POST EIGHTY-NINE "OFF TO WAR"

 

    

    The day of departure for Charles D. Knight and the rest of the 2nd Infantry Division has arrived in early October 1943. The 76th Division is arriving to replace the "Indianheads" as they head to Camp Shanks, New York. 

    The atmosphere is filled with tension, excitement and fear as they board the train for the east coast of the United States. They know they are on their way to Camp Shanks possibly but that was about it except they knew they were heading to war. All their months of training would be put to the test beyond their wildest expectations. "All gave some, Some gave all" but the 2nd Infantry Division was definitely "SECOND TO NONE". This day, however, is getting to Camp Shanks, New York.

Hawaiian Merchant 

Hawaiian Shipper (the sister ship of the Hawaiian Merchant shown above in this post) was a 7,775 GRT Modified Type C3 cargo ship which was built in 1941 by Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company, Kearny, New Jersey for the United States War Shipping Administration. She was transferred to the Ministry of War Transport (MoWT) and renamed Empire Fulmar. She was transferred to the United States Maritime Commission (USMC) in 1942 and renamed Hawaiian Shipper.

The ship was 492 feet in (149.96 m) overall, 465 feet in (141.73 m) between perpendiculars, with a beam of 69 feet 6 in (21.18 m). She had a depth of 33 feet 6 in (10.21 m) at the free-board deck, 42 feet 6 inches (12.95 m) at the shelter deck and a draught of 28 feet 7 7⁄16 inches (8.72 m). She was assessed at 7,730 GRT (represents the total internal volume of a vessel).

Hawaiian Shipper was a member of Convoy UT 3, which departed from New York on 7 October 1943, with 2,200 troops of the 15th Field Artillery  Battalion and arrives near Liverpool on 17 October 1943.

However, before getting near to Liverpool, Northern Ireland, my uncle wrote a letter home on October 16, 1943.

4 5/8 by 3 3/4 inches

V-MAIL 4 1/4 by 5 inches

 Yes, my dear Uncle Charlie while still on the high seas of the Atlantic Ocean writes and sends a letter home. It is called a V-MAIL which I will explain at the bottom of this post. You will notice on the above letter the date he wrote it and the date his mother and family received it. Wrote it on October 16, 1943, and the family received it December 24, 1943, after receiving  nine other letters written in Northern Ireland.

HERE IS THE LETTER

Dear Mother and All,

    From somewhere on the high seas. I'm sending you folks the few lines to let you know I'm swell and safe. I know you have been waiting for a long time for just a word. You will notice this won't be much about what's going on as that is out for the duration but someday we'll sit around the family table and talk it over. Please don't worry.

    As I told you about being on the high seas guess it will be alright to let you know I haven't been seasick but gee I sure feel sorry for some of the fellows. I partly know now what gramps was talking about when he told of his fishing trips.

    I received three of your letters sent to my new address. It has been sometime since then and a letter will sure seem good. I tried to send back that picture you wanted but it wouldn't go through. I have both of them with me. The one of you, Dad and I. Sure came out swell.

    If you are a little late on Christmas presents it will be okay but please don't worry about Christmas. I'll try to make a few plans later if I can. As for now I can't plan a thing.

    I heard Helen was working in the office. I believe they have have one if not two afternoons a week off. I think you would enjoy going to Portland with her if you could. If you did give her my address she didn't write but after all why should she. Well, Mom, God only knows when I'll be home but the day can't come too soon. Realizing I have a praying mother will be a great help. Give my love to all. With love from your Son, Charles.

  

The voyage across was made without undue incident, and on October 17, 1943, the Division began arriving in the Irish Sea off Belfast. Disembarking at the Irish port of Belfast on 18 October 1943. 

