beginning of the National Timberwolf Pups Association . Its role and size have expanded over that time due to the consolidation of other training commands, and the division subsequently took charge of a number of brigades specializing in various entry-level training for soldiers of all types. One of the garages held four blocks of prisoners still able to work, for whom conditions were slightly better, but for all prisoners, rations were grossly insufficient to sustain life. (5), August of 1943 saw the arrival of first prisoners at camp Mittelbau Dora. When I answered, he brightened and related that a group Since the first printing of TIMBERWOLF TRACKS in 1946 there have been subsequent editions printed Colonel Taggart called into action, early 12 April, the litter She lay there where she generally speaking, there was no special hatred of the enemy. Washington: Pleasant Word Press 2004. Although there are modern accounts from the men of the 104th regarding the horrific experience at Camp Mittelbau Dora, there was very little information published about the 104th Division's role in liberating the Camp fellow infantrymen teamed up with the 3rd Armored Division beating back the Nazis and gaining a 375 mile penetration deep into the heart of Germany. The Journey of Private Galione: How America Became a Super Power. in enormous underground factories the deadly supersonic V-2 rockets. Boelcke Barracks; also Nordhausen) was a subcamp of the Mittelbau-Dora concentration camp complex where prisoners were left to die after they became unable to work. Malnutrition and disease were rampant, and corpses lay unburied. of maneuver and bold night attacks and teamwork were outstanding and held casualties down to 1445 killed, 4801 wounded, 111 missing in action, for a total of 6357.(14). Some of these, lying in double-decked wooden hundred German litter bearers were gathered up and rushed to the Was this also the fate of the grandparents, uncles and aunts I had never gray days, often sullen with the slow, cold drizzle of rain, the thrust In the eight days from July 18 to July 25, 1918, the 104th Infantry was to pass through a crucible of fire and steel. Story. Every so often, the floor would be hosed down in order to clean out the excrement. particularly sadistic attention from the SS Troopers. The war-hardened soldiers of the 104th had seen the worst in humanity. Prisoners assigned to this duty could draw the rations of the dead. 104th Division (Institutional Training), HQ (to include: Headquarters (less detachment), 1st Brigade, 104th Division, 1st Battalion, 414th Regiment, 2d Battalion, 414th Regiment, 1st Battalion, 415th Regiment, 2d Battalion, 415th Regiment, 3d Battalion, 415th Regiment, 1043d Training Detachment, Headquarters, 3d Brigade, 104th Division, 1st Battalion, 104th Regiment, 2d Battalion, 104th Regiment, 3d Battalion, 104th Regiment, 4th Battalion, 104th Regiment, 5th Battalion, 104th Regiment, 1041st Training Detachment, U.S. Army Regional Training Site, Sacramento, Headquarters 4th Brigade, 104th Division, 6th Battalion, 104th Regiment, 7th Battalion, 104th Regiment, 8th Battalion, 104th Regiment, Detachment, 9th Battalion, 104th Regiment, Headquarters, 6th Brigade, 104th Division, 10 Battalion, 104th Regiment, 11th Battalion, 104th Regiment, Headquarters, 7th Brigade, 104th Division, 1st Battalion, 413th Regiment, 2d Battalion, 413th Regiment, 3d Battalion, 413th Regiment, Detachment, Headquarters, 8th Brigade, 104th Division, 3d Battalion, 414th Regiment, 104th Army Band. penetration deep into the heart of central Germany. fanatical inhuman Nazi machine. Troops found only a few survivors among the 3000 corpses who were cared for in a field hospital. [23], During World War II, soldiers of the division were awarded two Medals of Honor, 14 Distinguished Service Crosses, one Distinguished Service Medal, 642 Silver Star Medals, six Legion of Merit medals, 20 Soldier's Medals, 2,797 Bronze Star Medals, and 40 Air Medals. [7] In 1924 it received its shoulder sleeve insignia. reaching for the hands of their liberators as they shed their tears. One girl in particular I Among the men of the 104th Infantry Division was a medic from Brooklyn, New York. survivor Jean Mialet. 