Post by floydragsdale on Oct 8, 2012 11:38:07 GMT -5
The following article appeared in my hometown newspaper in June 1945. Any news that was about the 106th Division & 424th Regiment, my mother saved. - - - Floyd
"News Item: Name of newspaper not included, but would probably be the Michigan City News Dispatch - BIGGEST PW IN ETO HANDLED BY 106th. - - - With the 106th Infantry Division. Germany, June 14. Emerging from a four month old news blackout, the 106th Infantry Division, commanded by Major General Donald A. Stroh, was disclosed today to be engaged in the largest operation dealing with PW's ever assigned to a unit its size. - - - With headquarters at Bad Ems, the division and attached troops now number nearly 40,000 and are deployed over an area of 340 miles. It is operating 16 camps, which at the peak contained 910,000 prisoners, nearly 15 times the number captured by the AEF during World War I. - - - The 106th was one of the divisions which bore the brunt of Von Rundstedt's December offensive . Elements of the Division held the vital communications center at St. Vith until additional American troops could be moved up. Hard hit in its initial engagement, the 106th came back with a strong offensive in January and participated successfully in the remainder of the Ardennes campaign. - - - in February and March, it defended the southern flank of the First Army and drove through the Siegfried Line to participate in the start of the last great American offensive. - - - the rapid advance in April resulted in the capture unprecedented number of prisoners, who were being sent to the rear by the thousands. All available facilities were swamped and extra measures were necessary to keep the situation under control. - - - The camp populations have declined steadily since the high point reached about six weeks ago. Prisoners are being discharged at the rate of about 9,000 a day and transported by truck and rail to all parts of the American occupation zone."
From this compiler’s memory : In the final days of the war our outfit had thousands of prisoners on our hands. We were situated in the Rhine River valley, near Maintz, Germany, where a prison compound was hastily constructed, rectangular in shape, seven miles around, in an area that was an orchard. The only shelter the men had was what they brought with them at the time of surrender. The peak prisoner population at this camp was 98,000 men. For them, in the beginning weeks, there was an acute shortage of food and shelter. We gave up one meal a day (the noon meal) in order that the men could be fed. The weather turned damp and very cool. Every tree in that orchard was cut down by the men and used for fire wood. This was truly a time of chaos for the people of Germany. Where battles were fought towns were demolished; yet, the citizens lived there and emerged out of the ruins to beg for garbage that came from our mess kits at meal time. A U.S. Army truck would drive into the compound in the morning to pick up prisoners who had died during the night; some from exposure and others from a varying degree of problems that could convey an epidemic to a situation of this magnitude. - - - - Prisoners, according to the demand for their skills, were discharged first. Among these were carpenters, bricklayers, coal miners etc. Their nation was crushed and it would take years to rebuild it.
"News Item: Name of newspaper not included, but would probably be the Michigan City News Dispatch - BIGGEST PW IN ETO HANDLED BY 106th. - - - With the 106th Infantry Division. Germany, June 14. Emerging from a four month old news blackout, the 106th Infantry Division, commanded by Major General Donald A. Stroh, was disclosed today to be engaged in the largest operation dealing with PW's ever assigned to a unit its size. - - - With headquarters at Bad Ems, the division and attached troops now number nearly 40,000 and are deployed over an area of 340 miles. It is operating 16 camps, which at the peak contained 910,000 prisoners, nearly 15 times the number captured by the AEF during World War I. - - - The 106th was one of the divisions which bore the brunt of Von Rundstedt's December offensive . Elements of the Division held the vital communications center at St. Vith until additional American troops could be moved up. Hard hit in its initial engagement, the 106th came back with a strong offensive in January and participated successfully in the remainder of the Ardennes campaign. - - - in February and March, it defended the southern flank of the First Army and drove through the Siegfried Line to participate in the start of the last great American offensive. - - - the rapid advance in April resulted in the capture unprecedented number of prisoners, who were being sent to the rear by the thousands. All available facilities were swamped and extra measures were necessary to keep the situation under control. - - - The camp populations have declined steadily since the high point reached about six weeks ago. Prisoners are being discharged at the rate of about 9,000 a day and transported by truck and rail to all parts of the American occupation zone."
From this compiler’s memory : In the final days of the war our outfit had thousands of prisoners on our hands. We were situated in the Rhine River valley, near Maintz, Germany, where a prison compound was hastily constructed, rectangular in shape, seven miles around, in an area that was an orchard. The only shelter the men had was what they brought with them at the time of surrender. The peak prisoner population at this camp was 98,000 men. For them, in the beginning weeks, there was an acute shortage of food and shelter. We gave up one meal a day (the noon meal) in order that the men could be fed. The weather turned damp and very cool. Every tree in that orchard was cut down by the men and used for fire wood. This was truly a time of chaos for the people of Germany. Where battles were fought towns were demolished; yet, the citizens lived there and emerged out of the ruins to beg for garbage that came from our mess kits at meal time. A U.S. Army truck would drive into the compound in the morning to pick up prisoners who had died during the night; some from exposure and others from a varying degree of problems that could convey an epidemic to a situation of this magnitude. - - - - Prisoners, according to the demand for their skills, were discharged first. Among these were carpenters, bricklayers, coal miners etc. Their nation was crushed and it would take years to rebuild it.
