Introduction
The
time has long passed for the 42nd ID to also share their
complete and accurate history of the liberation Dachau.
The
45th ID has never refrained from including in our history of
our liberation story that members of the 157th Infantry
Regiment killed up to 50 unarmed SS soldiers after they were
captured or surrendered.
To date, the 42nd ID does not appear to have done the same.
The histories readily available at 42nd ID sites is
incomplete, inaccurate and self-promoting.
The other two recognized co-liberating divisions, the 45th
ID and 20th Armored Division are rarely if ever mentioned.
That is especially egregious since the unit of the 20th
Armored Division for which the 20th AD is recognized as a
co-liberating division, D Company and Assault Weapons
Platoon, 27th Tank Battalion, was attached to the 20th
Armored Division.
To
date, a history of the 42nd Infantry Division has not been
found that identifies all the 42nd ID units that
participated liberation of Dachau.
In
our research we have identified Companies
A, 1st Battalion, and Company F, 2nd Battalion, 222nd
Infantry Regiment, 42nd Infantry Division as having
participated in the liberation of Dachau on April 29, 1945.
The
soldiers of those units performed their service honorably.
What follows are unresolved issues and questions about the
conduct of 42nd officers especially General Linden.
The
other units of the 42nd ID, 222nd IR and the 242nd IR were
at or on their way to their assignment at Munich. Their
232nd IR was in an assembly area as part of the XV Corps
reserve.
1.
Why was General Linden at Dachau?
Dachau concentration
was outside of the 42nd's
division
boundaries. The Dachau concentration camp was not an
assigned objective of the 42nd ID.
The Seventh Army had assigned the Dachau concentration camp
to the 45th ID. The 45th
ID had assigned it to Task Force Sparks.
No documentation has been found that division boundaries
had been changed or that the 42nd ID had orders to proceed
to the main Dachau concentration camp.
If General Linden had any question about division
boundaries, was it his responsibility to contact the XV
Corps or Seventh Army for clarification?
Crossing
division boundaries endangered the soldiers of the 42nd
and the attached soldiers of the 20th Armored Division by
increasing the risk of friendly fire accidents from the
45th ID.
Several
friendly fire incidents had already recently occurred
along the 42nd/45th division boundary.
The
map shows units of the 42nd turning southeast from its
southerly advance to Munich to cross the division boundary
between the 42nd and 45th to get to Dachau.
Click on map for larger format

Map
from Flint
Whitlock,The Rock of
Anzio
So why was the 42nd at Dachau
on April 29,
1945?
Apparently,
journalists accompanying 42nd ID General Linden appealed
to his vanity to be documented in pictures and writing
liberating a major concentration camp.
2. The International Red Cross ((RC) Arranged
Surrender of Dachau
When General Linden with
soldiers of the 42nd ID and journalists arrived at SS
training facility, they encountered a representative of
the International Red Cross (IRC) with a white flag and SS
Untersturmfuhrer
(Second Lieutenant) Wicker. The IRC had arranged for the
surrender of Dachau.
What were WWII U.S. Army procedures that the 42nd ID
should have followed when General Linden became aware that
the IRC had arranged the surrender of the Dachau
concentration camp in the 45th’s area of operation wished
to surrender?
Was
General Linden to contact the 45th ID, the XV Corps, or
the Seventh Army?
So what did General Linden do?
3. Prioritizing Photo
Opportunities Over the Surrender of Dachau
After making contact with SS Second Lieutenant Wicker
of Dachau and the representatives of the International Red
Cross, instead of proceeding with the surrender of Dachau,
General Linden had Lt. Wicker accompany him to the death
train to pose for photos.

Click on image
for larger format
4. Media Circus Surrender at the Main Gate of the
Concentration Camp
After the photo session at the
train, General Linden proceeded to the main gate of the
concentration camp to stage a media event in the presence of
print and photo journalist of him accepting the surrender of
Dachau from Lt. Wicker.

Click on image for larger
format
General Linden is standing on
the concrete structure.
SS Second Lieutenant Wicker is
the tall Nazi to the LEFT.
