The Big Red One - What regiment, battalion or smaller formation

Jeff, you might be interested in this Caliber - Film Quarterly - 60(2):38 - Abstract it was a film that Sam Fuller the director actually took at the liberation of Falkenau concentration camp, something which is depicted in the movie, The Big Red One which Fuller directed. I'm doing my search to see if I can find the information you requested.

 

I suspect since the The Big Red One is about the same Infantry Division in which the Director Samuel Fuller fought during WWII, and in the movie it shows the liberation of Falkenau just as Samuel Fuller actually filmed at the time, then it is likely that it is the same regiment and unit in which he fought.

Wikpedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Fuller has the following

He was born Samuel Michael Fuller in Worcester, Massachusetts, the son of Benjamin Rabinovitch, a Jewish immigrant from Russia, and Rebecca Baum, a Jewish immigrant from Poland. After immigrating to America, the family's surname was changed to "Fuller". At the age of 12, he began working in journalism as a newspaper copyboy. He became a crime reporter in New York City at age 17, working for the New York Evening Graphic. He broke the story of Jeanne Eagels' death.[citation needed] He wrote pulp novels and screenplays from the mid-1930s onwards. Fuller also became a screenplay ghostwriter but would never tell interviewers which screenplays that he ghost-wrote explaining "that's what a ghost writer is for".[citation needed]
During World War II, Fuller joined the United States Army infantry. He was assigned to the 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division, and saw heavy fighting. He was involved in landings in Africa, Sicily, and Normandy and also saw action in Belgium and Czechoslovakia. In 1945 he was present at the liberation of the German concentration camp at Falkenau and shot 16 mm footage which was used later in the documenatary Falkenau: The Impossible. For his service, he was awarded the Bronze Star, the Silver Star, and the Purple Heart.[1] Fuller used his wartime experiences as material in his films, especially in The Big Red One (1980), a nickname of the 1st Infantry Division.

After his controversial film White Dog was shelved by Paramount pictures, Fuller moved to France, and never directed another American film.[2][3] Fuller eventually returned to America. He died of natural causes in his California home. In November 1997, the Directors Guild held a three hour memorial in his honor, hosted by Curtis Hanson, his long time friend and co-writer on White Dog. He was survived by his wife Christa and daughter Samantha.[4]

 

D-day - Omaha Beach - 6June 44 - 1st Infantry Division

16th Regiment, 1st Infantry Division

Not Easy Company of the 16th Regiment http://www.1stinfantrydivision.co.uk/

 

Significant Holdings

The memoir written by Frank Hoxie Smith, Machine Gunner, Company I, 3rd Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment devotes a chapter to occupation duty in Germany after the war, including the surrender of German soldiers, refugees, and displaced persons, the discovery of Falkenau, the Nuremburg trials, and a meeting with Countess von Stauffenberg. (10 ¼” x 12” x ¾”)
Based on my assumptions re the connections of where Samual Fuller served and his being at Falkenau as listed in previous post - then it is likely that it was Company I, 3rd Battalion, 16th Regiment, 1st US Infantry Division which is depicted in the movie.

 

I found this photo http://ww2db.com/image.php?image_id=6598 Men of Company I, 3d Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment, US 1st Division riding on M4 Sherman tank at Schopen, Belgium, 21 Jan 1945 here http://worldwartwozone.com/forums/rss-feeds/10490-photo-men-company-i-3d.htm

 

Also note the film has been re-released on DVD with a lot of the material that was originally cut (against Fuller's wishes). One thing I love about the film is how Fuller worked in so many little details, like the Belgian innkeeper sniffing out the German infiltrator by the way he was using his silverware.

This is an interesting bit:

(from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/3620418/Sam-Fullers-last-testament.html )


Cheers

BW

 

Your welcome, Jeff. I'm not so sure about the dog and hog references though!

 

Well people I have some information for you!

Samuel "Hollywood" Fuller served in HQ compnay K company on D-Day and I company In Aachen since he was the Offical Regimnetal Historian he floated allot but for the most part was with I company the most, Hence why My Grandfather Knew him as My Gramps was farmed out allot for special assighnments as he was an exelent FO and Platoon leader.

