America's WWII Tank Ace: Lafayette Pool

[Blackhorse]

Lafayette G. "Lafe" Pool (1919-1991) is to US tankers what Richard Bong and David McCampbell were to the USAAF and US Navy – their top "gun". He served as the platoon sergeant of 3rd Platoon, Item Company, 32nd Armored Regiment, 3rd Armored Division, from 1941 to 1944. During a brief 83 days in combat in France with the 3rd US Armored Division, Pool and his tank crew were credited with 258 enemy tanks, SP guns, and armored vehicles destroyed, over 1,000 enemy troops killed, and over 250 taken prisoner. Fighting from three different Sherman tanks, Pool and his crew accounted for at least three 2nd SS Panzer Division Panther tanks and a large number of other heavy weapons. Pool was twice recommended for the Medal of Honor, but an "infantry" mentality Army recommendation board decided since tanks were crew-served weapons, he did not deserve the Medal. Pool was awarded nearly every other medal the US Army gave, including the Distinguished Service Cross, the Legion of Merit, the Silver Star, and the French Legion of Honor.

In his last battle, Pool was wounded, eventually losing a leg. Given a prosthesis, he returned to active duty in 1948 and served until 1962, retiring as a Chief Warrant Officer. Lafayette Pool is buried at the military cemetery on Fort Sam Huston, Texas.

Pool commanded three different tanks, all Shermans: one M4 or M4A1 (exactly which is not known, but since Pool was a top tanker and given some "perks" by the regimental staff, probably an M4A1), one later model M4A1 with 76mm gun and "Cullin Device", and a second M4A1 76. All were named "In the Mood".

The Crew of "In the Mood":

SSgt Lafayette G. Pool (Tank Commander)

Cpl. Wilbert "Red" Richards (Driver)

Pfc. Bert Close (Assistant Driver/M. Gunner)

Cpl. Willis Oller (Gunner)

T/5 Del Boggs (Loader)

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[This message has been edited by Blackhorse (edited 06-10-2000).]

[This message has been edited by Blackhorse (edited 06-10-2000).]

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[Formerly Babra]

That's a hell of a lot of kills, even if it's exaggerated (as wartime scores usually are). Pretty good showing for Shermans.

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When I die I want to go peacefully, like my grandfather, in his sleep -- not screaming, like the passengers in his car

[Blackhorse]

THE TEXAS TANKER

(reprint from YANK - The Army Weekly - Spring 1945, by SGT Frank Woolner)

BEYOND THE SIEGFRIED LINE IN GERMANY

Here in the mud and wind of approaching autumn, in a town which is clamorous with the crump of enemy mortars and the sigh of our own shells passing overhead, elements of an elite American unit, the 3rd Armored "Spearhead" Division, were poised, waiting for the word which would send them slashing into greater Germany.

In the new attack,tankers of this big striking force would have one regret: that S/Sgt. Lafayette G. Pool, lanky, one-time golden glove champion from Sinton, Texas, could not be there to lead the assault.

In an armored division which earned the name "Spearhead" the hard way, battling through France and Belgium, Pool distinguished himself for all time. When he was wounded recently, his commanding officer, Lt. Colonel Walter B. Richardson, of Beaumont, Texas, said: "Pool is the tanker of tankers; he can never be replaced in this regiment."

The Colonel had good reason to make such a statement. During the great armored drives of the American First Army across Europe in the summer offensive of 1944, S/Sgt. Pool led his task force in 21 full scale attacks. He is definately credited with 258 vehicles destroyed, 250 German prisoners of war taken, and over 1,000 dead before the guns of his Sherman tank, IN THE MOOD.

On a windy hill in the Siegfried Line recently, Pool cheated death again but, in the action he was wounded and so sent back to convalesce. His record, however, stands. He is America's first ace of tankers. He is a soldier's soldier.

I heard Pool's story from a man of the old crew, a man who had been there when the final shell struck his tank. In an anvil clash of sound, a pungent, dark explosion laced with sparks, Jerry finally broke up the team of American kids who had harried him across a continent.

"It was a lucky shot for Jerry. We were sitting around in the wet darkness, batting the breeze as all GI's do in moments of relaxation, and listening to Jerry's mortar fire punch the ground. A thin spatter of rain beat on the tarp over our heads. It was doughboy weather, mean and muddy". The big medium tank crouched in the muck, its long 76mm gun peering around the corner, daring Jerry to come on. This was a road-block of the 3rd Armored Division.

There was a screen of armored infantry out in front - brave men in wet foxholes. The doughs were old hands at this game - you couldn't see them and, excepting by accident, you couldn't hit them: they were too well dug in for that. But let Jerry attack and they'd be there all right, savoring the terrible exultation of the soldier who has suffered much and who hates the guts of his enemy.

There was one man on guard in the road-blocking tank: the rest of the crew sat around under the tarpaulin drinking hot nescafe,and cursing each other amiably. It was dark, but you could see the guard in the turret, raincoat buttoned tight. He looked statuelike until he moved, slowly, like a mechanical man, to gaze carefully into the murky distance.

Cpl. Wilbert "Red" Richards, a pint-sized GI from Cumberland, Maryland rubbed his eyes and wondered irritably "when the hell we're goin to start moving?" Pfc. Bert Close, a thin, studious young man from Portland, Oregon, grinned and said: "Eisenhower's waiting for old Pool to get back. Can't spearhead without Pool."

We'd heard a lot about Pool. In the armored forces there aren't many aces because everything works as a team. It's infantry-tank-artillery-airplane, and everyone slugging shoulder to shoulder with the next guy.

"How about this guy, Pool?" we asked. "Was he finally killed?" "Killed!" shouted three voices in unison. "There ain't a Jerry shell in the world that could kill Pool or any of his crew. The best those squareheads could do was to wound him in the leg. He'll be back, and then God help the panzers!"

"What was he like" we inquired. The redhead, Richards, sat up and squinted his eyes. He passed a hand through his flaming red hair and scratched his skull reflectively. "I was Pool's driver," he said,"and I guess I knew him as well as anybody in the regiment. He was a tall, skinny guy with a bent schnozzle. He got that in the golden gloves. Know what he used to call me? Baby! Imagine that! But he knew I could drive that old tank. He used to sit up there in the turret - you could tell Pool anywhere by the way he sat up there, more out than in!"

"He rode that tank like a Texas bronc. Well, he used to sit up there and give us orders through the intercom phone just as cool and calm as though the big show were a maneuver. All Pool wanted was to get out ahead of the other tanks so he could kill some more jerries".

"You know, we had three tanks. Lost the first at La Forge, when a bazooka round hit us. The second got straddled with bombs at Fromental. Pool just got to hating the Germans a little more, if that could be possible. Of course the crew's all broken up now. Pool went back with that leg wound, and so did Oller. Bogg's eyes were irritated by dust,and he's in a rest camp. That leaves Close and me. We don't get no rest at all,do we Bert?"

Faint skylight flickered on Close's glasses. He said dryly: "Ten minutes after Red left Pool's tank he was driving another one up front. The Colonel said: 'Richards,you want to go back?' That dope said: 'No Sir, Give me and Close another tank to drive.' The Colonel did just that. I was assistant driver - what could I do?"

"You could see that Close hadn't wanted to do anything. I think Pool would've gone back himself if the medics hadn't held him down," Richards chuckled. "He hated Germans, and he thought that he could lick'em all. The guys used to draw straws to see who'd lead the spearhead. Pool would have none of that. He'd just say, 'Ah'm leadin' this time,' in his old Texas drawl - and stand there, grinning, while we cussed him out".

"But we'd go along just the same. By God, I think we were more scared of Pool than of Jerry!" "Remember?," he turned to Close, forgetting us entirely in the way of men who have waded through hell together, "Remember the day...."

So we just sat back in the wet darkness, with the rain on the tarp and the mortar fire for background, and listened. When the division - it was the "Bayou Blitz" then - was activated at Camp Beauregard, Louisiana, back in 1941, Pool, a skinny kid from Texas, was right there in ranks. He came from the old 40th Armored Regiment, medium tanks, which was famed for its cadres, and he was a rugged Joe.

He was over six feet tall, wiry, with the sloping shoulders of a boxer and a twisted nose to remind him of the golden gloves. There was the beginnings of a legend around Pool even then. He'd won the sectional 165 pound crown at New Orleans, Louisiana, that year, but turned down an offer to go on to Chicago and the national final golden gloves tournament. The reason? Pool was a tanker first and a boxer second: his outfit had just been allotted a few of the latest medium tanks. In action, as in the ring, Pool punched hard and accurately.

