Walter Marlowe, 101st Airborne Division

Sir.. my grandfather was there.. 1st Engineer Special Bragde 531st Engineer Shore Regiment. He remembers this day and D-day very well.. Tho since it was so hush.. he did not know that it was German E-boats.. He said he was to busy with all that was going on to notice.. He said his unit blew a hole in the beach big enough to put a train in it.. he said it was 2 ton of c-4 and it blew the roof off a beach house over a mile away..

Pa was on Utah an hour or so before 0630.. He said it was a few guys from the 531st that brought the soilder out of the bell tower Of St. Mary Eglise..

I thank you and honor you for your loyalty and service to our country!!

I hope to get Pa on here or atleast give me a few stories to pass on here..

 

Unfortunately, the modern media tends to have little knowledge about World War II and uses stock photography without realizing the detailed differences between training pictures and the real action.

 

Thank you, Mr. Marlowe. I appreciate any memories you are willing to share with us.

 

Mr. Marlowe, great to hear from you again!!

 

great to read,thanks mr.marlowe,pics too,ray..

 

ladies and gentelman:

i had upmost contemt for the Sutzstafflen. Many of their leader were inmy belief of the German Criminal class. We were perfectlt content to send them to the happy hunting ground.

No. 2 on our hate list was the Volksgrenider Units they were slightly less political than the SS.

As Ever,
Walter L. Marlowe

( Airborne all the Way)

 

Mr. Marlowe:
I went the other direction and learned some Japanese and tried to drop my ordinance on the right spot and not on a panel.
Write on.....

 

Dear Fighter Pilots:

Your cohorts in the IX fighter did a great job in Holland. They wre johnny on thespot when we needed them. Our FAC Officer with his jeep and radio was one of our keys to staying alive.

Thank for your work in the Pacific. I hope they appreciated your work

As Ever,

Walter L. Marlowe

(Airborne all the Way)

 

Mr. Marlowe,

Hope you don't mind me asking.

1. Would you mind to tell us when and why did you learn a contempt for the SS? Did you hear or witness indecent treatment of POWs or civilians by its members?

2. Why and when did you do the same for Volksgrenadiers? According to some books, the after the July coup Hitler appointed the Waffen-SS for the training and indoctrination of all new infantry (Volksgrenadier) divisions. Was the extend of Nazification of them more successful then what we (common researchers) have been lead to believe?

3. Was the general impression that Volksgrenadier Divisions were generally of low quality, composed of low category men with very little training or morale, with some exceptions made for old units reconstituted with Kriegsmarine/Luftwaffe personel?

4. You said previously that in ABN units, a platoon has three 15 men squads armed with two M1919s. Every German infantry squad of 9 had one machine gun and their mechanized infantry had two. Did you ever feel outgunned on the small unit level? And did any paratroopers found use with BARs?

 

ladies and Gentelman:

I on an unofficia basis augmented my firepower by recovering M1919 cal .30 machine guns from disabled British M 4 tanks. When XVII Airborne Corp. became our commanders we ere visited by some of their staff officers. One wanted to what were all the non TE Machine guns that were in the trailer of my jeep? I pointed out to him they were results of battlefied recovery and that my command people were aware of the presence.

They left and to take it up with higher commsnd but I never heard about it. I used the extra gun for situations in wich I need additional firepower.

As Ever,

Walter L. Marlowe

( Airborne all the Way)

 

Mr. Marlow..
You can NEVER have too much fire power!!!!!

 

Ladies and Gentelman:

The primary reason after Normandy we got very few SS as POW s. The 17th SS Slaughtered wounded paras of the 507th and french villagers. Needless to say this became known in the ranks an they took steps.

The volks grenidiers were german army formations that were brought up to stength by Hitler Jugen( Hitler Youth). These were very political people that thought A. Hitler pissed lemonade. We did not like them

Those are the facts as I recall them.

As Ever,

Walter L. Marlowe

( Airborne all the Way)

 

Can't argue with that reasoning. When an opponent conducts business in such a savage way, it tends to stiffen resolve and motivation across the board. You'll find no critics here.

 

:lol: my laugh for the day!

 

Ladies and Gentelman:

On May 19,1944 we were in reciept of Divisional Field Order No.1. My regiment recived 5 copies. All line officers that could do staff work arrived a regimental HQ on the evening May 19 to draft our field order No.1

The divisional field order assigned our mission as follows.
Extract:

502 Parachute Infantry with the 377th Parachute Field Artillery Bn attached linding on Drop Zone "A" will destry the enemy battery located west of ST.MARTIN- DE-VARREVILLE (405980) and will sieze the western edge of the inundated area back of UTAH BEACH between ST. MARTIN-DE- VARREVILLE(405980) and AUDOUVILLE -LA -HUBERT(4096), both inclusive prior to H-hour. It will protect the north flank of the Division within the regimental sector. See Annex No. 3. Upon being relieved by the 4th Inf.Div. it will assemble in place prepared for movement to the southwest. See Annex 3a.

We then wrote regimental Field Order and had it printed before 16o Hours of the 21st of May. We were then told that all present could not leave the unit area with out written permission of the Commanding General. Since we knew the location we were considederd BIGOTED.

When we returned to units all we could say the chore was done. Before I left the conference I asked Fred Drennon a senior 1st Lt. now commanding the Company,if I could have 3 door bundled. He asked what for? I suggested ammo and batteries incaes we could not find the parapacks dropped. He took to see Captain Hatch now Bn Operations Officer and gave his approval.

I told my platoon sergeant ther would no discussion untill regiment gave the OK by I wanted a complete weapons check. Fred Drennon told that a briefing would be held on June 3. All equipment had to have a final check before June 1.

The word came down that our quarters would be changed on June 2. At night I began to read the Michlin Guidebook I had purchased in London. The part about Normandy and St. Martin de varreville got most of the attention.

As Ever,

Walter L. Marlowe

(Airborne All the Way)

 

Sir,

First of all let me thank you for finding the time to respond to my inquiries via PM. With your permission I would like to share them with the rest of the broad on this thread.

Mr. Marlowe's answer:

 

Mr. Marlowe,
I have spoken to a local gentleman who was there on D-Day, and after. He said the first time he shot a "kid" in a German uniform it bothered him. He then said that a friend was next to him and was shot, when they found and eliminated the threat it was a very young German boy. After that, he said, "If they are old enough to kill my friends, they're old enough to be killed".
Did you ever experience anything like that?
John

 

Surfsami:

The only person I killed that I examined was a young panzergrenidier in Holland. In order to notify the Red Cross i had to get his military paybook. It showed that he was drafted just before his 19th birthday and the only job he had had was working on the family farm. I told in my best German to drop his rifle and he didint so I shot.

Sorry i cant give more details but you dont see a lot in combat and things happen quickly.

as Ever,

Walter L. Marlowe

( Airborne all the Way)

 

Thank you for your reply, I guess I should have made my statement and question more appropiate, I didn't mean to have you recall a graphic event, sorry if that happened, I was more interested in the way you might have felt and dealt with the incident. Thankfully I have never been at war, and hope I never have to fight in one. I can only imagine from my personalities view, and my moral beliefes, how I might react in that situation.
You and other war veterans on this site have given me a great deal of insite, and plenty to reflect upon and to be thankful for. Thank you!

 

Notify the Red Cross? For what services? Did they help with burial and registry?