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Aircraft 42-23638 was
from the 14th Troop Carrier
Squadron, 61st Troop Carrier
Group flying out of the Barkston Heath
Airfield in eastern England. The aircraft
was Chalk 31 out of the 36 planes in Serial
Number 24, 507th Prcht Inf 82nd Abn Div.
It was an uneventful
flight until passing over the Guernsey
Islands where the aircraft was hit by
flack. They came under ground fire from
machine guns, wounding troopers Private
Charles Stout. First Lieutenant Walter
Heisler describes what happened next “I
unhooked to take a look at Stout, who in an
earlier night exercise refused to jump. I
wanted to make sure that this wasn’t the
case now. After determining that he was
indeed wounded Stout had to be unhooked due
to the severity of his wounds” (Interview
with Chris Heisler 2007 with Brian
Siddall).
First Lieutenant Walter Heisler
then led his 18 men out of the plane.
Just after the last
paratrooper jumped their aircraft was
fatally wounded by the 5th
Battery of the 191st Artillery
Regiment located in La Jardinière just to
the west of St. Joseph. The control panel
was shot away by a light flak burst that
also severely wounded the Radio Operator
Staff Sergeant Orlo Montgomery.
The Navigator Second
Lieutenant John H. Hendry was standing
between the two pilot’s seats with the
Montgomery behind him when the aircraft was
hit. Here is Hendry’s account “I was
standing between the pilot and co-pilot, who
were at the controls, and Staff Sergeant
Montgomery was standing directly behind me
facing aft. As he fell he turned and
wrapped his arms around my legs. I assumed
he was seriously injured by the amount of
blood loss. He passed into unconsciousness
very soon after. His position in the plane
when I left was in the aisle in the forward
end of the ship.”
There were six men left
in this airplane included two wounded men,
Private Stout and Staff Sergeant
Montgomery. The first men to bail out were
Technical Sergeant Alvin F. Vezina the crew
chief and the Co-pilot Second Lieutenant
Stanley Edwards Jr. The next man out was
Lieutenant Hendry, once again he gives his
account “The paratrooper was up and going
after a chute at the time I bailed out.
Whether he made it or not, I don’t know. He
was directly behind the bulkhead when I last
saw him.” The last man out was Pilot First
Lieutenant William E. Hitztaler.
The aircraft crashed
just northwest of Rocheville, France with
both men still aboard. The crash occurred
on Monsieur Lecoquierre’s land called Le
Clos Neuf northeast of the village of
Rocheville. In the morning Monsieur’s Pigol
and Lemarotel recovered two bodies from the
wreckage and buried them together 50 meters
from the crash site. Later that same day
Monsieur LeFillatre searched the crash site
and recovered Lieutenant Hendry’s cap with
his name and ID which he later turned over
to the American authorities.
On 11 July 1944 The
Provost Marshal 9th Army Air
Force sent the effects or personal
belongings to the Effects Section Master II
& QM Depot.
These included a Wallet with snapshots,
Soldier’s Individual Pay record Book and
Part of the Flight Record or Aircraft
Service Records. The Provost Marshal at
that time also gave the coordinates of where
the two bodies were buried so they could be
moved to an American Cemetery.
This information was
given to The Graves Registration Section at
Master QM. The Graves Registration Section
at Master QM then gave the coordinates to
the 603rd QM
Graves Registration Company. The
three pieces of Personal Effects should have
been sent to the 603rd
Graves Registration Company as well, this
was not done. The
603rd Graves Registration Company
was using Quartermaster Truck Companies to
pick up bodies at isolated graves in
Normandy. Staff Sergeant Montgomery
and Private Stout’s remains were recovered
at the crash site.
The errors began with
both Staff Sergeant Montgomery and Private
Stout. Both men came into the
603rd QM
Graves Registration Company at Ste.
Mère-Eglise No. 2 with no Personal Effects.
On 12 July 1944 neither of the two men was
identified and they were buried together as
one person
X-File Ste. Mère-Eglise
No. 2 X-40,
Plot P-09-163. There were two bodies and
two isolated graves, yet only one X-File
burial.
The
two Frenchmen who buried Staff Sergeant
Montgomery and Private Stout told The
Provost Marshal that there were two men
buried under the tree 50 meters from the
plane crash. The Provost Marshal passed the
coordinates to The Graves
Registration Section at Master QM. The
Graves Registration Section at Master QM
had also received three pieces of property
as well attributed to Private Stout, yet
that too did not show up on the Graves
Registration Form #1 in 12 July 1944 for
X-File Ste.
Mère-Eglise No. 2 X-40.
The
wallet with snapshots, Soldier’s
Individual Pay record Book and Part of the
Flight Record or Aircraft Service Records
could have helped to identify Staff Sergeant
Montgomery and Private Stout. The Graves
Registration Section at Master QM did pass
along the coordinates of burial, but either
The Graves Registration Section at Master QM
or the Quartermaster
Truck Companies did not pass along the key
piece of information that two bodies were
brought in.
