Nuremberg Guards

Hi all,

New poster, so please be gentle with me

Am working on my family tree and my great uncle was supposedly a guard at the Numerberg Trials and i was wondering if anyone knew if there was any source of information thru which i could confirm if this was true or not please?

Many thanks
Tony

 

Do you have any information on your uncle's military service? such as which branch he served in... when he joined/was drafted... where he was stationed? Or are you just beginning your search?

 

Welcome tonyt,

great to have you here with us!

Also hope to hear more of your great uncle!

 

Thanks for the welcome, great forum!

Sorry, have only just begun my search so currently know nothing about his service. Unfortunately he passed away some years ago.

All the info i know is his name was William (Bill) Edwards (still working on getting his birth date) and he is my maternal great uncle. I knew him fairly well (i thought) but he never spoke about the war and i never thought to ask.

The nuremberg story came about as myself and my parents were going to take him (and my nan, his dead brothers wife, they had shared a house after her husband died in 1954) on holiday to Germany. He refused to go due to his, lets say, "dislike" of the german people. This was apparently due to the things he witnessed as a guard at the trials.

He also took part in the normandy landings, and i'm told he landed at/near Dieppe.

He would of been living in (or around) Woodgreen/Tottenham at the time of the war. So maybe an essex or middlesex regiment?

Sorry, but that's all i have at the moment.

Many thanks
Tony

 

Just realised the phrase I was told was he "escaped from dieppe"

Would this be operation jubilee rather than the normandy landings?

Sorry, my WW2 history is pretty pathetic!

Thanks
Tony

 

Just got some information that means it was almost certainly operation jubilee as he went out to dieppe with "canadians"?

So I guess he was probably in No3 or No4 Commando? Or seconded(sp?) to a canadian division?

 

You're British, then? Yes, Jubilee predated Overlord (the Normandy invasion) by almost two years. If memory serves, the Allied forces landing at Dieppe (August 1942) in Operation Jubilee were: British Commandos and Royal Marines; Canadian forces; and a small number of US Army Rangers. It was not a successful operation for the Allies, who suffered about a 2/3 casualty rate -- out of 6,000 to 6,100 men.

Have you tried searching for it? Here's one link from my bookmarks to get you started -- but be aware that the Canadian sites might be best, as they had by far the largest number of troops in this operation --

World War Two -- scroll down about halfway and look for the links on the left -- Dieppe

As far as the Nurnberg Trials stuff goes, that started with the International Military Tribunal in about November 1945 -- with England, France, Russia, and the US. I know that the US Army had troops there -- I'm not sure which troops the Brits sent there -- but I doubt that it would have been the Commandos -- though don't quote me on that.

Again, you may come up with some info by searching online -- for example, is there a site online with military records for England?

Good luck, Tony -- don't hesitate to ask more questions -- there are lots of folks on this forum ready and willing to help get you off in the right direction.

 

Many thanks for the info

I don't think details of soldiers who served are available online as yet, and i believe you have to be a direct next of kin to get the info from the MOD. With a great uncle i don't think i'll get away with claiming next of kin

Until this info becomes more readily available i'll probably have to settle for adding a page on operation jubilee to my website and leave the nuremberg stuff as a footnote to follow up on

My maternal grandad Herbert, Williams brother, was on the barrage balloons in london during WW2 (having been recalled from the front in WW1 as he was under age) so will have to add a page on this too. Thankfully i have his Discharge Papers & Character Reference so at least i know a bit more about his service than Williams

Still need to investigate others like my Dad (fleet air arm) & his brother (RAF)

Unfortunately all of them have passed away, just wish i'd been more interested in my family history years ago!

Many thanks to everyone

Tony

 

I didn't realize that the barrage balloons had people on them -- I thought that they were just tethered up there, empty, cuz the tethers created barriers for the attacking planes. I guess that I just learned something new, here Never too old

 

LOL, I asked for that!