He hated German theory and believed that he could beat the Wehrmacht gun to gun, and man for man. He wanted tough assignments. He asked for the dubious honor of leading those powerful armored attacks which knifed through the Nazi legions during our summer offensive.

Pool's crew was ideal for the task. Besides Richards and Close, there was Cpl. Willis Oller, of Morrisonville, Illinois, gunner and T/5 Del Boggs, of Lancaster, Ohio, the loader. Boggs fought with a special fury: he'd had a brother killed in the war. Oller, gunner of "IN THE MOOD" is alleged to have seen all of Normandy, France, Belgium, and the Siegfried Line through the sights of his gun! He was very quick and alert.

Richards recalled a night when the spearhead had driven deep into German lines from from Origny, in France. It had become quite dark when the order finally came to halt and coil. Pool opened his mouth to say - "Driver, halt", but found himself looking at a big Jerry dual-purpose AA gun in the gloom ahead. He said: "Gunner, fire!" And Oller, with his eye perpetually pressed into the sight, squarely holed the enemy weapon before the German crew could recognize the American tank.

Night actions were commonplace to the crew of "IN THE MOOD". At Colombrier, France, Pool's leading tank almost collided with a Jerry Mark-V Panther, pride of the Wehrmacht. The Panther fired twice, and missed. Pool's single projectile tore the turret off the big German vehicle.

Again, at Couptrain, the armored column reached its objective deep in the night. Besieged on all sides, unable to send help forward, Colonel Richardson listened to the radio report of the battle from Pool's vehicle. He heard the Sergeant say joyously: "I ain't got the heart to kill'em...." And then, over the airwaves came the mad rattle of the .30 caliber bow gun. And again the fighting Sergeant's voice "Watch them bastards run. Give it to'em Close!" Sorrounded by dismounted enemy troops, Pool and his crew fought steadily until morning brought reinforcements.

The amazing score compiled by the Texas tanker and his gang is fully authenticated. At Namur, Belgium, they knocked out a record twenty-four hour bag of one self-propelled sturmgeschutz and fifteen other enemy vehicles. It was great stuff for Pool. He was proving to himself, and to the world, that the American soldier is more than a match for Hitler's "supermen."

Again, at Dison,in Belgium, as the spearhead neared the great city of Liege, Pool distinguished himself. Acting as platoon leader, he characteristically decided to use one tank, his own, to clean out an annoying pocket of resistance on the left flank of the route they were travelling. After finding and destroying six armored infantry vehicles, Pool discovered that the head of his column had been fired upon by a German Panther tank. Hurriedly he gave orders to his driver to regain the column. Upon arriving at the scene of action he immediately observed the enemy tank, gave a single estimate of range to Oller. The gunner fired one armor-piercing projectile at 1,500 yards to destroy the Panther. The column went forward again. Pool at his accustomed place in lead.

Although Lafe Pool lost two tanks to enemy action, he remained as nerveless as a mechanical man. The crew drew added confidence from his bearing under fire and as a result they worked beautifully together. From the day of the great breakthrough in Normandy, they had smashed the Wehrmacht before them, burned its vehicles, decimated its troops. These men seemed impervious to German shells. Twenty-one times they had led the irresistible drive of the American armor and remained unscathed in this most hazardous task of total war.

Now, after crossing France and Belgium, smashing the famous outer fortifications of the Siegfried line and taking part in the action which resulted in the capture of the first German town to fall to U.S. forces. Pool and his crew turned their faces toward greater Germany and the last round.

The town was Munsterbusch, south of Aachen. Desperately, as the westwall crumbled into ruin, Panther tanks of the Reich came out to duel with Shermans of the 3rd Armored "Spearhead" division. Pool's tank, strangely enough, was working as flank guard of the task force that day. Watchers, including his Colonel, who also rode in a tank saw the bright lance-shaft of German tracer hit the turret of "IN THE MOOD". The big Sherman faltered. Inside, Pool said calmly,"Back up, Baby." And, as Richards backed the tank slowly, the second shell hit them well forward.

To Close, Oller, Boggs, and Richards, there was only the space-filling, bell-sound of the hit, the acid stench of powder and the shower of sparks. They didn't know that Pool had been thrown clear, his leg bleeding profusely from a splinter wound. Richards continued to back the tank, carrying out his last order from the Sergeant.

