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Newspaper Clippings from the Scrapbook
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Allies Refuse To Reveal Bitter Toll of Yank Causalities By James McGlincy, United Press Staff Correspondent Paris, Jan. 2 – Supreme allied headquarters remained adamant today in its refusal to tell the American public one of the bitterest reports of the German breakthrough on the Western front. The extent of American causalities is an S.H.A.E.F. secret. Under the same news policy, S.H.A.E.F. has so far refused to clear up the question of changes in the alied high command – if any. American newspapers have been printing statements from neutral capitals that Field Marshal Montgomery has been named deputy supreme commander. S.H.A.E.F. now is passing the buck on releasing any confirmation or denial or reports on American causalities to the 12th army group, which is subordinate to S.H.A.E.F. and subject to S.H.A.E.F. orders. The Germans already have claimed that four American divisions, including the 106th, were destroyed. The 106th was the last division trained at Camp Atterbury. Six others cut were in the Nazi smash through Belgium and Luxembourg, the Germans claimed. Some 30,000 prisoners were taken alone and the number of dead and wounded ranged even higher, German accounts said. Whether these figures were pure propaganda or not, the German command obviously knows how many prisoners it has captured and how many dead it has recovered. It probably could make a shrewd guess as to how many dead and wounded were taken away by the retreating Americans. But supreme headquarters still bans any detailed disclosure of causalities. It persists in this policy despite the fact that Americans at home have been told that production and draft calls will have to be increased. This, the high command says, is necessary to replace losses suffered in the counter-offensive. The lid on this perhaps darkest side of the German counter-offensive was lifted just slightly at a press conference yesterday by Brig. Gen. Anthony C. McAuliffe. Gen. McAuliffe disclosed that one unit at Bastogne known as the “Snafu” – army slang for “situation normal, all fouled up” – was comprised of stragglers of American units from the break-through front. They had been dispersed by the enemy thrust and forced t make a fighting and by no means always organized retreat. Censorship prevents disclosure of the units represented in the “Snafu,” though they must be known to the Germans through the capture of prisoners. Another faint hint of the size of the causality lists was provided by the stories of two enlisted men. One said there were only 14 men lest out of his platoon of 43 at the end of 35 miles of successive retreats. The other soldier said his company lost all but 35 men out of the original 130. Whether these figures were typical of what happened to whole divisions could be cleared up only by an official over-all causalities statement. Proponents of such a statement argued it would do more to convince the American public of the grimness of the fighting than several speeches or statements in general terms. Subdebs and Squires
By BOB SIMPSON
Several huge busses jam-packed with teen-aged soldiers from
Camp
Atterbury’s 106th Division poured forth their passengers for the first
Sunday afternoon tea dance of Service-Teen held at Southern Mansion. Last
May 14. Maj. Gen. and Mrs. Alan W. Jones were guests of honor at that
Initial party. A few weeks later Service-Teen moved its headquarters to
my home at 1010 North Delaware Street, and from that very first party
members of the 106th Division were our constant and welcome guests during
their leisure time. Not only did they attend the Sunday afternoon tea
dances, but they were here during the week and dozens of them at a time
stayed overnight in our home when they had overnight passes. I was referee
for their entire boxing tournament, and grew to know and respect hundreds
and hundreds of the enlisted personnel and Officers of this fine division.
I ate in the PX with the men and in the Officers’ Club with the officers,
and I trained in their gym. If I had been a member of this stalwart
division, I scarcely could have known them more intimately.
It is
my firm conviction that when the heavy censorship is lifted from the
European theater of war and we learn the official story of the 106th, we
who knew them, I and many other American, will glow with pride in the
knowledge of their deeds. Because of the lack of confirmed word of this
division, I sat dreaming of them the other day, and now I want to share my
dream with you. I saw these teenaged boys attending classes in their various universities as members of the ASTP. I saw their distress and disappointment when they were summarily ordered out of college into an infantry combat unit. I saw them here In Indiana trudging wearily back to camp after weeks of strenuous bivouac training where they lay in mud under rain and live fire. I saw them pass in review before Gen. Somervell and their own Gen. Jones when their youth, physical fitness and soldierly demeanor made them the outstanding unit in that huge Independence day parade. I saw them sadly bidding farewell to their many friends in Indianapolis before they entrained for the East coast and Europe.
Behind Siegfried Line.
I saw them wandering lonesomely along the paths and through the thickets of England’s countryside. I saw them shocked at the devastation in Belgium. I saw them well behind the Siegfried line In Germany where they were covering a 27-mile front. I saw their widely scattered outposts patrolling that long stretch of the enemy’s country. One night when everything seemed especially quiet.
I saw some engineers, some medical men, and part of the headquarters group, stealing away, covered by silent artillery, to the north where there seemed to be more enemy activity. And later that night under cover of the dense fog I seemed to vision 300,000 Nazis attacking the 106th Division. For four interminable days, and nights, I seemed to see this tiny, band of brave soldiers holding back the overwhelming hordes of the enemy while American reserves were being assembled to back them up. I could hear familiar voices as they cried out in pain and died. I seemed to feel sympathetic pangs of hunger with these surviving friends of mine who were without food or supplies for that whole four-day period. And finally they were surrounded and captured.
With
these boys of the 106th Division was every single officer who had trained
them at Camp Atterbury, and I could Imagine their senior officers, who had
had vast experience and who had been with these boys from the beginning of
their training plotting and planning to save their outnumbered regiments.
