 |
| Schloss Haimhausen then and now |
During the turn of the century and as the Bavarian International School today
Showing the balcony erected in front of the chapel for owner Haniel's wife who had suffered an accident shown in 1939
Bavarian International School's chapel then and now. It owes its splendour to its ceiling painting, again by Bergmuller- the Salvator Mundi, dated 1750- as well as the delicate Rococo stucco work by Verhelst.
Directly above is this fascinating representation of the return of Christ on the throne 0f the Trinity; the largest Salvator Mundi of
its kind in which God holds the Flaming Sword of Judgement and has the
left hand on the empty seat to his right whilst in the centre a kneeling
Christ with the cross rises over a world in flames, depicting the four
continents known at that time. But what makes this painting remarkable
is the representation of the Holy Spirit in human form. This is
expressly forbidden by the Catholic Church, as Pope Benedict XIV
declared in October 1745 just before this painting was created, and and
today is only permitted in the form of a dove. As a (Catholic) colleague
remarked upon entering, "God is not present," noting the lack of a
sanctuary lamp.
On the right is a close-up during the 650,000 euro renovation of the chapel completed in 2010.
On the right is a close-up during the 650,000 euro renovation of the chapel completed in 2010.
An
interesting touch on the ceiling is the expulsion from Paradise,
showing Adam and Eve being followed by a dog and snake hopping along,
and at the other end above the altar Christ on the Mount of Olives, with
the snake making a reappearance with apple in mouth.
1949
photos of the thousands of books from the Bayerischen Staatsbibliothek
that were stored for safety in the Haimhauser Schlosskapelle in today's
Bavarian International School during the Second World War.
During the 1944 bombing, the library's collection was distributed throughout 28 sites in Oberbayern.
Moving the books postwar back to the Staatsbibliothek on Ludwigstraße
showing the necessity for having relocated its collection. Between 1949
and 1975 the Schloss was used by the Bavarian Legal Aid School and
later the Munich Police Academy. Between 1976 and 1986 the International
Antiques Salon occupied all rooms with its period exhibits.
   |
| The
role the schloss played in preserving our shared past and passing it on
to
future generations free from war and violence makes Bavarian
International School's logo
particularly resonant. In 1944 the Bayerischen Staatsbibliothek was
bombed along with most of Munich’s centre. Fortunately, just before, it
had distributed its collection of books to 28 different sites around
Oberbayern. One of those sites was our Schloss chapel used today in the
service of our students. I always felt it rather touching to think that
the logo was a representation of this- that something vital and
profound was preserved for future generations even after this country’s
darkest period when none knew what would be left at null stunde when
there was nothing left to believe in. And there it is- our Schloss, like
Pandora’s box in stone, from which a single book is presented in hope
and expectation to inspire success. What a lovely proud logo that was-
it couldn’t have been designed for any other school on earth. Sadly, it
was decided to replace it, at considerable expense, with a thoughtless
logo that any Grade 6 child could have designed in a single lesson.
Fortunately the outcry was great enough that the old logo returned,
albeit with the Mussoliniesque motto "Believe, Inspire, Succeed." At the start of the 2019 school year such a link was suddenly reinforced after receiving the following remarkable email |
In front of the Golden Room and inside today.
This banqueting hall, with its ceiling painting of The Four Seasons by Bergmuller (dated
1750) and its two rare Nymphenburger porcelain stoves, forms the visual climax
of the state apartments of schloss Haimhausen.
Daniel Barenboim performing in the Golden Room
The carriageway a centenary apart
Here's
a link between Marlene Dietrich and Haimhausen! This picture shows
Seyffertitz in the film "Dishonoured" in the centre with Dietrich on the
left. Seyffertitz was the son of Countess Anna Clonebough Butler and
her husband, Dr. Guido Freiherr von Seifferitz and grew up in our
schloss. He worked as an actor, comedian, singer and director making him
the "black sheep" of the family. He also acted alongside Ginger Rogers
and Shirley Temple in "Change" in 1934 as well as small roles alongside
Laurel and Hardy in "Swiss Miss" (where they try to man-handle a piano
through the alps!) and John Barrymore in "Marie Antoinette." One of his
last roles was in the comedy "Never Say Die," "Nurse Edith Cavell" about
the martyred British nurse killed by the Germans during the Great War,
and the last classic Frankenstein film for Universal, "Son of
Frankenstein", all in 1939 the year the war broke out. Four years later
he died on Christmas aged 81 at his home in California.
See: Reinhold Gruber: Haimhausen goes to Hollywood
The great German director Werner Herzog speaking to our students on Spetember 11, 2015.
A dozen reasons for why I was particularly deeply honoured by his presence:
The Israelites' Gathering of Manna on the ceiling. A reference to Exodus XVI (and possibly supplemented through Josephus’s Jewish Antiquities III), it relates the story of the Israelites travelling en masse across the desert after having left Egypt and crossing the Red Sea
when, famished, they were miraculously provided with water, quails, the
fine, white manna which covered the ground like a heavy frost. Although
manna was lifesaving, it was also an ordeal, because the Israelites
were given strict instructions as to how they were to obtain and use it.
If they failed to follow those instructions, then they would go
without. The Israelites thus had to put total trust in God, and be
completely obedient. Manna fell overnight, and had to be collected from
the ground the following day. The Israelites quickly accepted these
rules, the manna fell reliably, apparently sufficient to keep them alive
and well for the forty years they spent in the wilderness, and they put
their trust in Moses, Aaron, and of course God. The fall of manna also
has potential metaphorical interpretations. Apparently its distribution
and the effort needed to collect the manna varied considerably,
suggesting that it might be a symbol for the God-given ‘talents’ of
individuals, and for life more generally. Thus it can be seen as an
indication of the need for individuals to accept what they are given,
rather than always wishing for more or better.
Having the honour of welcoming Mr. Bill Glied to my school January 28, 2013.few of my students presented short biographies of former inmates of
Dachau as part of the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site extensive
research project: “The book of remembrance for the victims of the Dachau
Concentration Camp” (Gedenkbuch für NS-Opfer Den zahllosen Toten ihre Geschichte zurückgeben). Names and other biographical information of those
who died in the Dachau Concentration Camp were collected for the book.
Of the more than 40,000 dead over 33,000 victims coming from nearly
forty nations can now be called by their name - far more than originally
expected.
The Schlossbrauerei during the Third Reich and today
At the start of the 2019 school year I received the following remarkable email from Mr. Tim Gillespie of Oregon whose father had been stationed at our schloss after the war before being in charge of American forces in the Dachau camp, guarding SS prisoners before the upcoming war crimes trials, charged with guarding the books from the state library that were being protected from wartime bombing here in our school's chapel:
In going through some long stored-away boxes of my parents after they passed away, I recently found some photographs of Schloss Heimhausen [sic].
My father, Claud Schmidt Gillespie (whose mother's family were Schmidts who emigrated from Germany to the United States in the late 1800s), was in the U.S. Army during World War II. After the war was over, he was in charge of a company of U.S. soldiers that was stationed there. In the box of photographs I found this note, hand-written by my father: "Schloss Heimhausen is in Germany--not too far from Munich--where I lived for awhile (with my rifle company) in 1945 after the war was over. Our mission was to protect hundreds of books stored in the schloss by the Germans to protect them, most from libraries in Munich. (We also kept an eye on the German civilians, especially the teenagers.)"
I should also tell you that during that time my father was also put in charge of the U.S. Army's command of the Dachau concentration camp. After its survivors were liberated and taken away by the Red Cross, the Dachau camp was used as a temporary prison for SS officers--many thousands of them--being tried in the postwar trials. My father was in charge of running the camp and guarding the SS prisoners. He came home in 1946. Needless to say, he had very powerful memories of his time in Germany during the war and after the war.
In any case, in the box were over 40 photos (most less than a foot or 30 centimeters in length) of various indoor and outdoor scenes from Schloss Heimhausen. [sic] These were not war photos but appear to be formal photographs showing the Schloss in its glory days before the war, with ornate furniture and decorations---and no people shown at all. Though none of them are dated or labelled, they are quite remarkable and in pretty good condition.
My father, Claud Schmidt Gillespie (whose mother's family were Schmidts who emigrated from Germany to the United States in the late 1800s), was in the U.S. Army during World War II. After the war was over, he was in charge of a company of U.S. soldiers that was stationed there. In the box of photographs I found this note, hand-written by my father: "Schloss Heimhausen is in Germany--not too far from Munich--where I lived for awhile (with my rifle company) in 1945 after the war was over. Our mission was to protect hundreds of books stored in the schloss by the Germans to protect them, most from libraries in Munich. (We also kept an eye on the German civilians, especially the teenagers.)"
I should also tell you that during that time my father was also put in charge of the U.S. Army's command of the Dachau concentration camp. After its survivors were liberated and taken away by the Red Cross, the Dachau camp was used as a temporary prison for SS officers--many thousands of them--being tried in the postwar trials. My father was in charge of running the camp and guarding the SS prisoners. He came home in 1946. Needless to say, he had very powerful memories of his time in Germany during the war and after the war.
In any case, in the box were over 40 photos (most less than a foot or 30 centimeters in length) of various indoor and outdoor scenes from Schloss Heimhausen. [sic] These were not war photos but appear to be formal photographs showing the Schloss in its glory days before the war, with ornate furniture and decorations---and no people shown at all. Though none of them are dated or labelled, they are quite remarkable and in pretty good condition.
In thinking of what to do with these old photos from 1945, I did not want to simply throw them away, so I did some research on Schloss Haimhausen and happily discovered that your school is now using the site. These were clearly photos that my father took to remind him of his time there, but he is long gone. The most appropriate place for them is to be returned to the site itself, I think. If you are interested, I would be very happy if you would like to become the custodians of these historic photos.
Here are excerpts from the hundreds of letters of 1st Lieutenant Claud S. “Gil” Gillespie
to Phyllis Tetard (his fiancee
and later wife of 54 years) in Los Angeles, California,
from Europe during his wartime
experience with the U.S. Army during World War II
from January 1945 to February
1946 as transcribed with many cuts but no editorial
changes
by his son, Tim Gillespie, in 2019.
(Ellipses indicate places where material was left out.
(Ellipses indicate places where material was left out.
Explanatory material added by the transcriber is
in brackets and italicized.)
Saturday Jan. 5
1945
[from Ft.
Benning, Georgia]
…I intended to write this early today
but I just didn’t. I’ve been busy packing a foot locker and getting it shipped.
Yes, that’s right, I’m on my way, bub. We leave here Wednesday and have to be
at Meade [Fort Meade in Maryland at the Army Ground Forces Replacement Depot]
on Friday of next week. I’m as excited
as can be. On the other hand, I sorta hate to tell you because I’m realizing
more and more by the hour how much I miss you and love you…
Please keep secret the date I report to
Meade. Make only general references as “He expects to go over soon.” Please
also warn my folks as I forgot to put it in their letter. [This paragraph
was a note added in the margin.]
I
doubt if I’ll get any mail
from you for awhile unless we stay at Ft. Meade for a few days before we hop
the boat. Our train leaves here Wed. at 0930 + we get there Thursday. Hope to
look at Washington or New York Thursday p.m + report to Meade Friday. From then
on I don’t know nuthin’ + possibly won’t be able to write you for awhile…
January 9 1945
[from Ft.
Benning, Georgia]
Managed
to get a berth on the train we take tomorrow which was unusually lucky. We
arrive in Washington on Thursday and then, since we’re not due at Meade until Friday, we’re going to
get a hotel in Baltimore and stay over Thursday night. Since I know most of the
other officers on the same orders, I presume Thursday night may turn into
something of a shindig. However, I expect to stay pretty much on the ball so I’ll
be fit to report on Friday.
Again
let me caution you not to say anything to anyone except the folks about when I report in. And after I get there I know I won’t
be able to tell you when I leave. Mail service may be delayed for awhile until
I land somewhere so don’t fuss if you don’t get letters for a while. I’ll write
you as often as I can but if my letters sound rather limited it will be because
of censorship rules…
Jan 22 1945 On the
East Coast
…One feature of our letters must be
changed—per Uncle Sam. Censorship regulations prohibit the use of any signs,
codes, or symbols. Therefore, m’love, the usual signs at the end of our letters
[like Xs and Os and little drawings his fiancee often made] are out.
…As to the Army of Occupation—yes, I
might get that detail some day, but since I’m in for the duration plus 6 months
it shouldn’t last longer that 6 months. Let’s forget if for now though, as
there still is a bit of fighting to do.
…You know how I feel about this war,
though my first duty is to fight like hell for Uncle Sam, who is us.
When we finish the fight then we’ll have time to enjoy the liberties of a
peaceful world.
Undated V-mail
letter from shipboard
…I find, to my happiness, that I am a
good sailor. Haven’t been sick at all although we’ve seen some rough weather.
Someone said to be careful not to fall overboard because you might get hurt by
the propellor and they neglected to mention all the damn water around here…
Duties
are light, food is fine, and although my bunk is a bit short I’ve enjoyed some fine sack duty. No
further news now. Please read this to the folks…
February 7, 1945
V-mail letter
Dearest Phyl:
I’m a fast moving soldier these days. I
am now “somewhere in Belgium.” If I go much farther I’ll start getting nearer
home—since they tell me the earth is round.
I
am now eligible to join the “40
and 8” club…40 men or 8 horses. That is the sign of the side of the French
freight cars— my home for the past few days. Remind me to tell you of it some
day.
I
miss you a great deal. We have a lot of living to do.
All my love, Gil
February 10, 1945
Somewhere in
Belgium
…Sure hope you and the folks have been
getting my V-mail letters but I have no way of knowing, since I have received
no mail since we left the States…Haven’t engaged in any hostilities yet…The war
news sounds good and I hope the Jerries [World War II Allied slang for
Germans] will see the light and give up soon…I still want to get my chance
at combat but I dunno, they seem very aware of age here and I’m somewhat above
the average…
February 14, 1945
V-mail
I’m “somewhere in Germany” now though I
didn’t know the difference until I saw some signs in German. It seems to take a
while to get to where the fighting is going on, but I’ll make it eventually.
February 17
…At last I have been assigned to an
outfit – and the best in the whole damned army. They have done more fighting
than any other outfit in Europe and Have never been forced to withdraw. I’m
speaking of the 47th infantry Regiment – part of the ninth division. I was
lucky to get assigned to company D, which is a heavy weapons company and my
work will be primarily with mortars, a weapon I like very much. I just joined
them last night and have been finding out how much there is to do. So far I
feel like a stranger as these are all good experienced combat men. I only hope
I can prove my worth to the outfit as time goes on…
Feb. 25 1945 V-mail
Hello, darling! Just had a fine shave
and even brushed my teeth. And we managed to rig up a sort of a stove to warm
up this basement we are in so life is not bad at all.
Had two good laughs recently. One of
the boys found an old suit of armor and stood up near his sentry post with a
rifle and a gas mask on. It struck me as very funny and typically G. I. Then
another man found a lady’s fancy umbrella and as he moved out on a half track
he had it open and over him. He also wore a battered top hat.
Have had some interesting experiences
and so far like what I have done. I’m learning a lot and hope to learn lots
more. The men in this outfit have been through so much they all deserve a good
break. Hope the Jerries give up soon.
Miss you terrifically. Don’t forget to
send the Christmas pictures.
All my love,
Gil
Germany March 7,
1945 V-mail
…I think I have the right date on this letter.
Can’t seem to keep track of what day is which as it’s night and day now. I’ve
had only six hours sleep in three days but had a chance to wash today so I don’t
feel bad at all. Still haven’t had a bath since February 15...
Don’t know much what is news but hope all
you hear is good. Please read this to the folks…
Germany
March 8, 1945
…It’s about 3 o’clock in the morning but
I haven’t “danced the whole night through,” as the song goes. I caught three
hours of sleep to midnight and now I’m doing a three hour stretch as my share
of night duty. I’m lucky – I’m in a house where I can write you whereas some of
our boys are sleeping, or on watch out in the open.
I thought about you a lot lately as I
know we all do about our gals, wives, and folks. I’ve been scared silly on
quite a few occasions but then I think of how you and the folks would want to
be proud of whatever I do and I do a little praying and then everything is all
right. Besides, my men are such courageous individuals I can’t possibly let them
down. We’ve gone through quite a bit together since I joined the outfit and I
sorta feel as though I’ve been accepted and it’s a good feeling…
Germany March 9
1945
…When this is over I can’t predict the
future but I’d guess that I will probably have to put in my six months and then
get home. You can remember this though and that is that I’ll get there as fast
as I can when it’s over. I’m still anxious to do my part as long as we’re
fighting but after that I volunteer for no occupation duty. Just keep your eye
on the newspaper for news of the 9th division or if they mention the 47th
infantry Regiment, that’s me in either case.
Germany March 15
1945
…Last night we moved again and I am
bunking in a little bathhouse on someone’s estate. Except for needing a stove
it would be a wonderful place to spend a honeymoon with you. There is a little
stream just outside the door with the bridge running across up to the main
house. There’s even a swimming pool, empty now. And, strangely enough, I even
heard a bird singing nearby. They usually are quite voiceless where there is or
has been shelling. And the sun is even shining. If it weren’t for the damned
war it would be swell...
I see by our army paper that our people
in the states figure the war over here will end soon. Hope they’re right as I
am beginning to feel a little weary and I know these boys who have been here
over two years are sure anxious to get home...
Germany March 20..
... there is a great deal going on but
not much I can tell you so I try to remember little things which might interest
you...
I lose track of what day it is as one
day seems about like the next. Time passes very fast and it seems like I’ve
been away from you a year already. There is a great day coming when we get
together again. And if old Churchill’s prediction is correct this thing may end
by summer. We are beating these louts – I don’t see why they don’t get smart
and give up...
I’m lucky to be inside where I can see
to write. We even rigged up a stove down here so it’s fairly warm too. Just a
few minutes ago, though, the doggone rags we had stuffed around the stove pipe
for black out started smoking and we had quite a scurry to fix them...
March 22 1945
Germany
... The company commander told me
tonight that tomorrow I would switch jobs with one of the machine gun platoon
leaders…My new job will be to have for heavy machine gun squads and to work
with the rifle companies. I may as well admit that I’m a bit jumpy just as you
always are when you’re about to take on a new job. In addition there is
slightly more exposure in the machine guns as they work up forward where the
riflemen are. I expect my usual luck to hold out however and as I have told you
before I figure if the Lord has my ticket made out for a short trip, why, there’s
very little I can do about it...
Oh yes, today I had a bath! Found a tin
tub in the home and heated up some water on the stove and really enjoyed a good
scrubbing. Then I ran around half dressed whilst the underclothes I washed were drying, so now I smell pretty
good, I betcha. I said “I washed” my
clothes though it’s much against my principles. What miracles this war does
accomplish!…
Germany
March 24 1945
... since writing you the other night
they decided to keep me in the mortar platoon as our captain got a promotion
and everyone moved up a notch. I am now third in seniority in the company. I’m
glad to stay with the mortars as I feel I know them pretty well now and though
I will always do my part I don’t particularly desire to stick out my long neck
upfront anymore than necessary.
I hope you’ve been able to pick up some
news of our division in the papers. An army is made up of several divisions and
I’m not privileged to tell you what army I am in. In any event I think we’re
doing well. Oh yes, neglected to mention that a division generally has three
regiments and mine is the 47th regiment. A Regiment generally has three
battalions and mine is the first Battalion. A battalion generally has four
companies and we are in D company. And in D company I’m in the third platoon
which is the 81 mm mortar platoon. There you have the organization...
Can’t send anything home except
captured enemy equipment and I have no desire to make a collection of that
stuff. When this thing is over I may be able to get you some lace before I come
home...
Ick Leeber Deek (phonetic spelling in
German...ask the folks)
[“Ich liebe dich” is German for “I love
you.” Gillespie’s mother’s parents—the Schmidt family—had immigrated to the
U.S. from Germany and his mother spoke a bit of German. Gillespie’s full name
was Claud Schmidt Gillespie, though he went by “Gil”]
Germany March 30
1945
...I feel good because we’ve done good
lately. I believe censorship permits me to tell you now we were one of the
first units to cross the Rhine. It was a thrill, honey. We had some tight
squeezes at times but you can’t whip these boys. They’re strictly on the ball and since then Jerry
just can’t stop us...
[What Gillespie cannot say is that his
regiment crossed the Rhine River at the Ludendorff Bridge at Remagen. He will
tell more about this in a letter written after the war.]
Germany
April
3, 1945
... Easter Sunday was quite a busy one
for us. I can’t give details but I can say we worked hard under rather trying
conditions. I can also say that it was cold and raining and toward nightfall we
started digging in...
We moved later to a place where we
could get some cover. I went ahead and made a reconnaissance and found four
houses where I could billet my men and we even have heat and some good water...
Germany
April
5 1945
Hello
Honey!
Today I could be perfectly happy if
only you were here. Let me explain the situation.
Day before yesterday I made a trip back
to division HQ to try and get some clothes... after I finished a few other
duties for the company I discovered that I was with my jeep driver and my
platoon sergeant with two hours to kill before chow. Since division is in a
fairly large town we rode around a bit and admired the “scenery.” And you have to do such admiring from
a distance because there is $100 fine and 30 days in the clink for “fraternizing.” So-o- eventually we noticed a sign “Brewery” with
an arrow. We followed the arrow and finally arrived at the brewery. There, with
drooling mouths, we inquired where we could get the beer and were told that we
needed a requisition from the quartermaster. Since I hate paperwork and red
tape I started talking fast and finally persuaded the man to sell us a small
barrel. Then yesterday I sent my platoon sergeant back and he managed to get
two more. Do you read me?
Wellsir, today is Saturday- it’s cold
and raining outside but inside we have a good fire in our stove, our radio is
playing fine music, I am drinking beer and nibbling at “canapes” (crackers with cheese, anchovies, and
sardine paste), and occasionally munching on a fine dill pickle which is from a
supply a nice lady “gave”
to us. And with the wonderful news that all of Germany has surrendered except a
small pocket in the south and in Norway – why things is looking very good…
April 9, 1945
... I’m beginning to feel that I know
this job pretty well now. And with this feeling comes the confidence we all
like to have and which, I’m sure, my men like me to have. Recently we have
found several targets and have been complimented by our company commander for
the results obtained. It gives you a strange feeling though – I’m know that I’m
probably responsible for killing or injuring a lot of Jerries but I guess that’s
the only way we can get this thing over with. Of course they threw it back at
us too and sometimes you get damned mad when one of your boys gets hit. As far
as I’m concerned I begin to believe your prayers are helping, honey. I’ve been
within 10 to 12 feet of where shells have hit on several occasions and never
got a scratch of course, I’m getting pretty expert at ducking fast. Sometimes I
wish I could shrink into about 5 feet instead of 6’ 2” but you’d be surprised
at how small a space I can occupy if necessary. I still want a big bed when I
get home, though so I can stretch out full length.
Speaking of beds I slept in one last
night and didn’t sleep nearly as well as I have on the ground or some straw or
a floor in a beat up building. We’re in a town now and we found some places
where we can live in comparative comfort...
We have to be ready for anything 24
hours a day and you can’t really relax and write a decent letter under such
circumstances...
April
10 1945
... I’m enclosing some clippings which
you might like. All except the one from our army paper The Stars and Stripes
were sent over here by the wife of one of our lieutenants. By now you have
guessed that I am in the 1st Army and can figure what I’ve been doing. Believe
I told you before that I am in the 9th division and the nickname of our
Regiment (the 47th) is on this writing paper [“The Raiders”]. And last
night our battalion commander called and gave us (my platoon) his personal
compliments for some good firing we did the other day. So I feel good, honey, I
feel like I’m really doing what I came over here to do...
April 16 1945
... I presume that there you all have
hope this will be over soon. From what little we hear of the published news it
would appear that a bright picture is presented to the American public. For us
average GIs we hope what we hear is correct but of course all we know is what
we do day by day. The reason this letter is so late is that we’ve been very
busy. I know I use that expression too much but hope you realize I can’t
disclose the nature of my business. I can say that the outfit has been
everywhere where there is action. It’s really a screwy war what with work on
one front and then the other and then clear out pockets of Germans. We go in
every direction and often get to a place where we might fight in every
direction...
April 17 1945
... I am now in the 3rd Army, so I won’t
be home with the 1st.
Can’t seem to write a decent letter
these days... I don’t think I’m down in the dumps because I got up on the wrong
side of the bed - rather, I got up on the wrong side of the world. Sure hope
they let us know pretty soon what we’re going to do....
I’m enclosing a picture postcard which
shows how this country looks where there are many woods...and very hilly. I don’t
like woods because of artillery tree bursts which spread the shrapnel too much
but the hills offer more protection from direct fire. Guess you can’t always
have everything the way you’d like...
…I forgot to tell you – I have been into
palaces belonging to either German nobility or some big shots in the Nazi
party. They look like something out of the movies. In one case a Duke “gave” me something for you. It’s for our
house – a very beautiful letter opener and scissors to match. In addition,
there have been some nice ladies who recently “gave” me some lace for you.
I just started to figure and I can
remember 10 separate occasions when me and my boys have been subject to rather
severe enemy fire (small arms, artillery, or mortar) since I joined the outfit.
And only one boy was hurt bad enough to go to the hospital. So you see, honey,
I’m either getting the benefit of your prayers or I’m just plain good luck. In
any event, don’t worry! This thing should wrap up before long and then, I hope,
we’ll all get home…
April
26 1945
…I don’t know how it happened nor how
long it will last but, honey, you sorta learn to take advantage of every minute
of rest you can get here. And though I can’t be too specific about the weather
I will say that, for a change, it is damned nice. And besides we got a break in
living quarters. we were supposed to be out in the open. However, some bird had
a sort of hunting lodge near us, pretty well beat up from the war, which the
brass decided we could use. We moved the whole platoon in and started to work
fixing up the place. It’s unbelievable how these boys can work. They built
windows, repaired the roof, cleared the whole area of debris, fixed up some old
boiler so hot water is available for washing and bathing – in short they have
the place as close to home as they can make it. Then of course they have all
their weapons shining and are getting their clothes washed and over there
another barber is busy cutting hair. And as for eating, the people who
abandoned this place left some canned vegetables, lots of spuds and onions, and
a few (sh!) chickens. Other day we had a real spread. Table with tablecloth,
dishes, fried chicken, mashed potatoes, dressing (from some old bread they
begged off the mess sgt.), salad (they found some beets and put wine and
vinegar with them), spaghetti with some tomato sauce they made from some canned
tomatoes and onions, coffee and crackers, and some canned peaches and cherries
one of the boys got from home. Whatta feed!
... I can’t help thinking how nice it
would be to have a walk with you through some quiet place – a place from far
away from all war or any thoughts of war. You can be sure, honey, that we all
are very much aware of the blessings of peace for living, and unless I am badly
mistaken, our large army of men who return are going to have a lot to say about
future wars. We’re still willing to fight for a better world but first we’re
going to try to see that no one has to fight.
Gee, I kind a whipped up a fury there,
did night? Do you suppose I could run for Congress?…
April 30 1945
... One of the boys just dropped into
the CP [Command Post] and said “want some turkey?” Just like that!
Naturally, I ask no questions and accept and have just finished munching some
luscious turkey. I rather expect that if I happen to count the nearby turkey
flock tomorrow I may notice that some got lost in the woods. Tsk tsk – such
dense woods! The other day I visited one of the machine gun platoons and had a
taste of some very luscious venison. Such dense woods!...
[Gillespie adds to this letter some
negatives of photos he has taken with a camera he’s recently acquired…including
his orderly and some of “the boys” leaning on a jeep…From this point on, he is
often sending negatives back home.]
May 2 1945
Hi! Honey!
Doggoned if I didn’t let May 1 go by
and forget to leave a May basket on your doorstep! And do you know what I’d
have left if I had been able to leave
anything? – Yep, me. Poor May basket, I admit, but think what fun I would have
had!
Just completed a letter to the folks
and one to Irv Fuller. Irv is fighting with the 7th Army just south of here
somewhere and I hope the newsflash I just heard over the radio will ease up his
work. They said over the radio that the Germans in Italy had surrendered
unconditionally. Last night Hitler‘s death and then this – boy! I sure hope
this is the windup!...
Another newsflash! This time the
company CP [Command Post] got it on their radio that Stalin announced that all
of Berlin was taken and phoned it over to us. Guess I’ve never told you much
about our communication system, but briefly wherever we set up our mortars we run lines to every gun and one line to the
company CP. That’s part of why I have a CP staff. When all lines are in I get
calls for fire either from my observer or the rifle company commander by radio
or from the company CP by phone or from battalion by radio. I plot the targets,
decide what kind of fire I’m going to use and how many mortars, and then phone
my orders to the men at the guns. Sometimes when we’re busy I look like the one
armed paper hanger with phones at both ears, my radio operator giving me
reports and my maps in front of me. It’s then I could sure use you, honey, to
sit on my lap and take notes.
Guess it’s all right to tell you now of
an interesting experience I had a few weeks ago. We’d spearheaded our way into
some Jerry territory and they decided to clear out the pockets on the side. So
they made us all riflemen for a day and we combed the woods in the cold rain
for 11 long miles. Yours truly was a weary gent when we finished, but we did a
good job…
Germany
May 8 1945
“VE Day”
My darling Phyl:
Today is the day! About 1500 we heard
Churchill make the official announcement of the peace terms and then at 1800 we
heard a transcription of President Truman‘s speech...
We are still having a very easy life.
Train the men half a day and relax the other half. Rumors as to what comes next
fly thick and fast, but we can only hope that we will all be home eventually.
Since this division has seen lots of action they may get a break and be one of
the first to go to the States. Or they may figure it is a break for us to stay
here as occupation troops. Or they may send the old men home and send new
recruits to the South Pacific... you can see the many possible sources of
rumor. I do hope I can get home first if I eventually have to go to the South
Pacific because right now I miss you very much.
It’s hard to believe that just a short
time ago we were fighting. I guess it’s only human to try to forget the
unpleasant. Today I expected there would be a lot of wild cheering when the
official news came in but we have had a few days of build-up by radio and the
men were rather subdued except for looks of relief on their faces. I got sort
of a knot in the middle and couldn’t think of a single sensible remark to make.
Then I immediately began to think of home…then I begin to think back on some of
the experiences I’ve had. It hardly seems possible that so much could’ve
happened in the short time I’ve been here. You’ll notice I’ve mistakenly dated
the letter March 8. [crossed out and replaced with May 8] It was on March 8 that we crossed the bridge
at Remagen only shortly after the first units had gone over. That is quite a
story in itself. Guess I’ll have to jot down a few notes so I could remember
what tell you...
May 10 1945
Flash! The radio just announced the
point system... look, honey, suppose I get stuck on this army of occupation staff.
We once talked about in our letters but I just put it off then. Well, suppose I
do find I’m going to be here for a year or so, would you be interested in
joining me? We’d make it all right, of course, by possibly some sort of long
distance marriage or marriage by proxy and then when you got here we could have
a real wedding. It’s all very remote as to possibility but please think it over
and let’s talk about it by letter...
May 13 1945
...I’m next in line in the company for
a pass to Paris. Officers get three days there plus travel time which is mostly
by truck and partly by train. What would you think of me going to Paris? Should
be interesting if I get to go...
I only wish I were able to keep your
letters but space does not permit. You see when we make a move we have to haul
everything in our own vehicles. Even though I have more vehicles than any other
platoon in the army (7 jeeps and 6 trailers), I also have more to haul. Six
mortars with ammunition, radio equipment, sleeping equipment, and all personal
equipment. So you see a 5 foot stack of your letters would make it necessary
for someone to walk. (I have a large platoon too - over 60 men – and the only
platoon leader with three other officers under him!)...
May 20 1945
... I still can’t tell you where I am
but I can tell you that it is a very beautiful part of Germany and up to today
when it rained a bit the weather has been swell. And up to a few days ago we
had our share of good beer but since beer is now considered a possible source
of food for the Germans we no longer have beer. However, we can drink in the
beauty of nature and satisfy our thirst, I guess...
If you can find the city of Dessau, you
will know where we were before we came down here. It used to be a nice large
town but seem pretty much beat up by our air bombardment. We were lucky to be
on the outskirts of the city where there was not so much damage.
Five of my boys left the other day to
go home. I was very happy for them but golly it was hard to see them go... we
heard they were going to fly this first bunch home and they would be in a
parade in New York sometime the next week. Boy! Did that make all the rest of
us dream! I still have about 15 men who have the necessary points to go home
and when they leave we will really be hurting for experienced men.
May 23
... if you can find the town of
Inglestadt [Ingolstadt, I think] in southern Germany (on the Danube) you
are near where we are. We’re about 10 or 15 miles south of there in the woods
as I said before, and I must say that for natural beauty I’ve seen nothing else
in Germany to beat it. This is in the part that used to be called Bavaria. They
say that eventually we may get to make some trips to places around here and
even possibly see Switzerland and Italy.
Now I noticed by our regimental news bulletin that the papers carry
the story of the 1st army going to the
Pacific by way of the U. S. I hope you get this in time to prevent any undue
excitement because we are now no longer in the 1st army but in the 3rd army. I
still don’t know what my future holds but for now I am here and if we can get
our living quarters fixed up I won’t mind a bit... I guess that I will probably
know my future in about 30 days (purely guesswork). And if I go to the Pacific
I may get to come home first and in any event, remember that the Pacific is
near home than here...
May 27 1945
Beauty spot of
Bavaria
... just when I was getting my outfit
organized they want me to do supply work in regimental headquarters now. I came
here two days ago and I’m looking to get out and back to my mortars as soon as
possible. I suppose I’m a bit balmy because I am under studying the regimental
supply officer who has the rank of major and is about to go home but I just can’t
see going back to administrative work after all I did of it in the states.
Besides, honey, I think the men with the front line units will get home faster
sometime in the future than will the supply units and I’ll go through just
about anything if I can get home to you sooner.
This is another time when I wish we could be
together so I could tell you how I feel and ask what you thought of my action.
I feel very restless and believe a desk job in the army now would drive me
nuts. Then I get to thinking, “Hell, man, what are you going to do but go back
to the desk when you get back to be a civilian again?“ – Do you see what I
mean?
But then maybe when I do get home, see you and
everyone, and have a good rest then maybe I will be able to fit back into the
groove at the office – if such groove still exists. Perhaps I’ve mentioned it
before but I’ll say again that for sometime I’ve had an obscure idea that maybe
I could do well as part owner or operator of a resort fishing lodge. I might
have a fair bankroll when I get back, which I might use for such an investment
and I believe there will be a large run at such resorts if you can believe the
dream of 94% of the soldiers say they will do when they get home. It’s a very
indefinite idea but tell me how you might feel about us doing such a thing...
…As you may have read, they are
releasing the German PW farmers and there are a lot of them on the road making
their way home. It seems rather strange to simply pass by these fellows when we
were fighting such a short time ago.
Bavaria
31 May 1945
Good evening, m’love:
…In this letter I intend to try to tell
you of a few experiences I had while fighting, stories which I could not write
before and which I had no desire to write to you while fighting continued. As a
matter of fact I never planned to write of them but to tell you some day, bit
by bit. However, it might be some time before I see you and besides these are
things which I wish to put out of my mind once I have had the chance to get
them off my chest to someone who is very near + dear to me.
First
you may wonder how I felt about seeing men who had been killed. I was lucky in
that respect. The first few I saw were just glimpses as I rode by in a jeep and
not banged up very bad except one. That one bothered me a little because he
hardly looked like a human being.
Later
I saw many and at times I had the chance to inspect them quite closely. For
some reason they always looked more like wax dummies to me rather than dead
persons. It seemed that some artist had done a wonderful job of modeling clay
or wax. I was lucky never to see someone I knew or perhaps I might have felt
different.
Then
perhaps I can tell you of the times I was near death and how I felt. The first
was when we made a crossing of the Ruhr River near Schmidt (when they had the newsworthy
dam which might have been destroyed to delay our progress). I was a section
leader then and given the job of manning a post to observe our mortar fire.
They call it an O.P. (Observation Post). Because of dense woods I had to select
a spot only 200 yards from the river on a steep slope. The Germans were on the
other side of the river. Our attack was scheduled for about 0600 + prior to
that our artillery + mortars were to deliver fire on probable enemy positions.
I had to prepare a position (dig a hole) a couple of days ahead of time and I
also had to string wire to my field phone.
A
radioman + I moved into the O.P. about 2 a.m. + tried to stay warm until the
firing should begin. It was very quiet except for an occasional distant
artillery shell + I felt like we made a lot of noise as we stumbled down the
steep slope in the darkness to our position. As the appointed time came there
was a slight uncertainty as I heard no immediate firing and then suddenly I
heard the distant boom of many guns + the shells started whistling in. Then
began a show of explosions greater than I ever felt possible to see + hear. It
was terrific + I had difficulty adjusting our mortar fire because there was so
much going on. Then I wondered why Jerry was so quiet + it wasn’t until our firing let up about half
an hour later that I saw and heard machine gun + “burp” gun fire coming our
way. Then suddenly their shells hit 1,2,3 right in the rear (about 20 feet) of
where we were. They came so fast I hardly heard them before they hit and I didn’t
duck into our hole until, if I had been going to be hit, it would have been too
late. I was terrifically excited but I can’t say I was awfully scared + I kept
thinking, “Golly, that’s the first time I ever had anyone shoot at me!” The
radioman was a fairly old hand so I asked him what it was and he said “probably
an 88.” Now the German 88 is one of the fastest shells there is - that’s why
you rarely heard them coming so I felt that my initiation to direct fire was
from the best.
