Winsor War Notes-Luther Snow Winsor's WW II experiences

May 23-June 5 Regular guard duty 2 on 4 off with days off spent in morning classes and afternoon athletics. Russian and Polish D. P. (Displaced persons) moved out. Guarded record buildings. (contain records on Allied P. W. s) (Prisoners of War) Lu in Ray Hight's book : We were also assigned to guard the displaced persons camp in the town. The people were primarily Poles and Czechs who had been brought into the valleys to care for the crops since most of the German men were in the military. One of our hardest assignments during the occupation was to load the DPs onto Russian trucks, knowing they would again be slave labor, this time for the Russians. it just broke our hearts: we'd liberated them only to send them to the Russians.

May 22 Moved to Kasserne Barracks on hill top. Cleaned out C 1. Took till 10 pm. Now stay in room with C.D. Smith and Poorman. Marilu: The following photos were grouped in the scrapbook for May with little explanation. I will just post them here.  Pillbox near Brandeschied Hurka, Collins, Wiley Clara Davidson and Clara Hand Dragon's teeth-Tank Barricade near Habschi

May 21 Up at 0630 as usual. Classes all morning. Russian camp afternoon, guard at night. Marilu: I did a bit of photo shopping on these photos. I'm an amateur, but they turned out ok.(See the originals below...

May 20th Riot in Russian displaced persons camp. Went up to search with Battery for guns, etc. Held men in compound til H Q took over at 0230

Dearest Mom,  Pat won't mind if I add a note to you and one to Polly in her letter I'm sure.  Yes, mom, I've been building air castles over here too, but now that this point system is in effect and has been explained, it's going to be pure luck if I get out soon. If the system works as planned it will be the most fair way possible of selecting the lucky ones. Some of these Infantry boys have seen hell now for a long time and they should be first. I'll pick up a few points for length of service and Lynne will do her bit, but while our combat time has been successful, it is short compared to outfits that fought in Tunisia, Italy, etc. and then came to France on D Day. Really though the whole works including Japan shouldn't take too darned long and then for sure I'll be on my way home to you and all those whom I'm dreaming of.  Yes, Mom, please send me   some stationary. No envelopes though (this time anyway), and some ink if possible

May 15-19 Alternate Battery guard. 2 on, 4 off and motor stables.

May 13th-14th Guard outpost at warehouses. Leather, fur jackets, watch factory. Girls Beaucoup. (Beaucoup- French for many)

May 12th Cleaned up hospital

May 11   Moved 100 or more wounded German soldiers to another hospital so battery could take over the place-mostly amputation cases. Lu from Ray Hight's book; When the end of the war in Europe was declared in May 1945, we shifted to helping the civilians, who were deeply strapped for food and shelter. We pulled back to Meiningen, a "hospital town" that had already been designated as Russian territory. Most of the injured men in the hospital were sergeants and enlisted SS troops who had just been following orders. They were frantic about what was going to happen to them once the Russians arrived. There was nothing we could do for them, and we actually felt sorry for them because we knew what might be coming.

Lu Winsor, George Webber, Emanuel Epstein sometime in May of 1945 May 10th Moved with Advanced Billeting party to Meiningen. Stopped at 8th Corps, saw the 16th boys-Hope, Mac, Emry. Stayed in empty building across from military government.

May 9th Won 1/4 of Battery pool on VE day. Got 1900 franks. https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/victory-in-europe

May 8th London celebrating VE Day. Weapons Carrier loads of guns, cameras, and swords, etc brought in. Got .22 automatic pistol. Traded Garreta .32 revolver for it. Two .31 sports rifles.  Wickipedia Upon the defeat of Germany, celebrations erupted throughout the western world, especially in Great Britain and North America. More than one million people celebrated in the streets throughout Great Britain to mark the end of the European part of the war. In London, crowds massed in  Trafalgar Square  and up  the Mall  to  Buckingham Palace , where King  George VI  and Queen  Elizabeth , accompanied by  Prime Minister   Winston Churchill , appeared on the balcony of the palace before the cheering crowds. Princess  Elizabeth  (the future Queen Elizabeth II) and her sister Princess  Margaret  were allowed to wander incognito among the crowds and take part in the celebrations. [3] [4] In the United States, the victory happened on President  Harry Truman 's 61st

From Lu's scrapbook:  BEFORE (Not sure where these came from) AFTER: The American Flag flag flying over the Kaserne