War and Boredom

The Rain at Pontoise

It had been raining for a week and our airfield at Pontoise was drenched. The
squadron streets were a morass of mud. When you walked your boots sank into the
mud and there was a sucking sound as you lifted each foot to walk. We were
mostly hunched in out tents with a small fire in the pot bellied stove to fight
off the wet. We whiled away the boredom by reading, writing letters or playing
poker. In the mess tent we all sat with cups of hot coffee and felt better as
the cook's stoves gave off heat that drove off the dampness and the lights in
the tent cut away the gray gloom of the world outside. The boredom was endless,
Later as evening came on we all wandered over to the officers club where we
spent a few more hours drinking and talking to relieve that ever present
boredom.. Would this rain ever stop? As we walked back to our tents to turn in,
the rain seemed to lessen and we could see breaks in the clouds overhead. Even
a few stars appeared. The next morning we attacked the Rhine bridges at
Cologne.


Arthur Kramer
344th BG 494th BS
England, France, Belgium, Holland, Germany
Visit my WW II B-26 website at:
http://www.coastcomp.com/artkramer