NEWS & REVIEWS
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NEWS FROM THE PAST
Stars & Stripes
Vol. 1, - No. 12 - Wednesday, February 24, 1943
Nazi, U. S. Tanks Clash In Tunisia
One Crew Protects American Convoy
By Hal Boyle
(Associated Press Correspondent)
A lone General Sherman tank boldly took on a last-ditch running fight with ten German tanks in order to save an American column of light vehicles from destruction and destroyed four Mark IV’s before the crew was forced to leave their own shell-riddled and flaming tank.
Their act, which one soldier estimated saved 300 American lives, was hailed by officers and men alike as one of the most gallant engagements of the African war. The tank, which single-handedly fought the German column, including one giant 52-ton Mark VI to a standstill, was named “The Texas,” and the battle it put up against hopeless odds was a little Alamo—but with every man emerging alive.
The action took place when American forces were outnumbered more than 2 to 1. They tangled with more than 100 German tanks in the greatest battle of its kind ever held in this Continent. The United States tanks suffered severe losses in both men and equipment, but inflicted equal or greater damage on their German foe.
The commander of the embattled “Texas” was Lt. Col. Louis V. Hightower, 34, a native of Winnsboro, Texas, whose wife lives in Allentown, Pa. Col. Hightower, who would rather fight than talk about it had to be questioned over a two-hour period before giving details of the battle.
“Credit for the score we chalked up belongs to our gunner, Cpl. Austin H. Bayer, of LaPorte, Ind.,” he said. “We pulled out about 0700 that morning with about 36 tanks which were attacking with us at a hill called Djebel Lessouda, not far from Faid. When we got there 15 Mark IV’s were ahead of us and 22 more on the crest to the left.
“We sat there and shot at them knocking out about five or six while losing three ourselves. Then the 22 tanks came over the hill toward us, and they turned out to be 50, including at least four of their giant Mark VI’s which as far as I know have never been in action on any other front.
“We drew back to cover as they tried their usual trick of envelopment. We kept pivoting back, shooting at first one German flank and then the other. We kept from being surrounded, but at a heavy cost. One of our companies of 17 tanks was reduced to about five—then their dive-bombers hit us.
“They didn’t hurt us much, but we couldn’t see through the dust. We pulled across a two-mile open field with our artillery covering us by using their 105-mm. howitzers for direct fire. They were hitting German tanks at every pop. I saw three go up in flames with just three rounds—one tank a round.
“We reorganized in town, but after two hours they began another double envelopment. We got the artillery and two supply trains safely out, and then started down the road to Gafsa ourselves.
“After getting all the tanks away except the two lights and two mediums, we took out across country and came across nine Mark IV’s and one Mark VI about 700 yards aways opening fire on one of our columns of half-tracks and light vehicles which were completely helpless before them.
“Guns on the other medium tank were jammed, and since the light tanks were too thinly armored for the task before us, I sent all three away and signalled to the column of light vehicles to swing behind “The Texas.’
“As the Germans turned in for what they thought was a picnic, we let go and struck their commander’s car with our third shot, stopping it as cold as if it had hit a tree. We got the second tank with one shot.
“Eight remaining Nazi tanks then braked to a stop, but we kept going at 14 miles an hour, firing steadily as we pulled away. We hit one tank three times before discovering it was a Mark VI. I saw the last shell burst against him, but don’t know if he was disabled. However, he didn’t fire anymore.
“Another Mark IV came up to him, and we hit it at the same range with one shot. It went through the turret and the tank broke into flame like a flower.
“Another Mark IV approached the burning tank—which was stupid because we only had to bring over our gun a hair—and he flamed too with our first shot. Then our gun jammed momentarily as the five remaining Mark IV’s really opened up on us. We could actually see the shells coming along close to the ground like ricocheting stones on water.
“One shell fragment came right down the tube of our gun, but caused no serious injury among our crew. Another shell went through the bogie wheels and under the tank, tearing out the other side. Another hit our turret, but didn’t penetrate. Then a shell struck our suspension system.
"As soon as our gun was in order, we began firing again, but another shell smashed the bottom of our left rear gas tank and flaming gasoline spurted over the back of our tank, its tracks and on the ground about us.
“I shouted to my boys, ‘Now is the time to git.’ We bailed out of there like peas from a hot pods before the tank had stopped running. We dodged behind the tank and kept it between us and the Germans. After walking a couple of miles we fixed up a half track we found abandoned, and picked up a soldier with a broken hip nearby. We loaded him on and drove away.
“We came to another tank which some of our fellows were about to destroy because of engine trouble. We put it back into shape; our crew got in and we picked up our convoy of half tracks and jeeps and came on home.
“I hated like hell to lose that tank of mine. They even burned up the Lone Star flag flying from my antenna.”
Gunner Bayer said of the acton: “We still have a score to settle with those birds.” He carried a pet Arab pup named Texas Junior which the crew picked up while leaving the battlefield.
Other members of the crew included Sgt. Mirten Clark, 28, of Ottawa, Kan., driver; Pvt. Earl Agle, 24, of Paragould, Ark., gun loader, and Warrant Officer C. W. Coley, 33, of Leewood, W. Va., radio officer.
*Transcribed from the pictured newspaper.
Reviews
Review posted 12/24/2021
The Wild Bowl: 100 wild game soups, stews & chilis
By Eileen Clarke
This fabulous new cookbook by Eileen Clarke involves (as the title implies) the wide additional ways to cook game big and small in soups, stews and chilis with game taken by hunting. All manner of creatures are included—and more importantly—how to process your game to keep it at peak flavor throughout the hunting, skinning, butchering, freezing and preparation for the pot.
An important part of her process is labeling so you know easily some of the characteristics of a particular animal. Store bought meat is usually predictable, but wild animals are influenced by a raft of other things including sex life at the harvest and diet. Being able to differentiate how one deer is a bit gamey compared to another by the freezer label will save you some future grief when you can plan how to use the meat after it is thawed.
So far, I’ve only made one dish called Tandoori Pheasant. (Since I rarely hunt anymore, I travel downtown to buy exotic meat at a specialty shop.) Following the recipe as written, the result was a splendid array of exotic flavors. She cautions about the called-for amount of 1/2 teaspoon cayenne, but I like things hot and didn’t “work up” to the amount the we handloaders do with ammunition. The result was a perfect balance between the sweetness of the sweet potato and heat of the cayenne. The rest of the ingredients simply applauded. Great soup! The book is spiral bound and lays flat with the needed page right at hand so you can easily follow the directions.
Spices from all over the world are used in recipes themed to the country of the spices origins. It is refreshing to see so many different flavors represented in so many different ways! Try these recipes and you’ll be sold, too. Most of the ingredients (except the game) can be found in the supermarket. A link to the place I buy spices is included as well, since they carry many of the exotics sometimes hard to find outside of big cities.—Jeff John
The Wild Bowl: 100 wild game soups, stews & chilis, by Eileen Clarke is available for $24.75 from Deep Creek Press, P.O. Box 579. Townsend, MT 59644, (406) 521-0273, https://www.riflesandrecipes.com.
Spice Resource
Salty, Savory & Sweet, 5061 S. McCarran Blvd, Reno, NV 89502, (775) 470-5813, https://www.salty-savory-sweet.com/
NEW BOOKS FROM M.L. MCPHERSON
LEVERGUNS, PRIMERS, NOVELS & MORE!
At the helm of GUNS Magazine, I called on ML (Mic) McPherson for articles involving advanced techniques in gunmaking, ballistics and handloading. I read his book on accurizing leverguns and used his techniques with success on a couple of my own projects (Note to self: Post those pictures). A Short Primer on Primers will open your eyes to one of the least understood components of that most important part of the cartridge’s ignition cycle. Included are his first novel and a non-fiction account of his search for the Lost Dutchman Mine. I read Zigzag Canyon more than a decade ago. It was a good read then, but has been revised with new chapters. All these books are available at Amazon (click here to be whisked to Mic's Amazon page) along with the extensive catalog of Mic’s other offerings.—Jeff John
Let’s let Mic introduce these new books:
McPherson on Leverguns
McPherson on Leverguns, 8½x11, 365 pages, just a few things about the truth of lever-action accuracy and the custom rifles I have built to prove that, along with a few other articles of general interest to shooters.
Zigzag Canyon
Zigzag Canyon. Honored by the Zane Gray Society as its Book of the Year.
Written by Ron Feldman and Mic, the novel takes us back 150 years to Gold Gulch in Arizona Apache territory and famous lost Adams Diggin’s in Zigzag Canyon. Rich with the history of early Mountain Men, explorers and the natives defending their territory from unwanted intrusion in the quest for what Apache’s called “Squaws metal.”
A Short Primer on the Primer
A Short Primer on the Primer, 8½x11, 92 pages. OK, so it’s not so short after all but it does cover every aspect of the sporting arms primer.