Now in 2005 when I was interviewing I co an Other veterans at the BRO reunion in DC many if not all stated a discust and anger at Sammy for not keeping his promices to them about the Movie the BRO according to them it was supposed to be based on a Jeep driver who was lationo and part of HQ company and that he many many times in Combat was filming with his camera a dying german soldier or the fighting and this caused him troubel with the other soldiers he was with they would "yell at him and tell him to shoot his rifel not the damn camera!"

He was 32 years old where as my Gramps was 33 and an Officer this caused problems as Andy My Gramps was all working class and so was Sammy, but a bit of the "look at me Im a fameous writer" it caused issues as you know how people are when they want to be fameous.

Also make note That My Grandfathers Group H company is almost non existant in the regimental history and Samule Fuller co wrote the regimental History.... I wonder why.....

Andy is never mentioned once by name yet his actions are and only ever refered to as the Heavy weapons of the batalion...

the pen is Mightier than the sword...

Captain Anthony Joseph Prahl 1st Infantry Divison 16th Infantry Regiment World War II Veteran 1942-1945 Served 1942 to 1953 Combat Infantry Man's Badge (C.I.B.) Silver Star For actions around Acchen Sep.44 Bronz Star with 4 Oak Leaf Clusters for personal action 2 for the regiments action 7th June, 3 Sep. 44, 6th June, Feb. 45 to May. 8, 1945 (V.E.) Congressional Unit Citation with Oak leaf (2 citations) European African Campain medal with Arrowhead for D-Day 6 June 1944 and 5 Campain stars for every European Campain, American Campain Medal For first 2 years of service in Army in U.S.A., German Occupation Medal with Germany Clasp, French Fourragère in the Colors of the Medalle Militare Green and Yellow with 2 tassels,The Belgian Fourragère Red with 2 tassels.

I have also just learned that he is entilteled to the French legion of Honor the Belgian Croix de gerre and the french Croix de gerre with Palm for D-Day.

 

Here is an Article that was written about my Grandfathers Buddy John another member of H compnay and last an obituary of my late friend Captain Bob Irvine whos Son I have just tracked down.