The
wallet, Soldier’s Pay record and Flight
Record might have identified either one of
the two or they might have belonged to other
men on the airplane.
Those three pieces of information were set
ahead to Private Stout’s father Mr. Carl M.
Stout in December of 1944. Someone at
The Graves Registration Section at
Master QM had found Private Stout’s name in
one of those three items and sent the lot to
his family. Yet Stout was not identified
until 2 August 1946. Private Stout was
identified by his Shoe Size 12D and Laundry
Mark S-1425 from his Army Serial Number.
The Army Air Force was
trying to identify Staff Sergeant Montgomery
in 1945. 3059th QM
Graves Registration Company Confidential
stated that it was Private Stout not Staff
Sergeant Montgomery due to shoe size and
Laundry Markings, this 25 April 1945. Why
the Quartermaster Corps did not
officially identify Private Stouts body
until 2 August 1946 and set his father
(Mr. Carl M. Stout) a
WD AGO Form 0105-1 stating said fact is
a mystery.
Private Stout was buried at the St. Laurent
Sur Mer Plot B Row 7 Grave 19 15 April
1948. 27 April 1948 Private Stout was
disinterred and moved to St. Laurent Sur Mer
when a Mass Burial was found.
QMC Form 1194A Disinterment Discrepancy
Report was then filed.
Report of Proceedings
of
A Board of Officers was done 4 October 1948.
Using that Report on 28 October 1948 see
attached
Narrative shows that Staff Sergeant Chevrons
were found in burial with
Private Stout along with pieces of second
set of legs that show legs shorter that
Private Stout (6’4”), while Staff Sergeant
Montgomery was 5’10” (see
AGRC Form No. 11). 17089122
OQMG Form 371 for Staff Sergeant Montgomery
and 15114250
OQMG Form 371 for Private Stout were
used for Identification of the Remains.
These shorter leg bones were reburied as X-File
Ste. Mère-Eglise No. 2
X-153 buried on 6 January 1949 Plot Y-1-19.
X-File Ste.
Mère-Eglise No. 2 X-153 was moved from
Ste. Mère-Eglise No. 2 to
St. Laurent Sur Mer Plot A-3-18,
15 October 1949.
10 January 1950 shows
Narrative of Investigation by H.A. Schaefer
DA Civilian Investigator Recommended
based on Findings that X-File
Ste. Mère-Eglise No. 2
X-153 be re-designated
Staff Sergeant Orlo A. Montgomery. Please
read Narrative of Investigation.
In
February 1950 Form 293.9 (IB)
Non-Recoverable Board, AGRS states that
in the Synopsis the Investigator is
mentioned and that Captain C.W. Steinsiek
QMC ignored H.A. Schaefer DA Civilian
Investigator Recommendation and had Staff
Sergeant Montgomery as non-recoverable.
Even though it was in fact found with his
Chevron and lower part of his body 11 July
1944 and in Reports AGRC Form No. 11 and
Identification of The Remains.
Only three of the five Officers signed of on
the Report of Proceedings of A Board of
Officers 17 February 1950.
20 March 1950 OQMG Form 1916 the last
sentence are read wrong from the
February 1950 Form, 293.9 (IB). The last
sentence reads: Investigation of the file
of X-153, and of the file of Pvt Stout,
corroborates the Field Board Findings in
that the lack of conclusive evidence and the
small quantity of remains lead to the
approval of the surplus remains. This is
written based on the either a tired or inept
Report of Proceedings on 17 February 1950.
The 14 April 1950 letter to Mrs. Montgomery
QMGMF Form 293 is based on the same
faulty Report of Proceedings on 17 February
1950. The final insult is OQMG Form 28
February 1951
Memorialization Non- Recoverable Remains
of World War II.
How is it that two
Frenchmen on 6 June 1944 who buried the
bodies and The Provost Marshal 9th
Army Air Force on 11 July 1944 and H.A.
Schaefer DA Civilian Investigator on 10
January 1950 were all in agreement, yet
three of the five Officers signed of on the
Report of Proceedings of
A Board Of Officers 17 February 1950
were wrong?
X-File
Ste. Mère-Eglise No. 2
X-153 now buried at St. Laurent Sur
Mer Plot A-3-18 should be re-designated
Staff Sergeant Orlo A. Montgomery who was
Killed 6 June 1944. A DNA does not even
need to be done in this case, the evidence
is to strong. The Family should also be
allowed to bring Staff Sergeant Montgomery
home if his family so desires. It seems
that the Report of Proceedings of A Board Of
Officers 17 February 1950 were more worried
that St. Laurent Sur Mer Cemetery would have
uneven Rows at the new Cemetery.
This Narrative about
Staff Sergeant Orlo A. Montgomery and X-File
Ste. Mère-Eglise No. 2
X-153 were finished on 6 November 2012. All
support documents are attached to this email
and to the United States Post Office. All
links in blue denote the ability to right
click and read said documents.
Brian Siddall
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