 TROOPS OF THE 2ND INFANTRY DIVISION DEBARK OCT 18, 1943 AT BELFAST, NORTHERN IRELAND

MAJOR GENERAL ROBERTSON COMANDER DEBARKING OCT 18, 1943 IN BELFAST, NORTHERN IRELAND

BELOW ARE OTHER SOLDIERS ARRIVING IN BELFAST 

The units of the Division moved by rail to points in County Armagh and County Down, North Ireland. They then marched to the billets they would occupy, in hutments, castles, manor-houses, and factories, throughout the scattered Irish towns and hamlets. Division Headquarters was set up in Armagh, the county seat of County Armagh, reputed burial place of Good St. Patrick. 

Map of Northern Ireland where the 2nd Infantry Division is stationed from October 1943 to April 1944

Gosford Castle October 18, 1943 to April 11, 1944

Headquarters of the 2nd Infantry Division.
 

Gosford Castle

Places where the various battalions etc. of the 2nd Infantry Division were billeted while in Northern Ireland.

American Troops Arriving In Northern Ireland

While the "Indianheads" were in Northern Ireland there was more training for D-Day. Of course, the troops did not know about D-Day, however, they put their heart and soul into the training. This area was chosen since the upper brass thought it "appeared" to be similar to where the troops would fight in Normandy, France. Uncle Charlie shared in his letters the training included American soldiers staying a week with British soldiers and the British also came to the American camps. It was important they became a cohesive force since they would be fighting side by side. 

In April 1944 they will begin to move south through England and finally to Wales from where they will storm onto Omaha Beach on D-Day+1, June 7, 1944. (For more information of the battles the 2nd Infantry Division were in while in the European Theater of Operations, please email me and I will send you the URLs of my first blog, "World War II in the Words of My Uncle."  The battles of Normandy, Brest, Battle of the Bulge, liberation of Czechoslovakia and others.)

Uncle Charlie in Northern Ireland during WW II

Over the past 4 years I have written 217 posts between my two blogs dealing with the 183 letters my Uncle Charlie wrote home while at Camp McCoy and in Europe in World War II as he and millions of other soldiers fought for the freedom not just for the United States of America but for the world.  I could never have done it without contributors that helped me with my many questions and sharing their stories. I hate to mention names but I have to do my best.

Glynn Raby Jr. of Tennessee who was in the 9th Infantry Regiment who fought with my Uncle Charlie who was in the 15th Field Artillery Battalion, Glenn Booker, head of the Barry War Museum in Wales who introduced me to Glynn Raby Jr., Tomas Hataj of the Czech Republic, a member of a group of reenactors of the 2nd Infantry Division and a member of "Men of the 2nd Infantry Division 1940-1945" organization. There were also Kraig Rice, Cleve Barkley, Arjan Messmaker, James D Edwards, William Jannace, Tom and Jeff Sauer with other family members. 

I would be remiss if I didn't thank all my family members who shared stories and information of our Uncle Charlie. THANK YOU ALL INCLUDING MY READERS OF THESE TWO BLOGS.

V-MAIL

    The Post Office, War and Navy departments realized fully that frequent and rapid communication with parents, associates and other loved ones strengthens fortitude, enlivens patriotism, makes loneliness endurable and inspires to even greater devotion the men and women who are carrying on our fight far from home and from friends.”

    The military mail system and the amount of post flowing back and forth internationally during the war was massive. An unprecedented amount of mail was moved about during the war with Army post offices, fleet post offices and US post offices flooded with mail. Each year of the war, the number of pieces of mail increased. In 1945, 2.5 billion pieces went through the Army Postal Service and 8 million pieces through Navy post offices. To bring mail service to those serving worldwide, the military postal system required a global network and innovative practice. 

    V-mail, short for “Victory mail,” was a particular postal system put into place during the war to drastically reduce the space needed to transport mail thus freeing up room for other valuable supplies. Although the V-mail system was only used between June 1942 and November 1945, over 1 billion items were processed through these means. Officially entitled the “Army Micro Photographic Mail Service,” War Department Pamphlet No. 21-1 describes V-mail as “an expeditious mail program which provides for quick mail service to and from soldiers overseas. A special form is used which permits the letter to be photographed in microfilm. The small film is transported and then reproduced and delivered.

https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/mail-call-v-mail

  

POST EIGHTY-EIGHT ("LAST LETTERS FROM CAMP McCOY") 29 SEPTEMBER 1943

 

ALL PACKED FOR CAMP SHANKS

September 29, 1943

Wednesday Morning

To Mother, Dad and All,

    Here is Wednesday morning and the time has come. I won't write tonight because -------------

    Everything is OK. Cheer up, Mother Dear, give my love to all. I'm thinking of you all. Will write as soon as possible. 

