D-Day Plus Seventy Years: My Uncle's Souvenirs of the Invasion of Normandy 1944

My Uncle Theo, a Texan, took part in the D-Day Invasion of Normandy in June of 1944.  He was a medic with the 2nd Armored Division and didn't land on Normandy Beach until June 7 -- D-Day + One.  When he died in 1957, he left us a suitcase filled with war mementos, collected from the invasion of Sicily (Italy) and also the Normandy invasion (France).  There were Nazi wallets, Italian uniform buttons, German, Italian and French cash and coins, German medals, a German first aid kit, German eating utensils, some unfired bullets, Nazi patches, and even a black Nazi helmet.  I still have most of these mementos, carefully preserved.

As a child going through the suit case, handling the artifacts, I could sense momentous events, Germans and Americans, horror and death. The Nazi wallets were stuffed with personal pictures of handsome young German soldiers posing with friends, family and sweethearts.  This impressed on me the reality of war.  These dead Germans were human beings, and I could feel a certain empathy for them while still hating their cause.  But if somebody had to die, I thought, better them than us.  We didn't start this war.

Uncle Theo? (Sitting)

I noticed a sour smell in the suitcase that seemed to emanate from an orange colored plastic bottle.  It had German writing on the side, so I didn't know what it was for.  Years later, a friend who spoke German told me the bottle contained a salve for rubbing on the skin after a chemical or gas attack.  Now, all these years later, I still associate that sour chemical smell with D-Day.  I still have that orange bottle, but the smell is very faint now.  My uncle's suitcase, which had absorbed much of the smell, crumbled into dust years ago.  I now store his Normandy items in a large, plastic, sealed storage box.


Looking at many pictures of D-Day, however, I get an impression that it was rainy and wet.  It was a massive logistics operation, moving men, weapons, supplies and machines onto Normandy Beach.  LST's, a small ship with doors that opened in the bow, pushed their noses up close to the beach.  A special bridge built by British engineers provided the runway from the LST bows to the beach.  The LST's opened their large doors and expelled tanks, trucks, jeeps, artillery and long lines of troops.  Funny to think that 70 years have passed since that great undertaking -- a lifetime ago.

LSTs Unloading Men, Weapons and Machines
Normandy Beach,  June 1944
(Click to see full size)

Life Magazine printed photographs of the Normandy invasion, and there is a photo of a balding, husky soldier sitting near the water's edge, next to a line of dead American soldiers, most of who drowned coming ashore.   They wore their army life jackets (actually, a doughnut shaped, inflatable tube) too low on their bodies, and the life jackets flipped them over, pointing their heads down into the water, drowning them.  The Army life jackets were poorly designed -- Navy jackets didn't do this.

My father wrote to my uncle, who was at that time "somewhere in France," sending him a clipping of the photo, and asking if it were him.  I still have his letter in response, a letter headed "In France" and dated August 17, 1944.  He wrote "About the clipping you sent [the answer] is yes, but I probably could give no details now.  You see, this division has been under rigid censorship for two years, being an arm'd [armored] division."  However, Unc is facing away from the camera, so we will never be able to prove it (but dang, it sure looks like him to me).  That's the photo above.

As the allied troops moved off the beaches and into the French interior, my uncle went with them, winning both a Bronze Star and a Silver Star for tending the wounded under heavy small arms and artillery fire, near Carentan, France.  He also won his second Purple Heart prior to the Battle of the Bulge (the first was in Sicily), when he was wounded and sent back to England to recover.

The Coast of Normandy as It Looks Today:

The American Cemetery is to the right, the last resting place for those who died on the beaches.

Some of the Artifacts Brought Back From Normandy
by My Uncle Theo, Pvt, 2nd Armored Division

Photo:  On the left is a photo I took of some of Unc's Normandy artifacts.  There's a picture of someone's sweetheart, a German First Aid kit, two wallets, a gray leather cartridge box that was affixed to a soldier's belt, a spoon/fork combination in a gray leather holder that also strapped onto a soldier's belt, that orange bottle mentioned earlier, a case that held the orange bottle, a real Nazi helmet in near-pristine condition, some wallets, a patch, some medals, a German soldier's belt bucklet, some bullets, and one more wallet.

I will make a second post of some of the pictures that my uncle found in wallets of fallen Nazi soldiers during the Normandy invasion.  These pictures, except for Alfred Schmid, have not been published anywhere before.

See post below this one for those pictures.

Pictures Taken From Fallen Nazis In the Invasion of Normandy, 1944 -- by My Uncle Who Was There

Here are some of the photos that my uncle recovered from fallen German soldiers during the invasion of Normandy (D-Day), seventy years ago.  These photos have not been published before -- they are the personal photos of German families and friends, carried by German troops who died in France on and after D-Day.  Click on each photo to see it full size.

Corporal Franz Schmid.  This photo was found in the wallet of a friend or relative at Normandy.  This soldier probably died on the Russian Front, perhaps in the Battle of Kursk.  He is painfully young in this picture.

The verbiage is from a death announcement that also bore this photo, found in the same wallet.  It was printed in German and translated by a German friend of mine.

Click to view full size.

UPDATE:  I found the German Military Graves Commission website and database online, and Franz Schmid is listed.  He did indeed die in the battle of Kursk, Russia and is buried at the German cemetery there, Besedino.  The database gives a slightly different birthdate for Franz, Oct 18, 1920 rather than Oct 20, 1920.  Here is the online record:

Unknown boy, wearing the uniform of the Hitler Youth.  This pic of this young man was found in one of the wallets my uncle recovered from the body of a fallen Nazi soldier at Normandy -- probably a relative of the fallen soldier who owned the wallet.