But no amount of experience or judgment could save the paltry thousands of
gallant, fighting patriots of the 106th against the hundreds of thousands
of Germany’s best fighting men. In my dream I heard the commendation of Gen. Eisenhower to Gen. Jones. “The magnificent job you are doing is having a great beneficial effect on the whole situation. I am personally grateful to you and wish you would let all of your personnel know that if they continue to carry out their mission with the splendid spirit they have so far shown, they will have deserved well of their country.”
All of us who knew these boys and the entire nation as well, will one day immortalize the bravery and gallantry of the 106th Division.
This division will take its place in history with the marines of World War I; with the little band of men at the Alamo who stood off overwhelming numbers and turned the tide of a war; the well disciplined handful who turned back the proud armies at Thermopylae; the 106th playing David to the Nazi Goliath.
My dream ended on a note of happiness with the world again at peace and our friends of the 106th home from prison camps, where we of Service-Teen could grasp them by the hands and say, “But ATOP THE TOWN
The
Indianapolis News Last summer, on week-ends, our town was filled with tanned young soldiers, wearing a doughty lion on their sleeves. Indianapolis folk who gave them lifts, welcomed th m to their homes, chatted with them here and there. considered them a fine, handsome lot of youngsters, felt, perhaps a fleeting foreboding for their future but on the whole were not prepared for the role fate had in store for them. “Every man a hero” was how the 106th was to be described, and for days their Indianapolis friends have been worrying and wondering.
These were the kids who became such favorites with the personnel of our town’s service center. They found the 106th young, engaging, peppy, full of fun and appreciative. A goodly number of them were boys newly transferred from A. S.T. P. and air corps schools, and any disappointment they may have felt in a new assignment was soon dispelled, thanks to youth’s tendency toward good sportsmanship. These were the boys who beaued the Cadettes, made staunch friends among the old folks and generally brightened the local scene. This, too, was the outfit which caused something of an uproar during their combat training in Brown county’s Yellowwood Lake Forest preserve. Fifteen thousand young men went through the business of learning cover-warfare down there and in the bargain some 1,700 young trees were destroyed. Some of the park’s picnic fence was damaged, too, and three roads had to be graded and ditched again. It was said that inexperienced or reckless handling of jeeps was at the bottom of the destruction and, of course, the war department would pay. Odd to think that there are losses now for which the war department nor any one else can ever pay. The forest in Brown county may be as still as Gettysburg now for all we know. The 106th stopped training there along in the middle of September. But before, learned combat swimming. No more the roar of equipment and the crack of gunfire, no more the excitement of maneuvers and lessons in night infiltration! The 106th, more than any other outfit, has reminded one of the departing soldiers in Robert Service’s “Rhymes of a Red Cross Man” who “singing, went away, like boys who leave their schoolbooks upon a holiday.” Dorothy Buschmann at the Servicemen’s Center says that many of the boys have been heard from in the last few days. A real source of locating them is through letters to the Cadettes they met here, who promptly report to Mrs. Buschmann that this or that certain boy has been accounted for and is all right.
A reassuring letter written January 4 in Belgium came from Sandy Lather with the 106th headquarters. Sandy, who was a great favorite here, says that the first report was German propaganda. “We have seen a lot of action and lost great numbers but not as the Germans put it out,” wrote he.
During the last few weeks when no one seemed to know the fate of the 106th, we at the News were heartened to receive messages from Lieutenant R. D. Underwood, orientation officer for the 424th infantry with that division. It seemed incredible, and encouraging, too, that Don Underwood, who used to be in the editorial department, had managed to toss off some stories in the thick of the alleged break-through. They were excellent stories, too. One was about a major in his outfit—the fightin’est man in a fightin’ regiment. It presented the major’s day’s work in the thick of battle arid what with capturing numbers of Nazis, darting out of bombed houses and generally behaving like a D’Artagnan, he found that night that he’d been promoted to lieutenant colonel. There was no time, however, to pin on the leaves.
The numbers who have been heard from make us grateful that the true state of this division is not what the first wild German’ claims pictured it, and that it continues to function. Truly, it will go down as one of America’s gallant coteries.
F.M.G. The Heroic 106th
FEW divisions of American troops have been called upon in the European theater to bear the weight of an attack like that which overwhelmed the 106th Division a month ago when the Germans broke into Belgium.
The story of the 106th’s heroic stand has just come through censorship. It is a story of fighting to the end against superior strength, a repetition of the tales that came from the Pacific in the early days of the war. Secretary of War Stimson lists 8,663 casualties in the division—more than two-thirds the normal strength of such a unit.
The Wehrmacht following its artillery and tanks, overcame by sheer weight of numbers the division that had just been sent into a “quiet” sector, and which kept on battling until supplies ran out and it was forced to destroy its equipment.
Families of the 106th gallant men can glean some consolation from the fact that the bulk of the casualties— 7,000—are listed as missing. Most are presumed to be prisoners, and for their eventual return hope still lives.