    Good bye Mother, Dad, Eugene, Helen, Flavilla and Waneta. Don't forget Ralph, Joe and all the children.

                                      Good bye Mother Dear

                                       Love From Your Son,

                                             Charles

September 29, 1943

Wednesday Night

11 o'clock

Dear Mother and All,

    As I promised, I'd write every day that I can. I sent you a letter this morning in a hurry, figured it would be my last but here I am. Plans and orders were changed a little.

    We are on the alert and everything is packed. Barracks' bags have gone but you should see the back pack you carry on your back.

(Drawing by Uncle Charlie on the letter) Do you get the idea? One thing I wished I had was my hunting knife. Mother, I am going to send this letter by one of the new fellows from the 76th Division into La Crosse to be mailed. (It was sent from McCoy) Some of the (I should say just a few) new fellows from the 76th Division that are coming here when we leave, are already here to take over.

    I received your long air mail letter to-day. The other one came Monday as you thought. You told in the letter about hearing me so plain on the phone. You sure did as I put $1.85 in and didn't have the nickel. 

    Mother dear, this is Wednesday, September 29, 1943, and it will be my last letter for sure (from Camp McCoy). I saw Marian last night and told her a few last things I wanted her to do. (September 28, 1943 was the last time Uncle Charlie would see Marian. He will never see her again.) I do not know how long it will be until I write again but don't worry. You know I'll send you a letter the first chance I have.

    You said I didn't keep my chin up when calling the other night, that's not the reason. Mom, I never dreamed as long as you were here on earth that the day would come when if I really wanted to see you that I couldn't. I just had a feeling come over me that I'd like to be home. I'll keep my chin up but what about you folks at home? 

    Not a thing here I can write about. I've already written more than I should. Say good bye for me to all the folks around home and friends. I won't write them all down but you know I'm thinking of them all. Tell brother Eugene to be good. Give my love to Helen and Joe, Waneta and Leroy, Flavilla and Ralph. Tell the little ones Uncle Charlie wants them to be good boys and girls. To you, Mother and Dad, I'm proud of you so I will do my part like many a son is doing so you too may say, "We too have a son fighting for freedom and liberty and giving his all."

    Good bye Mother and Dad. I'll write some day from somewhere and may God bless you.

                                                    Good Bye, Love

                                                     Your Son

                                                        Charles

P.S. For Mom - X

I know some of you can, but I can not even imagine what Uncle Charlie is feeling right now as he writes these letters. He has never imagine there would be a day he couldn't see his mother, dad, brother Eugene, sisters, Waneta, Flavilla and Helen and also his two nephews & three nieces.

He is 27, but some are just out of high school. Many have never even been away from their towns or at least never out of their state. They don't know where they are going except overseas to countries they have only read about in school books or maybe in newspapers or heard them mentioned on the radio. Countries where battles are happening and they have not a clue what a real battle looks or feels like.

For those who return, they will never be the same nor probably their families. Those who lose a son, father, brother, cousin or uncle will live with an emptiness that will never fully go away. Having lost a son when he was 25 from illness, I can relate to that feeling very well. 

May our country never forget all the men and women that have fought and even died for our freedom, our liberty, our way of life, and our Constitution. May we never give those freedoms and rights away because of fear or selfish desires. Other countries have given away their freedoms and they have paid dearly. The grass is not greener on the other side of the fence. 

 

^^Sep 27 Anti-fascism opposition begins in Naples, Italy.

^^Sep 29 1st Silbertanne-murder by German occupiers in the Netherlands.

