https://nswccranenews.wordpress.com
Written By: Ted B Markley
Staff Sargent George H. Thaubald earned the following medals during his time in the U.S. Army: Purple Heart with Oak Leaf Cluster (indicating two wounds); Prisoner of War Medal; Army Good Conduct Medal (indicating 3 years of good conduct); American Campaign Medal (for service in the continental United States); Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with one Campaign Star (Kiska campaign); European, Africa, Middle East Campaign Medal with two Campaign Stars (Rhineland and Ardennes campaigns) and World War II Victory Medal.
Nostalgia is a natural reflex. Certainly there is much for
the Crane Military Complex to be proud of in its muted 75th Anniversary
celebration. Recently published, The World War II History of NAD Crane[1] by Tony Haag and Peggy Julian portrays much
to admire. It portrays rural Hoosiers mentored by military experts striving to
create a national defense treasure. Selfless service and anxiety for the nation
were obvious throughout the account.
Seventy-five years ago
the United States was not at war, but it was getting ready.
Preparation
extended well beyond the nascent industrial base reflected in the construction
of an ammunition production facility in southern Indiana. It included the
largest mobilization of military force in the nation’s history. During World
War II, 16.1 million citizens served in uniform[2]. The
following is an account on one Mid-Westerner’s service reconstructed from public
records, private papers/photos, and family interviews. Until recently even the
family of Staff Sargent Thaubald was not aware of the extent of his service.
George Harris Thaubald was borne on 14 January 1919 in Norwood, Ohio
a suburb of Cincinnati. Being 21 years of age in the fall of 1940, he was
required to sign-up for the draft. It was the first ever peacetime conscription
in United States history. When the 01 October deadline for Selective Service
registration rolled around, George enlisted with the 107th Cavalry
Regiment (Horse/Mechanized), Ohio National Guard[3]. One can only speculate on George’s decision to
enlist. He had to be aware that beginning August 1940 guard units were being
called-up for twelve months of active service in war preparation.
Pvt. Thaubald Louisiana
Maneuvers Summer 1941
Booted and spurred, the 107th Cavalry
was activated on 05 March 1941 at their home stations. In Cincinnati, 350
guardsmen were “Federalized” at the Reading Road Armory (formerly the
Cincinnati Riding Club). Meanwhile 810 guardsmen across Ohio at Cleveland,
Columbus, Toledo, and Ravenna were mustered into Federal service.[4] The
“Cavalry” was in transition. Not only was their command structure being
changed, they were about to experience a technological tsunami. On 15 March the
troopers caught the evening train from Union Terminal. Accompanied by only 54
horses, company grade officers assured reporters that they would receive their
full complement of mounts when they arrived at Camp Forrester, Tennessee.
Located
at Tullahoma, Tennessee, Camp Forrester[5] was one of numerous training camps that
popped up in preparation for the coming conflict. While the 107thCavalry
was at Camp Forrester, they did not receive any additional horses. On 28 March,
The Cincinnati Times Star reported that the unit had been fully mechanized and
received the full complement of M-8 Scout Cars. Officers who were previously
anticipating additional animals were reflecting on “horse soldiers” having to
learn mechanical maintenance. Private Thaubald who had reported his civilian
occupation as auto mechanic must have been right at home.
Evolution
of Mechanized Warfare
The
107th Cavalry left Camp Forrester on the 10th of
May for a series of maneuvers to test their newly acquired equipment. The
maneuvers revolutionized the way the U.S. Army fought. They created a force
capable of defeating blitzkrieg tactics. Prior to computerized war games,
most theories on tactics, techniques, and procedures had to be tested by
massive amounts of troops in the field with mock battles between red and blue
forces. The maneuvers in Tennessee, Louisiana, and the Carolinas played out
from spring to late fall 1941.
Tennessee
Maneuvers –Conducted late spring 1941 in middle Tennessee, then Major
General George S. Patton conducted maneuvers with the 2nd Armored
Division. During this field exercise, the Army validated that large armored
forces could be successful using the cavalry tactics similar to former
Confederate Lieutenant General Nathan Bedford Forrest.
