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| As Extraordinary as Everyone Else  |
Some of my FIL’s experiences in Europe during WW2 are going to be featured in an upcoming book about everyday military heroes. He was an amazing but extremely humble man that spent most of his time behind enemy lines assessing German troop strength. Along the way he was awarded the Purple Heart and two Bronze Stars and was wounded 4 times, once being evacuated to London to recuperate. Anyway, we have some of his photos and are seeking help in trying to identify the locations. He landed on Omaha Beach on D Day, fought through France, into the Arden Forrest and eventually onto the shores of the Rhine River where they waited for the Russians… If any of you have any idea of where these pictures were taken we would sincerely appreciate the help. Thank you.    ------------------ Eddie Our Founding Fathers were men who understood that the right thing is not necessarily the written thing. -kkina | ||
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Just guessing on the first one (and checking a current image from the site itself); London, in front of what is now the Ritz Carlton Hotel. https://www.theritzlondon.com/...4ODMzMTg4NS4wLjAuMA.. | |||
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It is a Carlton Hotel.You might start here http://www.westendatwar.org.uk...oogle.aspx?q=carlton I'm alright it's the rest of the world that's all screwed up! | |||
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| As Extraordinary as Everyone Else |
I believe you guys are right. He was in London after VE Day and was making his way back to the US. The first two pictures he is unarmed. The second photo may be in Germany as some of the inscriptions on the building end in “….che” which is common in the German language. The last photo looks like it may be in Germany also. The inscriptions on the photo are hard to read but don’t appear to be in English. He is armed in this photo. ------------------ Eddie Our Founding Fathers were men who understood that the right thing is not necessarily the written thing. -kkina | |||
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Objectively Reasonable |
I played with contrast/saturation/etc on the third photo. The coat of arms on the fountain looks like Braunschweig, Germany. Unfortunately, I can't sharpen the text enough to pick anything up. Those are very cool pictures regardless... thanks for sharing! | |||
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Hold Fast |
The last picture is in Germany. ****************************************************************************** Never shoot a large caliber man with a small caliber bullet . . . | |||
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| Get my pies outta the oven!  |
Agree That fountain in a town square is repeated all across Germany There’s a coat of arms that’s very Germanic with what looks like a winged lion, and I can make out some of the words on the inscription but not many. | |||
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In the 3rd photo, on the 3rd line of the written stuff on the stadt brunnen, there is a reference to Eulenspiegel - I can clearly read it. Looks like the jeeps are parked next to a church / cathedral (looks like bottom part of a flying buttress support in the photo). So this is close if not the center of town. I can make out a few other words, but not enough to gain context. Eulenspiegel is one word I can clearly make out. The Eulenspiegel reference is probably in reference to Till Eulenspiegel, who roamed in the Brunswick area back in the 1300's. Brunswick looks to be in the British Zone of occupation, so I am guessing they were sight seeing in Northern Germany, perhaps. I did a bit of checking and found a reference where Eulenspiegel was pursued by guards in Nuremberg, which was in the US Zone of occupation. So.... So it is possible that a number of german cities have some reference to Eulenspiegel if he was in their area during the 1300's. I have a Till Eulenspiegel book somewhere in my house. It's german folklore going back to the 1500's when the first book of him was published. -.-. --.- -.-. --.- -.-. --.- -.-. --.- It only stands to reason that where there's sacrifice, there's someone collecting the sacrificial offerings. Where there's service, there is someone being served. The man who speaks to you of sacrifice is speaking of slaves and masters, and intends to be the master. Ayn Rand "He gains votes ever and anew by taking money from everybody and giving it to a few, while explaining that every penny was extracted from the few to be giving to the many." Ogden Nash from his poem - The Politician | |||
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| Help! Help! I'm being repressed!  |
Do you know what unit he was attached to? 113th Cavalry Regiment? Found it! I love tracking shit like this down. Pretty sure the 3rd photo is at the Till-Eulenspiegel-Brunnen in Einbeck, Germany. The town tourist website says the fountain was only built in 1942. Apparently the church tower attached to the church is 1.5 meters out of plumb and is known as the "leaning tower of Einbeck".This message has been edited. Last edited by: Skull Leader, | |||