A.M. DE JONG MURDERED (AUTHOR)

DUTCH RESISTANCE GROUP

Operation Silbertanne (silver fir) was the code name of a series of murders that were committed between September 1943 and September 1944 during the German occupation of the Netherlands. The assassinations were carried out by a death squad composed of Dutch members of the SS and Dutch veterans of the Eastern Front. At least 2,000 were killed. One of the most famous of the Dutch resistance group that was assassinated was author A. M. Du Jong. 

^^Sep 29 US General Dwight D. Eisenhower and Italian Marshal Pietro Badoglio sign an armistice. He was an Italian general during both World Wars and the first viceroy of Italian East Africa. With the fall of the Fascist regime in Italy, he became Prime Minister of Italy.

British Battleship Nelson

The British battleship Nelson, moored to No. 8 buoy in Grand Harbour. It was moored in the same place when the final Italian armistice document was signed on board the ship on September 29, 1943.

The group of VIPs walking along the deck of the battleship Nelson on their way to sign the final armistice agreement with Italy. They are (from left to right) Governor of Malta, Lord Gort; Air Chief Marshal, Arthur Tedder; Marshal Pietro Badoglio, Lt General Noel Mason-MacFarlane, General Dwight Eisenhower, Commodore Royer Dick (face only) and General Harold Alexander.                   Photos National War Museum Association

LEAVING FOR WAR

I will miss you so much!

        Must We Say Good Bye?

                                          Please Come Back to Us !!

POST EIGHTY-SEVEN ** SPECIAL POST - MARIAN GRACE SCHEDLER**

 

    Marian Grace Schedler became a special friend to my uncle, Charles D. Knight, while at Camp McCoy, Wisconsin, in 1943 for nine months. He was training to be an Army soldier in the 2nd Infantry Division in Battery B of the 15th Field Artillery Battalion to use a howitzer in the European Theater of Operations in World War II.

    While at a dance, Uncle Charlie was speaking to an adult lady who was a chaperone for the dance. They talked for quite awhile and by the end of the evening she had grown fond of my uncle's character. She said, "When I return to La Crosse, I am going to see if a young lady would like to meet you. She is a very nice girl and I would not introduce her to you unless I felt you would treat her as a gentleman. Would you mind if I ask her?"

Uncle Charlie shared he wouldn't mind meeting the young lady.

    My uncle was from Maine and at the age of 27 was very homesick and missing his family a great deal. He had a girlfriend at home in Maine, but it was not a serious relationship. He thought having a platonic relationship with a young lady while at Camp McCoy would help him being so far from home. Of course, just having a female companion as a soldier didn't sound bad to him though he was concerned if Marian would be looked down upon as many "girlfriends" of soldiers were during this time in the United States. In fact, my uncle will share this concern with her.

    In a few days he received a call from the lady he had met at the dance. Arrangements were made for him to meet Marian at the boarding home she was living at in La Crosse for a meal. My uncle met her along with the lady who owned the home and a few others. 

    The first meeting went very well and Marian and Uncle Charlie began to go out to a variety of places in the months ahead. They will have other meals together, visit special sights in Wisconsin, was introduced to her family in Tomah, Wisconsin, and just spent time together at the boarding home in La Crosse or at her family's home in Tomah. 

    Marian became a very special person in his life. He knew and told her their relationship could never become serious because of the war. Even if he survived the war he would return to Maine and he couldn't see how a serious relationship could happen since she would be living in Wisconsin. I, personally, believe by some things shared in his letters they had feelings that grew for each other but each kept those feelings to themselves.

This is Marian with her parents and siblings in Tomah, Wisconsin. It appears it could have been in the late 1930's or early 1940's. Uncle Charlie will meet Marian's parents and at least some of her siblings.

    You may be wondering how I have these pictures. I have been a genealogist for several years. I have discovered ways to contact living relatives of the family tree I am working on during the years. I sent out emails or Facebook messages to some individuals that had the last name of Marian's married name that lived in Wisconsin or had at one time around the area of Tomah. It did not take long to receive a message from Jeff Sauer, her grandson, and Tom Sauer, Marian's youngest son.