Louisiana
Maneuvers – Conducted late summer 1941 around Northern and
Western-Central Louisiana, including Fort Polk, Camp Claiborne and Camp
Livingston. The exercises, which involved some 400,000 troops, were designed to
evaluate U.S. Army training, logistics, doctrine, and commanders. Many Army
officers present at the maneuvers later rose to very senior roles in World War
II, including Omar Bradley, Mark Clark, Dwight Eisenhower, Walter Krueger,
Lesley McNair, Joseph Stilwell, and George Patton.
Carolina
Maneuvers – Conducted late fall 1941 around southern North Carolina
and northern South Carolina. The exercises involved approximately 350,000
troops and were designed to evaluate the Army’s training, logistics, doctrine
and commanders.
Desert
Warfare Maneuvers
Sargent
Thaubald and the 107th were still on active duty when Pearl
Harbor was attacked. The cavalrymen were most likely assigned to Fort Ord,
California. From their new home, the 107th conducted patrols of
the coast from the Golden Gate to Carmel. As the fear of a Japanese attack on
California subsided, the unit was relieved of its patrolling duties on 06 March
1942. The 107th was reassigned to desert training in
preparation for operations in North Africa. It was during this phase that the
unit became completely mechanized.
05
June 1942
During
a pause in the maneuvers and training, Sargent Thaubald took some time off for
unfinished personal business. On 05 June 1942, Sargent Thaubald married his
pre-war sweetheart and lifelong companion, June L. Kumler. June moved to
California and worked in the state’s booming wartime economy.
By
August 1942, Sargent Thaubald and the 107th were at the Desert
Training Center (DTC) in the Mojave Desert preparing for combat in North
Africa.[6] Major
General Patton was the first commanding officer of Camp Young and the DTC. In
preparation for a North African campaign, he needed training areas within the
desert that would be suitable for the large-scale maneuvers necessary to
prepare American soldiers for combat against the German Afrika Korps.
Based
on personal photos and notes, Sargent Thaubald, June and friends took some time
off in October 1942 in Carmel. It may be speculated that this was a little time
to blow off steam before and expected overseas deployment to North Africa.
Orders for the deployment never came. The invasion of North Africa (Operation
Torch) on 06-16 November 1942 and the successful sorting out of expeditionary
command issues eliminated the need for follow-on troops in North Africa.
Amphibious
Warfare
In
the closing months of 1942 and the beginning of 1943 three events took place
that are unusual. First Sargent Thaubald was promoted to Staff Sergeant, which
was well deserved. Second, he and June return to Ohio on furlough, which
suggests some anticipated deployment. Finally and most unique, Staff Sergeant
Thaubald was assigned to the Kiska Taskforce.
Kiska
and Attu are two islands in the Aleutian Islands. Both were captured by the
Japanese in June of 1942. The Japanese attack in the Aleutians was a feint to
distract Admiral Nimitz (Commander in Chief, Pacific Ocean Areas) from the
impending battle of Midway. The 7th Infantry Division had been
repurposed by the Army as specialists in amphibious warfare rather than desert
warfare. So they were tasked with recapturing the two islands. Elements of the
7th Infantry Division captured Attu in May 1943.
An
explanation for the newly minted Staff Sargent being reassigned to the Kiska
Taskforce was he was at Fort Ord and the 107th Cavalry was
without a mission. From existing records, it is unclear how long he was
assigned to the Kiska taskforce. According to private and official papers he
was in route to Kiska by 11 July 1943.
Opposed
amphibious landings were some of the most complex military operations of World
War II. The Marine Corps and Navy had focused a good deal of attention on amphibious
warfare in the interwar years much as the Army had focused on mechanized
warfare. Operations in the Aleutians were the things of soldiers nightmares.
Close to the Article Circle, the weather is persistently awful. The beaches are
narrow and rocky with erratic sea states. Based on the re-capture
of Attu (12MAY43), the Kiska Taskforce was faced with a fanatical, suicidal
enemy.
Having
learned bitter lessons at Attu, American commanders made certain that their
soldiers had better equipment and proper clothing for the assault on Kiska,
code-named Operation Cottage, where they expected to encounter several times as
many Japanese troops as they’d faced on Attu. However, when U.S. ships arrived
at Kiska on August 15, 1943, the weather was strangely clear and the seas
quiet, and the approximately 35,000 soldiers landed unopposed. Then, after
several days of scouring the island, they discovered that the Japanese had
evacuated the entire garrison several weeks earlier, under cover of fog. On
August 24, when U.S. troops declared Kiska Island secure, the Battle of the
Aleutian Islands ended.[7]
Pvt.
