[Milsurplus] Trucks with SCR-268, 584

[Hue Miller]

Did someone ask about the trucks used with the SCR-584 radar? Maybe this 
answers some of that. And a little more info, maybe some of you may find
interesting:

"The guns were pulled by 5 ton 'prime movers' which also hauled gun equipment.
The prime movers were White or Square-D manufacture.
The radar equipment was hauled by 2 & a half ton trucks. The radar itself was pulled
by a truck tractor. The gun battery had  4, 90mm guns and an 8-man crew for each
gun. The gun battery was to be a self-sufficient unit and had its own water and mess
trucks and motor pool, as well as the 4 guns and radar. The full complement to the 
gun battery was about 125 men.

"The 90mm shells weighed about 60 lbs. each and came 4 to a wooden crate. The
shells were individually packed in a heavy cardboard cylinder. Our 90mm guns took
hours to set up, while the German's 88 could be set up in 15 to 20 minutes.

"I had a chance to be an SCR-268 operator but there was a rumor out that sitting
in front of that console would sterilize you and worse, so I declined. We got the
SCR-584 when we were in Tunis. It worked pretty well but it did have its problems.
The main source of problems seemed to be in the communications from the radar
to the Fire Direction Controller. Also if the engine of the generator coughed, the radar
would stop - the engine also could and did quit.  The cables from the FDC and the
radar and the guns were heavy and an inch or two in diameter. The were layed out
on the surface but if we were to stay there for weeks, the cables were buried, both
to protect them and for 'neatness'.

"The gun batteries, four of them per battalion, might be spaced up to 2 or 3 miles 
apart. The HQ battery might be as far as 4 miles or so from one of the gun batteries.
We had field phones but they were real unreliable. Each gun battery and the HQ 
Battery had its own radio. No, I never saw the pushbutton alert radio. Our radios were
in a wooden chest with hemp handles on the sides and a whip antenna off to the right
side.  That was the radio the guys were fiddling around with one night when they heard
Axis Sally welcome us  to Corsica, with the surprise welcome the Germans popped on 
us later in the early morning hours...Their underground read our bumper markings and
somehow communicated to German forces on Elba or Italy...

"The guns with radar control were pretty good but I did see a remarkable strange sight
one night. A Ju-88 flew across the sky from one end to the other, coned by 30 search-
lights, at least. All the guns from all our gun batteries were firing at the plane. The plane
was perfectly lit up and you could clearly see the insignia on the wings. The Junkers 
took no evasive maneuvers at all, just flew untroubled straight across the sky on its way, 
in its circle of light. Not a gun was able to touch it.

"Within about 10 miles of our Battery C position in Bastia, Sicily, was a B-25 base. 
Some of the crazy guys went up there and volunteered to fly on B-25 missions as side
gunners. Yes, without any gunnery training. Our gun alerts at the AA position were always
in the mornings and evenings, so we had time to do other things. There was a PT base 
at Bastia a few miles from us and some of us  went up there to visit. The Navy guys were 
real friendly and happy to show us their boats, the big Merlin engines inside. That wood
hull never impressed me as being a very good thing in combat, but that was one way they
got their speed. The PTs always went on their missions at night, up to the French coast to
harass shipping lanes. The PTs were always short for crews and some of our crazy guys 
volunteered to go along on missions as gunners for the front and rear guns. That was fine
until one of the PTs failed to return, and with it, several of our guys. The Battalion commander
was very  irate to learn about these unofficial volunteer missions and so there was a general 
muster held of all the Battalion's men. Each name was read and checked off for attendance.
The order was read out: 'From this day forward, there will be NO volunteering for missions at 
the PT or B-25 bases....'

"One time we heard about a B-17 that had crash landed on a beach west of us. Some of got
a jeep and went out there to have a look. The instruments had all been removed from the 
cockpit and the inside stripped. Either the Air Force had already been there to salvage it,
or the locals, as they could get there first. Even the seats were gone. All that we found
inside was many boxes of chaff, radar tinsel strips, tossed around all over inside. The boxes 
had all been ripped open and tossed aside, like someone was looking for something. "

( The 410th AA was eventually disbanded, as there wasn't much left of the German airforce
to shoot down. The equipment was given to the French army, and the men distributed to
other divisions, including many to infantry. By the time of Bastogne, the US Army was "scraping
the barrell" and some infantry units were down to 50% strength. )
 ( as told by Warren E. Miller, USA retired, via: Hue Miller )