5,000 corpses among the 6,000 inmates in various stages of decay. Breaking out of the Remagen Bridgehead on 25 March, 1945, the 104th Infantry Division, as part of the U.S. VII Corps, was teamed with the 3rd Armored Division for a rapid advance of an eventual 375-mile penetration deep into the heart of central Germany. Stories . Would that it was possible to take the doubters by the hand, back Too weak to by side in indescribable filth lay the emaciated living, too weak to move away Liberated on: April 11, 1945 . In my own thoughts I choked up - couldn't The 3rd Armored Division discovers the Dora-Mittelbau concentration camp. He looked to be walking into a world apart and returning to bring these shadow-men into the While under American command on 16 November 1944, the division went on another offensive in support of Operation Queen, taking Stolberg and pushing on against heavy resistance. bodies. The "Timberwolf" division discovered 3,000 corpses lying around the camp and some 750 emaciated, starving, and ill prisoners who had been left behind when the SS evacuated the inmates on death marches. Lying among the multitudes of dead were of the large factory areas of the city. The division first arrived on the scene, reporting back to headquarters that it had uncovered a large concentration camp near the town of Nordhausen. 406420, Army Battle Casualties and Nonbattle Deaths in World War II, Final Report (Statistical and Accounting Branch Office of the Adjutant General, 1 June 1953), "The Institute of Heraldry: 104th Division", "Archives West: Robert Rust photograph collection, 19301950", "U.S. Army Reserve > Commands > Functional > 108th TNG CMD", "Obituary: Leo Hoegh, 92, Civil Defense Chief for Eisenhower", "Medal of Honor Recipients World War II (AF)", "Medal of Honor Recipients World War II (GL)", United States Army Center of Military History, 104th Infantry Division Command Personnel, Timberwolves: The Story of the 104th Infantry Division. [18] On 5 March, after heavy fighting, it entered Kln. send e-mail comments or queries to the Webmaster: Activated in 1921 and deployed during World War II, the division saw almost 200 days of fighting in northwestern Europe as it fought through France, Netherlands, Belgium, and western Germany, fighting back several fierce German counterattacks as it advanced through the theater throughout late 1944 and 1945. The article recounts the heroic feats of the 104th as if recapping a college football game. Sobered and drained each of us eventually left the area, in the words of a poet Its men were to write sagas of sacrifice, devotion and heroism. What were some similarities between racism in Nazi Germany and in the United States, 1920s-1940s? [18] The sector to the Mulde River was cleared by 21 April, and after vigorous patrolling, contacted the Red Army at Pretzsch on 26 April. terrible evidence of atrocity. [8] After the arrival of 3,500 emaciated and ill prisoners from Gross-Rosen in mid-February, the SS decided to use the barracks compound to house prisoners who were no longer able to work,[7] since Dora had no gas chamber and transports to Bergen-Belsen could not be arranged. majority of prisoners were French (mainly members of the French Resistance). gruesome sights at Nordhausen upon the men of the 104th: "For days and weeks, even months afterwards, the Post on August 17, 1946. [31] The 5th Brigade conducted health services training, 6th Brigade took charge of professional development training and 7th Brigade provided training support to the other brigades. when the 104th arrived. The 104th began combat operations on 25 and 26 October and began to attack the Germans, who offered varying levels of resistance. (Accessed Oct. 22, 2009). View the list of all donors. the impact of events. We arrived in Amsterdam, Thursday, May 2nd, at Schiphol Airport ready to complete our journey following the footsteps of the 104th Timberwolf Infantry Division as they fought through Europe during WWII in 1944 and 1945. TTY: 202.488.0406, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington, DC, The Holocaust and World War II: Key Dates, Holocaust Survivors and Victims Resource Center. Joining the Battle of the Scheldt, the division moved into defensive positions in the vicinity of Wuustwezel, Belgium on 23 October 1944. By the end of the training, it had turned out 300 new reservists. This terror weapon of little military with. (12) Robert Caggiano, "Mittelbau Dora Concentration Camp ? So under the leadership of Colonel Jones and Chaplain Steinbeck, who spoke [2], As of 2017 the following units are subordinated to the 104th Training Division (Leader Training):[33]. words of a poet a sadder but wiser man.(16). After World War II, this division was reorganized primarily as a training division for Reserve forces. General Allen planned to employ all three of his regiments at the same time, shoulder to shoulder. French survivor Jean Mialet is quoted as stating "This is what hell must be like" when speaking of Mittelbau Dora. In 1936, a Luftwaffe barracks complex, named after the World War I flying ace Oswald Boelcke, was constructed in the suburbs of the city of Nordhausen, Thuringia. These men were dedicated to continuing the spirit of fellowship and teamwork from which their war experiences had instilled. From 1943 until 1945, 60,000 prisoners had toiled explosives were placed: "When the explosives were set off, prisoners had to start clearing up immediately. emotional impact was heavy on all who were witness to these incidents but The timberwolf, native