How many thousands were saved by the 106th’s performance in the true American tradition none can question but their sacrifice was not in vain. Number of Yank Causalities Remain an Official Secret by JAMES McGLINCY United Press Staff Correspondent PARIS, Jan. 3.—Supreme allied headquarters remained adamant today in its refusal to tell the American public one of the bitterest results of the German breakthrough on the Western front. The extent of American casualties still is an S. H. A. E. F. secret. Under the same news policy S. H.A. E. F. has so far refused to clear up the question of changes in the allied high command - if any. American newspapers have been printing statements from neutral capitals that Field Marartal Sir Bernard Montgomery has been named deputy supreme commander. S. H. A. E. F. now is passing the buck on releasing any confirmation or denial or reports on American divisional casualties to the 12th army group, which is subordinate to S. H. A. E. F. and subject to S. H. A. E. F. orders. The Germans already have claimed that four American divisions, including the 106th, were destroyed. The 106th was the last division trained at Camp Atterbury. Six others were cut up in the Nazi smash through Belgium and Luxembourg, the Germans claimed. Some 30,000 prisoners were taken alone and the number of dead and wounded ranged even higher, German accounts said. Whether these figures were pure propaganda, or not, the German command obviously knows how many prisoners it has captured and how many dead it has recovered. It probably could make a shrewd guess as to how many dead and wounded were taken away, by the retreating Americans. But supreme headquarters still bans any detailed disclosure of casualties. It persists in this policy despite the fact that Americans at home have been told that production and draft calls will have to be increased. This, the high command says, is necessary to replace losses suffered in the counter-offensive. The lid on this perhaps darkest side of the German counter-offensive was lifted just slightly at a press conference yesterday by Brig. Gen. Anthony C. McAuliffe. Gen. McAuliffe disclosed that one unit at Bastogne known as “Snafu” —army slang for “situation normal, all fouled up”—was comprised of battered stragglers of American units from the break-through front. They had been dispersed by the enemy thrust and forced to make a fighting, and by no means always organized retreat. Another faint hint of the size of the casualty lists was provided by the stories of two enlisted men. One said there were only 14 men left out of his platoon of 43 at the end of 35 miles of successive retreats. The other soldier said his company lost all but 35 men out of the original 130. Whether these figures were typical of what happened to whole divisions could be cleared up only by an official over-all casualties statement. Proponents of such a statement argued it would do more to convince the American public of the grimness of the fighting than several speeches or statements in general terms. Montgomery Says Doughboy Courage, Fighting Ability Halted Nazi Drive Twenty-first Army Group Headquarters, Jan. 7 (UP) Field Marshall Sir Bernard L. Montgomery today declared allied teamwork, and especially the inherent “courage and good fighting quality” of American troops, had halted the German drive into Belgium. The battle is “far from over”, he asserted, but the Germans “have been halted, then sealed off, and we are not in the process of writing them off”, wit the initiative in allied hands. Time and again in telling how Field Marshall Karl von Rundsedt’s thrust developed, and how he moved to meet it, Montgomery stressed that above all it was the fighting ability of American Doughboys and their tenacity in battle that makes a great soldier, and that has really saved the situation by the stands at St. Vith, Bastogne and south of Monschau. He singled out two American armored divisions, the Second and Seventh, and two United States airborne divisions, the 82nd and 101st, and the 106th Infantry as doing a fine job, and praised Gen. Eisenhower’s leadership. “What was Von Rundstedt trying to achieve ? I don’t know,” Montgomery said. “One must admit that he has dealt a sharp blow and he has sent us reeling back, but we recovered and he has been unable to gain any great advantage. He has therefore failed in his strategic purpose.” “When the situation began to deteriorate,” Monty said, “the whole allied teem rallied to meet the danger. “The battle has been the most interesting and tricky battles I have ever handled, with great issues at stake.” Formed Offensive Army Corps “I formed an offensive army corps—the Seventh — under the very fine American Gen. Collins (Maj. Gen. S. Lawton Collins) and had to decide where to put it. It turned out that where I put it was not a bad place, although it was a large part luck. Although he had placed the Seventh Corps there for offensive purposes, Montgomery revealed, Von Rundstedt tried a powerful left hook up the Manse towards Liege and ran right into the power of the American Second Armored Division under Maj. Gen. Ernest N. Harmon. In a furious battle this division nearly wiped out Von Rundstedt’s spearhead—the Second Panzer Division. “This changed plans and I bad to reform the corps again for an offensive and this time it was good business and the Seventh Corps now is attacking. You can’t hurry these things. You must get well balanced and have a tidy show. We have halted the Germans, sealed them off and are now writing them off. German divisions’ have suffered heavily, but I say this about a battle. It is a very great mistake, to think it is over. The worst parts are over, but a great deal more must be done.” 21st Army Group Headquarters, Jan. 7 – (UP) Von Rundstedt’s picture has joined that of Rommel in Field Marshall Montgomery’s personal pictorial hall of enemy fame. “I used to think Rommel was good,” Montgomery told reporters today. “But Von Rundstedt could “knock him for six.” “He (Von Rundstedt is the best general I’ve come up against in this war.” Teamwork Stopped Huns: Monty By the Associated Press Twenty-first army group headquarters, Jan. 8—Field Marshal Sir Bernard L. Montgomery Sunday said Allied team work and especially the inherent “courage and good fighting quality” of American troops has halted the German drive into Belgium.
The battle is “far from over,” he asserted, but the Germans “have been halted, then sealed off, and we are now in the process of writing them off,” with the initiative in Allied hands.
At his first press conference in months, the colorful Briton, commanding four armies north of the German bulge told how Field Marshal Karl von Rundstedt’s thrust developed, and how he moved to meet it.
Time and again he stressed that above all it was the fighting ability of American doughboys and their “tenacity in battle that makes a great soldier” that has really saved the situation by the stands at St. Vith, Bastogne, and south of Monschau.
He singled out two American armored divisions, the 2d and 7th, and two United States airborne division, the 82d and 101st, and the 106th infantry as doing a great job. He also lauded the United States 7th corps, and praised Gen. Dwight Eisenhower’s leadership.
“What was Von Rundstedt trying to achieve? I don’t know,” Marshal Montgomery said in an hour-long talk. “The only guide we have is his order of the day which told his soldiers they must go all out on this last big effort. “One must admit that he has dealt a sharp blew and he has sent us reeling back, but we recovered and he has been unable to gain any great advantage. He has therefore failed in his strategic purpose, unless the prize is smaller than his men were told.
“Von Rundstedt attacked on December 16,” he said. “He obtained a tactical surprise. He drove a deep wedge into the center of the 1st army and split American forces in two. The situation loomed as if it might become awkward. The Germans had broken right through the spot and were heading for the Meuse.
“As soon as I saw what was happening, I took certain steps myself to insure that if the Germans got to the Meuse they could certainly not get over that river. And I carried out certain movements so as to provide balanced dispositions to meet the threatened danger.”
Marshal Montgomery at the time had command only of the British 2d and Canadian 1st armies, and on his own he shifted some troops south to meet the threat.
“Then the situation began to deteriorate, but the whole Allied team rallied to meet the danger. National considerations were thrown overboard; General Eisenhower placed me in command of the whole northern front.”
“I employed the whole available power of the British group of armies. This power was brought into play very gradually and in such a way that it would not interfere with American lines of communications. Finally it was put into battle with a bang, and today British divisions are fighting hard on the right flank of the United States 1st army . . This is a fine Allied picture.
“We have halted the Germans, sealed them off, and are now writing them off. German divisions have suffered heavily, but I say this about a battle. It is a very great mistake to think it is over. The worst parts are over, but a great deal more must be done.
“There are two main reasons why Von Rundstedt was sealed off from achieving what he was after, The first of these is the good fighting qualities of the United States soldier, and- the second is Allied teamwork.
“I formed a very high opinion of the American soldier in Italy and Sicily,” Marshal Montgomery continued earnestly. “I have spent my life with the British soldier and I love the British soldier, but I have formed a great affection for the American soldier, who is a very brave fighting man who has that tenacity in battle which makes a great soldier.
“He is basically responsible for stopping Von Rundstedt from what he set out to do. “He held out at Elsenborn there south of Monschau (the 1st, 2d, 99th and 30th infantry divisions) when the great blow hit him and he stopped those SS panzer divisions.
“At St. Vith many United States troops were cut off and isolated but in little groups they fought and held on to those vital road junctions, forcing the Germans to halt. It was a very fine performance that the 7th armored division and the 106th infantry division borne division at Bastogne which put up a great performance.
“On December 20-21, I consulted General Hodges (Lieut. Gen. Courtney Hodges, United States 1st army commander) and suggested we must get those fine fighting men out of the St. Vith area and back in our lines
“The 82d American airborne division moved forward and got in contact with these elements and we pulled them back behind our lines. Then we ordered the 82d back to better positions but they did not want to come and they protested, but I assured them they had accomplished their mission and could withdraw with honor.
“I take my hat off willingly to such men.”
Discussing Allied teamwork, Marshal Montgomery said, “It was to me a remarkable thing how in the time of danger the Allied team rallied together. This thing of Allied solidarity is terribly important. Teamwork wins battles and battle victories win wars.
“On our team the captain is General Ike. I am devoted to him. We are great friends. We are all in this fight together and we must not allow any wedges to be driven between us. As an illustration of our friendship, the other day my plane was damaged, and I asked Ike for another, and he sent his own at once.” In questions after the conference, Marshal Montgomery said the Germans still were “fine soldiers” and formidable enemies. He cited the January 1 attack of the Luftwaffe on Allied airfields as an example of German potentialities, saying “the enemy pulled a fast one on us.” But this does not mean the German has air superiority, he continued, and “the biggest terror of the German soldier is our air force. On good days they shoot up everything behind the German lines.” The field marshal, in contrast with his press conferences last summer, declined to go into any predictions as to how long the war would last, or to estimate German capabilities. But “in the balance, I don’t see how Von Rundstedt has gained very much.” he said. Battle-Scarred 106, Reorganized, Back In Action
Washington, Jan. 18. — From the shell-swept, icy mud of northern France where it crouched beaten to it’s’ knees by the might of Rundstedt’s mechanized charge, the battle-broken, but unbeaten 106th United States Infantry Division has risen anew to spearhead the Yankee armies at Malmedy.
The division, which bore the brunt of German attacks in the battle of the bulge and lost more than 50 percent of its strength in the white-hot charge of the German panzers at St. Vith, has been reorganized and with 8,000 replacement Officers and men, has gone back into the line. Congressman Forest A. Harness of Indiana announced their return to action today, following inquires at the War Department. Earlier in the day War Secretary Stimson announced that the division, which included hundreds of Indiana boys, and trained at Camp Atterbury last summer, had suffered the heaviest losses of any American outfit in France, taking almost one-fifth of the total causalities of the battle of the bulge. Missing List comprises Bulk of Casualties Its losses were 416 dead, 1,246 wounded and 7,001 missing. Its boys, many of Indiana, mainly from Illinois, others from Pennsylvania, New York, Michigan and South Carolina were familiar figures in Indianapolis for seven months last year when the division was in training at Camp Atterbury. It left behind, when it embarked for France last October, friends, sweethearts and relatives in Indiana who have been torn with the agonies of grief and fear for three weeks. German propaganda broadcasts reported the division was decimated by Rundstedt’s blow at St. Vith. For three awful days, it had borne the hammer blows of Germany’s ablest troops. Today Secretary Stimson said made a gallant stand, but had been partially overrun. It held its ground until half its force bad been rolled under the wheels of the German charge. Secretary Stimson’s formal statement said the American 106th Division, which made a gallant stand in the Ardennes at the center of the Germen drive, but was partly overrun, sustained total casualties of 8,663. It is probable that a number of the 7,00I missing are in process of being identified as wounded, or have been found attached to other organizations, subsequent to this compilation. A great number of men above counted as missing from this division are presumed to be prisoners of war.
“It was the contribution of the men of this division and of other less heavily hit divisions in the area which helped to make possible the repelling of the enemy. Stood Test To Come Back For many days Washington representatives of Indiana, Illinois and South Carolina, particularly have been besought anxiously by the people at home for any crumb of news about loved ones in the 106th. Today the news of the division came. It was sad but glorious. It met the test of awful fire, It had stood until it disintegrated under German might, and it had come back. “It was the first American unit to meet attack,” Congressman Harness said, “and it was the first American unit to deliver a decisive counterblow at the foot of the bulge.” Senator Raymond E. Willis, before whom the boys held their Camp Atterbury divisional review on June 5, 1944, remembered them for their youth, their vigor and their high morale. “I thrilled to their soldiery that day. “I’ve thrilled to it each day since as I kept touch with their gallantry and battle skill. All of us are proud of their wonderful record, proud of them because we regard them as a Hoosier outfit, and proud that they showed themselves in battle capable, well-trained and strong. I am struck by the fact that though they were swept by the fiercest German storm of this war, they suffered only 416 known deaths, which is evidence that they could --------------------- (Article cut off) The Fighting 106th
Many Indianapolis people are deeply concerned about the 106th infantry division, which trained at Camp Atterbury. One widely syndicated columnist, more noted for his erratic judgment than anything else, threw panic into the hearts of these families by blandly announcing that the 106th had been cut to pieces and wiped out by the German battering attack. Since then, repeated calls have been made, to newspapers and other agencies for some word which might give a clue to the status of the division.
There is no official word of any kind available. The war department refuses to make any comment — and justly so until it has accurate information. The only direct statement has come from Field Marshal Sir Bernard L. Montgomery and the part of his comments which applied to the 106th was as follows:
“The American soldiers of the ‘United States seventh armored division and the 106th infantry division stuck it out and put up a very fine performance, By Jove, they stuck it cut, those chaps.”
It is high praise coming from the stern Montgomery, but it indicates that the division was in the thick of the battle. Obviously, it must have had many causalities. But to go beyond this point is dangerous speculation. Not only would it be dangerous, but cruel. Let us wait even, even though it be difficult, for accurate information, rather than toy with gossip.
Indianapolis Star Fate of State-Trained 106th May Be Tragedy Three Camp Atterbury-trained divisions—the 83d, 30th and 106th —today are feeling the shock of the German attack along the First, Third and Seventh Army fronts, but the fate of one of them, the 106th, may well have been one of the major tragedies of the war.
While all information on casualties has been consistently withheld by Supreme Headquarters of the Allied Expeditionary Forces, German reports claim the entire division was wiped out during early stages of the Nazi breakthrough.
Drew Pearson, Star columnist, reported in a recent dispatch that the 106th, which left Camp Atterbury last October, “gave way like straws, before a tornado” during the German onslaught.
Replacement Plan Blamed
Pearson said military experts blamed the division’s destruction on replacement of its top-ranking officers with green younger men who had never experienced battle.
The 106th wore the divisional Lion patch shoulder emblem end was composed mainly of young men, many of them former members of the now defunct ASTP.
The division trained at Atterbury from March, 1944, through October.
Friends and relatives of divisional members believe from letters received that the division went overseas during the middle of November and landed in France about Dec. 3, meeting the German onslaught less than two weeks later.
The 83d division, which was activated at Atterbury in August, 1942, and left In June of the following year, has covered itself with glory in the European campaign and was recently credited with capture of 20,000 German prisoners.
The 30th, or Old Hickory Division, which trained at Atterbury from November, 1943, to January, 1944, is currently believed to be somewhere in the Lowlands. The Star recently published a history of the division from the time it landed overseas until it broke through Nazi defenses to lead allied troops into Holland.
The three divisions—one of them perhaps now little more than a memory—were the only divisions to be trained at Atterbury during World War II. THE INDIANAPOLIS STAR Established as The Indianapolis Journal In 1823. The Indianapolis Sunday Sentinel Absorbed In 1906. Published Every Day in the Year by STAR PUBLISHING COMPANY, Pennsylvania and New York Streets, Indianapolis 6, Ind. Eugene C. Pulliam, Editor and Publisher. “Let the people know the facts and the country will b& saved.”—Abraham Lincoln. America’s Gallant 106th Indianapolis and Indiana are especially proud of the 106th Division, which was trained at Camp Atterbury and is now receiving the credit due it for heroic fighting in the Ardennes. The recognition it is getting is particularly gratifying because of a German report which described the men as having fled when the fight began. At first, the world was led to believe a mistake had been made in sending young men into battle before being fully prepared. Now it develops that the 106th bore the brunt of a stand that “helped make possible the halting and repelling of the enemy,” according to Secretary Stimson. The battle in which the 106th was a major factor is described by Prime Minister Churchill as “an ever-famous American victory.” The gallant 106th did not run, as the Germans tried to make believe. It stood its ground valiantly. The records now show that the 106th lost more than one-half its full strength. It had 416 killed, 1,246 wounded and 7,001 are missing. That is indeed evidence of courage and fighting spirit. All America takes to its heart the historic 106th.
Indianapolis Star Sheer Gallantry Confirming reports from British and German sources, the war department Thursday revealed that it was the 106th infantry division which bore the shock of the German counterattack at St Vith and stood its ground although overrun and reduced to half its strength by casualties.
Piecing the reports of the German surprise and subsequent events together, it is seen that this division was assigned to what was believed to be a quiet section in order that it might be hardened for combat. Naturally its officers were unprepared for what happened. They had no warning of an attack. If they had any word from the American command, it was to the effect that the observed German concentrations and maneuvers were in preparation to meet the impending American and British offensive.
