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STAFF SGT. ALVIN G. DENNIS

He carried a sharp knife to escape

From Stars and Stripes Sept. 7, 1949 -- 

With the 2nd Armored Division in France -- Staff Sergeant Alvin G. Dennis carries a sharp knife.  He proved it by carving his way out of a German tank. 

The Jerry tank crew held the 23-year-old squad leader from an armored infantry regiment of the Second Armored Division prisoner for an hour in the early morning of July 29. 

Sgt. Dennis, whose home is at Belgrade, absentmindedly toyed with the trench knife as he related  how he escaped. 

"I decided I was a gone gossling anyway, so I caught one of the Germans off guard and cut his throat.  In the excitement, I knifed two others and got out of the tank" he said. 

It all started at a cross road near St. Martin de Cenilly where Sgt. Dennis' squad had established a road block. 

Under orders to withdraw if attacked by armor, the roadblock crew took off when German tanks moved in with heavy stuff plastering the American position.  Sgt. Dennis kept firing until the machine gun ammunition box was emptied.  That was too long to wait around for a "burp" gun was opened up on him from the tank when he attempted to retreat and he had to surrender. 

The tank crew of five took him into the tank as prisoner and continued up the road.  The jerries took away his equipment, including his carbine, but in their hasty search missed the knife he had hidden under his combat jacket. 

A short distance up the road, the tanks ran into another road block, Dennis said: "The crew seemed to go to pieces."  And Dennis tried to complete the job for them by knifing three of them.  He then went out through the turret.  A "burp" gun wasn't enough to stop him that time for he made it to a hedgerow and kept on moving. 

Realizing he was on the wrong side of the line, the Sergeant decided his best chance to get back to the American lines was to borrow some civilian clothes, despite the danger of being caught in them and shot as a spy by the Germans.  He traveled across the fields until he found a house.  The French woman he found there whispered "Bouche" and Sgt. Dennis didn't wait. 

A short time later, Sgt. Dennis saw five Jerries coming toward him.  He said: "They stared to fan out when they saw me.  I was so disgusted by them, I just made some motions with my knife for them to come on, but for some unknown reason, they wheeled around and went the other way." 

Sgt. Dennis finally reached another occupied house and was greeted with open arms by the French gathered there.  They gave him some cognac and showed him to a bed.  He slept until noon and when he got up was given some clothing.   When his outfit advanced as far as the house that afternoon, the Sergeant was wearing bell bottom pants and an old coat with some sort of a "night gown" affair underneath.  He soon traded the French gift back for his own uniform. 

While Sgt. Dennis was telling of his adventure, he suddenly remembered his dog tags, and rescued them from his shoes where he had hidden them when he put on the disguise.  He appeared disappointed  over never having had a chance to try out the disguise.

 The DAILY JOURNAL, St. Francois County., Wednesday, April 26, 1995.

 
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