Jerome
Gerald “Gummy” Robinson
My Father, Jerome Gerald “Gummy” Robinson was born in
Baltimore, Maryland on May 25, 1917 to Russian immigrant parents. His much
older brother was sent to medical school so it was up to Dad to make a living
and support the family. THIS IS HIS STORY.
13136466 was the number given to my Father, Jerome Gerald
Robinson. It was too late for Officer's Training School, so he enlisted as a
Private and was attached to the US Army's 40th Finance Dispersing Section. He
was activated to go to Africa in the winter of 1942, but they were ready to
invade Europe. 7,000 soldiers were sent to Europe on a ship called
"Orion" originally out of Australia. They landed in Ireland, went to
Scotland and then on to Great Britain.
The 40th Army Division that Dad was attached to was never
created so they gave him an assignment that was most unusual. He was, along
with 17 enlisted men and 3 officers, to pay the thousands of soldiers their
salaries, and to compensate the innocent victims of war.
He was stationed 80 miles from London on the East Anglia
Coast facing the Northern Sea. His Camp was called Stowmarket, named after the
town. They slept in overcoats during the entire winter of 1943.
Dad said that the Air Force was stationed nearby and that
the ground soldiers would watch the planes take off at 5 AM, rally into
formation and fly over the English Channel into Germany. If a red light was
flashing at the base, it would mean that a soldier was killed.
He said they all smoked cigarettes, talked all night long
and would watch an occasional dog fight in the air against a very dark sky.
They went into the
town of Stowmarket for drinks at an English Pub and occasionally into Ipswich,
for a USO Dance. He would not elaborate further on this subject.
Every three months they would have one weekend off. They
would go to London, sleep in cheap hotels where they could bathe and sleep on
beds with sheets.
During the blitz, they would run to the London Subways until
the bombing stopped. Dad and his Division stayed at Camp Stowmarket from
September 1943 until the June Invasion of 1944.
They crossed the English Channel in Navy Boats. They landed
on Utah Beach under fire. Utah Beach was the code name for the right flank of
the Allied Landing beaches during the D-Day Invasion of Normandy as part of
Operation Overload, June 6, 1944. They slept in fox holes standing up, dug by
soldiers the day before.
They then traveled down the Cotentin Peninsula to Saint Lo
following General Patton on the way to Paris. They arrived in Paris on trucks
loaded with technical equipment, found rooms and settled into the "Main
Bank" of Paris.
As Dad recalled, the bank building had 5 cellars filled with
money. The US Government had printed German Marks used for the Invasion. Headquarters
called it "Operation Tiger".
Their department handled all of the French/American money transfers. No
one was permitted to carry American Dollars in France because of the
underground "Black Market" in US Currency. The US Army's 40th
Dispersing Division was in charge of ALL the Invasion Money.
In December 1944, they left Paris stopping at Charles Le Roy
to celebrate Christmas is freezing weather.
The Battle of the Bulge was Germany's last stand. For the
Americans, with about 600,000 men committed and some 81,000 casualties,
including 19,000 killed, the Battle of the Bulge was the single largest and
bloodiest battle that America forces fought in World War II.
My Father won 5 Bronze Stars for The Battle of Great
Britain, The Battle of Normandy, The Freeing of Paris, The Invasion of Germany,
and The Battle of The Bulge. He was my hero.
During the winter of 1945, the troops forced their way into
Germany and it was the first time Dad was on German Land in Bodden Nichter
Breisen on The Rhein. Soon after, the Army drove Dad back to Paris as he was
awarded a few days leave. He caught a train to The Riviera and two days later
received a wire requesting him to return to his outfit for shipment back to the
US.
He caught a plane in Nice with the idea that he was flying
back to his outfit first. Because of the violent weather over the Alps, the
plane landed in Paris.
He was in contact with his outfit and was told to report
ASAP to Chesterfield Port (all of the Ports were named after cigarettes by the
men) to return to the US.
Dad had requested a temporary leave of absence six months
prior because his Father was dying. The pass finally came through. The ship
from Chesterfield Port landed somewhere on the East Coast and he was taken to
Fort Meade in Maryland. My Grandfather drove my Mother Edith to Fort Meade to
be reunited with my Father. They were married before the war. Dad was
discharged and allowed to return to Baltimore. The year was 1945.
Many celebrities came through the offices on the way to
entertaining the troops. Dad mentioned seeing Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, Jack Benny
and all the beautiful female stars of the day!
We did not discuss the carnage that he saw as it was too
painful to remember. The names of close friends that he could recall were
Francis Benechek, Jim Richardson, Tom Kelly and Major Major. Major Major was a
Major.
PS: We won the war! PPS: Dad passed away on April 29, 2013.
He would have been 96 on May 25, 2013. This story also honors the hundreds of
thousands of soldiers who fight for our freedom. May they all be blessed and
may my Dad rest in peace.
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