Thaubald Louisiana Maneuvers Summer 1941
Judging
from documents[8] and a
battlefield retrieved weapon[9], Sargent
Thaubald must have been assigned to some type of reconnaissance or intelligence
function, but with the withdrawal of enemy forces that requirement was
substantially reduced. Most probably Sargent Thaubald was caught up in
occupation activities at Kiska. As the Signals Corps photo reflects he was
maintaining his military bearing with a field expedient haircut. Irrespective
he was back at Fort Ord by mid-December 1943 when he was reassigned to the 32nd Cavalry
Reconnaissance Squadron at Camp Maxey, Texas.
Back
to the Cavalry
Camp
Maxey was a training camp that sprouted during World War II near Paris, Texas
about 100 miles northeast of Dallas. It was at Camp Maxey where Sargent
Thaubald learned his trade as a Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron trooper.
Reconnaissance tactics, techniques, unit organization and equipment were in a
constant state of evolution during World War II, as the changing nature of war
brought new concepts and missions to the recon units.
SGT
John Catancse and M8 Scout Car August 1944
A
great deal of emphasis in training was placed on avoiding contact, and not
becoming decisively engaged. The purpose of reconnaissance units was to observe
and report; if they were bogged down and slugging it out with enemy outposts or
rearguards, they were wasting time and failing to accomplish their mission.
They were the eyes and ears of the main force; if at all possible they were to
report and bypass any light resistance, and locate the main enemy force or
defenses.[10]
During
the time at Camp Maxey, the 32nd Cavalry Reconnaissance
Squadron along with the 18th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron
were folded into the 14th Cavalry Group. Sargent Thaubald was a
noncommissioned officer in Troop B of the 32nd.
With
nearly seven months training in Texas completed the 32nd Cavalry
Reconnaissance Squadron moved out to an embarkation camp near New York Port of
Embarkation in July and August 1944. Camp Shanks in Orangeburg, New York is the
probable Embarkation Camp where the 32nd stayed until they
departed for Europe on 28 August 1944. The close proximity of Camp Shanks to
New York City gave the soldiers of the 32nd an opportunity to
see the bright light before shipping out. During this time, June and Sargent
Thaubald had some time together at Coney Island.
Unfortunately,
there are no longer any “official records” of ships carrying troops to and from
their theaters of operation during World War II. “According to U.S. National
Archive records, the Department of the Army intentionally destroyed all
passenger lists, manifests, logs of vessels, and troop movement files for the
United States Army Transports for World War II.”[11] Irrespective,
based on the departure and arrival dates, it appears the 32nd sailed
on the Queen Elizabeth and arrived at the Firth of Clyde, Glasgow Scotland on
the 2nd or 3rd of September 1944. Lieutenant
Colonel Paul A. Ridge was placed in command of the 32nd while
it was in the United Kingdom.
The
32nd disembarked across Omaha Beach on 27 September 1944. They
were committed to combat operations in support of the 83rd Infantry
Division nearly a month later (24 October 1944) in the vicinity of Basse-Kontz,
France. A new Executive Officer, Lieutenant Colonel Augustine “Patsy” Dugan,
arrived in early November while the 32nd engaged in the vicinity
of Our River in Luxemburg. Sargent Thaubald was wounded in his right wrist by
and anti-personnel mine, 24 November 1944[12]. He returned
to duty with the 32nd, 04 December 1944, which was supporting the
106th Infantry Division. On 15 December 1944, the 32nd shifted
its operations to the Ardennes, a heavily wooded area near the German border.
Sargent Thaubald’s unit, B Troop was in the vicinity of Andler, Belgium.
Battle
of the Bulge
Spearheaded
by the 18th Volksgrenadiers Division and 3rd Parachute
Division and backed up by twenty-eight additional divisions, the German Army
launched a winter offensive through the Ardennes on 16 December 1944. The 32nd Cavalry
Reconnaissance Squadron and the 106th Infantry Division[13] bore
the brunt of the attack during the early hours of the Battle of the Bulge. The
US 106th Infantry division was encircled in the opening hours of the attack,
leaving two out of three soldiers killed or captured[14]. Weather was the unexpected accomplice to the
German offensive; it was the coldest European winter on record. The entire
front collapsed and the German Army advanced approximately 60 miles.
