The New Oxford WWII event as reported by our correspondent, Bill Donegan:
September 12, 2012, Linda’s birthday.
We hop in the car and drive to Gettysburg, PA. We made good time until we reached the MD/ PA border. There I 81 was at a standstill going north. We sat in the same place for 45 minutes, until finally we too took that exit leading to Rt. 11 N. There had been a bad accident on I-81 which we might have been in if we had left earlier than we did. Thank the Lord for that!
We arrived at our hotel a day early as we planned to do some shopping. We parked the car at the Motel and walked everywhere for the next two days. The weather was great. We visited all our regular haunts and even discovered a new restaurant the “Blue Gray Diner†where I got hold of the hottest Texas Chili that I have ever eaten. I paid for it for the next couple of days.
Our friends Ron and Debbie arrived Friday the 14th. Ron thought it was too far to walk from the motel to the circle so he parked a block closer. Yes a block closer! We met up with them at the French restaurant for dinner, after we had gone to both the Ike Farm and New Oxford to sign our waivers. We said hello to Pete at the German camp, and got our contact made with the French UNDERGROUND for some forged papers. Oooooo! Finding our contact with the French was like searching for the real underground. She, Elaine, was just one step ahead of us until we met her friend/contact at the German Christmas shop who called Elaine and told her to stay put until we caught up with her.
I was the only one to get any sleep Friday night as the others were afraid that we would over sleep. We were in G-Burg but Ron and I had to arrive in German camp at New Oxford in full kit by 0700, and we had to fit a breakfast in there somehow. We both made it with plenty of time to hurry up and wait.
I rode into town with Kate and the DRK and helped sit up the German Aid station in the town square. Ron came in the second trip with Pete and the cannon crew. Linda and Debbie were already in town doing their French impression.
The town of New Oxford had been transformed into a French border town. It was about 3-4 months following the D-Day invasion and the German Army had pulled out the day before. The towns people had been celebrating, put up Ami flags, and were waiting on the Americans to arrive. Then we showed up instead. When the battle for the town began I was kept busy as a German Medic. I was patching up the wounded, dispensing water and pain killers. I saw Pete with one eye shot out being attended to by Kate, Ryan Cuba had a bad leg wound so I gave him some COCAINE for the pain, Bill was dead, and Ron was draped over the gun with blood dripping from his mouth. Will was on a stretcher with a head wound. I was finally captured along with Jud Spangler, whose arm I put into a sling, and led off into captivity.
Following the battle the four of us sat in the French Café and ate lunch before going back to the digs and a spruce-up before heading to the IKE Farm.
At the IKE Farm we visited with friends, listened to lectures, toured the Eisenhower house, and greeted the visitors. Then it was back to Abbott’s town and the German Restaurant, then back to G-Burg for the USO dance. Sunday was spent on the Battlefield and shopping for more Civil War stuff.
Bill Donegan
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