Anyway,
later we crossed the Ruhr on a bridge the Engineers had built to replace the
one blown up by the Jerries. For some reason our column stopped when my jeep
was on the bridge. It was rather quiet for awhile + then Jerry started throwing
mortars and artillery our way but since they were hitting about 300 yards away
I just got out of the jeep + sat down on the bridge. When one shell seemed to
land a little closer than the rest I raised up to see where it had burst + just
then a shell fragment hit the bridge making a loud “clang!” + even made sparks just one foot from my
face! The one sorta made me wonder if someone might be mad at me.
Crossing
the Rhine at Remagen was a series of
exciting moments. First as we came through the town we got caught in three
Jerry artillery barrages. Then we got more as we crossed the bridge + it was
only then that we realized that we had crossed the Rhine - they did such a good
job of keeping the move a secret!
We
stayed a couple of days on the top of the hills just across the bridge + here
we caught everything! How we ever escaped being hit I’ll never know as we had almost continuous
shellfire + we were directly in line between Jerry + the bridge. Besides about
every other plane that tried to bomb the bridge also strafed our hill just for
good measure.
I
remember the first strafing I experienced. I was looking out the window of a
beat up building when I heard little pops like small firecrackers. My gaze
moved to the ground outside the window + I was amazed to see the dirt fly just
like it does in the movies in a neat line across in front of me. Only
difference was that there was also a slight flash as they used explosive
bullets.
I
forgot to mention that once before we got to the Rhine I had a very close one.
I had gone on ahead of the platoon to choose mortar positions in a town our
boys captured about 20 minutes before. About a minute after I arrived a sniper
started shooting out of a house I had selected for an O.P. Then I heard what
sounded like one of our automatic rifles firing + after waiting a couple of
minutes my wireman + I went to check the house. No one else was around + I
couldn’t find out whether
they’d got the sniper or not but since I needed the O.P. we entered the house
and searched it fairly thoroughly to the attic in the best approved commando
style. One thing I found out though, it isn’t easy to break down a door even
with an 11 1/2 shoe! Anyway, after I set up the O.P. I left my wireman to man
the phone + went back downstairs + took a casual glance into one room on the
first floor as I walked by. We’d checked this room briefly by a glance into it
as we entered + so now I was very startled to hear a cry + on looking more
closely there was a Jerry lying on the floor with a rather bad chest wound. His
gun was at his finger tips but he made no move to use it so I walked in +
kicked it away + checked his wound. He made no more sound but just looked at me
as though he prayed I would do something + he looked very frightened. His wound
was too bad for me to handle so I lit a cigarette + after a couple of attempts he managed to hold it to
his lips. Then I went out + found one of our aid men + asked him to check. He
later told me the Jerry was dead by the time he got there. It made me feel
strange because if someone hadn’t got him before we entered the house he
probably would have gotten us.
In
this same town about 5 minutes later I had to duck fast as they threw in an
artillery barrage. None hit too close but I felt a few pieces of stone hit my
leg from a house hit nearby. About 1 hour later I had my mortars all in place +
ready to fire + things were fairly quiet. I was standing in the back doorway of
a house talking to a runner. Out in the little courtyard was this same wireman
I’d had with me in the
house. It was like this. [Diagram]
Then
suddenly without warning a shell “whist” + burst…not over 8 feet from any of us! The runner + I were
both blown back through the door + the wireman knocked down and only the runner
had a little scratch to show among the three of us. Why, I don’t know, but I do
know that again I thanked God for being watchful.
Another
time I moved from one section forward to a place like this. [Diagram]
Right
after I got them set up I radioed back for the other two sections to come up +
then Jerry threw a few rounds around the road junction. I had no way of
stopping the other group coming up as our radio didn’t seem to work so I went out near the road + when
I saw them coming I stopped them back aways + told them to move off the road
fast so no one would get hit + as I stood there in the road the Jerry tank, or
whatever it was that was firing down the road, let loose with another + boy! I
heard it swish by awfully close - so close I even imagined I felt the breeze
ruffle my hair.
At
another time (again after we crossed the Rhine) I glanced out of a window in a
building during a barrage of artillery by Jerry just in time to see a dud
(thank goodness!) crash through a wall about 30 feet from me, bounce on the
ground, + come to rest on the front seat of my jeep! (My platoon Sgt. later
calmly walked out, lifted off the dud, + put it away where it could do no harm
- an act which I felt called for terrific courage + for which I recommended +
got him the Bronze Star for heroic achievement.)
Then
one time I had been forward + picked a good mortar position. I used a road both
ways which seemed quite free of fire but when I returned leading my 6 jeeps of
mortars a tank in front of us suddenly drew machine gun fire from a hill on our
left. The Jerry M.G. [machine gun] + our tank proceeded to shoot hell out of
each other (or tried to!) whilst I fretted at the delay. Finally I asked the
boys if they’d like to go
ahead anyway + they said OK so we hopped on our jeeps + drove like hell down
the road to our firing positions and left this tank + M.G. still shooting
behind us. Why he never fired his M.G. at us I’ll never know, but I guess I’m
lucky that way.
This
is getting too long but a couple more + I’ll quit. One time I got ambushed by a couple of
Jerry self-propelled guns. Luckily they were only shooting A.P. (armor
piercing) shells + dropped these all around us but if it had been H.E. (high
explosive) stuff I don’t think we’d have done so well. There were also some
machine guns + a couple of guys with Panzerfausts (sort of a one shot bazooka)
but they missed us too.
The
last one was one I try to forget + can’t. It happened one night we made a long ride into a new area. It was
a secret move + therefore in complete blackout on a very dark night. Rode all
night + we weren’t far behind our spearheading armor as nearly all the towns we
went through had plenty of burning houses. Finally at about 0400 we stopped on
a road just outside of town - the one we were to go to. As we sat there with
vehicles almost bumper to bumper I heard the “whumpf” of what sounded like a
tank gun from a hill across from us + a shell hit about 500 yards ahead of us.
I’d just begun to wonder what we’d gotten into when the gun “whumpfed” again
and I heard the shell briefly + then a terrific blast as it made a direct hit
on a jeep just about 15 feet ahead of me. I knew it was loaded with men so I
hopped out + tore forward to try to help the boys. They were scattered all over
+ it was a nasty sound - you couldn’t see much. Then apparently the Jerry knew
he’d hit something because he began firing a round about every 20 seconds +
they hit all around. It was a helluva feeling trying to help the boys who had
been hit and worrying about getting the rest off the road. After what seemed
like hours we got all the wounded back to the medics at the rear except two so
I got my boys back on their jeeps + told them to get the hell forward + into
town where they’d be out of line of the fire + I and another guy stayed there
with the two left who needed litters to be moved. I was lonely + I was damn
scared + worried about getting the two men to the medics. After about 12 more
rounds had been fired near us a couple of empty jeeps came tearing down the
road + I stopped them and they took the boys on into town + then this other
fellow and I walked in. If I ever wake up in a sweat after I get home you’ll
probably know that I’ve relived that awful moment when that shell hit + then
the boys started screaming. That is one I want to forget.
So
there you are, darling, the nasty side of the business. I don’t think I can write of it again so if
you’d like to read part of this to the folks maybe they’d understand why I can’t
tell them the same in a separate letter.
I
miss you terrifically, my darling. Miss me some too, willya please?
All my love,
Gil
[Back Stateside, the recipient of this
letter, Claud Gillespie’s fiancee and later wife, either typed up or had
someone type up this account.]
8 June 1945
…By the end of this month I should
pretty well know what I’ll be doing in the future. I hope it’s
occupation duty but that’s pretty much of a dream. I expect to go to the
Pacific…
Thursday June 20?
(21) 1945
Hello, future frau!
News!
—tonight I attended a
class for officers at Regt. + our Regimental Commander announced officially
that our unit is in Category I- which means occupation.
Now,
don’t get too excited yet,
because although I think that means I will stay here there is still some
question as to assignment of officers. Should know before long though…
Wed June 20 1945
The
next two weeks will see inspections by Battalion, Regiment + Division staffs.
Such indicates that we are living a garrison life again + will also mean a lot
of spit and polish from now on…
As
Orientation Officer for the Company I have to give a one hour talk per week.
Last Sat I went over D Co’s
history in the ETO [European Theater of Operation]. I’d heard many stories but
didn’t have the big picture until I went back in the Morning Reports (a daily
report of the CO—-official reports) + traced things from they day they landed
on D + 4 [four days after the first landing in Normandy on D-Day]. Then
I called on several of the men during the hour to relate some of their personal
experiences + they all seemed to like it…
Hope
you’ve spotted where I am
by now. If you found DESSAU you probably also found MUNICH. Draw a line between
the two and then measure north from MUNICH about 30 miles + you’re getting warm…
By
the way, did I ever explain why I never sent home any souvenirs such as
helmets, etc.? Well, maybe I’m
a dope but I figure that when I do come home I want it to be home + not a
museum of German weapons or helmets + war materials. I like things American! So
except for a coupla pistols I intend to bring home (I like to shoot guns) why,
you’ll get nothing of a war nature. Hope you don’t mind.
[In subsequent letters, he visits
Munich, Nuremberg, and sees a USO show starring Jack Benny.]
[In the
collection of letters at this point is a photocopy of this Bronze Star Citation:]
Headquarters Ninth
Infantry Division
24 June 1945
Award of Bronze Star Medal for Heroism. Under the provisions of AR 600-45,
dated 22 September 1943, as amended, the Bronze Star Medal is awarded to:
First
Lieutenant Claud S. Gillespie, 0292876, Infantry, United States Army, who
distinguished himself by heroic achievement in action against the enemy on 6
April 1945 in the vicinity of Assinghausen, Germany. While moving at night, the
battalion convoy was subjected to intense fire from enemy self-propelled guns.
Seeing several of the men fall seriously wounded, Lt. Gillespie unhesitatingly
exposed himself to the concentrated enemy fire to go to the aid of the
casualties. He capably and swiftly administered emergency medical attention and
supervised their evacuation. Lt. Gillespie’s devotion to duty, aggressive leadership, and
courageous actions under enemy fire were instrumental in saving the lives of
the wounded. Entered military service from California.
By command of
Brigadier General Ladd
July 2, 1945
….We’re moving this p.m. and I got most
of my packing done last nite…As usual when we move it’s raining but we have
only 50 miles to go + when we get there we will be in nice buildings. I’m sure
glad because I never could figure out how to explain to the men why we had to
bunk in the woods whilst our Jerry friends (whom we presumably conquered) were
inside. It’s just one of those things that happen in the Army that there’s no
answer for. ..
July 3
…It’s me again, and boy! am I in clover!
I’m inside! sitting at a nice desk with a desk lamp, my bunk beside me to fall
into if I need rest (and don’t get caught!) and a modern bathroom, complete
except for hot water, only a few steps away. We even have curtains in the
window—a big double window. Cheez! A guy feels almost human again.
We
are much nearer Munich now (about 25 kilometers—1 mile equals 1.6 kilometers) and we are billeted
in some great big buildings which formerly held members of the German Air Corps
or Luftwaffe as they were known hereabouts. We’re located just outside of a
little town called Furstenfelbruck which is almost directly west of Munich. One
of our jobs here is to guard a whole pack of prisoners who are near us. It
promises to be a neat set up + seems too good to last…
July 4
…Did you ever hear of the DACHAU
concentration camp?…[One of the first German concentration camps, and the
only one on German soil.]
No
foolin! Last Friday we moved to Dachau where we will have the job of guarding a
flock of no good SS troops.
[SS is literally “protection squad,” the
outfit that started as a small personal bodyguard unit for Hitler and the Nazi
Party in their early years and grew to be a major paramilitary organization—separate
from the official German armed forces—Hitler’s true believers responsible for
security, surveillance, and enforcing ideological and racial purity. The
Gestapo was one of the arms of the SS, and the SS was the organization
primarily responsible for carrying out the Holocaust, which included running
concentration camps including Dachau. After Nazi Germany's defeat, the SS was
judged by the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg to be a criminal
organization.]
