Language selection


Search veterans.gc.ca

Battle Strategies

Heroes Remember

Transcript
We came in contact with some of the German units, because already the Italians weren't that much involved. We, I don't think we lost...we lost a couple of tanks, that's about all. Because we had a, being in the Sherman tank, our policy was to chase the German's tanks, and when they, we got close enough, we found we couldn't hit them because our shells weren't not long, couldn't fire them long enough, and the Germans could with their 88's. So we used to turn around and hightail it out of there. But what we did was turn our turret around, because we had a 190 circle. Well the Germans couldn't do that, because they were on an angle like this... The 88's only can go from there to there. They couldn't understand. They see we're running away and we're hitting them and knocking tanks out. So that was a trick we learned during the war, during some of the battles, is to pretend we're retreating and catch them on the way, as they came up to us and start chasing us, we would catch them. We didn't have the armament to compete with the 88's. But we found ways of doing it you know, we were, and this goes further up. In one of the towns we went into, where the lead tank was going up the street, a German tank was in front of them. They just appeared out of nowhere. It was only the gunner that had the reaction, that he fired right away and we blew the tank up. And that's something that happens. You don't realize it's just a shot in a million that you pull it off. Because we had a lot of rain at that time too, we were using donkeys to carry equipment, fuel, armament. Take up to the front line because we just couldn't move, the trucks couldn't move through the mud. And, that was the position there at that time.
Description

Mr. Horowitz talks about how they managed to foil the Germans even though they had inferior tanks (less range). He also mentions how they sometimes had to use donkeys because of weather conditions.

Robert Horowitz

Mr. Horowitz was born in Cornwall, Ontario, on August 30, 1919, of Jewish parents who immigrated to Canada from Russia. He grew up in Montreal where he studied at Lord Arthur School and then moved on to Montreal High. He enlisted with the Régiment de Trois-Rivières in the latter part of 1939 when he was 20 years old and still in high school. Mr. Horowitz attended Camp Borden during the winter of 1939-40 for approximately 1.75 years. He first set foot on European soil in Scotland and trained in Salisbury. He saw action for the first time in Sicily and the southern part of the Italian peninsula before being wounded in Tremali. Following the war, he spent some time with Veterans Affairs assisting Canadian Veterans in England and later retired in Canada.

Meta Data
Medium:
Video
Owner:
Veterans Affairs Canada
Duration:
02:35
Person Interviewed:
Robert Horowitz
War, Conflict or Mission:
Second World War
Location/Theatre:
Italy
Battle/Campaign:
Italian
Branch:
Army
Units/Ship:
Three Rivers
Occupation:
Gunner

Copyright / Permission to Reproduce

Related Videos

Date modified: