[60] The “new research” listed here was conducted by the author. His unit fought more … The 816 surviving prisoners were taken to barracks within the camp. ; Vermillion, supra note 6, at 2. In Sicily, on July,14th,1943, in what came to be known as the Biscari massacre, troops from this division murdered 73, mostly Italian, POWs on two occasions. As a result, Major General Troy H. Middleton, the 45th Infantry Division commander, convened a general court-martial to try SGT West for "willfully, deliberately, feloniously, unlawfully" killing "thirty-seven prisoners of war, none of whose names are known, each of them a human being, by shooting them and each of them with a Thompson Sub-Machine gun."" The retired officer, who lived in Washington, was 93 years old. [43] FRANKLIN GURLEY, 399TH IN ACTION: WITH THE 100TH INFANTRY DIVISION  (1945). [1]  In his story, West described the prayer he shared with Mabel and his two children before he shipped out: he asked God to “take care of all the boys on the battlefields.”[2]  On the subject of killing, West meekly posited, “[a] man shouldn’t be too proud of killing another man.”[3]  But, he added, “the Germans started it.”[4]. The war ended nine days after the 45th Infantry reached a large camp in Dachau, Germany. A graduate of Drexel University (B.S. JOHN M. KHOURY, LOVE COMPANY (2003). The 45th Infantry Division was reassigned to VI Corps on New Year's day. [21] Borch, supra note 7, at 5. [34] Id. As we visited Dachau we saw on a railroad sidetrack paralleling the main highway, and close to the gates of the prison camp, a train of cars which had been used to bring additional civilian prisoners to this camp. He grew to his full adult height of 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) tall while serving in the Army during World War II. [30] Vermillion, supra note 6, at 2. He murdered thirty-seven Italian and German prisoners of war (POWs) in an incident now known as The Biscari Massacre. Div., 2–3 Sept. 1943), at 90; Off. In 1940, the "Thunderbird" division was reactivated and deployed in late June 1943 to North Africa. Eagles, a decorated infantry commander who led the 45th Infantry Division in the battle for the Anzio beachhead in Italy, died Friday on 22-2-1988 at Suburban Hospital in Bethesda, Md. [28] Id. [26] Official records, post­war memoirs, and histories of the company give no indication that anyone there knew about his involvement with the Biscari Massacre, or his imprisonment; this is hardly surprising given the secrecy sur­rounding both events. That Soldier, Sergeant Horace Theodore West, was a thirty-five year-old Oklahoma native with thinning gray hair and skin “tanned the color of smoked ham.” During the interview, West told Vermillion (the UPI reporter) that his beloved Springfield rifle, equipped with a telescopic sight, was named after his wife Mabel. [52] “He was always brag­ging about killing Germans, whether he killed any or not was kind of a joke around the company because there was no way of proving whether he shot anybody, because there was nobody there but him….He was by himself, alone.”[53], On 1 April 1945, West was evacuated to a rear hospital due to an illness—possibly hepatitis—which prevented his return to his company before the end of the war in Europe. [45], The UPI story is also the origin of West’s unsubstantiated claims that he killed over one hundred German soldiers. West’s claims are disturbing and dubious. In March 1945, the "Thunderbird" division crossed the Rhine River and headed southward. [46] United Press Int’l, supra note 1. [55] Despite the 448 days he spent in confinement, he had enough “points” under the Army’s discharge system to be returned to the United States in October 1945, and was honorably discharged in January of the following year. 250833 (45th Inf. The Biscari Massacre . [49]  The 399th Infantry Regiment history contains a photograph of West with the caption, “Legend says West killed 150 Germans. Reenacting Historical. [12]  Patton initially dismissed the accounts and told Bradley that the incidents would “make a stink in the press." We would like to thank The Crown and Goodman Family and the Abe and Ida Cooper Foundation for supporting the ongoing [51] Id. Only three hours earlier, Sergeant (SGT) Horace T. West, also serving in the 180th, committed a similar war crime when he murdered thirty-seven Italian and German POWs by shooting them with a Thompson . When the 45th Division first formed its members wore a red square patch on their left shoulder, inside the patch was a yellow swastika, worne for good Luck. This is an oral history interview with Holocaust concentration camp liberator Fred Abraham. He was on special duty for a number of months in the [United States] before coming across, and consequently had been replaced in his squad with another Sergeant...for that reason, West was attached to Company Headquarters and was not controlling a squad.” United States v. West, No. [11]  The same day, West’s company commander, Captain John T. Compton, had also been involved in the killing of thirty-six POWs near Biscari. In the town of Dachau, German opponents of the regime, including a few escaped concentration camp prisoners, took over the town hall, but the local SS put down the small rebellion and executed those among the insurgents whom they caught. Eventually the matter was brought to the attention of General Dwight D. Eisenhower, and he recommended that West be given another chance. US soldiers killed German prisoners of war and surrendering SS soldiers at the Dachau concentration camp on April 29, 1945 during World War II.This is known as the Dachau Massacre. [48] Id. Eagles, a decorated infantry commander who led the 45th Infantry Division in the battle for the Anzio beachhead in Italy, died Friday on 22-2-1988 at Suburban Hospital in Bethesda, Md. Robert Vermillion, Missus Never Misses, Mabel Takes Care of the Sergeant, STARS & STRIPES (London), Mar. The 180th Infantry Regiment (redesignated to Cavalry in 2008) saw action during World War I as the 142nd Infantry Regiment of the 36th Infantry Division (Texas and Oklahoma) and World War II and the Korean War as part of the 45th Infantry Division and again in Afghanistan and Iraq as part of the 45th Infantry Brigade. It was a part of the Korean War, and it had been triggered largely by ‘Operation Counter’, which was an attempt by the American forces to attack and occupy 12 Chinese outposts, including Hil… 1945) (NARA RG 407, Entry 427); KHOURY, supra note 32, app. [13] Patton told Bradley to advise the officer responsible for the shooting to say either that the dead men were snip­ers, or they were shot during an escape attempt; regardless, nothing could be done about it. Following his release, West was far from inconspicuous. [16] Id. It replaced another previously used Native American symbol, a swastika, that was withdrawn when it became closely associated with the Nazi Party. [20] Id. The 45th Infantry Division Association is creating a red brick "Path of Remembrance", surrounding the paved walkway, and the flagpole, in the center of the parade ground, at the front of the Museum. The battalion’s executive officer, Major Roger Denman, ordered West and several other American Soldiers to escort forty-eight German and Italian POWs to the rear for questioning. The 45th Infantry Division was recognized as a liberating unit by the US Army's Center of Military History and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1985. West, however, sat in an Army prison in North Africa. His intent was to interview a sniper—from Wagoner, Oklahoma, in L Company, 399th Infantry Regiment—who was credited with killing more than 130 German troops. [56] There is no indication that he received any official reprimand, or otherwise ran afoul of the military justice system, after his parole in November 1944. Also, it is possible that West referred to the replacement only as “The Kid” because neither he, nor anyone else in the company, knew the Soldier’s name. West’s story after his parole is not one of redemption. Nevertheless, the Army officials in charge of this camp advised us that there were 50 of these cars in this 1 train and that at least 100 of these civilians had been jammed into each car . It appears that West’s desire to kill never waned, but was reformed and made acceptable in the mores of conventional warfare. It was assigned the 89th Infantry Brigade of the Colorado and Arizona National Guards, and the 90th Infa… [39] CENTURY SENTINEL, supra note 6, at 4. When US troops arrived in Dachau on April 29, they found 2,310 additional corpses on the train. The 45th Infantry Division was an infantry division of the British Army, formed just prior to the start of the Second World War.In March 1939, after the re-emergence of Germany as a significant military power and its occupation of Czechoslovakia, the British Army increased the number of divisions in the Territorial Army (TA) by duplicating existing units. [14], West was tried first. The Biscari massacre was a war crime committed by members of the United States Army during World War II. On 24 January 1945, Private West—along with twenty-nine other replacement Soldiers—was assigned to