…Sat morning before I had even got
unpacked they tell me I will take over as Battalion Supply Officer for awhile +
my job includes getting food for the 10,000 prisoners. Then to top it all off
today they tell me that there is no gasoline + they don’t know when we’ll get
any. And only 400 gallons a day is all I need to run my various trucks ’n stuff…
I’ve been so doggoned busy I haven’t
even had a chance to look over the place myself. I’ve been where they keep the
prisoners and it doesn’t look too bad but I haven’t seen the crematorium or any
of that stuff…
July 4 1945
…We’re all pretty well settled now.
Yesterday we were kinda busy getting the men settled + putting up these wooden
double bunks. Since my sgt had already fixed up my room very nicely I organized
a reconnaissance detail and scoured the countryside to buy radios from men in
other units who are going home. Got one for each platoon in the company + one
for myself…
Having
the prisoners around really lightens the work. We brought a detail of about 6
over here this morning and they really scrubbed the place clean. They like to
do such work as it gives them a chance to get out of the stockade. They even
wash clothes!—and boy that
saves my neck…
July 5
…In our prison stockade there are about
25 SS gals. Most of them are very well built and not too bad looking. Anyway,
they have them in a coupla buildings in one corner of the stockade and also in
that corner is one of our guard towers where our boys are on guard. And since
the gals like to sunbathe and aren’t too modest the boys are fighting to get to
stand guard in said tower. At least that is the story I heard. (My but
it’s chilly in this tower!)…
Grobenzell, Germany
Wed July 11 1945
…I have my platoon billeted in four very
nice houses. There are no large public buildings here so we got permission to
use houses. We checked with the Burgermeister (same as our Mayor) + he selected
four families who he knew had been very active with the Nazis and told them to
move. There was a fair amount of weeping and wailing, but they moved and my
boys, I know, aren’t going to do any wrecking of the places. It’s like I said
before, I see no reason for our boys to live in the woods while these people
are quite comfortable and if we find it necessary to use these places it should
be done.
I
helped select one large house for the officers where each of us has a room. We
picked up some furniture from the last barracks we had + we’re very comfortable. There are two
inside bathrooms and a tub in one with a hot water heater. I’ve had two
wonderful baths already + plan to have one every day. One of the boys who will
go home soon volunteered to act as our kitchen master and in addition to
securing portions of our regular chow he fixes extra things which make eating a
pleasure. He even got the Burgermeister to get us a tablecloth + some napkins +
I’m beginning to feel quite civilized. Then he found a Polish boy who had spent
5 years in DACHAU (the famous concentration camp—near us) + this boy wanted to
work for us in return for a room in the basement, some food, and a few smokes,
so he cleans up the place…I had a lot of fun talking with him. He is so
doggoned anxious to please everyone! He came up her at 2200 with some
sandwiches + beer for me, so I drug out the dictionary + discovered (after much
trying) that he is 21 years old, that he doesn’t want to go back to Poland as
the Russians are occupying his part of Poland, that he was captured 3 years ago
by the Germans + spent one year in a concentration camp in Berlin + 2 years at Dachau, that he was beaten by
the Germans 10 times while a prisoner, and that he has 2 brothers + one sister
living + his father + mother both were shot by the Germans. Everyone likes him
+ I hope he gets a good break from now on.
Wed July 18 1945
…Since Saturday I’ve been the Supply
Officer for our Battalion and a very busy man. In addition to supplying our 800
odd (the figure is odd—not the men) in the Bn [Battalion] I’ve got 8000
Jerry prisoners to supply + the food problem is terrific….there is much fun with
trucks + gas etc.
Luckily
my predecessor had found some German supply officer + he has been a great help.
Yesterday + today I took him to Munich which is only about 8 miles away + we
got well organized. Had a Jerry chauffeur + used a great big Jerry staff car
formerly used by a German General. We got a lot of curious stares as we drove
around Munich.
A
new officer came in yesterday to take over as Supply Officer so as soon as I
teach him the little I know I’ll
go back to Dog Co. [Gillespie’s original outfit was D Company; this position
started as a temporary job.]
I
think I’m definitely here
on occupation now…I’m looking for a newly furnished cell for us at Dachau so as
soon as I get it I’ll have you fly over—but schnell (quickly in German)….
Yer guy, Gil
This paper is
through the courtesy of the supply of Dachau Concentration Camp.
Wed. July 25 (I
think)
…I finished my job as temporary
Battalion Supply Officer on Saturday having completely zeroed in the new Supply
Officer. Monday I thought I’d get back to get acquainted with my platoon but
about noon they told me the Lt. who has charge of the prisoners was to go away
for 4 or 5 days so I would take over in his absence. So tomorrow I begin as
Camp Commander of about 8500 “SS” German prisoners at the former Camp Dachau.
In other words where the Jerries used to do their dirty work we are now trying
to show these people how to live right.
The
whole place has been cleaned up. No more bodies or bones + the place is even
completely deloused. It is 1900 + I just finished a tour of inspection with the
Lt. who will leave tomorrow. They’ve done wonders and I must say that if you tell these people to
clean up they really clean up!! They even have a hospital unit made out
of 4 of these barracks + everything in there is really immaculate. Lt. Samuel
has borrowed begged + perhaps stolen much equipment, even an X-ray machine.
Lt.
Samuel is himself a very interesting person. He is a red headed German Jew… He got out of Germany in 1940 to go
to the States—got in the Army in 1942 in Military Intelligence work + was given
a battlefield commission for his good work.
He
formerly raced in motorcycle races, got a college degree in Berlin in Mech
Engineering (night school) + even managed to drive a midget auto racer in the
States in his short time there. He is a ball of fire while working + has a very
good slangy command of English and of course jabbers German to perfection. The
other evening at our Officers Mess he casually sat down + played the piano very
well indeed. He is really quite a person + I admire his fairness to these
people in spite of his race.
As
for me, I’m getting rather
fat. We picked up a crew of discharged German cooks + they do miracles with our
GI chow. Tonight, for example, they first served a wonderful potato pancake
(kotofopuful—sp?) as a canape or appetizer, then came a pork chop fixed so’s
you’d never recognize that item of food—potatoes mashed to perfection with
wonderful gravy, creamed peas (they used powdered milk), a salad made of
ordinary string beans with onion + vinegar, iced tea, + then the dessert! It
was very good + I had to ask what it was. It seems they had cream of wheat for
breakfast + had a lot left over. So they sweetened it up a bit, put it into a
mold with a canned peach half + then in the refrigerator. They served this with
a white sauce made of whites of egg + sugar. Where they got the eggs I didn’t
ask. Good!-m-m!…
July 30 1945
[He talks to her about hearing that his
beloved uncle Frank Welty has passed away.]
…It’s a very peculiar thing. When I came
over here I knew I’d have some heart breaking experiences because no one got by
without losing at least one good friend. I sorta tried to steel myself to it +
succeeded pretty well. I don’t recall
that I ever really let my emotions get the best of me because you just can’t do
that + be a good leader. Even after the war was over this same feeling existed
until the news of Uncle Frank came along + then I let loose inside…
Still
very busy trying to run the prison camp. Our PX rations came in today + I had
my first bottle of American beer since I came over here. Very good too. Each
man got a bottle.
Dachau
Monday Aug 6 1945
…I kept my job as camp commander of the
prisoners here at Dachau until last Friday when Lt. Samuel, the regular CO
returned from his trip north. It was a very interesting week, being “mayor” of
the village of 10,000 of Germany’s so-called worst prisoners. Interesting
because I never knew what was going on from one minute to the next but also
very wearing since my hours of work each day averaged about 17. I started at
0700 + generally left at about 2400.
Honey,
maybe you can imagine the thousand and one details which arise when you’re taking care of 10,000 men. I had a
staff of only 7 enlisted men (EM) to help me, which doesn’t count the men who
guard the enclosure.
It’s rather difficult to describe what I
did each day because every day brought new problems but maybe I can tell you
some things which will give you an idea. First of all, the PWs have their own camp
commander who was a major in the German Army + he is a very brilliant + capable
man. He has organized his own staff + carries out any orders we give with the
greatest of efficiency. Naturally, we keep a close check on all his activities
but so far he has proven to be very cooperative + reliable. Of course, there is
really little chance that much trouble could arise since the enclosure is very
well guarded + no one gets out without a guard. One of the biggest problems is
supply—food, clothing, etc. We use German captured food + clothing + equipment
exclusively so you people need not be bothered that the prisoners are getting
our supplies. However, some day the German supplies will run out + the push
will start. In the matter of food these men get from 900 to 1000 calories a day
+ this will have to be increased soon as it is estimated that a man should get
1200 a day to live long. The average GI, incidentally, gets about 4000 per day.
In
regard to clothes, many of the men still have nothing but wooden sandals +
quite a few wear only an old shirt + a pair of shorts + the nights are pretty
chilly here. At first I too was sorta of the opinion that since they mistreated
so many other people why, let them suffer too, but after you think it over you
begin to realize that we didn’t
fight the war to get revenge on someone but to try to teach these people the
right way to live. So, in the time I was in charge, I tried to improve their
lot to a certain extent so that eventually they might realize that we Americans
are human + are trying to do as we would like to have our men treated.
In
the transportation line we acquired some German trucks from the Military
Government and even use German gasoline + oil to run them. That is a headache
in itself since we dispatch from 30 to 40 trucks every day. Some are used to
get supplies, some are used to carry PWs (a PW is a Prisoner of War—just to smart you up!)
Then
we have things like arranging to pay the men (the money comes from Germans), to
take care of the sick, to provide punishment for those who misbehave, to listen
to gripes + personal problems, to arrange for repairing buildings + see that
the plumbing is in order, to send in reports constantly, + to act as a
reception committee for all the brass who visit the place. That, very briefly
is what I had to handle for a week + this morning I’m again back here sitting in on the job while Lt.
Samuel (the CO) makes a trip. Hope he’ll be back by noon!
Since
our battalion commander apparently thought I did a good job I took my opening +
asked + got permission to go see Irv Fuller [an old friend in an Army unit nearby] this past weekend…
And
in regards to your joining me I understand (rumor) that Truman is “agin’” having wives + gals come over
here. If so, I’m in favor of throwing him out of office right now. As far as I
can learn I’m stuck here… We’ve been getting men in from lots of other outfits
+ now some of our men with low points are going out. There has been so much
shifting around that I don’t even know all the men in my platoon…
August 7
…I mailed you some pictures…showing how
the country looks. Also included a postcard which shows how the “Autobahn” looks.
Autobahn is the name for all the superhighways Hitler had built all over
Germany. They really are super being set up so that there are two lanes of
traffic each way and there are no crossroads. Also, none of them run
through any towns + you can really make wonderful time in traveling. The
Jerries blew many bridges but our engineers have now repaired most of them…
Gosh,
sugar, how I miss you! I believe I’ll really know what heaven is on that day wen we get together again.
Maybe it won’t be long—-who knows? Last night + tonight the radio has been
buzzing with news of the new “atomic bomb” + though details are scarce it
sounds like a fearful thing which should discourage the Japs to a quicker
surrender…
Wed Aug 8 1945
…Was out to our new area today with our
Company Commander, Captain Barber. They gave us a new town to move to which is
about 9 miles from her and it is really much better than they one they picked
previously. Another outfit is there now but they will move out when we move in
+ they have everything well organized for us to take over. Don’t know exactly
when we will move but it should be within a week…
Aug 10 1945
…Monday we move for sure + get out of
this place. Besides just this minute (1500) the radio announced that Japan has
offered to accept surrender! Yippee! Sure hope it’s right because that means
that—well—it means peace! I can’t even guess whether it will effect me
or not but I anticipate that when was is definitely over everywhere that the
boys with the lowest points who are still here will stay here. As I said, I’m
in the middle with 57 points fo what happens to me?—I dunno…
Got
my second pair of hand made shoes yesterday. I have one low pair + one pair of
boots. The PW’s made them
for me + the work is beautiful. Will try to take a picture of them for your “enjoyment”?
