wwii photo

WWII Memorial Post – Cape Cod Native Captain Chester E. Coggeshall, P-51 Pilot Shot Down Over Austria

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The discovery of a photo and clipping from a Massachusetts flea market yields a wealth of interesting material related to the last hours of Captain Chester Coggeshall’s life.  A sad story, but one that deserves to be told.  Captain Coggeshall was born and raised on Cape Cod (Hyannis) and entered the war after attending Barnstable High School.  He flew two tours in the ETO, the first with a P-38 (pictured below) and a P-51.  His final mission of the war ended in his tragic murder.  Please read below for more details.

From http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=coggeshall&GSfn=chester+&GSbyrel=all&GSdyrel=all&GSob=n&GRid=2639236&df=all&

 

343rd Fighter Squadron, 55th Fighter Group.

From Find A Grave Contributer #47444799

Entered service from Hyannis, Massachusetts
ASN – 0-754471
11 January 1944 – Joined the 343rd Fighter Squadron
March 1944 – Promoted from 2nd Lieutenant to 1st Lieutenant
April 1944 – Awarded Oak Leaf Cluster to the Air Medal
May 1944 – Awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross
May 1944 – Awarded Oak Leaf Cluster to the Air Medal
30 August 1944 – Ended first tour of duty
MACR No. 13866
16 April was scheduled to be Capt. Coggeshall’s last mission on his second tour.
1/Lt. Walter Strauch reported: “I was flying Tudor Red three on April 16, 1945, on an escort and strafing mission. We dove down to strafe an airfield west of Salzburg (Austria) and when we pulled up to about 1,000 feet I noticed Red Leader, Capt. Coggeshall, making a very gentle turn to the left and losing altitude. I immediately started over toward him and noticed his airplane was covered in oil, and about this time he made a fast belly landing, dug a wing in, and cartwheeled. I went back to investigate and saw where the plane had hit a small brick building. There was no fire but the airplane was completely
demolished.”
Reproduced with kind permission of Mr. Robert M. Littlefield from the author’s
book; “Double Nickel – Double Trouble”

After action report from his wingman:
“Coggy was killed on the last scheduled mission of his second tour. He was leading Red Flight strafing an airfield near Salzburg and destroyed the 190 above. He was hit by flak and bellied in crashing through a building and the
airplane was demolished. It was reported that he survived the crash, but was hung by civilians who were in turn hung during the Nurnberg Trials. Believe it or not, he had flown two tours and had not seen an enemy plane in the air. A good high school quarterback and a good pilot. He was highly thought of by all.”
(Frank Birtciel)

A postwar inquiry found that Capt. Coggeshall had been executed by the mayor of the town of Freilassing, Germany. After being denied medical care, he was taken to a wooded area outside of the town and shot twice in the head by Burgermeister August Korbus. This was done by the civilian authorities of the town over the objections of German Army medical personnel. The two Nazi party officials responsible were tried and sentenced to death by a U.S. Military Court.
Burial:
Long Island National Cemetery
Farmingdale
Suffolk County
New York, USA
Plot: J, 15558

Chester and his P-38

An amazing oral history account of the story of Captain Coggeshall:

http://vimeo.com/5683417

WWII 9th Armored Division B/W Negative – Captured Hitler Youth Last-Ditch “Boy Soldiers” Smoking Cigarettes

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These young German soldiers, likely taken directly from the rank of a local Hitler Youth group, were captured somewhere outside of Leipzig Germany in May of 1945.  The recent discovery of a 600+ negative grouping from a chaplain in the 9th armored division yielded this yielded this gem of an image.  The emotion and raw sadness of the war can be seen in the eyes of the boy smoking the cigarette in the left side of the photo.  They can’t be more than eight or nine years old.

A Canadian in Holland During WWII: Photographic Journal of Captain William J. Klyn – 1945

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For those interested in views of Holland during WWII I present the following set of unwatermarked images.  Please enjoy, and if you plan on using these for publication, please contact me first.  I assume most were taken in Amsterdam, but some may have been snapped in other places in the Netherlands and possibly Germany.


Want more?  I have over 200 images taken in Holland during WWII.  Add a comment asking for specific topics and I should be able to help you out!

Original Never-Before-Seen WWII D-Day Landing Photos on Omaha Beach – LCT-535

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Preparing the 535

Half the fun of winning a new group of WWII photos on eBay lies in the research and presentation of the material.  After recently having placed the winning bid on a set of 50

or so WWII photos of what appeared to be some sort of beach landing, I quickly realized that I had something more important in my possession.

After asking the gracious seller a little bit of info about the provenience of the lot, I soon found out that the photos came from the estate of a deceased WWII veteran from Santa Rosa, CA.  Al Pellegrini was the skipper of the LCT-535 during the D-Day invasion at Omaha Beach, and either snapped, or was given these photos as a memento of his time aboard the 535.

According to a 1994 article by Gaye LeBaron of the Press Democrat,

“Ensign Albert J. Pellegrini of Santa Rosa, California, came early to the invasion of Normandy.  He landed his LCT 535 about 10 minutes ahead of H-Hour on the sands of Omaha Beach, earning the distinction of being the skipper of the first American vessel to land on the French coast on June 6th, 1944.”

Wow!  What did I stumble across with this innocuous looking eBay listing?  I hope to present these photos to show the world the faces of the first men to land on Omaha Beach on that fateful day nearly 70 years ago.

3rd Trip on June 6th - Dropping off Field Hospital

Many more photos to come!

42nd Rainbow Division Rolls Through Bavaria – 222nd Infantry Regiment Photo Post

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222nd Anti-Tank Company

 

A member of the 222nd Anti-Tank Company of the 42nd Division snaps a photo while a convoy of trucks rolls through a small Bavarian town.  One of a series of nearly 800 negatives from the 222nd that I acquired last year; this photo encompasses the fast moving blitz through Germany and Bavaria that the 42nd took on during the last parts of the war.

 

The WWII Nose Art of Hal Olsen – U.S. Navy Mechanic on Consolidated PB4Y-2 Privateers

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I recently had the esteemed pleasure of acquiring two nose art photos of PB4Y-2 airplanes.  Using the power of the internet, I was able to look up the two planes, the Green Cherries, and the Lady Luck II.  With a bit of luck I tracked down the name of the original artist.  Hal Olsen painted over 100 nose art pin-up ladies on various planes in the PTO.  He charged $50 per painting and eventually used the money to enter formal art school and travel with his wife.  Having tracked him down, I wrote him a nice letter asking for his autograph and promising that I would send along some copies of my photos.  They go out in the mail tomorrow!  For now, check out the shots and the nice card he sent me.

Thanks Hal!

 

Lady Luck II

Green Cherries

 

 

 

Hal's Autograph