"Last man to die" in the ETO

[D.A.T.]

Watched this on German TV, although I've seen Capa's photo before, this put a little more light on the subject for me.

Raymond J. Bowman was definately not the "last man (GI) to die" in the ETO, as Capa stated, but he was pretty close.

Raymond J. Bowman turned 21 on April 2nd 1945 and was KIA April 18th, 1945, in Leipzig, Germany. He was a member of the 23rd Infantry, 2nd Infantry Division.

The photo of Raymond J. Bowman after being hit by a sniper while setting up a heavy machine gun.

The house where Bowman was KIA, later named the "Capa Haus" in the Jahnallee 61, Leipzig which they want to rename the street "Raymond J. Bowman Straße" in 2013. http://www.bild.de/regional/leipzig/zweite...47696.bild.html

In the TV doku. they said the balcony has been long since removed, it has housed junkies and homeless, almost burnt down, but still alot of people still want to save it from being torn down, but it would cost big bucks to renovate.

Lehman Riggs helped set up the heavy machine gun when his buddy way KIA. http://www.leipzig.de/int/en/newsarchiv/20...zig-22697.shtml

If anybody is interested, you can get a super view with Google Earth Street View. Jahnalle 61 Leipzig

A memorial/plaque in Leipzig, commemorating the 2nd I.D. and the 69th I.D., something unthinkable just little over 23 years ago.

 

[Sabrejet]

A very interesting but ultimately sad story Pat. Thanks for posting it. As you rightly say, for a GI to be commemorated in the old "East"....!

 

Ian :thumbsup:

[Jack's Son]

A dubious distinction at best, and one I'm sure no one wanted to own. I would imagine it would all come down to the date and time written on a report to the quartermaster. I would also think that the information would not have been made public for the same reason, who wants to be known as the last man to die?

[D.A.T.]

Thought I'd Google a bit and look for the "last KIA" in the ETO. Looks like Charles Havlat might be one of the very last ones.

Charles Havlat of the 803rd Tank Destroyer Battalion is thought to be the very last American soldier killed in action in the European operations of World War II, May 7, 1945. The son of Czech immigrants, he took a bullet in the head while on patrol in southern Bohemia; shot by German soldiers who were unaware that a ceasefire had been declared and whose commander later apologised.

http://www.radio.cz/en/section/curraffrs/c...pean-cease-fire

[MAW]

My information was always that Charles Havlat of the 803rd Tank Destroyer Battalion was the unlucky one. Interesting thread though....

[D.A.T.]

Here's another sad strange story about two German naval deserters, Bruno Dorfer and Rainer Beck, who were executed 13 May 1945, five days after the formal capitulation.

The trial occurred in an abandoned Ford assembly plant on the outskirts of Amsterdam, a site used by the Canadian army for the concentration of German naval POWs. After being found guilty, later that same day, a German firing squad, supplied with captured German rifles and a three-ton truck from the Seaforth Highlanders of Canada and escorted by Canadian Captain Robert K. Swinton, executed the two German prisoners of war a short distance outside the enclosure. Dorfer and Beck were among the last victims of a military legal system distorted by the Nazi state. At the time no one, Canadian or German, questioned the justice of the event. Now that is some bad luck.

I also mentioned above about using Google Earth Street View in Leipzig, just out of boredom, I tried it in Bastogne, Vierville-Sur-Mer and Remagen,

almost like going for a stroll down thier streets, can't go everywhere, but still not bad, and new to me. :thumbsup: