Evening star., 1945-06-30
Gen. Sfroh Rebui|ds
|106th Division 10
Handle Prisoners
By THOMAS r. HENRY,
Star War Correspondent.


prisoners in the CoblenZ area.
When Gen. Stroh returned from
home leave last winter, he was
given the job of rebuilding the 106th
Division, which took the brunt of
Marshal Gerd Won Rundstedt's Ar
dennes breakthrough and lost 1000
men dead, wounded and prisoners.
Many of the prisoners from the
106th were in the forced march
through snowdrifts Of North Ger
many last winter.
Now the division has been reor-
ganized under Gen. Stroh's COM
mand. 1t has been increased to
more than 10000 men, three times
the size of an ordinary infantry
division, because 1t has the major
job of handling war prisoners.
The division has headquarters at
Bad Ems, it is disposed along q
front of $40 miles. At its peak, the
census of the prisoner population in
the cages was 10000.
Division Reconstructed.
After the Ardennes disaster the
106th Division moved back to France
for rebuilding. Then came the
rapid advances during April with
Germans surrendering by the thou.
sands. All available facilities were
quickly swamped and desperate
measures were necessary to keer
the situation under control.
The 106th was rushed east tx
take over the partly-built inclosure.
from Holland to Switzerland. TIT
106th crowded one camp with pris.
oners. Another camp received 35,.
900 the day it opened. Truck con.
voys loaded with prisoners cloggec
the roads. The mere job of count
ing them was problem. The pris.
oneres were dirty, ragged and di.
sheveled. They were of IL national.
tiles, all wearing the German uni.
form. Among them were men of II
and boys. Some were women, q.
ragged and dirty as the men.
One building under Gen. Stroh'.
control contained at one time 81
German and Hungarian general.
and field marshals.
The peak was reached about sis
weeks ago. They are now beinf
discharged at the rate Of about
5000 daily and sent by truck anc
rail to all parts of the American
occupied territory.
One engineer battalion built 81
miles Of guard fence in q month
under the direction of 1t. Col
Tommy Riggs, 1910 football star al
the University of Illinois, who him.
self was one Of the prisoners taker
in the Battle of the Bulge. Nearly
10000 prisoners were found to bt
infected with lice.
Many Are Sick.
The sick call at one camp brought
in as many as 10000 daily. 1t was
necessary to increase the guard divi-
sion to unprecedented size. 1t now
has five infantry regiments, six
artillery battalions plus all support
ing troops.
One infantry regiment, command
ed by Col. Robert Stumpf, Gen.
Stroh's son-in-law and also of WASH
ington, is the largest in the Army
with $500 members.
After service as assistant COM
mander of the 9Th Division in
Tunesia and Sicily, Gen. Stroh was
given command of the 9th Division
at the height of the fighting in
Normandy, and later was picked
to rebuild the hardest hit division
in the Army.
Few Of the men 1t lost as wounded
or prisoners have come back to the
106th, but all the latter are now
liberated and presumably are on
their way home.
An account was received here
today of how the lives of nearly 5000
probably were saved last winter
through the heroism and craftiness
of three prisoners from the division
"a Catholic and a Protestant chap
lain and a private.
Serves as Spy.
The two chaplains, Samuel r. r
Neel, Grand Rapids, Mich, and Ed
ward Hurley, Susquehanna, Pa, due
to their noncombat status, were able
to negotiate with the Germans while
Pvt. Ben Dodge of Seattle, who
speaks German, served as a spy
listened to the guards talk and
learned their plans.
All were in the prison camp at
Bad Orb near Munich after a food
less ride Of four days at zero tenn
perature in locked box cars. Many
were dying when they arrived. Then
they were locked in heatless bar
racks. One hundred and sixty men
were in one small room.
Chaplains Neel and Hurley, be-
sides caring for the sick, protested
everything. They learned of the
proposed march Of death, first to
Silesia and afterward across North
Germany to Duderstadt. They
knew few of the men could survive
the march in the cold. So by vio-
lent protests, warnings that there
would be epidemics of infectious
diseases and other ruses, they de.
layed the start of the march from
day to day until the Russian ad-
vances in the north made the move
impossible.
The prisoners were still there
when Bad Orb was captured by the
American 7th Army.
Gen. -Stroh came to Washington
with his family when he was S. Hi.
late father, Harry L. Stroh, was EN-.
ployed at the Bureau Of Printins
and Engraving. His mother live!
in Takoma Park, Md.
Gen. Stroh attended Central High
School and was commissioned in tn,
Army in 1917. His wife and daugh.
ter, Mrs. Robert Stumpf, live at tn,
Ingomar place address.
Gen. stroh's son, Maj. Harry r
Stroh, "a, fight leader OF a Pa
Thunderbolt Squadron, was sho
down and killed at Brest on Au
gust ~, 1914, while flying over hi
fathers 9th Division.
Western Presbyterian