Colonel Richardson saw the "IN THE MOOD" slowly reach a cut bank, tilt, and with the agonizing slowness of a nightmare, topple almost upside down. At that moment Oller felt the hot blood on his legs and knew that he had been wounded. Richards, Boggs, and Close were unhurt. All four men crawled out of their tank. Medical aid men had already reached Pool, now two of them came forward to attend to Oller.

Pool cursed the Germans bitterly as the aid men bandaged his wound. As they placed him on a litter he twisted suddenly and said: "Somebody take care of my tank." Exit, for the time being.

Lafe Pool, ace of American tankers. He thought he could beat Jerry. He did. He proved it so often that the record is an almost unbelievable document of total victory. In the arena of armored warfare, S/Sgt. Lafayette Pool, golden glover from Sinton, Texas, bowed out at a climactic moment. From the beaches of Normandy to the dragons teeth of the Siegfried Line he had been the point of the "Spearhead."

[Guest smbutler]

A VERY COOL post. Is this forum awesome or what?

Thanks, Blackhorse.

[Flix]

Pool was a Texan, need we say more?

[guachi]

Wow! Great post. That article from YANK sure reads like something out of the forties.

Almost made me feel like I was reading it back then.

And I now have 'In the Mood' running through my head, which isn't bad because it is my second favorite Big Band song after 'Sing, Sing, Sing)

Well, now I've gone and put my Big Band CDs into the player and I'm listening to 'In the Mood'

Certainly has put me in the mood to play a game of CM. Death and destruction courtesy of the music of Glen Miller and Benny Goodman.

Jason

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Betas available to everyone are just publicity stunts anyways. -FK

[Mark IV]

Pool was a Spearheader. 3AD had a way of staying out front (some Texans were among them).

Great posts.

[sniperscope]

This was very interesting and one of the best posts ever submitted.

sniperscope

[pathfinder]

An amazing story!

Pool was one of America;s greats.

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unca pathy will show ya the path,

if only he could find it himself!

[TeAcH]

What a great story. Makes me want to dig up some books of more stories like that one. Wow..stunning and real.

Thanks for that post.

TeAcH

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As I see it, you gotta ask yourself a question...did he fire 5 shots or 6. And seeing that this is a .44 magnum, the world's most powerful handgun...

[Guest Scott Clinton]

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Pool was a Texan, need we say more?</P>

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Please note: The above is solely the opinion of 'The Grumbling Grognard' and reflects no one else's views but his own.

[Blackhorse]

I met him in 1987 when he came to visit my battalion 3-32 Armor. It was the battalion he served in during WWII.

He was truly a great guy and a man of incredible humility. Despite his age and illness, he had a zest and enthusiasm for life that rubbed off on all of us.

The speech he gave during the dinner we held in his honor will be with me the rest of my life. He literally had a ballroom full of officers, non-commissioned officers, and soldiers in tears.

I am forever honored to have met and talked with Lafayette Pool.

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[TeAcH]

Wow Blackhorse....what a treat. I'm jealous only because I would have loved to have shook his hand and told him how much I respect and appreciate him.

Anyone know where he is buried?

TeAcH

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[guachi]

Ahem....

The first post in this thread, by Blackhorse, mentions where Pool is buried.

Jason

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Betas available to everyone are just publicity stunts anyways. -FK

[TeAcH]

Doh!

Missed that!

Thanks

TeAcH

[Wesreidau]

Great post Blackhorse! Its good to read touching stories like that.

However, its not good when you kick my ass in CE..

damn..

[Blackhorse]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Wesreidau:

Great post Blackhorse! Its good to read touching stories like that.

However, its not good when you kick my ass in CE..

damn..<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I had to redeem myself after you clobbered me in VoT.

Here is something I found in

the Journal of Military Ordnance that describes the the final years of Lafayette Pool.

In 1986, while living quietly in Taft, Texas, he was contacted by 3-32 Armor members who were doing research on the unit history. He was invited to visit then at Ft. Hood. He was very surprised to find out they remembered him. The first thing that he did when he got to Ft. Hood was go for a ride in an M-1 tank. Afterwards, Pool told the young 3-32 tankers gathered around him some differences between being a tanker in WWII and being one today. "The most important thing for a tank commander to do is keep his crew alive. The tank crews today have the technology to do what we had to do with our eyes and ears," Pool said. "We did very little fighting at night." He added "I only fought once at night and I never wanted to do it again. Today you have the thermal sighting capability that we didn't have."