A Collection of Shooting, Handloading, and Related Articles
A Collection of Shooting, Handloading, and Related Articles, 8½x11, 353 pages, 26 articles, an essay or two, and other things of interest to the serious shooter.
THE LOST DUTCHMAN MINE
Memoirs of Superstition Mountain Prospecting: Our Search for the Lost Dutchman Gold Mine, 1968-1983, 8½x11, 153 pages, a book recounting our sometimes harrowing adventures in a dangerous place and time.
Stalking the Wild Jerky by Eileen Clark
Review Posted 11/20/2019
When you combine love of the outdoors, hunting and food with home ovens or food dehydrators (so reasonably priced today), you have a recipe for great tasting snacks (and fuel if you’re off on another trek to fill a tag). Stalking the Wild Jerky: More than 100 Easy-To-Follow Recipes by Eileen Clarke has 168 pages featuring sliced and ground recipes using antelope, deer, elk, bear, boar, moose, goose, duck and upland birds are clearly presented and simple to follow. The results are spectacular, as I can attest.
If you’re a novice hunter, buy this book now. If you’re an experienced cook and hunter, buy this book for the great recipes and new ways of preparation. The introductory chapters show why some techniques are better than others. The food safety sections blows some clean air into a subject mostly well overdone in other books and online tutorials, which often act as if all food is infested with wild rampaging bacteria and germs only safely handled in clean rooms with sterilized instruments and all participants dressed in full hazmat suits. Clarke covers field dressing, cooling, transportation and aging prior to preparation.
No Smoke, Just Fire
I’ve long used a home smoker to make jerky, but you don’t need one following the directions in Clarke’s book. The kitchen oven works just fine. My oven won’t go lower than 170° (and some not even that low), but she points out you just reduce the cooking time in modern ovens. The point is to get the internal temp of the meat high enough (160°-165°) to kill any bacteria lurking on the meat. She points out it is also best to do so before using a dehydrator if the unit doesn’t raise the temp that high. Dehydrators are good for other things, but you don’t need one to start making pretty tasty snacks if you’ve got meat in the freezer.
The book’s recipes feature marinades and dry rubs, how to choose between them, times needed and other pertinent facts clearly presented and easy to follow. There are no mysteries. The combination of spices is intriguing, and even after you’ve eaten this year’s venison, the spice combinations are good enough to help with store-bought food, too.
One thing I never would have thought about is adding French’s Crispy Fried Onion. After several decades of Thanksgiving dinner with them atop green onion and mushroom soup mix I never thought to have a kind word for them again. Clarke calls for them in a ground meat jerky recipe and they are redeemed in my eyes. Not only do they add a neat texture and taste, they go well with other types of jerky, like the Bologna Spiced one. Once you’ve tried a few recipes, you get whole new flavor combinations by mixing several prepared jerkies together. Doing so adds a whole new dimension to hunting/hiking/outdoor food!
Since posting this, I've made a batch of Pepper & Worcestershire Jerky using beef on sale. I chose it first because all the spices were on hand. I wish I'd tried it earlier! It came out of the oven pretty strong, but mellowed considerably overnight. The weather was pretty cold, and I didn't want to fire up the smoker. The oven method was easy and sure.
Stalking the Wild Jerky: More than 100 Easy-To-Follow Recipes, ©2019 by Eileen Clarke, is spiral-pound so it can lay flat while your working and printed in the USA. Just in time for Christmas at $19.99 from Deep Creek Press, P.O. Box 579, Townsend, MT 59644, (406) 521-0273, https://www.riflesandrecipes.com. —Jeff John
Stalking the Wild Jerky is available from Deep Creek Press for $19.99.
NEW RELEASES!
RELOADING TOOLS of the BLACK POWDER ERA Vols. 1 & 2 by Tom Rowe & Ed Curtis
RELOADING TOOLS of the BLACK POWDER ERA Vols. 1 & 2 by Tom Rowe & Ed Curtis
RELOADING TOOLS of the BLACK POWDER ERA Vols. 1 & 2 by Tom Rowe & Ed Curtis
Posted: 10/30/2019
Handloading tools have evolved tremendously since the advent of the metallic cartridge, and if you ever wondered how the buffalo hunters or how the famed target shooters of the era loaded their cartridges, these books are for you. Exquisitely photographed and with as much detail as possible (much of the technique is lost as tools evolved and companies folded) to illustrate the measures, tong tools, priming methods and things
FROM TOM ROWE BOOKS!
