A stuffed German map case from France

[Abomb]

 

WW2 German Wehrmacht map case and contents TD patch and ribbon bar of Lt. J.P. Kehoe

Shadows on flap left by pencils and scissors.

 

The map case was purchased at an estate sale in 2017. Like others, I often look at a piece and think, "if only this thing could talk". There were many German items sold before I arrived and various U. S. items. I found a TD patch and partial ribbon bar for a Purple Heart, American Defense medal and a Silver Star but most US items were damaged paper items. These included a French language booklet "La Bataille

d' Alsace". What the French knew as La Bataille d' Alsace was The battle of the Colmar Pocket to the Americans . The Germans called it the "Nordwind" offensive.

I had no name for the veteran at first but a search using the home address found John Paul Kehoe. An internet roster of Silver Star awardees listed his name. The original citation was missing. The www. Tank Destroyer.net website yielded a biography I summarize below.

John Paul Kehoe was born in New York City and lived his early life in "Hell's Kitchen". He initially served in the National Guard and entered service in February 1941. He attained rank as sergeant, received the Soldier's Medal, was chosen for OCS and graduated as a Second Lieutenant. He married and shipped out to Italy in September 1943 to join the 636th Tank Destroyer Battalion. They engaged in fire missions, supported assaults on San Pietro, the Rapido River crossing, the Cassino sector in February, the Anzio Beachhead in May, and entered Rome on June 4th. They landed in Southern France on August 15th and reached the Moselle River in September. They were engaged in the Vosges Mountains in October and in Strasbourg in December. The 636th battled against the German Nordwind offensive in January and February of 1945 while the Battle of the Bulge raged further north.. At this point, John received a field promotion . On Jan. 21, 1945 his platoon of three TDs were near Weyersheim, France. They came under fire from 12 panzers. .John directed his units to open fire, put four German tanks out of commission, and forced the others to retreat. John Kehoe received the Bronze Star for this action. On February 3rd, near Rohrwiller, France, they observed enemy cannon and machine gun fire on a house occupied by allied personnel. 1st Lt. Kehoe directed his units to open fire while he made two trips to evacuate injured personnel from the house, which was 300 yards away. The enemy was destroyed and John was awarded the Silver Star for his gallantry.

On another occasion, he and his men were pinned down by a German sniper. Men were killed. The sniper was spotted in a church steeple which was destroyed by his unit along with the sniper. [Note: an internet search for images of the 636 TD Battalion results in a photo of an M10 moving past a collapsed church in Rohrwiller on Feb.5, 1945. ( Is this Coincidence or verification? )]

 

 

. As for the German map case ? I believe it had not been touched since the vet put it in storage as there were only German items in it, neatly packed. The scissors were rusted and left a shadow on the leather. Pencils were split and left their own stains on the inside flap, A hardened eraser and a corroded map tool were also in the case. There was a set of 10 maps of the Northeast quarter of France for German occupation forces (set #1 of four) . Two of the maps included the region of the Alsace battle .

One map includes the city of Hagenau and the towns of Weyersheim and Rohrwiller . I like to think Its wrinkles are from laying in the snow of January 1945. So, for me, these maps will not just be musty dusty paper . Every time I look at it I will picture an American officer personally confronting the enemy in France in the winter of 1945, an officer who was decorated for gallantry before he even shipped overseas , then twice after and wounded, too.

I will look at the TD patch differently, too. There are many like it but this one, because of whose it was, I think, has a value exceeding any souvenir map case.

 

 

 

 

[USCapturephotos]

I really, really enjoyed reading your write up on this piece. So much history. Loved your write up. Thanks.

Paul

[BILL THE PATCH]

Awesome find. Congrats.

 

Sent from my Moto G (5) Plus using Tapatalk

 

 

[M24 Chaffee]

Very cool map case and research! It’s rare to see a German map case with all the contents!

 

 

Frank

[36thIDAlex]

Wow! Just came across this topic researching. Truly an awesome map case. I collect items from the 36th Division and run the website 36thdivisionarchive.com

 

The 636th was their long-time support team. Could you post some more pictures of the maps? I am trying to figure out what maps were used by the division at different points, especially during the battles in the Vosges/Alsace.

 

Great stuff!

[1st Sgt CES]

I really like the map case with all the stuff in it !

[Big Iron]

Too bad all the pieces went to the four winds. Good find!