Troop B, and probably Sargent Thaubald, was ordered to a static
reconnaissance position on the road between Andler, Belgium and Wischeid,
Germany midmorning of 16 December 1944. During the early morning hours of 17
December 1944, Troop B was attacked and surrounded. Being in a static position
had denied the Troop one of its tactical assets, mobility. During the ensuing
firefights, Sargent Thaubald was wounded by a piece of shrapnel in his right
thigh[15] and
was subsequently captured. The Sargent was one of between 4,000 and 7,000 U.S.
soldiers captured during the opening phase of the Battle of the Bulge. Some
estimate as many as 23,000 U.S. Soldiers were captured during the battle (16
December 1944 – 25 January 1945).
Prisoner of War
Following Sargent
Thaubald’s capture, June received three notifications. First she received a
telegram in late January 1945 from the War Department notifying her Sargent
Thaubald was missing in action. Later she received a telegram from the War
Department the Sargent Thaubald had been captured. Finally she received a
German postcard notifying her of Sargent Thaubald’s address at Stalag XIII-D.
While recounting his POW experience in 1988, Sargent Thaubald reported that he
did receive news from home but only rarely.
By the winter of
1944-45, Germany had nearly 100 POW internment sites and housed 93,941 American
POWs.[16] Life
as a POW was difficult, often boring, uncertain and deprived. After nearly five
years of continues war Germany was challenged to care for its own population.
Prisoners of war were a burden to an already strapped economy.
Sargent Thaubald told Veterans Administration officials that
he had taken care of his own medical issues and food during incarceration was
sparse. Main staples in his diet were broth, bread, and occasionally beans or
potatoes. While in captivity he was assigned to work details including maintenance
on the POW compounds and loading and unloading boxcars. When Sargent Thaubald
was captured he weighed 160 pounds, when he was repatriated (after 4½ months)
he weighed approximately 80 pounds.
Sargent Thaubald’s POW experience is a murky odyssey.
Following capture in the Ardennes, most prisoners were marched to Germany prior
to boarding trains to their internment location. The first stop was Stalag
XIII-C, at Hammelburg, Bavaria. While in route to this Stalag, Sargent Thaubald
tells of his POW train being halted one very cold night on a strategic bridge
over the Rhine River which was under attack. As the Allies moved in from the
west, Germany continued to move the prisoners further south and east.
Stalag XIII-C, Hammelburg was liberated by the 14th Armored
Division on 06 April 1945, but not before Sargent Thaubald was moved by train
to Stalag XIII-D, Nuremberg, Bavaria. The Nuremberg facility was also evacuated
on 16 April 1945 with the prisoners moving to Stalag VII-A, Moosberg, Bavaria
with the 14th Armored Division in hot pursuit. Finally Sargent
Thaubald’s odyssey ended with the liberation of Moosberg on 29 April 1945.
It is not clear how Sargent Thaubald got back stateside. He
departed Europe Theater of Operation on 18 May 1945 and arrived stateside on 05
June 1945. Based on troopship movements, it is likely he embarked on the U.S.S
Mormac Moon at Le Havre, France and arrived back in the states at Newport News,
Virginia. It is highly probable that he spend the next two month convalescing
at Wakeman General Hospital at Camp Atterbury. Wakeman was the largest
Convalescent Hospital in the U.S. Army during World War II. He was discharged
from medical care on 21 July 1945.
Waning Days of War
According to Sargent Thaubald’s family, he and June spent the
late summer days of 1945 getting reacquainted and further recuperation.
Meanwhile, the Army did not discharge the Sargent. With the war raging on in
the Pacific, the allies were preparing for the final assault on Japanese home
islands. Operation Downfall was to commence in November 1945 and end sometime
in 1947. Based on Japan’s fanatical resistance in the Pacific and particularly
Okinawa, military planners predicted the United States would suffer a million
casualties in Operation Downfall. The Army needed all the talent it could
retain.
On 06 August 1945, the 509th Composite
Group, U.S. Army Air Corps dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima and flew the
second mission on Nagasaki 09 August 1945. The following day, 10 August 1945,
Japan notified the Allies that they would accept the unconditional surrender
requirements of the Potsdam Declaration. Emperor Hirohito announced Japan’s
surrender to his subjects on 15 August 1945. Paradoxically, the Soviet Union
finally declared war on Japan the same day.
After 4 years, 11 months, and
2 days of service to his country the Sargent Thaubald was Honorably Discharged
at Camp Atterbury on 02 September 1945. Poetically, it was the same day of the
surrender ceremony orchestrated by General MacArthur in Tokyo Bay. Staff Sargent
George H. Thaubald earned the following medals during his time in the U.S.
Army: Purple Heart with Oak Leaf Cluster (indicating two wounds); Prisoner of
War Medal; Army Good Conduct Medal (indicating 3 years of good conduct);
American Campaign Medal (for service in the continental United States);
Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with one Campaign Star (Kiska campaign);
European, Africa, Middle East Campaign Medal with two Campaign Stars (Rhineland
and Ardennes campaigns) and World War II Victory Medal.
After the War
As with millions of others who served during World War II
George eagerly returned to civilian life determined to make up for time lost.
He and his bride returned to Cincinnati and settled-in. Expanding on his
mechanical abilities he became an entrepreneur, owning several SOHIO Service
Stations in Ohio. Later, he reminisced that he taken had only one month off
between the time of his discharge and his post-war career. The couple had two
daughters. They treasured their family life and grandson. He and June happily
continued with their life together until age and illness robbed them of their
temperament. George passed away on 10 January 2003 and his life mate joined him
on 29 September 2006. Indeed, reflections of times past are tinged with nostalgia.
Irrespective, is there and question why this was known as the “Greatest
Generation?”
“We have shared the incommunicable experience of war, we
have felt, we still feel, the passion of life to its top. In our youth our
hearts were touched with fire.”
Oliver Wendell Holmes
Footnotes:
[1] Julian, Margaret “Peggy” and Anthony “Tony”
Haag. The World War II History of NAD Crane: From Wilderness to the
Navy’s Most Productive Naval Ammunition Depot. December, 2015. Blurb.com, San
Francisco, CA. http://www.blurb.com/b/6856367-the-world-war-ii-history-of-nad-crane
[2] “By the
Numbers: the US Military,” The National WWII Museum, New Orleans.
Retrieved: 19MAY16 http://www.nationalww2museum.org/learn/education/for-students/ww2-history/ww2-by-the-numbers/us-military.html
[3] The 107th Cavalry Regiment
(Horse/Mechanized), Ohio National was a decedent organization of the 1st Ohio
Volunteer Cavalry. Captain Edgar Garfield Oberlin, the first Commanding Officer
of NAD Burn City/Crane, was an enlisted soldier in the 1stOhio
Volunteer Cavalry during the Spanish American War.
[4] 05 March
1940, The Cincinnati Times-Star.
[5] The US Air Force Arnold Engineering
Development Center not occupies what was Camp Forrester.
[6] Family
scrapbook photos.
[7] “Battle of
the Aleutian Islands,” History.com. Retrieved: 22MAY16 http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-the-aleutian-islands
[8] Translation
of a Japanese Doctor’s Diary of the defense of Attu
[9] Arisaka Type
2 Paratrooper Rifle
[10] Rottman,
Gordon L., World War II U.S. Cavalry Groups: European Theater.
Osprey Publishing Ltd., Oxford, United Kingdom, 2012.
[11] World War
Troop Ships, 1944 Troop Ship Crossings, retrieved 16 August 2016: http://www.ww2troopships.com/crossings/1944b.htm
[12] Department of
Veterans Affairs, St. Petersburg Regional Office, Rating Decision for G H
Thaubald, file number 08 570 585, dtd, 03/23/2000
[13] The 106th Infantry
Division was the last Division trained at Camp Atterbury during WWII and only
recently arrived in theater.
[14] Noted Hoosier author, Kurt Vonnegut, was among
the members of the 106thInfantry Division who were captured at the Battle of
the Bulge.
[15] According
to Veterans Administration documents Sargent Thaubald removed the piece of
shrapnel and bandaged it himself. It healed while he was a POW.
[16] Guests of the Third Reich: American
POWs in Europe, retrieved 17 August 2016: http://www.guestsofthethirdreich.org/home/
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