    Jeff and Tom along with other family members of Marian's have become faithful readers of my posts and were willing to help me learn more about Marian's family and her married family including sending me several pictures. I wish to thank them all for being so helpful, patient and cooperative with all my questions and requests. 

   Marian next to her sister Irene the bride. 

Irene is likely the sister Uncle Charlie

and Marian visited on one of their trips.

Uncle Charlie mentions a Mary that was

boarding with Marian in La Crosse.

I wonder if this is the Mary?

    

        When Uncle Charlie left Camp McCoy in October 1943 and goes to Camp Shanks to get on a ship to Northern Ireland, we know Marian was going to send some items to Uncle Charlie's mother. We also know he encouraged his mother to invite Marian to Maine while he was overseas. Letters were written by Marian to Uncle Charlie's mother. From the letters Uncle Charlie wrote while fighting in the European Theater of Operations, we know there was some letters between Marian and Uncle Charlie as he trained in Northern Ireland for about 8 months and then landed on Omaha Beach on D-DAY+1, June 7, 1944, and fought battles in Normandy, Brest, Battle of the Bulge, and finally liberating Czechoslovakia in March 1945 just before V-E Day.

    Uncle Charlie will return to the states in July 1945 and head to Camp Swift in Texas where he trained new recruits to go to the Pacific Theater of Operations to fight Japan. It was at Camp Swift Uncle Charlie became Sgt. Charles D. Knight. The atomic bomb will end the war with Japan so instead of going to Japan Uncle Charlie was honorably discharged in October 1945 and came home to Gorham, Maine.

Sgt. Charles D. Knight

    While Uncle Charlie was in the last months of the war in 1945 and would soon return to the states, something very interesting was happening in Wisconsin. No letter has been found though I am sure Marian sent a letter to Uncle Charlie giving him the news she was dating someone because of her kind personality that clearly is shared in Uncle Charlie's letters.

    A young man at the age of 32 from La Crosse, Wisconsin, had recently lost his young wife leaving him with two young sons. Sometime in 1945 Marian begins to date this young man and will marry him. His name was Bernard J. Sauer.

Marian and Bernard Sauer in the 1970's

    Marian and Bernard will have 40 years of marriage which included 4 more sons though one son died when only a day old. Marian will have a full house of men. Two boys from Bernard's first wife and three boys from Marian. As the saying goes, "A husband is just an older boy with larger toys," so Marian had six boys or men over those 40 years of marriage of her own. She could have had a small unit of her own soldiers. One of the boys did serve in the military.

    Bernard worked several years as a Police Detective for the La Crosse police department. He retired in 1963 and the family that were still at home moved to Madison, Wisconsin, where Bernard will work for the State Patrol at their district headquarters and later for the Wisconsin Department of Justice.

    I am sure you would like to meet the five sons. Here they are for you. A larger picture fades them out in the first picture so I kept it small.

The whole family in the early 1980's.

I will let you decide where each son is seated.

    In 1985 Bernard J. Sauer will draw his last breath. Leaving a family that dearly misses him.

    Marian will still have years ahead of her and some pictures of those years were sent to me as well.

Marian with her grandson, Jeff Sauer

Marian with son, Tom

    Marian will join her husband on June 19, 2004.

    Her family misses her greatly. There are also others that miss her though we never met her. My uncle passed away in 1984 but there are many family members that still remember our Uncle Charlie and we will remember Marian even if just through the letters my uncle wrote while serving his country. Thank you, Marian, for being a special friend to our uncle, Sgt. Charles D. Knight. You will always hold a special place in our hearts.

As parents, Joy and I, also lost a child. His name was Paul Austin Lagasse and passed away in 2016 at the age of 25. We know the pain parents go through when they lose a child. I, therefore, dedicate this post to Marian and Bernard's sons that passed away before Marian and Bernard. They are Frank Arthur Sauer and Michael Robert Sauer.

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