It’s a rainy day again + I’m sure achin’ for
you. I feel so happy that the war may be over that I feel like I’ll bust. Wars
are so doggoned needless and so many people suffer…
V-Day
Aug 15 1945
Hello, Honey:
What
a day! One of the officers woke me at about 0130 to tell me the long delayed
Jap surrender was official…
So
this morning at the breakfast table we talked it over and of course all we
thought of + spoke of was—when
do we go home? Wellsir, I didn’t have much time to throw the bull because I had
to report to our Ba. Cmdr. who tells me (as he hinted yesterday) that I am now
going to take over B Co. as Co. commander. It seems he figures I want the R.R.
tracks (two silver bars for Captain) to go home on. All I want is to go home
but since he says they need me I accepted…
Anyway,
as I talked to the gang the nine o’clock news came in and amongst other things we hear of the great
celebrations in the States where “servicemen kissed + danced with gals in the
streets.” (These guys are so lonesome for an American gal—news like this only
hurts.) Then they say that gas rationing in the States will stop immediately!
Hmf!—and only Monday gas was so scarce here that we had only 15 gallons to put
in the tanks of our 20 jeeps to move our company out here (9 miles) from
Dachau. And finally something we all could not understand—they said some guy in
Congress planned to reduce income taxes! And with the debt we have!
These
guys are thinking, honey. First, of home but next
of what we fought for. It was peace first + then a good set of plans for the
future. They’ve worked + sacrificed a lot to win but they’re still willing to
work + sacrifice to keep the world right. And why some screwball—trying to get
votes—would ever prop\ose a reduction in income taxes—we just can’t figure!
Guess
that’s enough of a blowoff…
Fahrenhausen,
Germany
Aug 19, 1945
Hello, darling:
Yah!
- try and find me now on your map! This little place is not even on our maps
except a few local road maps.
It
seems ages since I wrote you last but, again, it’s something new which has kept me busy. I can’t
even remember whether I told you of it in my last letter. Anyway I am now the
proud possessor of a rifle company. In other words I’m “the old man” for about
247 men. We moved (when I was with D Co.) from Dachau on Monday and on
Wednesday I took over this Co. and since then I’ve really been busy trying to
get to know my men + do things for them.
We
are about 15 miles north + slightly East of Dachau. Each company is in a town
by itself + so of course I’m
happy to be away from the brass. Only trouble is I find it hard to keep up with
the news. The war is over + we all want to go home + the feeling generally is -
t’hell with the Army! - not spoken, but I can sense it. As a matter of fact I
catch myself feeling that way - just a bit…
Boy
do I get super attention now. In addition to my allotted GI orderly I also have
one Hungarian who sorta acts like he considers himself my personal valet. Keeps
my clothes pressed, shoes shined, room cleaned, and clothes washed. By golly, I
believe he’d even brush my
teeth if I gave him the chance. All we do is feed him + give him a bed + he
seems quite happy…
As
near as I can guess, my chance to come home will be about next March…
23 August, Sept 4
[Gillespie gets a pass to Paris—it’s a
26-hour overnight train there and back, with 20 cars filled, he says, with 4400
GIs on leave, and he spends three days in the city itself…When he gets back to
Germany, he laments having lost many of his key sergeants while getting a bunch
of new soldiers to put his company command at 300 men.]
Sat night 8 Sept
…I believe I previously mentioned
briefly that I was a little busy on August 15, V-J day. That was the day I took
over the company. Yes, we were happy but contrary to your belief + perhaps the
newspaper stories there was no wild cheering or shooting. These combat men have
apparently had so many exciting experiences and have learned so much the hard
way that they do not show much on the outside how they feel inside. They were
relieved that further combat was not necessary and many said they were glad
that the boys in the Pacific were through but in practically the next breath
they all thought or said- “When do we go home?” Home is a wonderful word
to us all now. I presume the GIs did celebrate in the larger cities, but us
country Yankees didn’t. We had nothing to celebrate with anyway…
…the way it looks I judge that our plans
to have you come over here probably should be put away as I honestly believe I’ll
be there by March or sooner. ..The radio just said that all except essential
organization troops will be home by February. They keep strangely silent about
officers but I’m [illegible], bub, to get there as soon as possible.
With the 8 new points I have a total of 65. One of my officers has only 28.
Thursday Sept 20
Have
had another terrifically busy week…I’ve been looking for a place to move to which might be better than
here for the winter. Found what I thought was good but they wouldn’t let me
have it. So I checked another place, decided it wasn’t so hot, + decided to
stay here. Whereupon my dear Ba. Comdr. looked the last place over and said he
believed I should take it. So you know the answer - I haveta move.
[The place Gillespie and members of his
company will be billeted is Schloß Heimhausen, which is today the site of the
Bavarian International School.]
Now
the place is the estate of a former bigshot SS guy who now lies in prison. It’s one of those things you see in the
movies - terrifically ornate with scads of statues, tapestries, paintings,
marble staircases ’n sech + it’s bigger than I ever imagined a place could be.
I’m enclosing some pictures + have scads more which I will send in a bundle.
My
objection to it is that it will be terrifically hard to heat + the plumbing is
all shot + much repair work is necessary. I don’t want my guys to be cold + I want them to have plenty of chances to
bathe + be comfortable. 10 years ago the place would have been OK. But now - I
dunno. Anyway I got the “old man” to promise he would get some good engineers
on the job so maybe it might work. It will take me a year to completely
describe the place so I’ll do it a
little at a time in each letter. Incidentally, we haven’t moved yet + probably
won’t until late next week…
Friday 28 September
1945
…This occupation stuff is sure an
anticlimax. We all get the feeling we’re the forgotten men at times though we
try to realize it takes time to get things organized. We beg + plead for more
recreation and things to make the men content. They come gradually but at times
it seems they are dispensed in a reluctant manner. Therefore it is hard to sell
the men on the idea of working. The training as for another war is toughest.
These boys think the atomic bomb has outdmoded old forms of warfare…
Working
like everything on our new home trying to get it ready to move into next week.
The other night the boys I had on guard over there built a fire in one of the
fireplaces. (They have about 5 - very grand, lovey, but they’re not cozy like we like ‘em to be.)
Anyway, the chimney was defective, the roof caught on fire + the boys battled
for 2 1/2 hours to put it out. They had to haul water by hand from three floors
down + in the dark. It burned out about 25 feet of roof. However, we’ve got
plenty of roof and now I’ve got the local carpenter fixit it. Never a dull
moment…
Sunday 30 Sept 1945
Dearest Phyl:
…Our new home, the Castle, is really
beginning to look better. Friday I told the boys to fix up the ballroom for our
“Day Room” where the boys can read + write. So the Sgt in charge put a Polish
GI on the job. Now this boy is one of those who looks + talks like a rather
rough character but he must have the soul of an interior decorator because it’s
the fanciest job I’ve ever seen. He took the rugs off all the stairways +
completely covered the floor. Then he found furniture - beautiful chairs,
settees + tables + little desks - all of which go beautifully with the way the
ballroom is decorated - and arranged them so it looks as grand as anything I
ever saw…It always amazes me the hidden talents that all men have if you happen
to give them a chance to show such talent…
You’d go nuts if you could see the things
still left in the castle - even after it seems that it has been looted. It’s
unbelievable how grand the place must have been. All the walls in the main room
are covered with very luscious cloth instead of paper or paint. And the
drapes are still hanging in many windows and though I know nothing of cloth etc
it’s not hard to see they’re almost priceless. And there are still about 20
paintings - all huge and most of them dated in the 1700s. Some rooms have
murals on the walls - the ballrooms has one huge painting covering almost the
entire ceiling. And there are dozens of small, medium, + huge tables + cabinets
- hand carved, inlaid with mosaic, marble topped + very finely polished. Joe
Schroeder [a fellow officer and close friend] and I were looking around today +
found large supplies of fancy china, glassware (gold rimmed) and vases ’n
stuff. I found us 5 fancy metal “swizzle sticks” to mix our drinks. Much of the
stuff is too fancy to suit me but if it were possible to send you stuff we
could furnish about half our house without any trouble. I get socialistic ideas
when I see such evidence of wealth surrounded by many countryfolk who have so
little. For example the other day I took the chief electrician for the town…over
to see about repairs and he spotted a fancy fireplace screen which he claimed
was worth “fil” (many) dollars. [He meant “viel” in German.] In fact he
said thousands of dollars. And his weekly wage is about $7.00.
Still
have the problem of getting the water + heat fixed but they’re doing pretty good considering that
the place is over 800 years old + has had much alteration + repair. Had to dig
one main water pipe out of walls which were about 4 feet thick - there was a
leak. Guess I told you we had a fire that burned out about 25 feet of roof -
defective chimney…
Tuesday Oct. 2 1945
…The Batallion Cmdr we have has been in
my hair all day long + if he were here now I’d probably lose my commission an
an officer. Y’see - my sweet- I’m a bit steamed (as if you din’t know.)
They
put out our liquor ration today and tonight I split it up. It’s really quite a problem. I got 9
bottles (4 whiskey - 4 liquer - 1 cognac) for the enlisted men (of which there
are now 170). So-o-o I split it evenly among the platoons + they are going to
raffle it off so at least one man will get a decent drunk. As for me i
got about 1 1/2 bottles for our officers
+ I felt so mean I tossed off quick ones (drinks, not bottles) + since I’ve
had nothing from the time of the last liquor ration 1 month ago (except some “schnapps”
a week ago), it kinda got to me…. [as is clear from the scribbled
handwriting]
Next
day - if you can read this you are good. [Penciled
note added to end of letter]
Thursday
11 Oct 1945
…Today and yesterday have been beautiful
days - clear and sunny- and very welcome after two weeks of almost continuous
rain and cold. Sunday and Monday night we had very heavy frosts which have
quickly changed the leafed trees into huge masses of red, gold, and brown. It
is comparatively warm yet there is a crispness in the air. It reminds me of the
fall football days back in Nebraska.
…This week has included the usual daily
training and more intense work on the new castle. There sure is a lot of work
necessary to do on that place just to get the facilities - light heat +
plumbing - in order. Today I made a trip down near Munich to try and pick up my
cable for the electricity but got stymied. I had an order from General Ladd but
they wouldn’t come through as they claimed that they had orders from General
Ike himself to let nothing go out of the place. It was formerly the Bavarian
Motor Works [BMW] (made good cars) and in spite of much bombing there is
still a tremendous amount of material there - much of it underground. So
tomorrow I’m going to try a place near Augsburg as our Ba Cmdr says we will
move in next week - lights or not. Wish me luck, Bub.
…Did I tell you that our castle has an
organ? It’s in a huge and very beautiful chapel. Unfortunately the organ does
not work and the chapel is now full of thousands of books from the Munich
libraries…
The
grounds on our estate have not been damaged nor has the building. Only damage
was caused by vandals + looters who broke in here and there and tried to burn
it in one place…
Oct. 6 1945
…Made a trip to our castle this p.m. +
things are going pretty good. Look like we might get our water system working
OK + we now have most of the parts to fix the heating system. Big problem now
is to find a cable to run from a power house for our electricity. Pretty hard
to find - the big stuff - about 1 inch,
I think, + we need about 600 yards of it. Have the roof almost completely repaired
now where we had the fire. And our officers quarters are shaping up
beautifully. Wish you could see some of the fancy china + glassware we located
+ may use to throw a party some day. Have some scouts out now to try and get
some coffee cups + some silverware…
It’s just 7 p.m. + the radio program has
changed to a hillbilly program (like the Saturday Barn Dance program) and it’s coming from the Hofbrau Keller in
Munich (of all places - that’s where Hitler planned his original “putsch” - +
and it is now made over into a Red Cross club). Podden me whilst I change to
another station. You’d be amazed at the dozens of stations you can get over
here now. It seems so strange at times to tune in on some good American music +
then when the record stops to hear some Kraut [American slur for German]
announcer talk in German…I can get programs in English, German, Italian,
French, Spanish, Polish, Russian, and one which sounds like Chinese or
Japanese. The Krauts play a lot of waltzes and what sound like Polkas + Schottischen. Have seen some of these dances +
they look like they’d be fun - slapping their knees + feet ’n stuff. Right now
they’re playing something and some Kraut is talking like he was calling a
square dance…
I’m still looking for lace but it’s
kinda hard now. Except in large places, outside of Germany, you don’t see
anything like that. May be able to arrange to have the local natives make me
some. We cannot buy at stores here, and except for foodstuffs I’ve seen no
stores anyway. I suppose it’s hared to imagine towns or cities without things
like department stores but that’s the way it is. In places large enough to have
such stores the bombing has destroyed most of them…
[Later] As I write this I’m listening to the 5th game of
the World Series coming by short wave from the States…
Sunday 14 October
…this p.m. went to Dachau to arrange to
get two trucks to pick up a big electric cable tomorrow.
That’s about the last thing we need to
complete repairs on our castle as they now have most of the plumbing fixed.
