26 May

1LT BERYL R. NEWMAN
133rd Infantry, 34th Infantry Division
Near Cisterna, Italy
26 May 1944

1Lt. Newman was moving forward with his scouts
well ahead of the main body of his platoon when he was caught in an ambush from 2 enemy machinegun emplacements located on the crest of a hill about 100 yards to his front.

Newman stood to get a good look at the enemy positions and called back to his platoon ordering one squad to move to his position and another to flank the enemy positions to the right, then opened up with his Thompson,  His fire was ineffective from that range and the Germans were able to pin one of Newman’s squads down. Seeing that his squad was unable to advance, 1Lt. Newman advanced into the open shooting as he moved on the 2 Machinegun nests.

1LT Newman dispatched 2 of the enemy and forced the others to abandon their positions and flee to a nearby farmhouse Three more enemy soldiers came out of the house and manning a third enemy Machinegun. 1Lt. Newman relentlessly advanced toward them, killed 1 and forced the others to flee back to the safety of the house before they could fire.

Newman pursued the enemy soldiers attacking the house by himself. He kicked in the door and took 11 enemy prisoners. He rescued his pinned down squad, eliminated 3 enemy gun emplacements, took the objective, and captured 11 prisoners.
Not a bad day’s work for an infantry officer.

Newman left the military after the war and passed on 8 Mar 1998 (aged 86)