The 191st Field Artillery Battalion was activated as a National Guard Unit
in Tennessee in 1940. On February 24, 1941 it was mobilized and inducted
into the Army of the United States. It went on to fight across Europe
in World War II as part of Patton's Third Army. Landing on Utah Beach
in August, 1944 it participated in the breakout from Normandy, the relief
of the Battle of the Bulge, and the crossing of the Rhine, It visited
the first concentration camp liberated by the Americans. This Web Site
is a history of the Battalion and the personal memories and photographs of
many of its members..
History and Operations of the
191st
Field Artillery Battalion.
The book "History and Operations of the 191st Field Artillery
Battalion."
has been reproduced as faithfully as possible. All line drawings
were produced by 1st Lt. John
Hagan,
Jr. and came from the original book. Any supplementary text
that
has been added is in italics.
Robert Lichty's photographs and momentos are included to add a sense
of the period. Relevant historical photographs have also been
added
as well as links to web sites tied to the places and events that the
191st
experienced. Please enjoy this history and follow its links.
"On the Way!" Memoirs of an Artilleryman in WWII
"On the Way!" is a first-hand account of the actions of the 191st
Field Artillery Battalion written by Barrett
James Whiteley, Battery Executive Officer of C Battery until
February, 1945 and then Forward Observer for C Battery until the end of
the war.
The following members of the 191st are mentioned in "On the Way!"
PART ONE: APPROACH AND ENGAGEMENT
Joe Lobato
PART TWO: TOWARD THE RHINE
Willaford S. Swan, Howard Schimel, George
J.
LaHood, Edward (Jed) Jedrysiak, John Liljeberg, Roberdeau Drury, Ralph
WeHunt, John Nill, Carson Scarbrough
PART THREE: MOVING TO THE FRONT
Carson
Scarbrough, Robin Smith, Bob and Virginia Drury, Charles Drury, Ralph
E.
WeHunt, John McElmurry, Jesse Mitchell, Newell Wilkerson, George
Garner,
Dick Rouser, David T. Dozier, Edward Jedrysiak, John Liljeberg, Lt.
Col.
Goddard
PART FOUR: COMPLETING THE JOB
Maj.
Harvard P. Smith, Wayne D. McLary, Colonel Mack Goddard, Capt. Murphy
PART FIVE: AFTER VE DAY
John
Hagan,
Colonel Mack Goddard
PART SIX: REFLECTIONS
Henry
Basso
AFTERTHOUGHTS
Lakes
England, George Garner, Harold ("Ham") Ammons, Carson Scarbrough, Robin
Smith, Johnnie England, Roberdeau Drury, jhon Liljeberg, A.T. Pumphrey,
John Hagan
Cpl. Harrold E. A
mmons
was among the first allotment of selectees received by the 191st Field
Artillery on June 28, 1941 in its new home at Camp Forrest,
Tennessee.
At the completion of its first thirteen weeks of training, the regiment
underwent a grueling test inspection by headquarters Seventh Army Corps
and came through with flying colors.
On August 14, 1941 the Regiment entrucked for Arkansas to
participate
in the largest scale maneuvers ever held in the United States. Through
eight weeks of the War Games the men of the 191st Field Artillery
carved
a name for itself. The Regiment received the following letter of
commendation
from Lieutenant General Ben Lear during the Maneuvers:
"With the fine esprit de corps and high state of morale
which
prevails in the regiment, it is destined for a high place in the
History
of the Army of the United States."
Cpl. Ammons' diary describes his experiences
during
that period of the 191st Field Artillery's history.
Rupert D.Boyatt, a Tec 5 in
C Battery, photographed the training and camp
life of the 191st during its assignment to California from 1942 to
1944.
He sent these home to his family along with captions on the
backs.
After the war he wrote a short essay entitle "A Soldier's World" for an
English class. Thanks to Vera Boyatt these photographs
and
his essay have been made
available
to this Website.
Steve Speer has created a website for the 75th
Field Artillery Brigade as part of a larger Blount County
Website.
Clicking on the links to Battery C 1st Battalion 191st and
Battery
D 2nd Battalion 191st at that website will take you to group pictures
of
the these batteries before the war and some information on many
individuals.
(Note: you will have to use your Back Arrow Button to return to this
page.)
Robert Lichty joined the 191st around January, 1943, well after the
battalion had formed and been transferred to Camp Roberts in
California.
This
page
contains photographs that he had sent to my mother, Ruth Lichty.
This history describes the formation of the 191st between WWI and WWII and its
reorganization after WWII. It was send in by Cecil Burchfield.
Photographs
from Milo John
Milo John was in the 191st's Serivce Batttery. These photographs were scanned
and contributed by Becky Keeler, Milo's granddaughter. Since there are such
a large number they have been broken into several pages.representing different
aspects of the war and the 191st. Becky says of Milo John:
"My grandfather was born & raised in Vernonia, Oregon and joined
the 191st July of 1943 and held the rank of T4. I've really not heard a lot
of the war stories from him growing up since I was the 'baby'of the family and
the only granddaughter. He would bring up an occasional short story or comment,
usually funny. He also would talk about the children and how they loved chocolate.
He also mentioned how cold it would get. My favorite stories though were when
he would tell them and mix a little 'German' translation in there. I have a
couple letters he wrote to his parents during the war that mentions his 'combat
buddies'. He mentions a 'Bob' who is being transferred to another company because
he only has 34 points and he hates to see him go. (September 21, 1945) He and
my grandmother only had 1 child (my dad) & 2 grandchildren, however they
did end up with 7 great-grandchildren and treated each of us like we were the
only child on Earth. He passed away November 1997."
If you know or recognize any of the people in the photographs please contact
Becky atrkeeler@samhealth.org
Over Evans was a member of Battery C of the 191st, These photographs were contributed
by David and VeNita Griffin Omer's grandson and daughter. They can be contacted
at cuzie@bellsouth.net
I received the following color photograph from Mr. Peter Patz. His letter placing
this photograph of my father in Eisenbach, Germany would also date it to after
June 22nd, 1945 based on a typed and hand written "Travels
of the 191st Field Artillery Bn" Click on the photograhs to see more.
My good friend John Frater and I are both very interested WWII history. His
father was a photographer in the 82nd Airborne and mine was in the 191st. I
have seen his father's photographs and he has seen this website. We were driving
along a road in Western New York when we noticed a rusty vehicle along the side
of the road that looked a lot like an M5 Tractor that towed the 191st's artillery.
John turned around and insisted that I photograph it. Sure enough, a detailed
comparison with photographs from the 191st shows that it is an M5 down to almost
every detail. The storage compartments along the side even look like they were
built to carry large artillery shells.
My father, Robert E. Lichty died in 1967. He had served in the
191st during the Second World War but had never talked about his experiences.
He did leave his momentos from the war including the record of his unit, "History
and Operations of the 191st Field Artillery Battalion.". I decided that
this history should be made available to the world and built this website.
Since starting this website many people have sent me information and pictures
about the 191st and the website has grown tremendously. I have gotten to know
many members of the 191st and their families. Many thanks to them and to all
the men who served in the 191st.
I have a special thanks for Barrett Whiteley, an officer of the 191st who
has contributed so much to this website and so much to the families of the members
of the 191st in keeping its memories alive. He has become a good friend and
the heart of this website and of the memory of the 191st.
If you have any questions or have any information to add, please contact
me at d.lichty@comcast.net