Thus when the fierce German armored attack blasted into the 106th about all it had to sustain it was the courage of its fine young manhood. And it had plenty of courage. Undismayed by evidence of confusion in the high command, it gave magnificently of courage and discipline and fight. Its, stand will forever rank among the great exhibitions of sheer gallantry in warfare.
Indiana has a special pride in the 106th infantry division. It trained for seven months at Camp Atterbury. Its members, some of whom are Hoosiers, were frequent visitors to Indianapolis and other Indiana cities. They won thousands of friends and called Indiana the home of the division. They were so welled liked and admired that it comes as no surprise that in the supreme test of battle baptism they won the admiration of the world.
Indianapolis Star January 3, 1945
The fate of the men who three months ago were swarming Indianapolis with the Lion divisional patch on their shoulder today is shrouded in the silence of S. H.A.E. F. The Lion division was the last division trained at Camp Atterbury. Known as the 106th infantry division, the Germans claim it was destroyed on their break-through counter-attack. Friends here have received letters indicating the division went overseas near the middle of November. By Dec. 3 they were going into France. If the German reports can be believed, the 106th had plunged into battle within two weeks. A fiancée of one of the men has interpreted her most recent letter (written before the attack) to mean that the division was in the line near Malmedy. It was in that region that some of the heaviest Nazi blows fell. It was the scene of the murder of 115 American soldiers taken prisoner. Meanwhile friends here remember the men of the division as being among the most courteous and appreciative of any stationed nearby. Mrs. D. (??)mann, U. S. O. head, said today that the division was very young, having an average age of about 20 and a half years. “Most of these boys are from the Middle West and New England, she said. “They are men who had been washed out of the air corps and A. S. T. P. students transferred when the program was closed down. “All of Us Loved Them” “They had the typical youthful cockiness and every place they went they livened things up. All of us loved them.” The 106th reported to Camp Atterbury In March, 1944, following Tennessee maneuvers. In October, under the command of Maj. Gen. Alan Jones, they shipped for the East coast. Two other fighting divisions were trained at Atterbury. The 83rd, which has received much publicity for action in France. (Article cut off) The Indianapolis
Star 106th’s Story in Full !! Disaster of Fire and Steel Came In Foggy Dawn With the 106th Division in Belgium, Jan 21. (UP). It was a “quiet sector” they handed the 106th Infantry Division, fresh to the front and rarin’ to go, on Dec. 11. The quiet ended in a shattering eruption of fire and steel five days later, in another two days two regiments and supporting artillery and armor of the Golden Lion Division were wiped out. In these two days the men of the two regiments were engulfed by the overwhelming might of Field Marshal von Rundstedt’s breakthrough spearhead. They went down fighting. The First Full Story Only a handful came back from the 422d Regiment and the 423d. This little group – less than 300 – pitched in and helped the remaining regiment, the 424th, to make gallant delaying stands before and behind St. Vith. Up to now, censorship has forbidden transmission of these details. (Secretary of War, Henry Stimsom announced Thursday that the 106th suffered 8,693 causalities in the German offensive, including 416 killed, and 1,246 wounded. He said most of the division’s 7,001 missing men are presumed to be prisoners.) (After taking part in the Tennessee Maneuvers from January 20 to March 24 of last year, the 106th Infantry Division moved to Camp Atterbury. There it underwent nine weeks’ training in unit and individual operations, physical fitness tests and platoon combat firing. Following this training, the division was reviewed by ground force generals and won high praise. Its movements overseas has been covered by military secrecy.) The story of the 106th’s disaster started in the foggy dawn on December 16 as it occupied positions in and around the Schnee Eifel, a rocky wooded ridge 10 miles long and two miles wide. Barrage Opens Attack The attack started at 5:50 a. m. on the 16th with a tremendous artillery barrage against the 106th’s line, which curved northward from the center of the Schnee Eifel in a sector held by the 14th Cavalry Group, an armored outfit attached to the infantry. Then the barrage moved across a field artillery battalion, also attached. By 6:20 a. m. more than 100 rounds had hit squarely among the artillerymen. Five minutes after the shelling of our lines started the Germans opened up against St. Vith itself. The civilians, most of whom had pretended to be friendly but actually were pro-Nazi, were in their cellars when the firing started. They popped out again promptly after the last shell fell at 1 P. m. The Americans later captured a radio receiver by which the Germans had notified the civilians of the impending shelling. The Germans turned their guns then on the 422nd and 423rd regiments and followed with infantry and tank assaults. By daybreak of December 17, the Germans had thrown two divisions into this part of the front and by mid-morning enemy columns were swarming around the Schnee Eifel. The swamped the 422nd and 423rd regiments and the 424th was forced to withdraw. Reports Tell of Disaster All the time, until radio contact was lost, the two regiments continued to send back reports of the fighting. They were routine in nature but they all added up to disaster. There was no sign, however, that the men realized this or were overly concerned. At 3:35 p. m. on December 18, the radio sputtered that all units of the two regiments were in need of ammunition, food and water. Parachuting of supplies was out of the question because of the fog. The last message came from the 422nd at 4 p. m. that day and from the 423rd at 6 p. m. They were addressed to Lieut. Col. (article cut off). Both messages were in code and were identical – “we now are destroying our equipment”. That was all. Presumably, most of the two regiments were taken prisoner. Engineers Fought Heroically The Germans then headed for St. Vith and were stopped temporarily by the 81st and 168th Engineer Battalions who fought heroically. Ther were outgunned many times over and it was mainly by guts that they held the Germans off all night with three tank destroyers guns and three 57-millimeter guns. Early on the morning of December 