5. Confrontation between
General Linden and Col. Sparks
At some
point on April 29, 1945 the 45th ID’s Lt. Col. Sparks and
the 42nd’s Brig. Gen. Linden engaged in a heated argument in
front of the Jourhaus, the gate to the prison compound, over
military jurisdiction, command authority, and General
Linden's behavior towards soldiers of the 45th.
While Linden and the
42nd had accepted the camp surrender, Sparks and his 45th
troops had not only arrived earlier, but (unlike Linden and
company) were legitimately assigned the sector by Seventh
Army command.
Linden’s crossing the
42nd / 45th Division boundary not only endangered soldiers
of his own 42nd and attached 20th Armored Divisions, but
those of the 45th, as well.
Earlier in the day,
Sparks and his men had come under friendly fire from units
of the 42nd.
Official radio logs
show that not only was the 45th ID, but also XV Corps
itself, dealing with the 42nd's inappropriate crossing of
Division boundaries, vis-a-vis security, safety, and care of
32,000 liberated inmates.
Prior to encountering Gen. Linden, Col. Sparks had to deal
with of soldiers under his command killing SS soldiers at
the boxcars and in the elsewhere in the SS training
facility, including stopping them from summarily executing
SS soldiers in the coal yard.
As tempers exploded,
an exhausted and weary Sparks pulled his Colt .45 service
pistol on the (technically) superior officer, threatening
the General, accompanying journalist, Marguerite Higgins,
and their media-circus entourage, to withdraw from the camp
immediately. An
official Signal Corps photographer accompanied Task Force
Sparks. Col Sparks had no problem with that.
General Linden
referred Col. Sparks for criminal investigation
On 1 May, Col. Sparks
was relieved and returned to the U.S. It's unclear if this
was over the murders of SS soldiers at the camp, his clash
with Linden, or both.
General Linden was
never held accountable for his actions on April 29, 1945.
More detailed accounts of the confrontation between Col.
Sparks and General Linden are in The Rock of Anzio
by Flint Whitlock and The Liberator by Alex Kershaw. No
account of the confrontation has been found in any 42nd ID
source.
6. Failure to Secure SS
Commander of Dachau
General
Linden failed to secure SS Untersturmfuhrer (Second Lieutenant)
Wicker after his surrender.
Lt.
Wicker was unaccounted for after his surrender.
Reports are that he was most
likely murdered by the liberated Dachau inmates.
After his surrender, Lt. Wicker was an unarmed POW.
General
Linden was responsible for his safety and security.
Why wasn't General Linden investigated for his failure to
secure and protect Lt. Wicker after his surrender?
7. Failure to Plan for the Health and Safety of
the Liberated Dachau Inmates
The Seventh Army made plans for the XV Corps
military government and medical units to coordinate with
the 45th ID to assume responsibility for Dachau as soon as
possible.
The Seventh Army ordered that for the health and safety of
the liberated inmates, the 45th have the inmates remain at
the concentration camp.
Was General Linden aware of the Seventh Army's plans for
Dachau?
Does
General Linden bear some responsibility for the breach of
security when allegedly one of the journalists opened the
front gate of Dachau letting inmates out?
That
complicated the ready difficult situation security
situation for the soldiers of the 42nd and 45th dealing
with both 32,000 liberated inmates and about 500 SS POWS.
That
required the soldiers of the 42nd and 45th to secure the
inmates who fled the camp while securing the camp and
POWS.
8. Failure to Plan to
Disarm Booby Traps and Clear Mines
The
2947th Technical Intelligence Engineer Team (C) XV Corps
Headquarters Engineer Section operated with Task Force
Sparks to disarm booby traps and clear mines from the SS
facility and concentration camp.
Did General Linden also have engineers with units of the
42nd to perform similar duties?
If not, did his failure to plan place soldiers of the
42nd and other units in danger because of that failure?
9. Killings
of SS Guards by
42nd ID Soldiers.
At some point,
according to investigation by the Seventh Army Inspector
General, soldiers of 1st Battalion, 222nd Infantry Regiment
(IR), 42nd ID and soldiers of the 157th Infantry Regiment,
45th Infantry Division killed an estimated (17) SS soldiers
at Guard Tower B. While soldiers of the 45th were referred
for prosecution for those and other killings at Dachau, no soldiers of the 42nd were
referred for prosecution.
