When the Allied forces went into Sicily three of our TIME men were on hand to get the first hand feel of the invasion for you. One went over with the warships that covered the landing; one went over by plane; one went in with the first ground troops that waded ashore. And perhaps you will find our stories this week still more interesting if I tell you a little about these TIME men in uniform.

On duty with the warships off shore is Reg Ingraham, our naval expert:

For the first hour or so (he cabled) the great seaborne assault looked like a pushover--and then terror struck from the starlit sky.

From the bridge of the destroyer it had seemed to me we were just having target practice with our five inch guns, but that feeling of relaxation did not last long. Suddenly a brilliant parade of parachute flares began their slow descent above us, and we knew that enemy planes were overhead. . . .

Going in by plane was John Hersey, veteran of Guadalcanal and of the sea fight in which the Wasp was lost. His first assignment had been to stick close to American headquarters in Algiers and get the all-over invasion picture, but:

I went in with the first transport outfit to reach Sicily. . . . After the briefing some of the younger pilots had perspiration on their upper lips.

One pulled me aside and said:

"Here we go again. We move into the combat zone so damn fast we feel like fighter pilots. The Jerries take off, then we land, then our fighters land and we gas them up. Why, sometimes we damn near gas up the Jerries." . . .

With the first landing party was Jack Belden, veteran of four years' fighting in China, companion of General Stilwell in the retreat from Burma, often under fire with the British Eighth Army as it swept across the Mareth Line and up through Tunisia.

All of us were nervously tense and doubtful.... As we made our way on deck the Chaplain pressed the arm of each of us and said: "Good Luck." Amid confused shouting we slid one by one down a rope into the boat and suddenly the boat was in the water, rocking sickeningly. . . .

Then a shore searchlight shot onto us, illuminating us like actors on a darkened stage. In the glare I saw the green, pale faces of the soldiers and then one of them growled: "Why don't they shoot out that goddam searchlight?" . . .

There was a jerky bump and the boat swerved and came to a halt. We leaped out into the darkness and with fearful suddenness sank in water up to our necks. Close by there was the sharp crackle of a machine gun and a whining and metallic plunking as if something were striking the side of our boat.

I pushed toward shore bending my knees as the water grew shallower, keeping only my helmet-covered head above the water. Finding I wasn't hit I realized that the enemy fire was surprisingly light and I forgot to be scared any longer. . . .

To edit the cables from Ingraham, Hersey and Belden, to piece together the torrent of news pouring in over our AP wires, to supervise the writing of all our invasion stories--all this is part of the Battlefronts assignment of Senior Editor Charles Wertenbaker, whose own first hand feel of the invasion news comes from three months at the front with the American troops now fighting in Sicily.

Cordially,

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