42The 42nd Infantry Division at Dachau: Unresolved Issues and Unanswered Questions222th
            Infantry Battalion Shoulder Patch

(LEFT 42nd Infantry Division patch; RIGHT 222nd Infantry Battalion patch)

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. T
he 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
Dachau
                map
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 XVth 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 Commander 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.

Train 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. Wickert.

General Linden
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 & the 42nd had accepted the camp surrender, Sparks & 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 XVth 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 & 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 XVth 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) XVth 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?

10. 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.

The soldiers of Task Force Sparks may then stopped at the death train and redirected to implement the orderly surrender of Dachau instead of killing SS soldiers in the SS training facility and SS guards in the concentration camp.

11. 20th Armored Division.

None of the 42nd ID histories of their participation in the liberation of Dachau includes that the a unit of the 20th Armored Division,  D Company and Assault Weapons Platoon, 27th Tank Battalion was attached to one of the 42 ID units at Dachau.

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?

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). 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?
Cap Wellburn
Click on image for larger format

13.
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.<< Dachau Index

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
<< Dachau Index

<< The 45th Infantry Division in World War II: An Unofficial Guide to Resources
All items not in the public domain c 2021
Administrators: Leonard H. Cizewski & Judy Erwin Branham
The 45th Infantry Division in World War II: An Unofficial Guide to Resources

Last Major Update: January 28, 2023
Minor Revision:
Last Reviewed:
Posted:April 13
, 2021


hosted by ibiblio
Website Permission and Acknowledgements:

Please contact the administrators for instructions on how to acknowledge the source.

Many volunteer researchers at their own expense obtained many of these public domain items from sources such as the National Archives.