Tomorrow they try the central heating system + keep your fingers crossed for
me, honey. Yesterday they pumped water into the system (it’s hot water type
heat) and about a dozen leaks sprung out + almost flooded the place. The
plumber got those fixed but left the pressure on + this p.m. another leak
started and partially flooded all three floors but now he thinks he has that
fixed too. All this has been with cold water + tomorrow they put heat on
+ then - holy mother, I hope it works! In any event, we move Wednesday because
a week from today we start on maneuvers for one week + must be moved before
then.
Saturday
20 Oct 1945
..How
do you like this for stationery? [Letter written on quality blue paper with embossed initials FH under
a little crown and Haimhausen München at the top] The former
owner of the castle placed this at my disposal recently. Ho-hum! -wonder what
the poor people are doing today…
Haimhausen
Monday night 29 Oct
1945
…Our town of Haimhausen is just about 4
miles closer to Dachau than we were before. We’re about 15 miles from Munich. [Draws
map]
Sunday Nov 4 1945
…We’ve been trying to get settled in the
castle since we returned from maneuvers a week ago. Wed it was announced that
we would have to take over the area of the 3rd Battalion while they went on
maneuvers. So yesterday I took about 95 of my men to Freising - about 45
minutes northeast of here + set them up to guard a couple of DP (displaced
person) camps - mostly Polish people. I’ve been tearing over there and back
here trying to keep both places running…
Honey,
I miss you so much it gets under my skin at time. And I have a fairly tough
hide. Soon it will be our 11 month anniversary [since he proposed just before he left for his
overseas duty]. Irv +
I were talking about how long it has seemed + we both agreed that we probably
shouldn’t kick too much as so many of our buddies will never go back…
Freising
is a large place - about 25000 + they have 2 movies [theaters?] which the boys
really go for. They also have “fil”
(many) [viel] frauleins and polsky which in plain language means that
the German + Polish gals are plentiful + very good looking + the boys also go
for that. They spaziren (walk) + dance with the gals although I personally can’t
see most of them - they are all mostly interested in seeing how much food or
cigarettes they can chisel…as for me I’ll take any American gal in preference
but mainly one in particular - guess who?…
You
should see the desk I am writing on. It’s another little number they had around here and
shows much work + probably cost a young fortune. It has very fancy metalwork on
inlaid wood on the front and a carved leather top…
Thursday Nov 8 1945
Freising
Hi Honey:
It
is now 2200 and I have about half an hour or so to go before I have to hit the
sack. You see tonight is the first of three nights when all the civilians have
a special curfew + must be off the streets by 8 p.m. If not we pick ‘em up + throw them in jail. it seems
that this is the anniversary of several very nasty Nazi atrocities against the
Polish people + since there are several hundred Poles in and near her
(Freising) we, or rather the powers that be, figured we’d better take steps to
eliminate the possibility of any trouble so we have patrols + guards all over
the place…
[Could this be a reaction to the November 1939 Gestapo
operation code-named Sonderaktion Krakau? A couple of months after Germany
invaded Poland, the Gestapo arrested almost 200 professors and academics from
universities in Krakow, as an early step in the plan to eradicate the
intellectuals in places like Krakow that the Nazis had slated to become
culturally German. Most of those academics ended up being deported to Dachau.
Could these Polish folks be connected to those ones? It’s a mystery.]
Sunday
Nov 18, 1945
…We got sorta tired of waiting for the
higher ups to provide us with recreation so I got a few of the boys together
and told them they had the prime job of providing fun for the company - no
other duties. And they’ve really done very well. They have brought in bands to
play in our recreation hall (an old beer hall), they’ve found beer + wine and
they’re getting a company orchestra started. They had a dance Monday night,
Tuesday night, Thursday night + last night. I managed to get a stage show for
them from Munich on Friday night but otherwise they did it all.
It’s very amusing how enterprising they
are. While in Freising they had arranged with a Polish band to play…Wotta crew!
Then they got six gals from our town to act as waitresses (They’re middle aged
but nice) and they’re having aprons made for them with “B” Company sewed on.
They’ve painted all the old beat up tables + chairs + plan to paint the walls +
ceiling. And here’s the real laugh. They “found” a bunch of sandpaper + plan to
get about 25 prisoners, line ‘em up knee to knee with a piece of sandpaper in
hand and have them sand the floor. I wanta see that!
Today
we “swooped” several
towns. Started by rising at 0530 + moving out at 0730 to search every house in
our town + then move on to others. It’s all done on a very businesslike basis +
requires lots of planning. The purpose is to discover weapons + discourage
black market activities. We found a few things + picked up several people
without proper passes. Finished at 5 p.m. + start again tomorrow. This is
something the boys go for as they feel they’re really accomplishing something…
[Wraps up the letter telling that in two
days he’ll have a week-long leave to Switzerland.]
November 22- Dec 2
1945
[Series of letters describing Gillespie’s
leave at a U.S. Army/Red Cross Rest Center in Lucerne. He describes shopping
including buying her a Swiss watch, biking with other GIs on leave, drinking
his first cup of milk in almost a year, and having a brief phone call with his
fiancee, the first time they’ve heard each others’ voices in almost a year. ]
Monday Dec 2 1945
[Back in Germany, Gillespie learns that
his company is being moved out of Schloß Heimhausen and back to quarters at the
Dachau prison camp.]
…Sunday they suddenly told us we were
moving again! Back to Dachau! And I will have charge of only 19,000 prisoners
this time. Watta life! Boy! I get so p_ _ _ _d off! Here we had our area nicely
fixed up for winter. We move tomorrow and I’m up to my ears in work again.
Honey, I’ll be so-o glad to get home where, I hope, things are a little more
normal.
Dachau Germany
Dec 6 1945
…We’ve had much snow lately and there is
about 6 inches on the ground right now. It gives the feeling of Christmas but
it’s hard to hold, if you can understand what I mean. We had so many fine plans
for a Christmas at Heimhausen…
Dachau
Dec 15 1945
Dearest Phyl:
Boy!
this being the “Beast of
Dachau” (that’s what the boys call me now) has its advantages and its
disadvantages. They (the prisoners) give me the old snap-to stuff like I was a
king but, believe me, there are plenty of headaches. Trying to take care of
19,000 guys is quite an experience.
When
I was here before they had about 10,000 and had just been moved from poor
quarters in the field so they didn’t give much trouble. Now they’ve begun to think a bit + get kinda
tired of being cooped up. Not that they give too much trouble but any group of
19,000 are bound to have ideas…
We’ve had much snow lately but somehow I
don’t seem to mind the cold weather too much. It got down to 5 above one night
but our quarters are pretty well heated here so we don’t suffer…
Dachau
18 Dec 1945
…We have a Battalion Officers Mess here
+ eat very well. I furnish an orchestra which plays during our noon + evening
meals + they are wonderful musicians even though prisoners. The mess officer
had the enclosed list [not saved] printed the other day + they will play any of
these on request. If no requests, they play some very fine eating music such as
soft waltzes…
Dachau
19 Dec 1945
…I’m beginning to feel the Christmas
spirit…I don’t know what caused it - maybe many things. For one we are
decorating in the barracks for the men to lounge around in. Maybe you know that
we call such places the “Day Room.” Anyway, some of my boys “found” some paint
and we had prisoner painters come over and and fix it up nice. One of them is
an artist and he did a pretty good job of drawing a portrait of Truman plus our
Regimental and Division insignias. Then the boys “secured” three very beautiful
Christmas trees and talked another outfit out of some decorations. Also they
are making wreaths + long ropes of tree boughs + the place is looking very
nice.
Or
maybe it was the fact that I talked to a couple of priests who hold services
for the prisoners and we arranged a service for next Sunday (to consecrate the
church the prisoners built) and a midnight service on Christmas Eve. They were
so grateful I felt embarrassed - but sorta nice inside - if you know what I
mean…
Dachau
Christmas 1945
Merry Christmas,
sweetheart!
It
is 9 p.m. here so that means it is noon there…
At
the prison, the prisoners had quite a program of activities including special
church services, music, and an exhibition of art and handcraft which was very
wonderful. The have some of the most beautiful + original inlaid wood work I’ve ever seen. And some excellent
artwork - oil + watercolor paintings, etchings, caricature ’n everything. We hope to soon be able to sell such to give
them a regular job.
Time out
1:30
a.m.
Dammit!
Had a general alert + I’ve
been rushing about like mad. Can’t tell you any more but don’t get fussed.
Last
night Lt. Schroeder, Lt. Romme, + the Supply Officer + I went to church at 8
p.m. + heard a wonderful musical program, 90% of which was done by my SS
prisoners. They had a 20 piece orchestra, mostly string, which played many fine
numbers including all the Christmas carols. Had a short service by the Post
chaplain + then a 60 man prisoner choir sang +, honey, they really were
thrilling to hear…
Today
I slept until 11 a.m. and at 1 we had a very fine Christmas dinner - turkey +
all the trimmings…
Dachau
27 Dec 1945
…You should see what I got yesterday
from the prisoners. We have them divided into Regiments and one Regiment sent
over this very beautiful bracelet made out of hammered silver coins with my name
engraved on it + with the flags of many countries + the 9th Division insignia
on other parts. On the back is engraved “Weihnacten” (meaning Christmas, I
believe) 1945 German Boys.”
[This bracelet has been in our family
since. No one has ever worn it publicly, because the German flag has the
swastika symbol of the Nazi Party on it.]
I’m enclosing the note which was sent
with the bracelet. [Not saved, unfortunately.] Of course, I’m not
supposed to accept such things but golly, I don’t think it will hurt to accept
this. Incidentally, the first two names [on the note?] are American -
they’re my GIs who I have supervising this regiment. ..
Dachau
Jan 1, 1946
Happy
New Year, honey!
It’s darn near 10 p.m. + for a new year
we got sort of a rough start. Both yesterday + today were supposed to be
holidays but our higher commanders suddenly got ants in their pants + made the
two days kinda rough. I guess the general idea was to keep us from relaxing too
much + thus jeopardizing our security. I worked all day yesterday + last night
a bunch of us went over to the Post Officers Club. As nearly everyone was sorta
peeved at having to work we foolishly decided to throw a wing ding + as a
result my health today has not been good. And just as I was trying to enjoy a sleep
this morning I was called + told to inquest (?) my company as they believed
some of the enlisted men had frauleins in the barracks. Then a prisoner escaped
+ I had to check that + then I had a big pile of work on my desk at the prison.
This evening I started to sort our my junk + had to go get a couple more boys
the MPs [Military Policemen] had picked up. So - you see it’s been quite a day…
You
might…like the enclosed
pictures. It’s the rest of the Switzerland pictures, a couple from Haimhausen +
a couple to prove that I had a Christmas tree in my room…
The
German camp commander told me today that the prisoners wanted me to take
anything I wanted from the [art
and handcrafts]
exhibit, which I wrote you about, as their Christmas gift to me. They said they
really wanted me to have the very beautiful chair + table they made but
realized I might want something I could take home so gave me my choice. I don’t
know yet what I’ll pick but I told him I couldn’t accept a gift - per military
law- but maybe if they wanted they could loan me something…
[My father eventually accepted a
beautiful carved wooden box made by the prisoners that is still in our family.]
Dachau
6 Jan 1946
…This morning I had to run a special job
of checking two Regiments of the prisoners. It was a surprise to see if they
were keeping their records straight. I used 24 officers and 80 enlisted men +
we got done with the job about 11 a.m. Not bad considering we had over 2400 men
to check. Then I worked about two hours this p.m. + then grabbed a little nap.
So passes another “holiday.” This battalion commander of ours sure is an eager
beaver.
I’m enclosing a copy of our Regimental
paper wherein I immodestly admit that my name is mentioned. Have a couple of
the stories about my SS boys in it too. Hope you enjoy it…
[This is a reference to the January 5,
1946, vol II, No. 1 issue of “The Raider,” the official publication of the U.S.
Army’s 47th Infantry Regiment. I notice that the main public relations officer
leading the staff is a Lt. David E. Gillespie, but he has no relationship to my
father. The story my father marked has this headline: “First Battalion
Commended for Camp Discipline.” The text:
“The First Battalion and Fox company of
the 47th Infantry were commended this week for the marked improvement the
Raider personnel has made in the discipline of the former SS troopers in the
Camp Dachau lager. Prisoner escapes have also been greatly reduced since the
47th relieved Third Army units several weeks ago.