Here is a story about John Shelby written about him by his brother in law John Wozny
He would have
"Looking back on his heroic deeds in Sicily and at Omaha Beach, I am certain that he would have been awarded the Medal of Honor had he been killed doing what he did on either of those occasions," said Maj. Gen. Al Smith, U.S. Army retired, when he delivered the eulogy at the funeral of the soldier who was a private serving in the general's first command. In early 1942, the general-then a captain-and the soldier were members of the 16th Infantry Regiment of the 1st Infantry Division-The Big Red One-sailing to England to launch America's entry into World War II.
The general was eulogizing the same soldier of whom Sgt. Bill Davidson, staff writer for YANK magazine wrote in a November 1944 article, "He is one of the fightingest, most decorated, best known and best liked men in the 1st Division."
John D. Shelby, the World War II infantryman, was in the same mold as such legendary icons as Sgt. Alvin York, Audie Murphy and Marine Corps hero Barney Ross. In fact Shelby was once a bartender in the restaurant and lounge owned by Barney Ross in Chicago. Shelby, in his early 20s, came to Chicago from Slaton, Texas.
The Century of Progress Exposition in Chicago in 1933 offered many employment opportunities, and John D. Shelby followed his oldest brother as a bartender, first at the world famous Stevens Hotel, then the Olympia Fields Country Club in the south suburbs, finally landing the bartender's job at Barney Ross' Grill and Pub.
In early 1943, after the fierce battles in North Africa, Shelby got the first of his many battlefield citations. He was recommended for a Silver Star when an enemy mortar battery began to cut up his battalion. The night was pitch black, but Shelby sighted by the sound and flashes and fired 75 rapid mortar rounds that silenced the firing, and his battalion advanced.
This first medal led to his field promotion from sergeant to second lieutenant. Happy to continue on as a non-com, a position he was busted from four times, Shelby at first refused the gold bars, but the general would have none of that and issued an ultimatum, "Either accept the bars or report to the docks in Oran as a stevedore." The decision was obvious. Sgt. Shelby saluted, and pinned on the second lieutenant bars that later were to become captain's bars and eventually a major's gold oak leaves. All were won in battlefield commissions.
As the old adage goes, "A job well done deserves more jobs," so the 16th Infantry's successes in North Africa led to Gen. George Patton's request for its services for the invasion of Sicily.
It was in Gela, Sicily, on July 11, 1943, that John D. Shelby got his first Distinguished Service Cross. Considered one of the best mortar men in the Army, Shelby, subjected to intense artillery and small arms fire in his vulnerable position, laid the fire of his mortar platoon on the enemy infantry with such devastating effect that their attack was disorganized. He continued the assault until the enemy withdrew with heavy losses.
By August 1943, the Sicily campaign was ending. Again the prowess of the 16th Infantry won them the distinction of being the toughest, best trained amphibious landing regiment. Because of this reputation, Shelby and the whole regiment endured seven months of grueling training in Dorchester, England, followed by more amphibious training in Devon, England.
The Longest Day began for Shelby on the afternoon of June 5 when he and the 16th Regiment sailed silently from Weymouth, England, on their mission "to assault Omaha Beach and reduce the beach defenses ... and secure it two hours before dark of D-Day."
It was here on Omaha Beach, on the first day of the Normandy invasion, that Lt. John D. Shelby won his Oak Leaf Cluster to his Distinguished Service Cross. The citation read: "He immediately organized five men into an assault team and, completely disregarding his own safety, led them in a 200 yard dash through devastating enemy fire and across a mine field to attack an anti-tank gun. He alone assaulted the gun position and engaged the enemy crew in a hand-to-hand battle, killing one man and taking six prisoners."
Although Shelby was a mortar man, his skill with a rifle equalled that of fabled Sgt. York. Shelby at one time hit an enemy observation post commander with a single shot at 800 yards. The bullet hit the officer just above the left ear. Another time, he saw the Germans setting up a machine-gun nest and charged the nest by himself, killing the two machine gunners with three rounds from his rifle.
Shelby and his mortar platoon went through the Normandy building-up period, the breakthrough at St. Lo and the chase through France and Belgium. At Aachen they went out beyond Stolberg, absorbing five or six counter attacks daily while the mopping up went on in the city, and firing 1,000 rounds a day.
"How John survived the fierce fighting of that day," Maj. Gen. Al Smith said in his eulogy, "and other tough campaigns until the end of the war is unexplainable." But survive, he did.
In the YANK article, regarding his post-war plans, Shelby said: "I'm going to take the $5,000 1 won in crap games and open a cocktail bar in the Loop in Chicago."
When the war ended, Capt. John D. Shelby, with his Distinguished Service Cross with the Oak Leaf Cluster, Silver Star, the Bronze Star with Oak Leaf Cluster and the Purple Heart, decided to remain in the service of the country he loved so much.
He left the cocktail bar ambitions to others. Seven years after the end of the war, this veteran of all eight of the campaigns of the 16th Infantry Regiment staged a return to his beloved outfit as a company commander. In 1959, nearly 20 years after he enlisted as a private, the battlefield wounds began resurrecting themselves and he received a medical discharge. In retirement he engaged in real estate, operating as a real estate appraiser in Albuquerque, N.M.
Of all the decorations he earned, John D. Shelby wore only the Combat Infantryman's Badge on his field uniform. He told Sgt. Davidson of YANK magazine: "Heroism is something that a guy does automatically to save his own can. The real heroes are the guys who do the job up front every day without getting their can into a place where it has to be saved."
He never considered himself a hero. He should have.
JOHN WOZNY is a free lance writer.
Copyright Association of the United States Army Nov 2003
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved

2007-02-01

Robert M. Irvine
Robert Mayes Irvine, 89, of Augusta, passed away on Thursday, January 25 at the Maine Veterans Home in Augusta. Born in Framingham, Mass. on September 19, 1917, he was the son of Vernard and Jennette (Mayes) Irvine. After high school, Mr. Irvine joined the U.S. Army and served in many locations during World War II. While in the service, he received four Purple Hearts, a Bronze Star, a Silver Star, and was wounded during the Normandy Invasion. In the early 1950s, he and his wife, Virgie Irvine, owned a Country Store in Wardsboro, Vt. He later became a teacher in a one-room schoolhouse in Wardsboro, before becoming a principal in Bellows Falls, Vt. After falling in love with the Boothbay region, he relocated and taught for many years in Boothbay and Southport. At the time of his retirement, he was the principal at the Southport school. Mr. Irvine was a member of the Rotary, the 2nd Congregational Church in Newcastle, the Maine Retired Teachers Association, a 50- year member of the Masons, and for 13 years delivered for Meals on Wheels. He was predeceased by his wife, Virgie (Pheiffer) Irvine in 1995; his brother, Bill Irvine; and his sister, Margaret Strickland. Survivors include his son, Robert of Middletown, R.I.; one sister, Carol Adams of Bangor; two grandchildren, Holly Salvi of Southborough, Mass. and Cameron Irvine of Grafton, Mass.; two great-grandchildren, Sam Salvi and Quinn Salvi; brother-in-law, Robert Strickland of Winthrop. A funeral was held on Monday, January 29 at the Second Congregational Church in Newcastle. He will be laid to rest with his wife at the Maine Veteran's Cemetery in Augusta. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Meals on Wheels, c/o Senior Spectrum, Coastal Community Center, 521 Main Street, Box 8, Damariscotta, ME 04543.
2007-02-01
I was lucky to ever know any of these men
I hope my future efforts will bring me more material on this great regiment.

 

Michelle beat me to the punch. I was going to say 16th Inf, and there was an 18th Inf Rgmt mentioned in the film-the part where the Sgt was in a German Field Hospital in Tunis and was approached by another wounded G.I. who said he was from the 18th.

 

Thanks for the extra information on these brave men who served, BRO.

 

I Have allot of information on the 16th Regiment and 634th TD bat and 87th Chemical Mortar as they were units attached to the 16th in man battels <i just recently got in touch with a mutual friend of Samuel Fullers wife and I am hoping to make conbtact as to further investigate Fuller and HIs actions with the 16th. I am certain that he was in 2nd platoon I co at the time my grandfather was attached to ico In Aachen.

 

I bet you find the same with the 26th regimental history that the H co isnt mentioned allot as they were split up according to need of the other rifel co's...Or?

 

Gah I seem to kill threads is it because I have a very intimate knowledge of the divison and people are intimidated?

I am open to comments critisicism and so on I love challenges and would love it if people asked me questions or assistanece on research as I have been through the miryad of the NARA and National Archives and regimental associations while on my quest to discover and re tell the story of the 16th infantry regiment in WW II, I guess I'll post a few photos to show what I am doing and some interesting finds I have discovered and inconsistancies I have found while doing my research.

first I will re post a fourm post I put in another fourm as there I havent had any luck with finding more information or contacts like I have started to do here I especially enjoy the black archology that is done by several members of this fourm and have been slowly making contacts with this scene over the last few years and hope to be able to travel to Aachen and join the diggers on an expiditon while provding my research and maps and overlays to look for some possible artifacts from my Grandfathers action in this area I also am planning on doing this in the area of the Bulge where he fought and in France paticularly Omaha beach area where My gardfathers companies Mortars and MG's held open the 7 yard Gap on D-Day enabiling the Batalion to reach it's first objectives on D-Day it still saddens me and frustrates me that even to this day this hasen't been explored as much or written about on the level that it should and that a large part of the battle still remains a mystery to most but not me and a few others I have met in my travels around europe....