RELOADING TOOLS of the BLACK POWDER ERA Vols. 1 & 2 by Tom Rowe & Ed Curtis
RELOADING TOOLS of the BLACK POWDER ERA Vols. 1 & 2 by Tom Rowe & Ed Curtis
you may never have thought about. Old technology is a fun study. Tom Rowe books are always entertaining, the books themselves are sturdy, well crafted and printed on high quality paper. They'll last a long time.
Christmas is coming and books always make great gifts. Tom Rowe books are always a perfect choice for the hard-to-buy-for gun crank!
Price: $79 each available from Rowe Publications, P.O. Box 207, Sugar Grove, VA 24375, (276) 783-8037, email: Rowebooks1@gmail.com.
NEWS OF THE WEIRD: A POACHER'S GUN
RECOVERED IN MOZAMBIQUE
RECOVERED IN MOZAMBIQUE
RECOVERED IN MOZAMBIQUE
Posted 2/7/2020
I discovered this gun at the recent Safari Club Int. show in Reno. This gun was confiscated in Mozambique by Gajogo Safarilands from locals. The barrel is a Toyota truck axle, the lock is hand made, as is the nipple. The stock, while crude, vaguely resembles a true muzzleloading stock and even has vestigial panels on the left side.
HANDMADE LOCK
RECOVERED IN MOZAMBIQUE
RECOVERED IN MOZAMBIQUE
The lock is artfully nailed in place as well as having crude screws from the other side. On this one, the sear mechanism failed, and couldn’t be repaired, so a wire was added to create a slip hammer type of ignition.
SHH! NO RATTLES
RECOVERED IN MOZAMBIQUE
HANDSOME RECOIL PAD
Note the stock even has vestigial panels on the left side. Lock screws were called "side nails" in the 18th century, a term apt for this gun. To keep them from rattling, some green cloth acts as a washer. The nipple is atop the barrel, and the barrel ends in a crude front sight, which is completely blocked by the ignition system.
HANDSOME RECOIL PAD
HANDSOME RECOIL PAD
HANDSOME RECOIL PAD
The butt is rubber cut from an undetermined source, but probably the sole of a shoe. It is backed with cloth similar to the type used for the lock bolts, and stapled and nailed onto the wood.
IGNITION
HANDSOME RECOIL PAD
IGNITION
The powder is homemade and resembles a “greyish cottage cheese.” There is a notch on the stock (the white lines visible in photo 1) to show how much to put into the barrel. Then a plant wad of some sort is rammed over the powder to the second notch on the barrel. The projectile is a roughly 1-inch piece of rebar. The cap is a home cooked explosive and placed into the nipple.
They also had (but did not bring) pieces of rebar recovered from poached game, so these guns work. This one was loaded when found, and placed in a vice and fired to clear it. Visit Gajogo Safarilands and Safari Club Int.
MORE News of the Weird Compiled in joy and disbelief by Jeff
Short Armor For Tall Men
Posted 12/24/19
I’ll eschew the Belgian military jokes, since this is funny enough as it is. First, who would think that Belgian males are among the tallest in the world on average at 5 foot, 10 inches? According to the UK’s Daily Mail, the Belgian military spent almost $34 million dollars upgrading their fleet of 44 Pandur APCs with safety improvements only to find they’d shrunk the interior dimensions dramatically by raising the floor. Drivers can be no taller than 5 foot, 7 inches, and it’s very difficult to get in and out of the vehicle. Even the Belgian military admitted the Pandurs were “unusable in their current state.” The head of Belgian Defense Systems pointed out Pandurs have always had a height limitation. That makes the decrease in height even more ridiculous. Belgium bought the Austrian-made Pandurs in 1996.
Thanks Daily Mail!
For the jokes, a selection of comments from the Daily Mail’s readers include:
“Well, these are midgetigating circumstances...
“They only have a ‘small’ army
“Probably need to recruit women to drive them. Personally, I love women in tight tank tops.”
Farts CAN Kill
Posted 12/11/2019 Talk about using all-natural products! According to the Daily Sun, “A man whose farts kill mosquitoes claims to have been signed up by insect repellent companies probing the secret of his killer gas. Joe Rwamirama, 48, from Kampala, Uganda says boffins have launched a study into the chemical properties of his unique trouser toxin.
“The odd job man says no one in his home village has ever contracted malaria because his powers knock out insects over a six mile radius. If true, that would make his fallout zone larger than that of the atomic bomb which destroyed Hiroshima in 1945. Local barber James Yoweri said: "He is known all over the city as the man who can kill mosquitoes with his farts.
