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  Over Here from Over there.
Posted by: colinhotham - 09-11-2005, 06:17 AM - Forum: ANYTHING WWII - Replies (1)


Marion,

 

As you know my main area of WW2 research is Sicily but I am also interested in the US forces in Britain. I attempted to help Nancy (Alaskan girl) with research into what was going on in the UK prior to Overlord with Bolero etc.

 

Have you ever seen a reference to the first GI to land in the UK? The official record shows him to be Pfc. Milburn H Henke from Minnesota who arrived on the 26 January 1942.Of course there were many Americans who had volunteered before this date, the RAF Eagle Squadron, civillian advisers and technicians and those who joined the three services ahead of the US declaration of war.

 

From the photo, Pfc. Henke appears to be an infantry man but there are no badges or flashes to confirm his outfit. I can recommend the book from where this information comes: "Over Here" The GIs in wartime Britain. by Juliet Gardiner. Published by Collins & Brown. !992. Do'nt know if it is available "over there"!

 

Colin.

 

:tank:

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  SECOND GENERATION
Posted by: Cadetat6 - 09-09-2005, 01:00 PM - Forum: ANYTHING WWII - Replies (1)


I read this from another post

 

We could never do you justice for all that you have done.

You volunteered, at the world's time of need.

A cause so important, that only a fool would disagree.

 

With such a job to do, you were only boys at the start.

Somewhere along the line you were forced and grew an old man's heart.

The experiences you faced changed you forever.

 

Your young innocent eyes captured only in an early photo.

Later transformed by battle in the sky,

They soon became known as flak eye.

 

You faced your fears,

Sometimes with courage

And sometimes with tears.

 

Many sacrificed all, and all sacrificed some.

 

You watched many a Fort and Fellow, ungraciously fall.

As the fickle finger of fate, terrorized you all.

You thought to yourself, "why them and not me?"

But in that survival mode moment, you said,

"Better them than me!"

 

Thank you for what you did, it was certainly not in vain.

You helped preserve our wonderful way of life.

You helped get the world through a cleansing rain.

 

They call yours, the greatest generation!

And you answer back,

That ours would have done the same.

Nonetheless, it was yours, that took off and flew those planes.

 

Though we will never really know what it was truly like.

We can only daydream and imagine, your magnificent and horrific sight.

Oh yes, we look at you as heroes, with a great sense of pride.

And yes sometimes we see your deeds as glamorous and quite just.

All the while knowing, that war is a terrible thing,

Certainly nothing ever to lust.

Some men so evil, cruel and hell-bent.

While others like you, were simply heaven sent.

 

Thank God that you did,

For we are all here.

We promise to remember!

And in our hearts keep you dear.

For there you will always be so close to our touch.

Simply and genuinely, all we can say is,

 

Thank You!! Thank You, Oh So Much!!

 

 

_____________________________

 

-Keith Hardie

Nephew of John David Hardie, 447th BG waist gunner

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  WW2 Air Mission
Posted by: Cadetat6 - 09-09-2005, 09:53 AM - Forum: ANYTHING WWII - No Replies


Another letter from my friend Ken

This happened on one of our missions---The weather was bad over England, so someone thought we should take off and climb to 14 thousand ft. over France. It is hard enough trying to form up in good weather, but this was crazy as hell. We could feel the plane shake from turbulense so you knew other planes were near and hoped you didn’t have a mid-air collision. At 14 thousand ft. we were still in the soup and finally broke out at about 20,000 ft.. In the meantime our nav. Aids went out—the mission was re-called and we didn’t get it.We were lost and circled around—the co-pilot trying to reach some one on the radio when we saw 3 fighters coming at us. The P-47 and FW-190 have the same shape head on so the pilot told us not to fire until we were certain what the plane was---thank god they were our P-47s and they led over to a group of B-17s. there was also another B-24 flying with them. We figured we would go with them , witch we did and dropped our bombs,then fly back to their base,and get a heading back to our base. Well they let down thru the soup knowing where they were going and we lost them. We had to climb up thru this mess and the co-pilot got some one on the emer. Freq. It was an English lass and did she ever sound nice. She made us fly a triangle, then gave us a heading back to England. We let down over the channel and a couple of Spitfires came and checked us out, then we were given a heading back to our base. We landed and got cedit for a mission and so did our group. This was some nerve racking flying and our pilot was glad to get us back on the ground. Now landing we found out 2 of our planes didn’t come back and one of them was a kid from Presque Isle that I had gone to school with. His father was a diary farmer and delivered milk to Dad’s store. I thought I would be writing his parents about Jerry missing and all that stuff. Well the next day both planes came back and the guys were hungover and had loads of booze, as they had landed in France. I told Jerry that was the last time I would worry over him!! They didn’t get credit for a mission either.