 

Couldn't resist! Thanks for being such a sport

 

hi tony, i am also new.
but, interestingly enough my uncle was a guard at nuremberg. he went to war at the age of 17. He is still alive and well living in Ontario. he doesn't talk about the war much to any of us, but we all know that nuremberg shattered something deep inside him. maybe we could start a list for genealogical purposes. i will contact him as soon as I can (i live in the west).......... but i am in the process of a move so unfortunately wont be able to get back on line for a bit. my dad just passed away at the age of 91.

patsy

 

I was given a swiss watch, supposidly from Rudolf Hess given to a Canadain guard at Nuremberg - I am trying to find rhis guard and verify the name brand of the watch

any help?

CV

 

Hello Tony--You might pick up a copy of William Stevenson's A man called Intrepid.
True account of the secret intelligence war and the real reason behind Operation Jubilee and why, although costly, it was a huge success in capturing Germany's radar secrets which helped saved countless lives at Normandy. Good luck on your quest--lots of work and time, but worth every minute.

 

I met a gentleman tonight..my neighbor who states he was also a guard at the nurenberg trials. That brought me to this site and your post. Give me a name and I will speak with him. Where is your uncle from? What age was he in 1945?

Dave

 

I have enjoyed reading everyones threads posted here and that is the sole reason I have joined. My grandfather served in the 18th infantry batallion 1st division, Daniel J. Keller. He passed away just last year and I know that he was a guard during the Nuremberg trials. He has told me a few things about what he did there and what he saw and he had a little notebook with the signatures of the prisoners with which I have copies. But I too would like to know more about what his position was during that time and want to learn more about his contributions was. It is very stressful searching thru archives coming up empty handed and would like to research more for my own personal knowledge. All that I know is that there were one guard per prisoner and they were watched 24/7. He spoke of the suicide in the cell and the stories that he told me I just want to verify. Does anyone know where I can read about the nuremberg trials from the guards perspective? Thank you so much for your time and I am looking forward to getting into many discussions.

 

JKeller, here are some links that may help you:

Al Cohen-Nuremberg Tribunals

He guarded top Nazis at Nuremberg trials; now he'll share his story

He guarded top Nazis at Nuremberg trials; now he'll share his story

Truman Library: The War Crimes Trials at Nuremberg Online Research File

WWII History Magazine - November '09 Issue - Gaurding the War Criminals" + (pg + 1) + "

 

Although not written from the guards' perspective, a book that you may find interesting is Douglas M. Kelley's '22 Cells In Nuremberg' ( WH Allen, London, 1947 ).

Kelley was the psychiatrist appointed to the Nuremberg jail, and his book has descriptions of jail life and routine as well as pen-portraits of the inmates.

 

hi have just joined after just finding this site, i am looking for some information on my dad he also was a guard at the nuremberg trials, i now he joined the army in 1943 as a volenteer pti instructor he then went over to normandy and helped lie the petrol lines ( from talking to some people about the normandy pipe lines you had to be a comando of a sort to help with this) my dad then went and helped at the nuremberg trials i have a newspaper from when he was over there and he did a interview he said that he was involved in black market raids and was also taking id on the front gates of the trials. he then goes on to say that he was on guard at the cells that the germans were in! he was a member of the 18th infantry 1st brittailon. From what i can put together my dad must have stayed till the end of the trials and then stayed for the other 12 trials that run after! when my dad was very poorly just before he passed away he used to talk about the peters ( which was the sells the germans was in) and how small they where, my dad as many other relatives on this site never spoke about what went on over there! i would love to get intouch with anyone that has relatives that is still alive that served with my dad! my dads name is ernest townsend born in oldham 1924! he loved playing piano and from what i know he did over there to keep people entertained! i hope people are still looking at this site i would love to hear from somebody thanks very much x ERNIE

 

hi i am hoping you still look at this site i have only just found it can you ask your neighbough if he knew anyone in the 18th infantry 1st brittalion my dads name was ernest townsend from oldham manchester born 1924 would love to hear something back thanks! could you pls ask him does he have any pictures to thanyou very much ERNIE