 soldiers of the press whenever new battle fronts are opened you'll find the shock troops of news the war reporters moving up with our armed forces for theirs is the difficult and dangerous task of keeping the home front informed of developments on the far-flung fighting lines when American and British forces swarmed ashore in North Africa seven United Press correspondence rode with the Rangers and commandos in the landing barges or watched the action from the bridges and gun decks of warships screening the landings this is the story of one of those men Ned Russell of United Press you've never heard of stook acres I'm sure I know for a certainty you won't find it on any map yet in more than three years covering war the events of 72 hours at stook acres have left a deeper and more lasting impression on my mind than any other experience of my life stook acres is or I should say was a small Tunisian farm near the equally insignificant village of Tobuba the name was given it by those of us who went through three days of incessant bombing and strafing by German dive bombers that are lied advance post but perhaps I'd better begin by telling you how I came to go to Tobuba in the first place well I was one of a group of United Press correspondence sent out from London to cover what turned out to be the opening of a second front I first set foot on North African soil in the half-flight of a chilly dawn of a small party of American Rangers who'd been detailed to take a strategic airfield at Bleeder 30 miles southwest of Algiers as we splashed to shore a British lieutenant colonel with our task force commanded sharply deploy and take cover in the Junes men be alert for a signal Henderson Smith Lachlan heart you'll move forward with me may I accompany you sir can't make you out in the dark who is it Russell Ned Russell oh of course Russell yes come along but keep down all of you now then forward okay oh hey hey you behind watch out for that hole in the beach it fadden out how was that maybe our signal this was the feet of victory all right who goes there friend of the American and British comrades advanced friend give the password cousin 10 to 7 cousin 7 to 10 hurt lest you can it has been a long night in the dunes and a cold one but everything isn't readiness for you all French commanders have been instructed to facilitate the debarcation and establishment of short of your American troops that permit me to introduce myself I am captain here the landing was as simple as that within 20 minutes after we waited to shore dripping wet from the surf the fort at city Farouk had capitulated half an hour later the Bleeder airport fell into our hands without a shot being fired two hours later the bugler at Fort Lomperer at the western gateway of Algiers sounded the ceasefire call ending resistance there so we pushed eastward there was some fighting course spotted but fierce at times still the overall effect was somehow reminiscent of the of a comic opera LBR one of the suburbs of Algiers will illustrate what I mean we encountered limited French resistance there snipers who withdrew through the town firing from houses they went our troops moved in dodging from tree to lamppost and approved cops and robbers fashion and whamming away at the enemy with their garrons the natives were delighted they watched from their doorways and at every lull someone would poke his head through the door of the local cafe and invite us to have a glass of wine results were being achieved and rapidly make no mistake about that Lieutenant General Clark and his Corps of Advance agents had done a thorough and effective job of laying the groundwork for the arrival of the Allied forces but war with intermissions for Van Rouge was hardly what I'd been counting on two other American press representatives who had landed with our troops at Algiers were equally restless a few days later the three of us were having a drink in a small cafe in eastern Algeria we were grousing about the lack of action when a mechanized force rolled through the streets hey look the yanks are coming yeah bill they say the Germans are getting set to make a stand at the Tunisian border well what do you say fellas let's see if we can't thumb our way up front with this outfit I'd like to think I found one good story this week wait a minute wait opportunity not one of the command cars has stopped an officer is coming in hello captain want to join us oh hello the press eh it's right what are you fellas doing here don't you know there's a war on no there's a ugly rumor well that's what we'd like to talk to you about who want to sit down oh waiter Van Rouge for the captain thanks one gets pretty dry hurting a flock of tanks and half tracks through this dust yeah better well his health USA and now what's on your mind you're headed toward the Tunisian border aren't you yes that's right what are the chances of getting to see some action up that way from what I hear they're good that's why we're going up reinforcements the Germans are said to have a sizable force somewhere east of the village of Toboba well how about hitching a ride with your outfit if there's going to be a show we'd like to be an honest yeah how about it can you manage it let's see now if you don't mind a bit of crowding and don't insist upon air conditioning I think I can pack you into the rear of our command car okay well let's be going sure thing oh by the way I think we better introduce ourselves I'm Ned Russell of the United Press I didn't know you're wrestling how do you do sir this is William Stoneman of the Chicago News and that's how three members of the American press corps happened to wind up at Stuck acres where we almost ended our journalistic careers Russell and his companions moved on up to a small farm which served as battalion headquarters they set up shop in a mud hut that formerly belonged to an Arab farm hand before the first night fell the Germans made three bombing attacks on American and British positions