On his third visit to the post he watched the tanks live fire on the range. "Colonel, if we had the equipment back then that you have now, we would have cleaned up," he told the commander of the 3-32 Armor. The Colonel said of Pool, "I want him to talk to the soldiers. He tells them the same kinds of things that I try to teach them, but coming from him it's special

because he's lived it."

Later Pool was the honored guest speaker at the battalion NCO ball. Three hundred twenty five NCO's attended. Lafayette was adopted by the 3-32 Armor and he, in turn, adopted them, referring to them as "His Boys."

Desert Storm found the 3-32 Armor in the thick of battle against the Iraqi Armor. Lafayette was in a hospital bed, very ill, but he watched the war constantly on television fretting and worrying about "his boys." When the fighting had ceased he kept asking his wife Evelyn, "Honey, are my boys back yet?" When they finally got back to Fort Hood, Evelyn told him they were back and soon after this on May 30, 1991, Pool passed away in his sleep.

Pool was survived by his wife Evelyn, three sons and four daughters. One other son Capt. Jerry L. Pool, was missing in action in Cambodia in 1970. Before his death, the Army decided to name its new M-1 tank driver training facility after Pool, even waving the fact that he was still alive. Dedicated on July 1, 1993, today the facility at Fort Knox serves to train new tank drivers to drive the M-1 series of tanks.

[von Lucke]

258 enemy AFVs in 83 days? I'd sure like to know the breakdown on those numbers.

There are German tankers who hacked their way thru France, Russia, and the Western Front who don't have kill tallies that high.

[Guest Germanboy]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by von Lucke:

258 enemy AFVs in 83 days? I'd sure like to know the breakdown on those numbers.

There are German tankers who hacked their way thru France, Russia, and the Western Front who don't have kill tallies that high.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Maybe he had parked his tank in a commanding position at Falaise?

This is not meant to diminish the deeds done by this man, but the figure stinks of WW II propaganda, IMHO. Did they count Kübelwagens into the bag too? For comparison, Michael Wittman, the tanker with the highest number of kills in the German army IIRC had 138 tanks credited to him when he died during Totalize.

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Andreas

The powers of accurate perception are often called cynicism by those who do not possess them. (forgot who said it)

[Blackhorse]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR> Did they count Kübelwagens into the bag too? For comparison, Michael Wittman, the tanker with the highest number of kills in the German army IIRC had 138 tanks credited to him when he died during Totalize.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Lafayette would be the first to tell you they weren't all tanks. AFV was a broad term used to denote any German vehicle that was armored. This included SDKFZs, SPWs, etc. And no, Kubelwagones were not considered Armored.

[Guest Germanboy]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Blackhorse:

Lafayette would be the first to tell you they weren't all tanks. AFV was a broad term used to denote any German vehicle that was armored. This included SDKFZs, SPWs, etc. And no, Kubelwagones were not considered Armored.

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

That was more fascetious. Look Blackhorse, I really don't want to diminish the guy's record, but I find the figure of 258 AFVs in 83 days hard to credit. Tanks or not. And we all know that there was some serious overcounting going on in the tallies, on all sides. And Pool obviously had become an important asset in the propaganda war, as the article from 'Yank' shows. They say <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Night actions were commonplace to the crew of "IN THE MOOD".<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>while Pool according to your later post said <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>"We did very little fighting at night."<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> So all I am saying is that one should be careful with these figures. I am not in any way out to diminish his service record.

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Andreas

The powers of accurate perception are often called cynicism by those who do not possess them. (forgot who said it)

edited for screwed html-tags and a typo

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[Guest Germanboy]

D'oh - double post deleted

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[Jager 7]

Blackhorse,

Outstanding piece on a great warrior! Thanks for sharing that with all of us. Someone above echoed my thoughts...this is a great forum.

[:USERNAME:]

They should have put him and his crew against Caen and he would have taken it by the end of the afternoon of the first day.

I would guess that maybe 10-15 percent of the AFV kills were Tanks or stugs. Does anyone know if he wrote his memoirs?

Lewis

[:USERNAME:]

DP

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