18, division headquarters began moving west out of St. Vith. Some units were halted by MPs who had on American uniforms and talked with a Midwestern accent. The MPs turned to be Germans. One of them fired a rocket which signaled the opening of a terrific barrage against the halted vehicles. After a stiff fight by the 422nd, one combat command from the Ninth Armored Division which had moved up on December 19, the fighting engineers and the 112th Regiment from the 28th Infantry Division, the German occupied St. Vith at 11 p. m. on December 21. Throw Back Into Line Exhausted and depleted, the 106th pulled back to reorganize December 23 but the next day they were thrown into the line and helped halt the Germans finally on the north side of the salient between Stavelot and Manhay. When Maj. Gen. Alan W. Jones activated the 106th at Jackson, Miss., in March, 1943, he told the division: “You’re brand new; you have no past history to live up to, and no past history to live down.” They still have nothing to live down and much to be proud of, those men who got caught in one of the war’s major battles before they had done more than night patrols. (Article cut off) ….would like to suggest. These boys of the 106th symbolize American boys, on every fighting front in the world. They are all courageous, all great. “And in this moment of pride, we must give a memorial thought to those who will not come back, sharing with those who suffer most, ther prideful grief.” The 15,000 boys of the 106th were activated by War Department orders issued November 29, 1942. The division was formed at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, on March 15, 1943, under the command of Maj. Gen. William H. Simpson, then of the 12th Service Command. It is a coincidence of war that the outfit’s junior officers came from the old 80th Division, now fighting in France, came to the aid of the tortured 106th in the battle of the bulge, and healed its wounded flank,, going on to the rescue of the 101st Airborne at Bastogne. Congressman Charles A. Halleck, whose brother, Lieut. Col. H. J. Hallack of Winamac, Ind., is the 80th divisional surgeon, said today that the boys had undergone “something close to a literal hell.” “They were nearly six weeks without a bed to sleep in or a bath,” he said. “They are the cream of the crop. They’re championship stuff. And in their championship we take pride. They’re infantry, and infantrymen are the finest types of youth who by their physical and mental condition have to be the kind of men we hope our sons will grow to be. World’s Champs Says Hallack. I say to the American people today that the American infantry, as symbolized by the 106th, is the world’s championship team.” After their early training at Fort Jackson, the 106th went to Camp Atterbury in March, 1944. They arrived in their own transport, by road, from maneuvers. And they were a tight-belted, clean-cut outfit of kids who knew their way around. When they checked in at Atterbury, two-thirds of them were 22 years old or younger. Three-fourths of them had not attained their 26th birthday, the War Department said today. They had shaken out a lot of the boys who weren’t “infantry.” And they had to be recruited to battle strength there. They got the cream. At Atterbury they were augmented by 1,157 men from specialist schools. Ther were tuned to a fine edge last summer, in their last tour of training before embarkation. On June 3, Undersecretary of War Robert P. Patterson, special counsel to the President, and Senator Willis reviewed them. That was old stuff to the 106th. They had been reviewed by three governors, and by the late Lieut. Gen. Lesley J. McNair, then commander of the Army’s ground forces. Gen. McNair called them the “sharpest: division he ever had reviewed. That was while they were still down South. “I saw them at Columbia,” (article cut off)….gray division.” Many of their officers’ families are still in South Carolina. A lot of our boys are in this outfit. We learned to love those boys from the corn belt. “Today I am humbly prideful at the thought of their gallantry and sacrifice.” The 106th became known as the “Lion’s Head Division” while it was at Camp Jackson. It wears a shoulder tab of a lion head on a blue and red field. “The boys told me,” Senator Maybank said, “that their lion’s head insignia really meant something. They said its blue background stood for its basic complement of infantry, and the fact that it was basically an infantry division. The red in the field stood for its artillery wing. And the lion’s head for the strength they knew had been built into them. “They were right. And today the blue stands for their gallantry, the red for the blood they spilled, and their lion’s head for strength the world now knows was theirs.” For security reasons there are certain facts that cannot yet be told about the division. They went overseas on an unnamed date in October. They reached France and went right into action. They captured Coulee and Henumont during the drive southeast of Stavelot. They were at St. Vith on the north side of what became the St. Vith salient when the Germans struck. National Grateful Says Ludlow They never were really out of the battle line. A high War Department official said today. “all causalities of the 106th have been replaced and the hard-hit unit now is a full strength, self-contained infantry fighting division once again.” It was disclosed that the 424th Infantry regiment was the first unit struck by the Germans at St. Vith and that it was the first unit which struck back at Runstedf when the counter-offensive began. Congressman Louis Ludlow of Indianapolis, who said that his office was deluged with calls about the boys of the 106th, spoke great sorrow today of the men of the 106th who will not again parade the streets of Indianapolis as they did last Independence Day. “I know,” he said, “that sorrow is the unwelcome guest of many an Indiana home tonight, sorrow for the death or injury of boys we love.” “It is not only the sorrow of those homes. A grateful nation, in pride and with affection, shares the grief of those bereaved. In deepest sympathy, and with a hope that pride in the gallantry of those who died, will in some measure ease their pain, the nation today offers the families of the men of the 106th their homage.” U. S. Bulge Losses 74,788 December Casualties Boost Total On West Front to 332,912 Washington, January 18 – UP The heavy fighting along the western front during December cost American ground forces 74,788 casualties boosting total losses on that front since D-Day to 332, 912. Secretary of War Stimsom, releasing the figures today at his news conference, said the December losses