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The first picture appears to be the Frankfurt Carlton Hotel. https://www.usarmygermany.com/...lton%20Hotel%201.htm The second picture appears to have been taken on the same day judging by his clothing. The same style of streetlight also appears in this photo. https://www.usarmygermany.com/...umann%20Club%205.htm | |||
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Nice job! Those are spot on... | |||
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| As Extraordinary as Everyone Else |
Wow! You guys are amazing! Thanks so much for all the info so far. My wife is literally in tears reading your info. Yes, Skull Leader he was in the 113th Calvary. How did you know? ------------------ Eddie Our Founding Fathers were men who understood that the right thing is not necessarily the written thing. -kkina | |||
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| SIGforum's Berlin Correspondent  |
Agree the last picture is Einbeck; about 30 miles from my hometown. Was, or did your FIL serve with, Captain Ernest Kaufman? His account of Einbeck surrendering at the link is complemented by a local paper's report on the 70th anniversary; though it notes that Heinrich Keim, who went to the Americans on his own initiative, wasn't a civilian rather than a Wehrmacht sergeant being treated in the local army hospital, who enlisted the help of a medical master sergeant and his motorbike for the mission. Of course the LTG in command of the city's defense later claimed he had already decided to surrender and communicated this to his officers the morning after the pair had left, which he didn't know. Anyway, the effect was that the city was handed over with no loss of life. | |||
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| Help! Help! I'm being repressed! |
I found some sites that talked about the 113th taking Einbeck and then I took the unit patch of the 113th and compared it to the ones in the photos. His shoulder patch shows just enough in the 3rd picture that I presumed that's who he was with. You may have already found those sites, but this one talks about Einbeck being taken without a fight because a Buchenwald concentration camp escapee turned US Army Officer approached the Germans under a white flag and demanded their surrender. The German in charge capitulated in order to spare the town and its residents. https://mlra.org/ernest-kaufman/
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I'm changing my thoughts on the first one; Frankfurt Carlton Hotel, not London. Sigamt's linked image is pretty good showing bomb damage nearby but not the Carlton. | |||
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| As Extraordinary as Everyone Else |
Skull Leader thanks for that very interesting piece of history. I do not recall the person you mentioned ever in my conversations with my FIL (I wish I had taken the time to find out more) BUT I have heard many stories of Col. Biddle. At the Red Horse reunions after the war in the 60’s and 70’s now General Biddle would always ask my wife to dance with him. Small world. I will ask my wife when she returns if she has any recollection of meeting him. On another side note about the greatest generation, my FIL immersed himself in work in an effort to keep the demons away after he came home. Later, when he retired those demons came back and he was diagnosed with severe ptsd. As part of his therapy he was asked to write down his experiences and we are very grateful to have those very, very detailed writings of his war campaign. Many of them are quite gruesome as only someone who has gone through this would know. But non the less we are extremely grateful to have them.This message has been edited. Last edited by: smlsig, ------------------ Eddie Our Founding Fathers were men who understood that the right thing is not necessarily the written thing. -kkina | |||
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Many of you would like this site, it has books with "then and now" photos of (mainly) WWII sites. https://www.afterthebattle.com/ They used to publish a great quarterly magazine called - get this - After The Battle, but it ended a couple years ago. You can buy most of the magazines/books from the US distributor: https://rzm.com/ | |||
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The 113th Calvary was/is an Iowa National Guard unit. Is your FIL from Iowa or was he a replacement? Pretty cool pics and family history. | |||
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| As Extraordinary as Everyone Else |
You’re right it was (is?) an Iowa NG unit. My FIL, like many others enlisted after Pearl Harbor and for what ever reason got assigned to the 113th. A couple of other guys who enlisted in Roanoke were assigned to that unit as well. ------------------ Eddie Our Founding Fathers were men who understood that the right thing is not necessarily the written thing. -kkina | |||
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Cool. Very nice piece of family history. The 113th’s armory is about 4 miles from me. The unit is still in existence. Scout/Cav unit. | |||
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