Daily, Phil’s company stayed active with deep patrolling. Phil’s old A&P men worked with Companies K and L to help improve their defensive positions by clearing fields of fire, laying mines, and installing tactical and protective wire. But at nighttime, his men had completely different battles[1]

Phil taught his men a lifesaving winter TTP,[2] an easy way to dig a winter foxhole in frozen soil. He instructed them to shoot eight rounds from their M1 into the same spot, then quickly dig out the loose dirt and ice with their trench knives, place a half stick of TNT in the hole, light the fuse, run like hell for thirty meters, hit the dirt until the explosion, get up and run back before the loosened earth and ice dust settled, and begin digging in the softer soil with their trench shovels. Within minutes, the men would have a habitable foxhole without expending too much effort, and even more importantly, not breaking a sweat that would then freeze.

Occupying a frontline foxhole proved to be fatal to some and miserable for all, however. Two men were assigned to each foxhole, each spending two hours on watch while the other slept during the night, which wasn’t restful at all in the sub-zero temperatures. Soldiers tucked newspapers inside their uniforms to insulate their bodies and covered themselves with leaves and boughs for added warmth. Most wore two pairs of woolen long johns, two pairs of woolen socks, their relatively thin uniform, and their regular field jacket, which still left them cold.

How cold was it?[3] So cold that if a man didn’t do his business in a hurry, he risked a frostbitten penis. It was so cold that the oil in the engines froze and weapons locked up. Men urinated on their rifles to get them working again.

At least half the patients in field hospitals were suffering severe cases of trench foot,[4] where the men’s feet turned purple and swelled to almost twice their normal size. The most severe cases became gangrenous, which often led to amputation.[5]

Phil’s philosophy was that trench foot was preventable. He believed that if he and his men took care of their feet, they wouldn’t succumb to the serious affliction. He demanded his men change two pairs of wool socks and the felt pads that lined their shoepacs daily.[6] Every night, he’d have them take off their combat boots, rub their feet, dry them as much as possible, and put on dry socks. He instructed them to put the wet socks under their jackets and promised them that the socks would be dry the next night.

Phil had another technique he taught them—one he had learned at Anzio that involved shaving cream. Frontline men like him had discovered the many virtues of shaving cream, which could be used to treat sun and windburn, as a makeshift hair shampoo, and even as a balm for fleabites and cracked fingers. Best of all, massaging feet with shaving cream once a day, along with his other tips, helped prevent the dreaded malady of trench foot.

Not one of his men came down with it.[7]

~~~~~

[1] Larimore, At First Light, 180

[2] TTP, or Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures, incorporated the men’s evolving knowledge and experiences.

[3] Historians have concluded that the GIs went through worse physical misery during the Battle of the Colmar Pocket than the brave souls at Valley Forge, or in the ice-filled trenches of World War I. Historian Stephen Ambrose marveled: “All but forgotten today, the battle that raged through January was for the GIs among the worst of the war. It was fought in conditions so terrible that they can only be marveled at, not really imagined. Only those who were there can know. More than once in interviewing veterans of the January fighting, when I ask them to describe the cold, men have involuntarily shivered.” 

[4] Trench foot is a type of foot damage from prolonged exposure to cold, damp, and unsanitary conditions. Unlike frostbite, it usually occurs at skin temperatures above freezing and can begin as rapidly as ten hours into exposure. Risk factors included overly tight boots and not moving. Initial symptoms include tingling or itching followed by numbness. The feet become red or bluish and then start to swell and smell of decay. The skin then breaks down and becomes infected.

[5] Trench foot put more men out of action in the ETO [European Theater of Operations] than German artillery, mortars, or machine gun fire combined. During the winter of 1944–45, over 45,000 men had to be pulled off the front lines because of trench foot—the equivalent of three full Infantry divisions.

[6] One of the first cold-and-wet-weather footwear solutions for the World War II soldier was the shoepac (or shoe pac), which was developed in the early 1940s and widely distributed in 1944–45. Although it had many deficiencies, the shoepac was still the best available specialized boot for winter conditions.

[7] Larimore, Ibid, 180-181.

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