What's New
Author Updates and Archive Additions
December 16, 2019
The Battle of the Bulge began seventy-five years ago today. To mark the anniversary, my online archive now includes prisoner-of-war reports pertaining to German paratroopers from Einheit von der Heydte captured by the 99th Infantry Division during the Bulge.
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Annex 1, G-2 Report 41, 99th Inf Div, 20 Dec 44
Annex 2, G-2 Report 42, 99th Inf Div, 21 Dec 44
Annex 1, G-2 Report 45, 99th Inf Div, 24 Dec 44
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November 11, 2019
This month I’ve uploaded more operational records pertaining to the period when Lafayette Pool earned his Distinguished Service Cross. These prisoner-of-war documents shed light on the enemy units faced by Pool and the 3rd Armored Division:
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PW Report No. 59, IPW Team 29, 30 Aug 44
PW Report No. 60, IPW Team 29, 31 Aug 44
PW Report No. 63, IPW Team 29, 01 Sep 44
Periodic Report, IPW Team 36, 01 Sep 44
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October 15, 2019
Lafayette Pool earned his Distinguished Service Cross for actions in France during the last three days of August 1944. My online archive now includes the following operational records from that period. I’ll upload more next month on Veterans Day.
Defense Plan, Cerny-en-Laonnois, 29 Aug 44
Operating Instructions No. 7, CCA, 28 Aug 44
Unit Journal, 32nd Armd Rgt, 28-31 Aug 44
Staff Officers, 32nd Armd Rgt, Aug 44
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September 19, 2019
Today marks the seventy-fifth anniversary of Lafayette Pool’s battle injury that ended his short but extraordinary combat career with the 32nd Armored Regiment. I’ve uploaded three more documents related to him. There’ll be additional material posted in October and November.
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Pool Legion of Merit Recommendation
Pool Croix de Guerre Recommendation
Pool Casualty Report, 19 Sep 44
The Corpus Christi Caller Times, 06 Apr 48
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July 30, 2019
Last year, I began posting 3rd Armored Division records in my online archive. Today I’ve added documents pertaining to Lafayette Pool, legendary tank commander of the 32nd Armored Regiment and the inspiration for Brad Pitt’s "War Daddy" character in the 2014 movie FURY. The documents include his Distinguished Service Cross recommendation plus paperwork pertaining to failed efforts to upgrade that decoration to the Medal of Honor. More Pool documents in September.
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Pool DSC Recommendation
Pool Medal of Honor Correspondence
Pool 201-File extracts
War Heroes Attend Ceremony
Texas Tanker article
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June 6, 2019
The archive now includes four unpublished D-Day photographs taken by Ensign William G. Willcox II, cameraman aboard USS PC 617. The Arundel picture show disembarking troops from the Second Battalion, 18th Infantry Regiment, men headed to Easy Red beach. The LCT 615 picture shows this vessel carrying soldiers from Antitank Company, 116th Infantry Regiment. Their destination was Dog Red beach.
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USS Anne Arundel photograph, 6 Jun 44
USS Frankford photograph, 6 Jun 44
USS Harding and USS LCI(L)-87 photograph, 6 Jun 44
USS LCT(6) 615 photograph, 6 Jun 44
April 21, 2019
I’ve returned to my 2017 theme regarding the 2nd Armored Division in Operation Cobra. My online archive now includes Hulon Whittington’s Medal of Honor recommendation, a rare document that began as a Distinguished Service Cross proposal. Omar Bradley elevated it to the Medal of Honor, and the War Department granted approval in 1945.
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Whittington MoH Recommendation
Whittington MoH Announcement (WD GO 32, 1945)
Whittington 4x5 Portrait
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March 15, 2019
Today I added more combat-interview material to the archive plus an October 1945 article that appeared in the Infantry Journal. The article’s author was the former commander of Antitank Company, 26th Infantry. I also added the IDPF for Henry Warner, a soldier who served with the company. He received a posthumous Medal of Honor for his actions at Domäne Bütgenbach.
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Action of John Kennedy, 612th TD Bn
The Hot Corner at Dom Bütgenbach
Henry Warner IDPF
Units of 1st Inf Div (codenames)
Irvin Schwartz – Nazi Tank Knocked Out By Local Boy
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February 15, 2019
I uploaded three new documents to the archive today (captioned below). All pertain to the December 1944 fight for Domäne Bütgenbach. More to come on March 15.
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Combat Interview, 2nd Bn, 26th Inf Rgt
Map, 1st Div Action in Breakthrough, 16-31 Dec 44
Morning reports, AT Co, 26th Inf, 17-31 Dec 44
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January 12, 2019
Last month, I began posting documents related to the battle for Domäne Bütgenbach. Today I’ve added three POW interrogation reports from the 26th Infantry Regiment. These documents pertain to enemy troops captured during the battle. I’ve slated February 15 for my next update.
IPW Report, 26th Inf Rgt, 20 Dec 44
IPW Report, 26th Inf Rgt, 21 Dec 44
IPW Report, 26th Inf Rgt, 22 Dec 44
September 9, 1944: Staff Sergeant Lafayette Pool’s medium tank crawls onto a pontoon bridge built by U.S. engineers across the Meuse River at Liège, Belgium. The bridge connects Boulevard Frère Orban with the Parc de la Boverie. Company I, 32nd Armored Regiment.
June 6, 1944: Troops from Second Battalion, 18th Infantry Regiment disembark from the USS Anne Arundel . This is a cropped version of a photo made by Ensign William G. Willcox II. Download a high-resolution copy of the full image from the ETO History archive.
September 5, 1945: Holder of six Silver Star Medals and two Bronze Star Medals, Lt. Col. Derrill M. Daniel, Ph.D., Geneva, New York, is awarded the Distinguished Service Cross by Jacob L. Devers, Commanding General, Army Ground Forces. Daniel commanded the Second Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment (1st Infantry Division), and he received the DSC for extraordinary heroism during the battle for Dom Bütgenbach in December 1944.
April 30, 1945: Staff Sergeant Irvin “Blackie” Schwartz, a former newspaper reporter from Pleasant Valley, Pennsylvania, has just received the Distinguished Service Cross for his extraordinary heroism as a corporal and gun commander on December 21, 1944, at Dom Bütgenbach, Belgium. He had previously received the Purple Heart for wounds received on February 27, 1945. He is seen in the photo accompanied by Second Lieutenant Wallace W. Weyant from Bellmore, New York. Weyant earned an oak-leaf cluster to his Silver Star Medal for gallantry while a staff sergeant at Dom Bütgenbach. He wears a winter combat jacket and Schwartz an Ike jacket. Photo made in Czechoslovakia..