to the Pacific Northwest, was chosen as representative of the area where the division was formed in 1942. The 91st Infantry Division (famously nicknamed as the "Wild West Division" with a "Fir Tree" as its Division insignia to symbolize its traditional home of the Far West) is an infantry division of the United States Army that fought in World War I and World War II. Some female forced laborers deliberately had children in hopes of being sent home; other children were incidentally conceived from careless or violent sexual relationships in the forced labor camps. "(8) Many prisoners perished due to the [7] Some were not concentration camp prisoners, but forced laborers who could no longer work. Click here for order form: Dying on the second floor were, upon later count, These bodies showed many signs of beating, starvation [10][11] On 15 October 1943, Major General Terry de la Mesa Allen Sr. took command of the division. [3][4], On 8 January 1945, the SS-Totenkopfverbnde, which ran the concentration camp system, took over two two-storey garages of the Luftwaffe barracks to use as housing for 6,000 prisoners who were forced to work in the V-2 rocket production in nearby underground factories. bedsteads, were grotesquely still, yet hanging tenaciously to life's breath. Many of these scientists, including Wernher von Braun, were recruited by the US as part of Operation Paperclip. In early April 1945, the Nazis began to evacuate the prisoners from Dora-Mittelbau. [40] Bernard Moore was a member of the 104th Timberwolves and went on to be the manager at the Waldorf Astoria Towers in New York, later promoted to the Washington Hilton in Washington, DC.[41]. Was this also the fate of the grandparents, uncles, and aunts I had never known?' I learned that he [5][7] The camp commander was SS-Obersturmfhrer Heinrich Josten[de; pl; sv], who had previously worked at Auschwitz, and the deputy commander was SS-Hauptscharfhrer Josef Kestel[ja; de; pl; sv], previously a functionary at the Dora camp. No one else was tried for crimes committed at the subcamp. For the next two days, the Timberwolves pursued enemy remnants north to the Meuse. Additional Nordhausen accounts can be found in our War they worked several days carrying litter cases and collecting corpses by hand. accompanied by a horrible dead-rot stench. They never failed to attain an objective on schedule. [3][4] From 1942, parts of the barracks complex had housed forced laborers for Mabag, a company involved in arms production. After several decades, the division then expanded its role to conducting entry-level training for soldiers of all branches of the Army in the northwestern United States. I saw one man feebly stagger to Their striped coats and prison numbers hung to their frames as a Photo courtesy of NARA. In addition, actor James G. Snitzer was a member of the 104th and died in combat in 1945. He recounted his experience in a 1995 article by Richard Murphy marking the fiftieth anniversary of the building, and would I please bring aid to them. was a captain from France's famous Saint Cyr Military Academy and had received 'monsieur' very softly, and at my feet, lying as if dead, was a cadaverous man; The Timberwolf division made contact with the advancing Soviet armed forces at the end of the month. The death toll from the first raid was 450 in the block for tuberculosis sufferers,[11] and the second raid killed about 1,000 people. View the list of all donors. Activated in 1942, the 104th Infantry Division landed in France in September 1944, a few months after the Allied invasion of western Europe on D-Day (June 6, 1944). These units were redesignated from other training commands and put under the command of the division. Nordhausen did not have the huge inmate of Auschwitz. in trying to escape the fury of the guards. Washington, DC 20024-2126 was officially formed by the descendants of the Timberwolves, and is dedicated to continuing the traditions set forth by their fathers and maintaining the legacy of the 104th Infantry Timberwolf Division. of the stairs. April 27, 1945-June 11, 1958. Despite these efforts, at least 59 former prisoners died of starvation and exhaustion. attention and salute us as tears slowly trickled down his cheeks. It must be noted that although Mittelbau Dora has been listed as a non-Jewish camp; the prisoners were exposed to gas, noise, and the dust of explosions. Dora. Used as an overflow camp for sick and dying inmates from January 1945, numbers rose from a few hundred to over 6000, and the conditions saw up to 100 inmates die every day. "This is what hell must be like" -- When US forces liberated Dora-Mittelbau in April 1945, only a few prisoners were still in the camp. From that point, it began training at Camp Hyder, California as a division in preparation for deployment to Europe.
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