Call it the fog of war but I have found reports that tell quite a different stor than what is written about even by some of the most known writer on the subject Steven Ambrose to name one.....

here is the report from the Company SSgt for example....

1st Infantry Division, 16th Infantry Regiment, H Company
Account, Company historian
D-day on Omaha Beach
Member of this organization loaded in their assault craft at approximately 0430 hours and started rendezvous movement until the entire group had gathered. The armada was complete and very satisfying. The sea was very rough and quite a few men were seasick, some of the craft turned over, but fortunately none from this company. The rocket lighters (LCT-R) and heavy ships were constantly bombarding the shore.
H Company was scheduled to hit the shore at easy Red beach at 0710 hours, but had to contact the Navy control boat and lost some time in doing that. After finding the exact direction from the control boat the company started towards shore at full throttle. The company reached shore at approximately 0727 hours. They were immediately hit by machine gun fire and heavy casualties ensued. They hit the beach too far left of where they were to land. The tanks were on the beach to the right of where they landed, but were not giving too much support. There were obstacles on the beach and around these were anti-personnel mines and Teller mines on top of them. The tide was rising at this time and many of the wounded, who probably could have been saved, were drowned. Quite a bit of equipment was lost. All off the radios were either lost or destroyed.
The situation on the beach was critical, and at times looked very black. One of the company’s machine guns set up on the left and started firing at the pillbox and open emplacements that were on the left flank. Enemy mortar fire was dropping on the beach, but the enemy either was scared or was hit because it wasn’t very effective and, after this time, ceased. There was machine gun fire coming from the extreme left. This sector was supposed to be taken up by the 3rd Battalion. Every time a move was made this gun would open up and kept the company pinned down. There also was a lot of mines going off. These evidently were timed. About three hours later a hole was blown in the barbed wire by a Bangalore torpedo and they then started moving down the beach, a distance about 200 yards; and started infiltrating through the gap. An enemy machine gun on the left kept up a continual fire which made progress very slow. There a lot of mines along the Company’s path, most of which were marked, and the engineers were trying to take them out. After getting off the beach, they climbed up a hill and crossed a minefield and then turned to the left and continued on until the hit a road and then turned right. The mortar platoon was set up in position near some ruined buildings and the company CP was set up near these positions. This position was approximately 600 yards from the beach and approximately 400 yards from the row of Colleville. The machine gun platoons were in direct support of the rifle Companies. The 2nd Platoon could not be contacted for a period of time and it was believed that they were captured, but later, contact was established with them.
The manner in which the battle was fought was out of the ordinary. The enemy seemed to be everywhere. Machine gun fire, artillery, and snipping were very heavy. The Mortars played a very important part in eliminating these machine gun nests and also snipers. At times the Company had machine gun to the left, front, and right, and it had begun to look like they would be backing into the sea; but sheer guts, excellent leadership dominated and they pulled through successfully. They remained in a defensive position during the rest of the night.
The total casualties numbered 26, eight of these were believed dead, but were carried as MIA. The rest were wounded, most of them seriously.
Ssgt Robert D Hopes was killed on the 16th of April 1945 he was with the Company from the begining and served the entire war untill his death.​

 