included most of the 52,554 casualties previously reported during the first three weeks – December 15 to January 7 – of the big German counteroffensive in the Ardennes. German Casualties 110,000 Against these American losses, Stimson estimated German casualties for the month at 110,000 to 130,000, including 50,000 taken prisoners by the Allies. The December casualties on both sides covered the Allied drive against Germany early in December as well as the first two weeks of the German counteroffensive. Overall army casualties during the war for all theaters as complied by the War Department up to January 7 and reflecting fighting up to the early part of December, Stimson said, are 580,495. Coupled with the latest navy total of 83,364, this puts United States combat casualties since Pearl Harbor at 663,859. The 74,788 December total on the western front included 10,419 killed, 43,554 wounded and 20, 815 missing. Since D-Day, the losses in the western front included 54,562 killed, 232,672 wounded and 45,678 missing. Stimson said that a great many of those listed as missing during December probably are prisoners. Letters From 106th Two Indianapolis sisters, Miss Nancy Wilson and Miss Helen Winson, both of 4317 East Washington Street, have received letters from friends in the 106th Division written from Belgium since the German breakthrough. They are Corporal Neal Gossom of Baltimore, Md., now in Belgium, a member of medical detachment in the Army Engineers, and Sergt. Ronald Lape of Portland, Ore., who wrote January 2. Neither mentioned the battle with the Germans but they stressed the low living conditions in Belgium. 424th Regiment Took First Blow - 106th Division Unit Bore Brunt at Start The News Washington Bureau Washington, Jan. 19 —The 424th regiment of the 106th division was the first Allied unit to feel the hammer blow of the German Ardennes counter-offensive December 16 at St. Vith. This fact is now revealed along with some other details of recent action of the division, which received its final training at Camp Atterbury, Indiana, before being sent overseas in October. The 106th suffered at least 50 percent casualties—8,663 of Its normal complement of 15,000. Of these, 416 are officially listed as killed, 1,246 were wounded and 7,001 are missing, with many of the latter category captured. Replacements were quickly sent in and the division was reorganized and is still in the line. Most of the men of the 106th were under twenty-two years of age. Many of them had been transferred to infantry assignment after the ASTP program was abandoned. Some were air force transfers. The division was ordered activated November 29, 1942, and was formed at Ft. Jackson, South Carolina, March 15, 1943. Last March it was sent to Atterbury. Last October ft went to England, and then to the continent. The division already had to its credit the capture of Coulee and Henumony, during the drive southeast of Stavelot. Then came the St. Vith assignment and the December 16 attack.
Henry L. Stimson, secretary of war, has Issued this formal statement:
“The American 106th division, which made a gallant stand in the Ardennes at the center of the German drive, but was partly overrun, sustained total casualties of 8,683. It is probable that a number of the 7,001 missing are in process of being identified as wounded, or have been found attached to other organizations, subsequent to this compilation. A great number of men above counted as missing from this division are presumed to be prisoners of war.
“It was the contribution of the men of this division and of other less heavily hit divisions in the area which helped to make possible the halting and repelling of the enemy.” Division Fought Like Tigers The 100th division is carrying on famously again, Representative Forest A. Harness, Fifth Indiana district, was informed today by war department officials. “They fought like tigers and that Is why the casualties were so heavy,” he said. “Berlin claimed that the division had been annihilated and Gen. Dwight D, Eisenhower did not deny at the time, because he wished the Germans to think so, if they did. “War department officials, on information from Gen. Eisenhower’s headquarters, are enthusiastic over the conduct of the division and the ferocity of its fighting. Undoubtedly they deserve and are receiving great praise.” ‘Every Man
a Hero,’ Says 106th Division Chaplain in Belgium COLUMBUS, Ind,, Jan. 12—”We spent ten days in hell,” wrote Chaplain Alford V. Bradley, of the 106th infantry division, to the Rev. Albert Fauth, of Columbus. “We are giving the Jerries a good fight. Every man is a hero.’ The chaplain, formerly stationed with the 106th division at Camp Atterbury, added: ‘I am sure the devil is doing his work at home; he doesn’t have a chance here in foxholes; a real revival of praying has broken out.” The letter was dated December 27 In Belgium. Men of 106th Write to Kin Here Three Indianapolis men with the 106th division have written their parents and relatives that they have come through the German offensive safely. The 106th division was described by German sources as among the first to cave in following their drive. In letters written December 24, Lieutenant Edgar. It. Carpenter told his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Robert H. Carpenter, 6016 East Washington street, and his wife, Mrs. Judy Carpenter, 2541 North Alabama street, that he was all right. Both letters were received. January 5. Technical Sergeant John Siegesmund, Jr., with division headquarters in the adjutant general’s department, has written three letters, dated December 20, 24 and 26. to his parents, Mr. and Mrs. John Slegeamund, 81 Campbell Avenue, and his wife, Mrs. Marjorie Slegemund, a student at DePauw University, telling of his safe escape. Sergeant Slegesmund, a De Pauw University graduate, has been with the 106th division since October 8, 1943, when he joined that group at Ft. Jackson, South Carolina. Mr. and Mrs. Paul Seehausen, 44 North DeQuincy street, also have received word that their sons Lieutenant Paul Seehausen. with the division, came through safely. Additional word from the 108th division ~was received here by the fiancées of two of the soldiers. Miss Anna Mary Dant, 2447 Pierson street, received a letter dated Christmas day from Pfc. Aaron Hamblen, 26, Anon, Ia., in which he explained he was in Belgium.. In a previous letter, dated December 11, he had said he was in Germany. A telegram was received by Miss Betty Waters, 444 Norwaido Avenue, from Pfc. Ralph Mouser, of Tennessee, saying he, was all right. |
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09/10/2016James D. West www.IndianaMilitary.org jimdwest@centurylink.net |