re: Sharing.. WWII Normandy Map..

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Got called up after D-Day to take St. Lo from what I gather.

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Glover Johns wrote a book about St. Lo, and was later David Hackworth's CO.

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Shot in the arms.

First one was outside Brest.

Other two were during Central Europe and Rhineland campaigns inside Germany.

I have to pull the names of the towns.

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That's some great stuff. So your Grandfather got to the war after D-Day? Was he just held back in England? Fresh out of basic? He almost got a chance to take Berlin.

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The map came from an estate in Canada.

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@theantiquetiger

From what I can tell, he was in England training for a long time. I believe US troops were there for months/year or more before D-Day.

He was "replacement depot" during D-Day. The military folks probably know more, but what I gather is after the 29th took Omaha and suffered heavy losses, you would have more and more troops landing behind them. He then got moved to a frontline combat position as they moved from the beachhead inland and then to Brest.

I know very little from what he told me, and he told me the most, which wasn't a lot, so I have to piece it together. I believe the two other incidents occured in and around the Roer (aka "Rur") River valley.

Eta: he served in Normandy, Northern France, Central Europe and Rhineland campaigns.

Shot in August '44, December '44 and early April '45. That's when I believe he had enough "points" and was sent back to England. Separated in November '45.

I have his purple heart which is cool.

Very nice. I have some stuff from my grandfather, he was in the 4th Infantry division. He received the Silver Star (still have to this day along with the original citation). He was a strange person to say the least, a lot of which had to do with his war experiences. His unit landed off-target on the beach and was outside of the landing zone in Utah due to the bad weather. He ended up having to abandon his equipment and sneak inland where he found other airborne troops. He spent the first two weeks (I believe) of the war fighting with them before he was able to link up with his own division.

I remember him speaking pretty harshly about how terrible the airborne operation was planned. He vividly recounted dead paratroopers in trees and the logistics nightmare of the prolonged operation on the peninsula.

He ended up getting a wound from shrapnel in the Hurtgen Forest but ultimately was discharged due to severe frostbite. Pretty much everyone in that division lost a toe or two in that part of the campaign.

Thank you for sharing

frick Canada!

Absolutely keep sharing.

I have a set of these that were my mom's. Some really fantastic pictures.

WW II in Pictures

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darth, is that a picture of a model plane you've done on your profile? If it is, i've been looking for a decent paint sprayer for modeling any suggestions?

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Yes. I finished that model last weekend. I’m working on a Tamiya 1/48 scale Mitsubishi A6M2 Zero now. As for paint sprayers, I can’t help you. I brush paint everything.

Great stuff. Maybe you can help me. The attached photos are the two sides of a silk map (one of 4 different two sided maps) my Dad brought home from the war. I understand you probably can't see it very clearly. It shows Belgium, part of France and Germany. I can provide more details if you can't make out the print. Excuse the fold marks please.

He was attached to a front line field hospital (ADSEC) in the 29th infantry division. They followed the battle, from D-Day+6 to Belgium at the end of the war. They would set up the hospital within a few miles of the front line and them a week or two later, move it forward as the battle lines moved. He said you could always hear the cannon fire. Wounded soldiers came to them by the scores every day. (That is an understatement). He refused to talk about it.

Dad and Mom had been married for two weeks when Dad (drafted) left for the war. He first went to Camp Shelby, Mississippi for seven days, then to Camp Picket Virginia for basic training. In May of 1943, he left New York Harbor on the Queen Mary ocean liner, sharing a state room with 23 other men who slept in shifts. They filled the swimming pool on the top deck with their duffle bags! He was only 19 years old.


He was stationed in London from mid 1943 – June, 1944. While in London he served in security for the officer training center where officers were briefed on Operation Overlord – the invasion of Europe. Each morning they would set up the rooms (Maps, documents etc.) then at the end of the day they would take them down and put them up, then burn all papers (Notes or whatever) left in the rooms.

During the day, they kept everyone out of the meeting rooms not cleared to be there. The center was on St. James street, just ½ block from the Palace of St. James, which was guarded by the red-coated British soldiers. His room was on the third floor and he could look out his window and see if the Queen was at Buckingham Palace each day by noting whether her flag was flying there or not.

On June 12, 1944 (D-day +6), He went across the channel to France. From the time he entered the service until he returned to the USA was 34 months without a single pass! He said they gave them a candy bar on the landing craft and he had enough time to eat his and then throw it up.

He returned from Europe via Marseilles, France, after riding with his Sergeant in a "borrowed" jeep from central Germany to Marseilles. He sailed on a “banana boat” with 1900 men on a trip that took 14 days, 9 days of which were through storms! Everyone was sea-sick, but they were going home! He said bananas are great in a storm because they taste the same coming up as they do going down. They arrived in Norfolk, Virginia in November 1945. Dad ate Thanksgiving dinner on the train to Camp Shelby Mississippi.

Mom knew he was coming home, but had no idea when. She was working in the yard and saw a guy walking down the dirt road (7 miles west of Isola, MS). She said she just felt it was important. When he got close enough, she recognized it was dad. He had walked 7 miles from where the bus dropped him in Isola.

Dad was one of seven brothers who served in the war. All seven survived to come home!

Enough family stuff. Here are the two sides of the silk map.





Sadly, and I'm not sure why, I never asked why he had these silk maps. Like the one you show, they are extremely detailed.

Do you know anything? Have you ever seen any like these. If needed, you can crumple the map up and stuff it in your pocket. They are still remarkably strong, with a little edge fraying, but no other damage. All four of them are different.

Back to family photos:

Here are more photos. I think you will understand he was my hero and always will be.

Dad at 19, two days before he left Isola for Camp Shelby.



At Camp Pickett, VA, the day before leaving for Europe



Somewhere in Europe:



Mom (93 now and still going somewhat strong)



Better photo. Dad always said the guys constantly harassed him to let them see his/this photo of mom. I guess this is what carried him through the war.



Two days after he made it back to Isola from Europe. First photo we have of them together.



Dad's first vehicle after the war. He was a carpenter then. That is my older brother in the photo. I was not yet around.



Two years later Mom, my older brother and me. Nimitz Street in Jackson standing in front of the Heavy Chevy.