the depleted L Company, 399th Infantry Regiment, 100th Infantry Division. Find topics of interest and explore encyclopedia content related to those topics, Find articles, photos, maps, films, and more listed alphabetically, Recommended resources and topics if you have limited time to teach about the Holocaust, Explore the ID Cards to learn more about personal experiences during the Holocaust. The brigade is a subordinate unit of the Oklahoma Army National Guard, headquartered in Norman, OK. [2]  Id. He received a promotion directly from private to sergeant within three weeks of joining L Company, and was featured on the front page of the 100th Infantry Division newspaper, the Century Sentinel. [5] In this case, the new scholarship is based on the author’s personal research. In two incidents on July 14, 1943, American soldiers of the 45th Infantry Division summarily executed German and Italian prisoners of war. View the list of all donors. A fascinating element of West’s story is how many of the sources refer to his earlier service with the 45th Infantry Division and his combat experiences in Sicily, but fail to adequately explain why West left the 45th Infantry Division and why he was assigned to the 100th Infantry Division almost eigh­teen months later. With few provisions, almost 2,000 inmates died during the circuitous route that took them from Thuringia through Saxony to Czechoslovakia and into Bavaria. Just days before, about 2,000 inmates evacuated on a death march from the Flossenbürg concentration camp had arrived at Dachau and the SS guards had forced almost 7,000 Dachau inmates to move southward. [35] Id. [49] While West was assigned to the company headquarters as a cook, for most of the previous year he had been detached from the company on special duty—including as the acting Provost Sergeant in charge of the division stockade at Fort Devens. Each car was loaded with emaciated human corpses . Scene from Netflix TV show "The Liberator" depicting 45th Infantry Division soldier battling German ... [+] troops in the Vosges mountains in January 1945. [24] Instead, he progressed through the Army Ground Forces replace­ment system, joined an infantry division fighting in France, and unexpectedly found himself appearing in his unit’s newspaper, the Army’s newspaper—titled The Stars and Stripes—and newspapers across America.[25]. However, Tyson believes the replacement’s death was because of West’s sniping, and not the reason for it. U.S. troops of the 45th Infantry Division killed about 75 unarmed prisoners, mostly Italian. This Native American symbol became the division's insignia in 1939. Growing up in A Foxhole (New Edition): A Foot Soldier Looks Back.Memoirs of a World War II Vet of the 45th Infantry Division by Stan Richardson and George Garin | Nov 21, 2014 4.7 out of 5 stars 6 Both feared the impact on U.S. public opinion and the possibility of reprisals should the details of the incidents become common knowledge.”[19] With Compton dead, the chance that his involvement would be revealed was removed. Only three hours earlier, Sergeant Horace T. West, also serving in same division, committed a similar war crime when he murdered 37 Italian and German POWs by shooting them. [1] United Press Int’l, Wagoner Fighter Has 130 Notches On Garand Rifle, RECORD-DEMOCRAT (Mar. On April 29, 1945, three US Army divisions converged on the camp: the 42nd Infantry, the 45th Infantry, and the 20th Armored. In each of them the floor of the car was covered with dead, emaciated bodies. In some of these cars there were more than enough to cover the floors. What Vermillion did not know, and could not have known, was that the seemingly pious West had only recently returned to combat after being imprisoned for over a year. [6]  This new chapter of the Biscari Massacre reveals innominate dimensions of the case and unknown applications of military justice during World War II. We saw many dead bodies on the ground. During World War II, the 45th Division fought in 511 days of combat awarding eight Medals of Honor. However, Bradley ignored Patton and pressed for charges to be brought against both Compton and West. During World War II, the 45th Division fought in 511 days of combat awarding eight Medals of Honor. [13] Id. History of the 45th Infantry Division: Home page Table of contents. [46]  West was quoted as saying “I reckon I must have killed around 120 [Germans] in Sicily. In addition to burying the dead, the Allied forces attempted to help and comfort the survivors with food, clothing and medical assistance. 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