Söker information om amerikansk soldat - 29th inf div.

[LuNk4n]

Jag håller på att fiska efter information om en amerikansk soldat som
landsteg vid Omaha Beach på D-dagen. Idag vilar han på amerikanska
kyrkogården i Colleville-sur-Mer, Normandie. Allt jag hade att gå på från
början var texten på hans gravsten:

Walter O. Schilling
Capt 116 inf 29th Div
Virginia June 6 1944

Efter lite efterforskningar har jag (bara) funnit att han tillhörde D-company och
landsteg på Dog Green H+40. Det jag undrar är, finns det någon sida på nätet
man kan vända sig till för att få mer information? Information om vem han var
och information om hans kompani, och deras bravader under landstigningen?
Och om jag vill försöka att få kontakt med den avlidnes anhöriga, var bör jag
vända mig? Om inte annat någon som kan vidarebefordra ett brev och några
personliga tillhörigheter till dem.
Om någon på forumet har information, eller har möjlighet att få fram något om
honom så posta gärna här eller skicka mig ett PM.

Mvh
Mikael Lundqvist

[LuNk4n]

Jag hittade detta på http://www1.roanoke.com/roatimes/memorial/ :

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Walter O. Schilling
1908 - June 6, 1944
From Roanoke. Worked for American Viscose as an electrician before the war. Joined the National Guard in the early 1930s,
rising though the ranks to captain. Activated into the Army. Killed in the D-Day invasion of Normandy. An 88mm shell blew
back the ramp, killing several men on the craft, including Schilling. Survived by his wife, Marie Schilling; daughter, Barbara
S. Gard; three sisters and two brothers. Buried at Omaha Beach American Cemetery in St. Laurent, France. Says his daughter,
Barbara: "I remember his softness, his great love for the young men under his command. I'm so very proud to be his daughter.
He gave me courage as a young child."
-- Submitted by John "Bob" Slaughter, chairman of National D-Day Memorial Foundation

[SuperPalle]

Av ren nyfikenhet: Varför letar du information om just den här mannen?

[LuNk4n]

Av ren nyfikenhet: Varför letar du information om just den här mannen?

Jag kan ha funnit något som Schilling's efterlevande bör vara ägare av.

Någon här på forumet borde väll rimligtvis veta var man finner information
om stupade soldater? Är det lathet som hindrar månne? Organisationer,
anhörigorganisationer, webbsidor etc... (?)

[CvD]

Av ren nyfikenhet: Varför letar du information om just den här mannen?

Jag kan ha funnit något som Schilling's efterlevande bör vara ägare av.

Någon här på forumet borde väll rimligtvis veta var man finner information
om stupade soldater? Är det lathet som hindrar månne? Organisationer,
anhörigorganisationer, webbsidor etc... (?)

Här finns en del länkar som kan vara till nytta. Vissa är dock betaltjänster.

/CvD

[Stompe]

Nu blev jag enormt nyfiken, vad är det du har hittat?

[LuNk4n]

Nu blev jag enormt nyfiken, vad är det du har hittat?

Vi är relativt säkra men vill bekräfta "fynden" innan. Dock har jag i samband med
detta kommit över en mycket intressant historia som tar sin början vid landstigningen.
Vi får se om någon som behärskar skrivandet kan ta sig an detta först och främst.

[LuNk4n]

För den som orkar läsa, från http://www.army.mil :
Är det Schillinger's kompani man skriver om, i den fetstilade texten längst ner?

The Later Assault Waves: 116th RCT
Beginning at 0700, the second group of assault waves touched down in a series of landings that lasted for 40 minutes, ending with the support battalions of the two regimental combat teams (Map No. VI). The later waves did not come in under the conditions planned for their arrival. The tide, flowing into the obstacle belt by 0700, was through it an hour later, rising eight feet in that period; but the obstacles were gapped at only a few places. The enemy fire which had decimated the first waves was not neutralized when the larger landings commenced. No advances had been made beyond the shingle, and neither the tanks nor the scattered pockets of infantry already ashore were able to give much covering fire. Consequently, much of the record of this period is a repetition of what had happened earlier. Casualties continued to be heavy on some sectors of the narrowing tidal flat, though unit experiences differed widely and enemy fire, diverted or neutralized by the troops and tanks already along the embankment, was not often as concentrated as earlier in the assault. Mislandings continued to be a disrupting factor, not merely in scattering the infantry units but also in preventing engineers from carrying out special assignments and in separating headquarters elements from their units, thus hindering reorganization.

Rifle companies in the later assault waves of the 116th Infantry were organized somewhat differently from those in the first landings. Two sections in each company were designated as "assault" units and carried the special weapons and equipment characteristic of the first wave. The assault sections had the mission of mopping up enemy emplacements bypassed by the first wave. The other four boat sections had the ordinary equipment of rifle units.

On the assumption that the first penetrations would already be made, support units were under orders to proceed as quickly as possible inland, by boat sections, toward battalion assembly areas. In the 16th Infantry, the support battalion (1st) was organized in assault sections exactly like those of the first wave; this arrangement may have reflected the experience of that regiment in its previous landings in Africa and Sicily, where plans had never worked out according to schedule.

In the 116th zone three companies of the 1st BLT were scheduled to land in reinforcement of Company A on Dog Green, facing the Vierville exit. In all, only two or three boat sections from these units landed on Dog Green.

[...]

Company D was not so fortunate. Three of its craft were in serious trouble as a result of shipping water; one of these was abandoned far out, and the section got in after noon. Another craft was sunk by a mine or an artillery hit 400 yards from shore, forcing the men to swim in under a barrage of mortar shells and machine-gun bullets. Half the personnel reached the sands. A third section was debarked 150 yards from the water's edge, saw riflemen ahead of them staying in the water, and followed their example, hiding behind obstacles. It was nearly two hours before the scattered survivors got to shore, with one mortar and no ammunition. The second platoon arrived on the beach with only two machine guns, one mortar and a small amount of ammunition. The first platoon got one machine gun and one mortar ashore during the morning. The heavy weapons of the 1st BLT were to take little part in the beach assault.

[Lars Gyllenhaal]

Hej!

Dessa två sajter är nog vad du söker:

1. http://wwiimemorial.com (klicka på WWII registry och search the registry)

2. http://www.ancestry.com

Ancestry.com har redan nämnts bland tipsen en person ovan gav - jag vill bara framhålla den sajten särskilt.

Cheerio,

Lars