Did
General Linden's prioritizing of a self-promotional media
circus contribute to the breakdown of command and control
that resulted in soldiers of the 42nd killing SS guards at
Tower B in the concentration camp?
10. General Linden's Planning
Except for a self-promotional media circus, did General
Linden do any planning for the liberation of Dachau?
11. What If/Alternate History?
What if General Linden stayed within the 42nd
division boundaries, obeyed orders, and proceed to his
assigned objectives?
Instead the representatives of the International Red Cross
and Lt. Wicker would have made contact with Col. Sparks of
Task Forces, 45th ID who appear to have arrived at the SS
facility shortly before General Linden and units of the 42nd
ID.
Instead
of killing SS soldiers in the SS training facility and SS
guards in the concentration camp, the soldiers
of Task Force Sparks may then stopped at the railroad gates
or at the death train and been redirected to main gate to
implement the orderly surrender of Dachau
12. 692nd Tank
Destroyer Battalion
In the collection of the 20th Armored Division photos a
photo was found CPT Roy Wellburn, 2nd Platoon, Company A,
692nd Tank Destroyer Regiment; attached to the 42nd ID's
222nd Infantry Regiment (BELOW). As an unit attached to
the 42nd ID at the time of liberation, the 692nd TD BN is
included in the 42nd ID's recognition as a liberating
division.
In no 42nd ID documents or histories is any mention made
of the 692nd being at Dachau with the 222nd IR, 42nd ID.
Why is the only found among 20th AD photos and not in
anything from the 42nd ID?
Click on
image for larger format
13.
20th Armored Division.
None of the 42nd ID
histories of their participation in the liberation of Dachau
include that the 20th Armored Division is a co-liberating
division.
Company D and the
Heavy Weapons Platoon, 27th Tank Battalion are the 20th AD
attached to the 42nd ID are the units cited by the U.S. Army
Center of Military History in recognizing the 20th AD as one
of the three
co-liberating divisions of Dachau.
Why does the 42nd ID not mention
those units in any of their histories?
Would historians of the 42nd please research their archives
for any information about D Company and Assault Weapons
Platoon, 27th Tank Battalion, 20th Armored Division attached to the 222nd
Infantry Regiment, 42nd Infantry Division on
April 29, 1945 and was at Dachau on April 29, 1945 and
share what they find?
14.
Transparency, Completeness, Accuracy, and Accountability
in 42nd Infantry Division Histories of Their Role in the Liberation
of Dachau
Why is none of this be found when the 42nd tells the story
of their role in the
liberation?
After 3/4 of
a century, the time has come for the 42nd Infantry Division
historians to present a transparent, complete, and accurate
account of their role in the liberation of Dachau and
acknowledge and take responsibility for the inappropriate behaviors of the officers of
the 42nd just as the historians of the 45th Infantry
Division have done.
This is a major revision of a
Facebook post from May 2, 2020 by Leonard H. Cizewski, son
of the late Felix A. Cizewski.
Felix A. Cizewski participated in the liberation of Dachau
as a member of the 45th Signal Company. On April 29th, 1945 the
45th Signal Company was moving from Schrobenhausen about
39 miles north of Dachau to Haimhausen, about 8 miles
northeast of Dachau. The 45th Signal Company provided
communications support among the units of the 45th ID.
Leonard H. Cizewski is solely responsible for this opinions
expressed and these do not represent the views of the The
45th Infantry Division in World War II: An Unofficial Guide
to Resources or The 45th Division in World War II: The
Thunderbirds Facebook Group
Sources
Flint
Whitlock, The Rock of Anzio.
Alex
Kershaw, The Liberator
Image of CPT Roy Wellburn from the collections of the late
S/SGT Wilburn Smith (Co. A, 27th Tank Btn., 20th Armored
Div.) and the late T/4 Hubert Paul (HQ CO., 27th Tank
Btn., 20th Armored Div.). Courtesy, S/SGT Smith’s
grandson, Marshall Van Hoy, and T/4 Paul’s son, Larry
Paul.
Researchers
Leonard H. Cizewski
Rich MIntz