less than a mile away the following day the Germans increased their pressure German mortars moved into position to shell the valley in front of the farm waves of bombers came over endlessly in one two hour period they counted five separate aerial attacks Stuckers Yunker 88's and Messerschmitts which zoomed down to strafe allied positions from a height of only a few feet the very earth heaved from nearby bomb hits until Stucka acres became a roaring rocking hell British and American guns from the ridges close by added to the den our second night at Stucka acres I tried to transcribe my notes in my portable typewriter but I found that I was half deaf from the concussion of the bombs my teeth ached from shock my nerves were jumpy so I gave up and crawled into a corner try to catch a few wings of sleep just before dawn I was awakened by the sound of bombs and artillery which were churning up a plowed field a few hundred yards to the south I made a dash for headquarters hello man hello Bill say did our neighbors disturb your nap I'll speak to them about say what's up this sounds worse than what we went through yesterday I'm afraid it is Russell our advanced patrol reports that the Germans are moving up with three companies of infantry and two tank columns and the tanks are executing a pinches move hey Russell here have a look through this window okay see that ridge a mile across there yeah actually we use your glasses okay now see those dark objects silhouette of against the east oh yeah well brother those are German tanks hey that too close for comfort you're right and you needn't look now but there are more of them northerners and there are snipers and machine gun emplacements to the south to make the situation even stickier German tanks and machine guns are laying down the fire to the rear between us and the British artillery emplacements to the west well sir what do we do our tanks are moving up to attempt to push the German line back excellent support from the British artillery to the rear we stick of course hopefully enforcement but unless they arrive today hard to say what may happen we stuck through another day of hell the stookers pounded us unmercifully shells screamed overhead the rattle of machine gun fire and snipers bullets filled every lull in the bombings fragments from high explosive bombs stripped the trees that stuck acres of all foliage our tanks turned back under superior fire from enemy artillery and I spent most of that day of terror puddled in the trench with stone when we dared to look up we could see the bombs disgorging from their racks once we saw two straight tortoise we thought our numbers were up we could hear bomb fragments whining just above our heads at 9 o'clock that night the commanding officer called a conference and the hut which serves as his headquarters he was eating his supper and talking with his officers I entered the dim candlelighted room the enemy fire is subsided to the west oh hello Russell hello captain commander I was just telling the captain that I agree with him that our advanced position here is untenable our lines are extinct and tended too thinly to cope with the force of the enemy we must withdraw before he realizes the prize he's losing here no chance for reinforcement and it present none but I wish to stress to all of you that this is not to be a general withdrawal our lines back of to Boba are strong and will hold how soon do we leave as quickly as we can organize a convoy captain what do your patrols report of the road to the rear it's a rough dirt track a side road leading back toward measures all about it appears to be the only way through the German ring see there's the enemy have it covered it was under fire from machine gun nests during the day but our patrol reports it's comparatively quiet now needless to say this is a dangerous task we'll negotiate the distance about three miles isn't it captain about three miles we will negotiate that distance in complete blackout and in low gear take your time if the noise of gunfire dies down enough to give us a way stop you'll stay in close formation you all know the rules of convoy driving any questions no sale now sir memory of that drive will stay with me always our trucks automobiles and Bren gun carriers crawl through the darkness with everyone straining his eyes to see vehicles only a few feet in front I drove at the start button a little over a mile my eyes became so strained that I couldn't distinguish the outlines the truck immediately in front of us stoneman drove the last half the distance once during that torturous drive a single sniper's bullet wind out of the dark barely missed our windshield well we completed the three miles in something over three hours my then every man was exhausted from strain was raining we threw ourselves down under an olive grove and slept I didn't care about the cold and discomfort following morning at dawn the press contingent set out for the nearby village of wedzaga where we learned we could file our rain soaked dispatches at a field headquarters from there they could be relayed to London and New York Russell's dispatches gave the public his brilliant personal account of his experiences in one of the most fiercely fought engagements of the African campaign and to the end of his story Russell added this summation of his 73 hour visit to stuka acres I'm resting here at wedzaga a couple of days till I can go back to to boba with our reinforcements but from here out I am working on borrowed time Ned Russell whose story you have just heard is one of hundreds of united press correspondence who are facing danger risking capture or death at the battle fronts around the world to report at first hand today's tremendous events we will present another program in this series in the near future be sure to listen and meanwhile remember to listen for united press news on the air look for united press news in your favorite 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