ault on Sicily. Twenty-one men under LT Wise debarked from three attack cargo ships off Scoglitti, Sicily, on the morning of July 10, 1943 and waited patiently for orders that never came. The landing waves either found enough water over the sandbars or used alternative beaches. For the next two days the demolition units did useful work salvaging stranded boats, buoying channels through the sandbars, and surveying the beaches. Then they shipped back to the States. Most of this first group stayed in the Naval Combat Demolition Units as instructors, proceeding to the Naval Amphibious Training Base in Fort Pierce, Florida for the tougher training which was just getting underway in accordance with a directive from Admiral J. King, who was both Commander in Chief, U.S. Fleet, and Chief of Naval Operation. His directive was in two parts: providing men for 'a present urgent requirement' of the Amphibious Forces, Atlantic Fleet; and starting experimental work and training for permanent Naval Demolition Units for assignment to other amphibious forces." (Above info from "Naked Warriors" by CDR Francis Fane.) Another result of that directive was a telegram sent the same night to Lieutenant Commander Draper L. Kauffman, founder and head of the Navy Bomb Disposal School, recalling him to Washington. LT Kauffman was giving the responsibility for launching the Navy's underwater demolition. Lieutenant Draper L. Kauffman was a remarkable man and uniquely qualified for the job. After graduating from the Naval Academy, his poor eyesight precluded his being commissioned. Frustrated but determined to join the war effort, he donned a French uniform and became a driver in the American Volunteers Ambulance Corps. He was captured by the Germans and spent time in a prison camp but was freed with a handful of other American drivers. Undaunted, Kauffman volunteered for mine disposal with the British Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve. His skill and bravery disarming bomb...