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  The Bridge at Maxonchamp
Posted by: curtdol - 09-07-2005, 09:20 PM - Forum: OTHER WWII UNIT STORIES AND INFO - Replies (1)


maxonchamp.jpg

The Bridge at Maxonchamp

 

The Champagne Campaign was drawing to a close. Our advance slowed and casualties mounted sharply.

 

I was 2nd Lt. Platoon leader of the Intelligence and Reconnaissance Platoon in 7th Inf. Regimental Hq. Co. 1st Lt. Stone was executive officer of Hq. Co. With high casualty rates and an inadequate supply of replacements, Lt . Stone was reassigned to Company K as a rifle platoon leader and I became Hq. Co Exec “in addition to my other duties.â€

 

The next major obstacle was the Moselle River. It was not particularly wide, but the banks were lined with stone walls about 12 feet high. It promised to be a costly crossing.. There was a narrow bridge still standing, but it was sure to be fiercely defended and blown before we could cross it. As luck would have it, it was in Lt. Stone’s zone of advance. Three men were lost in the first attempt to take the bridge. Sensing Stone’s reluctance, his Company Commander, 1st Lt. Lauderdale, asked for volunteers to join him in an attempt to cross,. Tech Sgt Leonard Jones, Stone’s platoon sergeant and four others volunteered. They lost two more men to heavy MG fire, but Lt. Lauderdale, Sgt. Jones and two others made it and dug in on the far side.

 

Lt. Lauderdale called back for Lt. Stone to bring the rest of his platoon over while he maintained a base of fire on the enemy positions. Stone refused! Lt. Lauderdale then sent the sergeant back to bring the platoon across and to tell Stone that he was under arrest. Sergeant Jones rallied the men and led them across the bridge. In the battle to expand the bridgehead, Sgt Jones was killed by a burst of enemy machine gun fire. Two weeks later, Lt. Lauderdale was KIA in another action. Both were awarded Silver Stars. (posthumously)

 

It took several weeks to form a court-martial board and Lt. Stone remained under tent arrest at the rear CP. He sent word asking me to appear as a character witness at his court martial and I went back to see him. He was not at all contrite! Actually he was rather cocky. His attitude did not sit well with me.

 

At the court-martial, Stone’s defense was that the order he refused to obey was not a legal order. It demanded conduct above and beyond the call of duty as evidenced by the Silver Star citations given to Lt. Lauderdale and the platoon Sgt. Jones. In fact, the order was suicidal, he maintained as evidenced by the death of those two men. For the Army to accept that argument was to invite a debate on the legality of every order, something not likely to happen. The prosecution’s case was weakened somewhat by the fact that the two key witnesses were dead. And the Division was not anxious to have this officer’s misconduct besmirch its reputation. A plea bargain was offered. Being critically short of junior officers, the court offered to drop the charges if Stern would accept a rifle platoon in a different battalion. He agreed!

 

Next morning, when Stone was supposed to go forward to his new assignment, he refused to go!!

The court martial board had been disbanded and no one wanted to start up the whole procedure a second time, so Stone dropped out of sight and I never learned where he was sent. I assume he was given some disagreeable rear echelon job like laundry officer or supervising a crew of GI stevedores on the docks.

 

I can’t help but wonder what I would have done, had I been in Lt. Stone’s position, which could easily have happened had he been chosen to remain in Headquarters Company and I had been sent to K company. I believe I would have followed orders, in which case I would now be lying in Sgt Jones’ grave.

 

There is a strange sequel to this story. About 2 years after the War ended, I was sent by my employer to coordinate a joint project at Lockheed’s Burbank plant. While walking between buildings, I noticed a familiar figure walking on a divergent path. It had to be Stone! Same height, same chunky build, same cocky walk, same black curly hair, And Stone was from California! I was curious to know where he went after leaving the Regiment and I considered calling out to him. But then I felt a wave of revulsion and I turned away.

 

Russ Cloer - 3_7_I_Recon

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  Remember Roger Gendron?
Posted by: ND-Jim - 09-06-2005, 02:30 PM - Forum: Introduce Yourself! - Replies (2)


Hi.

 

I'm just starting to do some research on my late father, Roger Gendron from Manchester, N.H., who served with the combat engineers. I know that he participated in landings in North Africa, Sicily and Italy.

 

I'm searching in lots of places, and I'll include more information as I get it, but I was wondering if anyone on this board might remember serving with him.

 

His brother, Aimee Gendron, was killed in the invasion at Anzio.

 

I'd appreciate ANY information you could supply.

 

Thanks.

Ann Gendron Linehan

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