Colleville Area

When Company G got past the bluff and started inland, about 0900, they were bothered only by light sniping and occasional signs of minefields and made rapid progress for a thousand yards to the south. They were advancing in their designated one and according to plan (Maps Nos. 4, p. 66, and VIII). The first objective was a German bivouac area a quartermile west of Colleville; from there the company would turn into Colleville. Company G approached the bivouac area about 0930 and received heavy fire from automatic weapons and mortars on both flanks of its advance. A two-hour action followed, with house-to-house fighting before the enemy was driven out of the area. The company suffered 12 casualties. Remnants of a Company F section and small elements of H, and two sections of Company E, 116th, had followed G's route from the beach and joined up during the morning, giving a strength of about 150 men for the attack on Colleville.
A little after noon, a section of G started into the western edge of the village, but was unable to progress against strong resistance after seizing the first few buildings. The rest of the company was extended to the west, and the section farthest out on that wing lost contact. By some misunderstanding, the two 116th sections withdrew toward the bivouac area. Small groups of enemy filtered through the gaps, a pillbox near the head of E-3 draw was still in action, and fire came from flanks and rear, giving the impression of encirclement. For the next two hours, Company G fought on the defensive, inflicting 18 casualties on the enemy. This action marked the nearest approach on D Day to a German counterattack made in any strength. At about 1500, the situation was relieved by the arrival of the 2d Battalion, 18th Infantry, which came up from E-1 draw with orders to take over the 2d Battalion, 16th Infantry's mission. But Company G was unable to get farther into Colleville, and suffered eight casualties when supporting naval fire hit the houses in the village. Enemy resistance was unshaken by the bombardment.
Company G had felt itself isolated during this period, an impression which was char- Page 99
(Photo)
Page 100
acteristic of most of the inland fighting on D Day. Actually, the advance from Easy Red had been followed up by a number of other units which by noon were not far from Colleville. Between Colleville and Easy Red Beach, battalion and regimental command groups were working hard to organize the scattered assault forces and build up support. However, contacts were irregular, the hedgerows cut off observation, and small enemy groups held on tenaciously in bypassed positions, from which they opened with harassing fire on the flanks or rear of advancing units and drew them into a mopping-up action that might consume two or three hours. Other enemy groups, trying to get back from the bluff positions, added to the confusion by appearing in areas supposedly cleared up. In this fashion, small separate battles were developing throughout the day almost anywhere between E-1 and E-3 draws and south beyond the highway. Advance under these conditions was more or less blind, and coordinated action by the assault forces became almost impossible.
Lt. Col. Herbert C. Hicks, Jr., commanding the 2d Battalion of the 16th RCT, had followed Company G toward Colleville and was endeavoring to get other units of his battalion toward that area. The only sizable group he could find during the morning was made up of about 50 men of Company E, including Lieutenant Spalding's section from the E-1 strongpoint. This party reached the coastal highway about noon and pushed several hundred yards beyond to cover the right flank of G. Moving with a section of G, the group came under sniper fire from the rear and lost contact with friendly units. Later in the afternoon, deciding that they were in danger of being cut off, the Company E detachment withdrew toward Colleville. Meantime, elements of the 1st Battalion were reaching the same general area. Companies B and C reached the highway by 1300, near the bivouac area through which G had already fought. They spent several hours cleaning snipers out of the woods in the vicinity, and made about 300 yards progress southward by dark. Company A, slowed in getting up the bluff, spent the morning and early afternoon fighting a machine-gun nest in the woods at the edge of E-1 draw, halfway to the highway. It rejoined the battalion late in the day.
The 18th Infantry had landed in front of E-1 draw from 1100 to 1400. One after another, as the battalions started inland, General Wyman turned them from their original missions to take over those of the 16th Infantry. The 2d Battalion of the 18th pushed toward Colleville to help the 2d Battalion of the 16th. Enemy groups were still scattered along the route of advance, inflicting casualties by rifle and machine-gun fire that seemed to be sited for covering the gates and hedgerow openings. By 1500, the battalion was passing west of Company G, 16th Infantry; at dark it was on the edge of the high ground 500 yards south and southeast of Colleville, with not much resistance to its front but a good deal of fire coming from the rear. The 1st Battalion ran into two platoons of Germans holding trenches near the head of E-1 draw, and was busy until late in the afternoon cleaning out that area and dealing with enemy parties who attempted to escape up the draw from bypassed positions. The 3d Battalion, moving in reserve, received orders at 1615 to take over the objectives of the 1st Battalion, 16th Infantry: capture of Formigny and Surrain. At 1800, the 3d Battalion, bothered by snipers, was still north of the coastal highway and received the more modest mission of reaching the high ground south of the highway and filling the gap between the 1st and 29th Division units. At midnight the 3d Battalion was still short of the highway. The 1st Battalion, having finished enemy
an exerpt from the offical history found here:

OMAHA BEACHHEAD ADVANCE INLAND