"A Local chief who knew Joe when he was a child, said he took him in to live with him during the malaria season and claimed no one nearby caught the disease. The chief said: ‘I heard about Joe's gift and I took him in to help mop out the mosquitoes infesting our surroundings.’ He respectfully drops these bloomers and it helped eradicate the insects. He does his thing and they drop like flies.
“Joe said: ‘I eat ordinary food just like everyone else but no insect can lay a foot on me, not even a fly. ‘I smell like a normal man and I bathe daily and my farts are just like everyone else, they are only dangerous to small insects and especially mosquitoes.’ Joe dreams of his marketing his gas and added: ‘Imagine buying a Raid can with my face on it!’”
Hard to improve on that one!
Odd Trash
Posted 12/11/2019 Sgt. Martin Skirving-Chehab, 42, had brought home the highly sensitive documents about pedophiles and their victims in supermarket shopping bag and only realized they were missing when he got a panicked message from his wife sayng her mother had thrown out the shopping bags in the recycling bin. Gee, and mom thought she was helping!
“The documents were found by a dog walker who handed them to the Sun newspaper, leading to the whole mess going public. The 15-year veteran of Cleveland Police [in the UK, not Ohio, USA] was found guilty of gross misconduct for a ‘sustained failure to take data protection seriously.’ His mishap caused ‘significant reputational harm to the police and a risk of serious harm to members of the public — namely 55 registered sex offenders whose data was allowed to enter the public domain,’ disciplinary hearing chairwoman Jayne Salt said.
“However, Cleveland Police’s Joan Smith urged the panel to allow the officer, who has twice been officially commended, to keep his job and instead get a final written warning. The sergeant’s attorney, Nicholas Walker, also said the public would not be best served by losing such a good officer.”
It’s worth noting that the Cleveland Police in the UK have set the bar pretty low on grooming standards for officers. Their home page has a rather unkempt-looking officer representing the force to the public. You can see him here: Cleveland Police
Personally, such unkempt fellows give me the feeling they are up to something other than police work, despite POLICE emblazoned across their shirts.
Read it in the New York Post
Raccoons Infest Soviet Submarine!
Posted 11/20/2019 I visited the (almost) 50-year old Soviet-era Foxtrot-class submarine Scorpion berthed alongside the Queen Mary in Long Beach, Calif. back in the early 1990s. My overall impression cemented my loathing for Communism after seeing the way they treat the men tasked with defense of the Soviet Union. A country so carelessly thoughtless to even modest crew safety and comfort deserved to die. Comfort would make a Spartan revolt. The sub had exposed sharp projections almost everywhere that must have caused serious bruising in modest seas and severe ones or even broken bones in a heavy sea. It made the WWII-era USS Pampanito, docked at Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco, Calif. look positively luxurious. (I visited the USS Pampanito around the same time).
Sadly, the Soviet sub is succumbing to the elements and is closed. Rust is one thing, but how on earth did the indignity of a raccoon infestation add to its misery? It would be hard to believe any Soviet sailor getting misty-eyed over his time aboard her no matter how infused he is with vodka, but I’m sure no matter how loathsome service aboard her could be the indignity of decay coupled with the infestation of animals would raise ire.
There it sits like a beached whale, only lacking the stench of decay no doubt replaced by the stench of raccoon waste. What the little beggars are feeding on is beyond me, but they obviously have found a way in and out of the poor thing. It presently is closed to the public, thankfully, since it began listing to one side in 2015, not to mention covered in “rust, grime and peeling paint” in addition to the family of raccoons.
The owner says a buyer has been found, and declined to provide a name.
Courtesy Los Angeles Times: https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2019-11-19/soviet-submarine-docked-next-to-queen-mary-sold-to-anonymous-buyer
Coke Hogs
Posted 11/20/2019 Wild boars apparently rooted up and ate $22,000 worth of cocaine buried in a Tuscan forest. Police began an investigation after the murder of a 21-year old Albanian last year. The investigation included one Italian and three Albanians who were dealing about 4 1/2 pounds of cocaine a month from the valley of Valdichiana into bars and clubs in the cities of Arezzo and Siena of Central Italy. Police had wiretapped the men and heard them complaining about their stash (buried in jars in the forest) after the swine rooted it up and devoured it; scattering the rest. It is unknown what became of the boar (hard to believe it survived!), but two of the men went to prison and two others given house arrest. Thanks Daily Mail! Always a pleasure! https://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/search.html?sel=site&searchPhrase=Pig+st-HIGH%21+Wild+boars+EAT+%C2%A317%2C000+stash+of+cocaine+left+in+a+Tuscan+forest+by+gangsters