“Prior to Dec. 5, when the battalion
took charge of the camp, 2225 prisoners had escaped, either from the camp
itself or from work details. Since the Raiders have taken over only 17
prisoners have escaped, five of them from the lager. Three of the 17 were
recaptured.
“There are 18,826 SS troops and war
criminals confined in the compound and in a successful effort to bring the camp
under maximum supervision, the prisoners have been broken down into fifteen
regiments. Two enlisted men from the battalion are in charge of each regiment
and exercise strict control over the prisoners under their command.
“1/Lt. C.S. Gillespie, Baker company CO,
is commander of the entire compound, assisted by 1/Lt. P.C. Barnas…”
Another
short front-page story in the same issue has this headline: “First Prisoner Shot at Dachau SS Cage.”
The story:
“The first prisoner to be shot at the
Camp Dachau SS compound since the First Battalion of the 47th assumed charge
Dec. 5 was credited to an alert Polish guard the night of Dec. 28, it was
announced this week. Three prisoners were challenged outside the enclosure by
the guard and one was downed by a bullet when they attempted to run.”
On
page 2 of the same issue was a story about a Catholic church built by and for
the Dachau prisoners.]
Dachau
Sunday 13 Jan ’46
…we have two companies of Polish
soldiers here made up of men who volunteered to help on occupation duty. They
are excellent soldiers + since many of them were formerly imprisoned by the
Germans they have no love for the Jerries. They’re rough but likable + help us
a lot in pulling guard duty…
We
are now discharging some of the prisoners and they are pretty much in a mess.
In addition I’m losing
some more men from my company + it’s a problem how to get enough men to fill
the job. However, we manage to get the work done somehow + maybe things will
ease up soon.
On
Wednesday I leave for a 6 day pass to the 9th Division rest center…It’s only about 50 miles from here in
the Bavarian alps. They have a nice hotel on a lake, horses to ride, a few
clubs, + some skiing. All I wanta do is get away from this place for awhile +
relax…
It’s nearly 11:30 so I think I’ll hit the
sack. I got interrupted while writing this by news that one of my boys tried to
escape + got slightly shocked when he hit our electric fence. We’ve been pretty
lucky having no escapes for over two weeks now. I guess the news that we’re
going to discharge a few is tending to keep them behaving better. Besides, we’ve
found and blocked a few places where they maybe have gotten out…
9th Division Rest
Center
17 Jan 1946
…We started down here from Regt. HQ [Regiment
Headquarters] yesterday morning about 0930 + got here a little after 11. It
was a very cold ride as as we came south there was more + more snow. The rest
center is on a lake - Kochel See (see means lake) and the scenery is breath
taking. Mountains surround the lake and it really looks like pictures of those
famous winter resorts.
After
lunch yesterday I came back up on the hill where the officers stay in what used
to be the home of the leader of the Hitler Youth [Baldur von Schirach?]. The outside isn’t spectacular but inside there
are statues + old paintings (one is reported to be a Rembrandt!) + it plainly
shows evidence of money. Anyway, I nosed around + tried making several pictures
of the house + of snow.
Monday
21 Jan 1946
…Today is the day when I can put on two “hershey
bars” - the little gold stripes worn on the left sleeve and standing for six
months overseas service each.
Looking
back, it hardly seems possible that a year has passed already but when I think
of all the experiences I’ve
had it might well have been two years of normal living.
It
was about 4 am one year ago when we arrived at the dock. [This was in New York City, and he is
reminiscing about the start of his experiences one year earlier.] On the ferry across the river they
had large curtains to keep prying eyes from seeing us. A few of us managed to
peek out + as we approached the dock we saw the outline of a huge ship and much
wild guessing took place as to whether it was ours.
We
struggled on to the dock with all our gear + had to climb up several flights of
stairs into a big warehouse. There we had a short break during which the Red
Cross gave us donuts + good hot coffee -Tasted swell!
Rather
soon they began calling last names + we answered by giving our first name +
middle initial + then walked across a covered runway onto the huge boat. We
soon learned it was the Queen Mary. Then we were assigned rooms + I had a very
nice one with one other officer + 4 Red Cross men. And so, later in the day we
pulled out + sailed past the Statue of Liberty + of course we all hoped we’d see it again. I surely hope that I
have as nice I trip back as I did coming over + I get to see the old gal like
we did going out.
This
stay here at the Rest Center has certainly been wonderful…Yesterday I tried skiing and really
enjoyed it a lot. Took many tumbles but had a whole lot of fun. And I didn’t do
too badly either…[Then goes to Garmisch and sees an ice skating exhibit at
the place where the ski jumping and skating competitions were held in the 1936
Winter Olympics.]
…Perhaps by now your papers have had a
story similar to the enclosed. Yep - that’s my place but I was down here, not
there, when it happened. [No newspaper article enclosed, so I’m not sure
what the reference is to…] Don’t know whether I’m lucky or unlucky - anyway
I missed it. The story is much wrong on these people were being sent home to be
set free, according to the Russian liaison officers who were there when I was.
It was unfortunate but just another aftermath of war…
Rest Center
Wed Jan 23 1946
…I just had a report of some news which
I hope + pray is true. one officer who came here today to visit told me just a
short time ago that he had seen an order about a Lt. Gillespie from the 47th
Inf who had received the Bronze Star medal. Now there is another Lt. Gillespie
in our Regt, as I believe I told you before, but I know that I was put in for
another Bronze Star about 3 months ago + that up to the time I left it had not
been turned down.
So,
as soon as I get back tonight I’ll
know for sure. And if it is correct that will give me 70 points + make me eligible
to go home! - right now!…Boy, I’m chewing my nails + working up a fever hoping
that it is correct. I’m almost superstitious about being too optimistic but
maybe our luck is changing like I said the other day.
I
sort of dreaded going back to Dachau after all the wonderful time I’ve spent down here…[Talks about
feeling healthy and skiing again for four hours the day before. Sun and
exercise and rest healing him.]…
We’re due to leave in about half an hour
so I’d better get my stuff down the hill where the rest of the boys are to meet
the truck. This time we ride to Munich by train + then to Dachau by truck. Hope
the trucks meet us at Munich as I won’t rest until I see if that news is
correct.
[In the collection of letters at this
point is a copy of his second Bronze Star citation:]
HQ 9th Inf Div
16 Jan 1946
Gen Orders No 3
Award of Oak Leaf
Cluster to Bronze Star Medal for Heroism
By
direction of the President, under the provision of Executive Order No 9419, 4
Feb 1944 (sec II Bul 3 W D 1944), and pursuant to authority in AR 600-45, 22
Sept 1943, as amended, an Oak Leaf Cluster to the Bronze Star Medal for heroic
achievement not involving participation in aerial flight in connection with
military operations against an enemy of the United States on the date indicated
is awarded the following named officer:
First
Lieutenant Claud S. Gillespie, 0292876, Infantry, United States Army. On 19
April 1945 near Ballenstadt, Germany, 1st Lt Gillespie’s mortar platoon moving in convoy suddenly
encountered heavy enemy tank and panzerfaust fire at a roadblock near
Ballenstadt, Germany. With complete disregard for his own personal safety, he
led four volunteers who exposed themselves to direct enemy fire to remove the
roadblock. Then they moved the vehicles off the road to safety. Still under
heavy enemy fire he directed the emplacement of mortars and machine guns and
place effective fire upon the enemy positions in support of the attacking rifle
company. 1st Lt Gillespie’s aggressive leadership, devotion to duty, and courageous
actions contributed materially to the success of the operations and was a
credit to himself and to the Armed Forces of the United States. Entered
military service from California.
Dachau
24 Jan 1946
…This is my last night in Dachau.
Tomorrow I go to an Engineer outfit on the first step of my way home! By now I
presume you + the folks have the cable I sent. They words they offer for use
weren’t too good but I hope you got the idea.
When
I got back last night there were about 20 officers waiting for me. They told me
I got another Bronze Star giving me 5 more points + that I was on orders to
ship today. Then without even letting me clean up they took me to the club +
proceeded to throw a farewell party…I managed to sneak out about midnight so today I was in pretty good
shape.
I
was supposed to go today but I had to turn over the property of my company +
clear up all the unfinished business. Tomorrow at 0730 I go by jeep to Regt +
then to a place near Augsburg. From there I don’t know where I go next but I’m on my way!
If
you get no or very little mail it is because I won’t be able to write. In any event I’ll let you
know when I hit the States. I’d guess it will be a month before I land
but I’ll try to keep you informed.
Isn’t the world wonderful?!..
Gunzburg Germany
27 Jan 1946
…Wotta life this is compared to what it
was at Dachau! I left Friday at 0830 + got here about 1030. This is an Engineer
Battalion + they originally were scheduled to leave Monday - tomorrow - but the
date was postponed about 1 week. They’ve turned in almost all their equipment +
are just waiting to go. There will be about 800 men + 30 officers in the group.
They get all set here + then when the word comes we go by train to the port -
another two days in box cars!- + within a day or two climb on the boat! Honey,
pray that it will be a big one or I’ll have a rough trip because I’m not too
good a sailor. But I don’t care - unless there are many unforeseen delays I
should hit New York sometime in February…
Bremerhaven, Germany
2 Feb 1946
…Not more than 800 yards from where I
lie here in my bunk is the North Sea and maybe some day there will appear in
that Sea a ship which will take me home. Right now it looks like it might be
some time before that happens…We left [Gunzburg?] Thursday a.m. at 0930.
About an hour later that discovered that one of the box cars had caught on fire
so we stopped while it was disconnected from the rest of the train…we finally
got long poles and pushed it (by hand) about 1/4 mile up to where we were able
to put if off on a siding. It was a bad piece of luck for the boys in two of
the companies (about 360 men) who had
all their baggage in it except what they were carrying + not a thing could be
saved. The can replace their clothes but lots of them had souvenirs they were
taking home + lots of personal stuff...
We
got here last night at 10 p.m…This
is the first place where I’ve seen regular Army steel beds + mattresses + they
feel swell…
Sunday 3 Feb 1946
1300
…in a few days I’ll be passing my 35th
birthday…
[Almost daily
letters from Bremerhaven as the assembled soldiers wait for ships to take them
back to the U.S.]
Bremerhaven 19 Feb.
…This waiting for a ship certainly puts
one in a mental fog…
Bremerhaven
22 Feb. 1946
…I’m enclosing a copy of the second
Bronze Star citation I got…The folks might like to see it. What I like most
about it is that it gave me the extra five points necessary to get started home…
Bremerhaven
Monday 25 Feb 1115
…The boat is supposed to arrive today
but up to now they’re not sure it will. It is believed on the way from LeHavre…
This
will be my last letter to you from over here. We’ve had such fine correspondence, haven’t we? I’ll
probably have to learn to talk to you instead of writing. Maybe now + then I’ll
write you a letter - just for the hell of it.
The
next you hear from me will be by phone or telegram from the U.S. In fact, that
may be before you receive this letter.
Hasta
luego [See you later in
Spanish], my sweet— this
is Gil signing off from Germany. Next appearance - U.S.A.
Bremerhaven
27 Feb 1946
…Of necessity, this becomes another
last letter. Yep! we got fouled up again.
We
were all set to load yesterday morning. We were supposed to get on a train at
0840 for a 15 minute ride to the dock. At 0800 comes the word - “Your boat will not leave for from 7-10
days because of engine trouble”!
Then
later in the day they reassigned us to another boat (the sixth for us) which is expected to arrive
tomorrow, the 28th. Then later yesterday they said the new boat probably wouldn’t
arrive until March 1. I dunno- it beats hell out of me what the score is.
It
would appear that we’d
better plan on me getting there just sometime. I’ll believe we’ve
actually left when we’re halfway across the Atlantic. Hence, I will not try to
predict when the date will be for me to actually arrive home…
So
long, honey. I’ll see
you - when?
All my love
Gil
[Last letter in
the collection]
Postscript:
Sometime
late in his stay in Europe or before he was discharged, Claud S. “Gil” Gillespie was promoted to the
rank of Captain.
After
a ship voyage across the Atlantic and a train trip across the U.S., he finally
made it home to Los Angeles in late March of 1946 to see his fiancee Phyllis Tetard,
to whom he had written all these letters (and who saved them all). He and Phyllis got married on April 23, 1946,
at First English Lutheran Church in Los Angeles.
He
was officially on active duty until he was formally discharged on May 18, 1946,
as a Captain in the United
States Army. His term of service during World War II lasted for four years and
two months—from March 17, 1942, to May 18, 1946.
He
and Phyllis were married for 54 years before he passed away at the age of 89 in
2000.
