita Falls, Texas newspaper
Times Record
News, Patton liked the idea so much
he made everyone on his staff wear one on
their uniform.”
John Edward Binnion, II
By the second week of July, Operation Husky was ready to begin.
Soldiers began boarding ships for Sicily.
 |
| Allied Forces board ships in preparation for Operation Husky, early July 1943, Navy photo. |
American and British Troops across the Mediterranean Sea.
 |
Troops on ship headed for Sicily, July 1943, Army photo |
Men who had been comfortable in their stacked bunks
found their stomachs roiling along with the waves.
This might well have been the crossing John Edward later described to
some family members. His unit had not been on a ship (the largest vessels were
used for Naval offensive troops and for transport of planes, tanks and other large vehicles).
Instead, his unit was on one of the smaller vessels or
landing craft designed to carry infantry, smaller vehicles, and cargo.
 |
| 43 7/Jul 10 Landing Craft of WWII diagram, Encyclopedia Britannica |
could maneuver through shallow waters and move significantly closer to a beachhead.
But this design meant they rode not "through" waves, but "on" them.
In rough waters, this resulted in jerking movements like "corks in a washing machine"
that tossed and turned and rocked the vessels 30 or 40 degrees.
 |
| Ships and vessels during a calm part of crossing the Mediterranean from North Africa to Sicily, July 8-9, 1943, Army photo. |
Fierce winds stirred up waves that crashed all around the vessels. Even
seasoned soldiers -- confined to the tightly bunked quarters -- reported that
they found themselves seasick, many violently so.
On his initial crossing, from the United States to North Africa,
John Edward had been required to stay below deck through rough seas.
This time, he explained, he decided
not to stay below while the vessel lurched its way over fierce waves.
Up on deck he gripped the rails and watched
as the armada traveled through thick segments of fog.
He was on one of the last vessels in the convoy.
Those on deck peered into the heavy fog, watching for Germans
on patrol in the area, but unable to see more than a few feet in front of them.
At one point the fog lifted.
John Edward said he could see a German ship, and
one of their watchmen was turning toward the Allied Armada.
But as the German turned, the fog closed.
The Armada had not been spotted.
 |
| John Edward took this photograph of DUKWs driving through wet sand a few months later when he was again in charge of a Quartermaster vehicle unit on Anzio Beachhead. January 1944, family scan. |
The high winds and relentless waves threatened havoc for the Sicily landings.
Navy Scout Lt. Halperin explained, "everyone who knew what
it would be like were thinking about the surf on the shore ahead
and getting [landing] boats over side in a heavy sea."
It would be a challenge. But Gen. Patton was prepared.
 |
| DUKWs on lined up on beach midday after landing, July 10, 1943, Royal Navy photo |
Impressed with the newly designed amphibious DUKWs, Gen. Patton
had ordered 1,000 for this invasion of 26 beaches along the Sicily coastline.
They were highly effective in severe weather and turbulent waters,
and could negotiate a smooth transition onto land.
Without exiting the vehicle, wheels were dropped by a control inside
the DUKW; it could then seamlessly drive onto sandy shores.
With such innovations, the landings were successful.
The headquarters for the Seventh Army were quickly
established in central Sicily.
 |
| Sicily Operations, Army May, July 1943, Army photo |
And John Edward was given his various assignments.
"While with the G-4 Section of the Seventh Army I had several assignments,
mostly concerned with the assignment of trucks to various parts of the Island.
Along with this was included the daily report of available cargo vehicles to be used in
the numerous operations on the Island, and a study to determine the maximum loads
of ammunition, supplies, and other cargo which could safely be carried.
(We always knew and stressed, of course, that the needs of the fighting units
came first -- before the condition of the trucks. On more than one occasion
this concept got me into trouble with commanding officers of some of
the truck regiments or battalions because of too many deadlined trucks.)"
-- John E. Binnion, 1989
 |
| Piper Cub airplane, ca 1943, Army photo |
"Later, Col. Muller asked me to be the Seventh Army Air Courier
to carry messages and other Secret and Classified papers
from the Seventh Army in Palermo to the 'other' headquarters
on the other side of the Island.
"These flights occurred in Piper Cub planes which were
generally piloted by an artillery spotter, and the flights required me to fly
with classified documents from Headquarters, Seventh Army, to the
southern part of the Island where I turned the documents over to American
and British Commanding Officers. We then flew back to Seventh Army
Headquarters with the follow-up answers, documents, or other information."
John E. Binnion, 1989
Carrying a pilot and one passenger, the Piper Cub planes, also
known as L-4 Grasshoppers, were nicknamed "flying jeeps."
These small unarmed planes were largely used for battle observation,
transport, and communication.
 |
| Piper Plane in air over Sicily, July - August 1943, Army photo |
"In flying from Palermo to the Gela/Licata Headquarters our
Piper Cub was attacked two times by a German pursuit plane,
but managed to escape without harm.
On these trips I also had the opportunity to meet and/or see
some of the big names of that part of World War II including
the British Generals Alexander and Montgomery."
John E. Binnion, 1989
 |
| Sir Bernard Montgomery and Gen. George Patton near Palermo, Sicily, July 28 1943, Army photo |
It was during these months in Sicily that Gen. Patton, while visiting
evacuation hospitals, berated and slapped two soldiers for
what was then called "battle fatigue" or "shell shock."
When Gen. Eisenhower received reports from the doctors he ordered
an investigation, then privately admonished Patton and had him apologize
to the soldiers and troops. But he asked the media to withhold the information,
and explained that the military needed Patton's expertise.
 |
| Gen. Patton giving one of his apologizes to officers and troops, Sicily, August 1943, photo 45th Infantry Division, Army |
The information, however, was reported by radio commentator
Drew Pearson on November 21 of that year.
In a February 1944 letter home (written from Anzio), John Edward wrote
about the news and expressed his high opinion of Gen. Patton.
 |
| John Edward letter home written from Anzio, Italy during February of 1944, family scan |
"I'm very sorry that all the publicity about Gen. Patton got out to the Public.
We knew about it over in Sicily last August, but we hoped that it would be hushed.
He is really a wonderful man, and one of his idiosyncrasies is popping off at times like that
when in reality it is just his sincerity and enthusiasm coming to the front.
He is a magnificent field General, and in my opinion is just as smart as almost any of our Generals."
To complete the conquest of Sicily, the Allies needed to take Messina,
the main port with mainland Italy. The American 7th Army under Patton
and the British 8th Army under Montgomery drove northwest for several weeks.
They pushed relentlessly through Axis forces and entered Messina on the 17th of September.
 |
| American troops in Messina, August 17, 1943, Army photo |
John E. Binnion, Military History
Years later, when a report on Op Husky and operations in Sicily
was "unclassified," John Edward requested a copy of the document.
He is listed under Transportation Section -- Base Area.
 |
| Report of Operations of the United States Seventh Army in the Sicilian Campaign, 10 July - 17 August 1943, family scan |
"After
the cessation of hostilities in Sicily, I asked to be transferred
to
the field and specifically asked to join the 1st Ranger Battalion ....
However,
because of a back operation which had been performed
at the 6th General
Hospital in Casablanca, I was
turned down for some physical reasons."
John E. Binnion, 1989
 |
| Officer's Pay Card dated May 30, 1944 for 1st Lt. John Edward, back in the Quartermaster Corps, was issued for pay period ending September 16, 1943, family scan |
"I was given approval to join Company D, 53rd QM Bn (DUKW)."
John E. Binnion, 1989
Thanks for reading.
You may find the previous post here.
And join us soon for the next post.
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