CORRESPONDENCE RECEIVED from Jack Foley, 20 March 2019:
My father, Lt. John A. Foley, Jr., was part of the 28th ID MP Platoon HQ Co during WWII, in particular during Hurtgen, the Bulge, Colmar, etc. He landed at Normandy several weeks after D-Day and participated in the breakout, the Falasie campaign and on into Paris in August 1944 with the headquarters company. I noticed his name is listed among the Bronze Star recipients on your webpage -- thanks for including him. On the early morning of 12/19/44, accompanying Gen. Cota, dad and Maj. Fellman and a few others were in the two jeeps that left Wiltz, Luxembourg, as the Germans began shelling the town. Making their way though difficult territory with the enemy all around, they made their way first to Bastogne and from there to Sibret where the new CP was established before street fighting in that tiny town sent the remnants of the 28th HQ Co south to Neufchateau. It was in the latter city that dad and Cota and a handful of HQ personnel were able to gather the scattered remaining elements of the 28th and reconstitute the division so that it could later participate in the Colmar action. While in Neufchateau, the 28th headquarters building was bombed in what was the first use of a jet bomber in war. A few MPs, under Lt. Foley, and with Maj. Fellman there, set up a storefront shop as their office in Neufchateau to process 28th stragglers as they showed up. In 2014, a monument to the 28th was dedicated at the city hall in Neufchateau. The ceremony was attended by U.S. and Belgium diplomatic representatives. I attended the ceremony at the invitation of 28th ID Memory, a very dedicated Belgium group that keeps alive the memory of the 28th's soldiers. Also in attendance was Helen Patton, granddaughter of Gen. George Patton. It was in or near Neufchateau that my father met Patton as the Third Army made its way to Bastogne. We lost dad in 2000. I have other information and photos of some of the WWII 28th MPs, some of them mentioned but not pictured on your webpage. If I can help in any way to make your website more complete vis a vis the WWII MPs of the 28th, I am happy to help. Again, thanks for including the WWII MPs on your page, it was wonderful to see them and in particular my father's name. Best, John M. 'Jack' Foley |
The 28th Military Police in World War 2
LEFT - is one of Lt Foley's photos. It is marked as having been taken in 1944 in Percy, France. Neither the photographer nor any of the five GIs in the image is identified. In addition to the standing MP, who appears to be directing traffic, two GIs are in the tank turret, one manning the machine gun, and a head is popping out of the driver's hatch. A fifth GI is crouching against the building, his back to the camera, just above and behind the motorcycle seat. I can just make out what looks like a band around the bottom of his helmet, which would ID him as a MP. A second tracked vehicle can be seen just to the left of the motorcycle handlebars and moving ahead of the M4 Sherman tank. The bike is most likely a Harley or Indian. Both firms had army contracts with essentially the same specifications. My dad talked about the MP platoon's motorcycle troops - his experience with bikes made him very, very leery of motorcycles later in life and he swore he'd never get on one again. I don't think he ever did. (Still, he relented and when I was 17 he let me buy my first bike.) On a mission during the war, he also almost went down in a two-seater reconnaissance plane. He refused to fly again till he was in his 60s! I have a photo of him and the pilot after their emergency landing in a small clearing in the forest. Years later, he wrote a little tongue-in-cheek article about the incident. He titled it, Debris or not Debris? He had a good sense of humor. If the photo indeed shows the 28th's movement through Percy (at the time, the division had at least one tank battalion, the 744th), it probably was taken about a week after the 7/24 landing at Omaha Beach. From Omaha, they headed 37 miles inland to an assembly area just NE of St.-Lo, a town dad talked about. According to the division's Order of Battle entry (linked here: https://history.army.mil/documents/ETO-OB/28id-eto.htm), that assembly area appears to have been in Agneaux, just outside St.-Lo and about 15 miles north of Percy. It took five days to move the 37 miles from Omaha to Agneaux, reaching the latter on 8/29 and setting up their 2nd CP since leaving the beachhead. They did not stay long in Agneaux. By 7/31 they were a couple of miles south in La Denisiere. And by 8/3 they've were in Margueray, just south of Percy. Percy is not listed as one of the 28th's CPs, but Agneaux and Margueray are, so they were pushing fast through Percy when the photo was taken, headed for Paris. It's about 175 miles from Omaha Beach to Paris. Today, that's about a 3-hour drive. It took the 28th about 35 days to reach Paris. During that time, they set up 18 CPs, staying on average less than two days at each, except for one where they stayed for six days. Info provided by John M. 'Jack' Foley |
Photo 1 March 1945Photo above: My father, Lt. John A. Foley Jr., is the MP in the background on the right side and facing the camera. I have to assume that the MP on the right is "Lt. Foley" since that's what dad put in the caption, but the photo isn't good enough for me to recognize him. A second MP, on the left with his back to the camera, is not identified. Nor are any of the German soldiers or the man identified as a "war criminal."
Photo 2 March 1945Photo above: Showing the same scene of the 'war criminal' digging a latrine, taken from a different angle.
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Photo 1 backWritten on back of photo:
Thur, Germany, Mar. '45. P.W. Cage. Background: German Soldiers, Lt. Foley. Foreground: War Criminal digging hole. Photo 2 backWritten on back of photo:
Thur, Germany, Mar. 1945 P.W. Cage. War Criminal digging deep hole for good purpose. |