I have been researching this uniform for a couple of hours, and have learned that the uniform is that of the the German Reichsarbeitdienst (RAD), or German National Work Service.  It is not of the Hitler Youth as I originally thought, though the jacket is almost identical, and the hat similar, to those of the Hitler Youth.  The RAD was formed in July of 1934 as the official state and party labor service.  It was an auxiliary service to the military, but was not part of the military, even though it's members wore military style uniforms.

German youth between 18 and 25 were obligated to serve six months in the RAD or other national service, and then two years in the military after that.  

The cool hat being worn by this man is a Robin Hood RAD cap.  The RAD symbol on the front of the cap is the head of a shovel.




Alfred Schmid, probably the brother of Franz Schmid above.  Papers in the wallet identified this man.  He too fell in battle, also on the Russian front.

He is wearing a dress uniform complete with white gloves and a ceremonial sword.

It appears the photograph was taken in his living room.

German soldiers in an army barracks, possibly during basic training.  They are goofing off, mugging at the camera and striking poses.  Look at one man holding crossed bayonets, and another with a bayonet in his teeth.

I wonder how many of these young men survived the war.

This photograph always seemed sad and poignant to me.  A German soldier is kissing his sweetheart, perhaps before shipping out.  His name and that of his sweetheart are unknown.

Update:  Reader Doug Kursk says the eagle on this soldier's arm indicates he was a member of the SS, presumably the Waffen SS, who went into battle like other troops.

Two German soldiers on a motorcycle -- names and location unknown.

German soldiers on a train.  The little boy among them is interesting and puzzling.

Undoubtedly someone's mom, tending chickens back home while her sons went off to fight and die in Hitler's war.  Name and location unknown -- undoubtedly somewhere in Germany.

Some German soldier's sister, sweetheart or wife.  She was cute and had a nice smile.  Name and location unknown -- undoubtedly somewhere in Germany.


















I have additional photos from the wallets, but not all are interesting.  There's a group of boys in Bavarian dress, playing accordions outside a shop; pictures apparently from Russia, and others.

Tomorrow's Post Will Be Interesting! Includes Photos Taken From Fallen German Soldiers (by My Uncle at Normandy)

Since it is the 70th anniversary of D-Day tomorrow, I have put some effort into my posts for that day.  I tell some personal tales of my Uncle Theo who went ashore on Normandy Beach on D-Day + 1 (and appeared in a Life photo on the beach).

Unc helped himself to the wallets of dead German soldiers, plucking them from their pockets and bringing them home as souvenirs.   These wallets contain the personal and family pictures of the German soldiers, some of which are quite poignant.  Adolf Hitler was not only the biggest SOB in modern history, he was the biggest SOB to the German people too -- sacrificing millions of their sons in an evil and ultimately, fruitless war.

The posts will publish automatically at 11:59 PM tonight and 12:00 AM tomorrow.

Tune in!

D-Day + 69 Years

This week, Rush Limbaugh visited Normandy, France and toured the scenes of D-Day, the allied invasion of Nazi-held France, 69 years ago today.

No matter how much time passes, that day in history will always be foremost in my mind, when I think of valor and courage and victory over evil.  I hope to visit Normandy, and Omaha Beach, before I die.  I would like to pay my respects to the American dead, thousands of whom are buried there under white marble crosses and green grass.

Rush describes his impressions and emotions of the visit here.

On the 40th anniversary of D-Day, President Ronald Reagan gave one of his most inspiring speeches at the scene, "The Boys of Pointe Du Hoc."  Here it is.

D-DAY REMEMBERED: 68 YEARS AGO TODAY

I created this image from an actual modern photograph of Omaha Beach, with overlaid figures of actual American soldiers who landed there 68 years ago today. D-Day was one of the bloodiest and costliest battles in American war history. We should never forget those who died there.

D-Day, June 6, 1944: 66 Years Ago Today

Thanks to my French reader Annie, of Paris, who reminded me that today is the 66th anniversary of D-Day.

Here is a video and photographic remembrance of that historic day.

Remembering D-Day

Today marks the 63rd anniversary of D-Day, the massive allied invasion of Nazi-occupied France. On June 6, 1944 American, British and Canadian troops landed on the Normandy coast amid stiff Nazi resistance. The Americans landed on the worst beach, "Bloody Omaha." More than 130,000 allied troops landed on Normandy that first day. Many were killed before firing a shot. Able Company, the first company ashore, suffered severe casualties. Some landing craft were sunk and never made it to shore; one that did land had its entire content of soldiers machine gunned seconds after the ramp dropped. Everyone of them was killed.

Only two riflemen from Company A fought effectively that day. They joined a Ranger battallion and fought with them. In one day, American fatalities were greater than those suffered in four years in Iraq.

To fully comprehend the horror that day, read "First Wave at Omaha Beach" by S.L.A. Marshall.

Our friends at the French blog "Support American Soldiers" also has an extensive article on D-Day, complete with pictures and maps.

Give a thought today to the thousands of soldiers who died and those who survived. They were heroes in ways we cannot begin to understand.

My uncle went ashore on Omaha Beach on D-Day+1. He was a medic. Before the invasion, he (and all other soldiers) received a printed message from General Eisenhower. I have that message, along with other artifacts from my uncle's participation. A scanned copy of it is below. Click on the image to see it full size.