"Ski Soldiers Have Anti-Tank, Machine Guns Here With Them"

January 10, 1941—A new contingent of 26th U.S. Infantry ski troops started training at Placid this week and may be seen in action on the slopes and trails each day under Rolf Monsen, instructor. This week's soldier group has been augmented by a special detachment, all of which are completely equipped with combat equipment, consisting of packs, rifles, side arms, machine and anti-tank guns for actual winter war maneuvers under snow conditions.
    Machine guns will be mounted on dog-sleds and toboggans and will be drawn into battle position by sled dogs, while others will be packed into position by troops and assembled on the firing line. Anti-tank guns, mounted on skis, will be drawn over roads, trails and slopes by a sno-mobile as an experiment with this type of transportation. Colonel C. A. Lundy has been assigned to the detachment to study various types of transportation and training that might be effectively utilized by the army in defending parts of the country in which snow would be a serious factor.
    This is the first of a series of experiments that will be carried out by the 26th Infantry here during the winter. The regiment, which will form the nucleus of the First U.S. Winter Combat division, is under the command of Colonel James I. Muir, with barracks at the town hall with new men assigned each week for ski training.

Lake Placid News 

Aurora Ramsay works in the Brewster Research Library at the Adirondack History Center Museum in Elizabethtown.

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