Antwerp Deputy Port Commander's Grouping--Later Became a Major General

[CNY Militaria]

This is a grouping that is picture heavy in order to show everything, and I only photographed roughly 70% of it all!. It belonged to Maj. Gen. Harrison, the Adjutant General of the Mass. NG and later the 26th ID Commanding General. In WWII he was the Deputy Operations Officer for the 5th Port of Embarkation in Glasgow, Scotland and then as a full Colonel the Deputy Commander of the Port at Antwerp. In 1946 he returned to Mass. and was promoted to Brigadier General.

[CNY Militaria]

Closeups of the uniform. The trousers have a thick double bullion braid down the sides. Some extra insignia as well. The miniature black medal is for the Order of the Leopold certificate that is shown below. The Col. Eagle is made by J.R. Gaunt of London.

 

 

 

[CNY Militaria]

Letter signed by Maxwell Taylor as the Army Chief of Staff. Also Belgian Order of Leopold certificate and appreciation certificate from Antwerp.

 

 

 

[CNY Militaria]

Misc. invitations and also a proposed plan written by Col. Harrison to either erect a statue thanking the Belgians of Antwerp or issue each one a certificate of merit. The photos of the bodies are presumably from the V-1 and V-2 Rocket attacks on Antwerp as the document after it deals with casualty reports and figures.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[CNY Militaria]

Christmas photo and some letters from Antwerp citizens thanking Col. Harrison.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Note the V-2 Bombs at the bottom here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Second to last photo is Col. Harrison receiving his Bronze Star.

 

 

 

 

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Third photo is MG Harrison commanding.

 

 

 

 

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[tsakers85]

I was hoping to see this turn up here! Nice grouping, a beautiful mess uniform. You've got a little MA NG sub collection going now...

[CNY Militaria]

Ha Somehow I have a Northeastern United States oriented General Officer NG collection going, unintentionally of course! It is neat when the GO's all become tied together across different groups.

[CNY Militaria]

Top

[manayunkman]

I am amazed by the lack of comments on this fine group.

 

There is some history here especially on the V weapons. You could do a whole separate thread on just that.

 

Those casualty photos say it all. Can't look at them too long and.... the children. For what purpose ??

 

Is the Taylor autograph original ??

 

I always loved groupings. They bring history alive.

 

CNY thank you for taking the time to put this all together for us. A thread like this takes time to put together and I for one appreciate it.

 

M

[Johan Willaert]

Great group!!

 

The camp shown in some of the pictures in post 6 is most likely Camp Top Hat outside Antwerp where thousands of GI got on a ship back to the US in 1945-46...

 

The pictures with the V1 and V2 rockets in post 7 were taken near the Antwerp Cathedral Square during a war exhibition right after war's end...

[CNY Militaria]

I am amazed by the lack of comments on this fine group.

 

There is some history here especially on the V weapons. You could do a whole separate thread on just that.

 

Those casualty photos say it all. Can't look at them too long and.... the children. For what purpose ??

 

Is the Taylor autograph original ??

 

I always loved groupings. They bring history alive.

 

CNY thank you for taking the time to put this all together for us. A thread like this takes time to put together and I for one appreciate it.

 

M

 

So was I, especially since it took forever to photograph and upload! There was another page of the casualty photos, but I figured one was enough to do the talking. Very sad stuff, I wonder if they were even able to ID the people past a number. The taylor autograph is original, interesting too that the autograph smudged. Thanks for looking!

 

Justin

[CNY Militaria]

Great group!!

 

The camp shown in some of the pictures in post 6 is most likely Camp Top Hat outside Antwerp where thousands of GI got on a ship back to the US in 1945-46...

 

The pictures with the V1 and V2 rockets in post 7 were taken near the Antwerp Cathedral Square during a war exhibition right after war's end...

 

 

Great thanks for the ID on the camp! There are a few postcards of the V rockets as well so I imagine it was somewhat of a publicized event. Thanks again,

 

Justin

[Jeeper704]

The pictures of the V rockets probably were taken at the big exposition in Antwerp right after the war (July 1945 at the "Groenplaats").

I'm wondering if some of the photos of the civilian casualties were taken when Cinema Rex was it by a V2 rocket on December 16, 1944?

 

This is a very historical grouping.

It is what one expects to see in a museum.

 

Erwin

 

PS: If you care to read more, here is a good site: http://www.v2rocket.com/start/chapters/antwerp.html

[manayunkman]

Justin,

 

I don't think people know how long it takes to put a post like this together. It is a sacrifice in time and the thing is you don't have to do this.

 

I think though that your passion for history compels you to share something amazing and helps us have more insight into the events of the day.

 

I have certainly read and seen things here that I never would have unless you had taken the time to show.

 

It is also encouraging to hear feedback from our brother and sister collector/historians. Yes we don't all have a lot of time to post a comment but it is a good feeling to know that others appreciate what you find and post.

 

After all what would this forum be if nothing was posted. I suggest that it would be rather boring.

 

Very glad to see a couple of posts from the ETO. They were hard hit by the V weapons whether by miss fires or by the hits themselves.

 

Thanks again Justin for this post. Very nice autograph.

[CNY Militaria]

The pictures of the V rockets probably were taken at the big exposition in Antwerp right after the war (July 1945 at the "Groenplaats").

I'm wondering if some of the photos of the civilian casualties were taken when Cinema Rex was it by a V2 rocket on December 16, 1944?

 

This is a very historical grouping.

It is what one expects to see in a museum.

 

Erwin

 

PS: If you care to read more, here is a good site: http://www.v2rocket.com/start/chapters/antwerp.html

 

 

Erwin,

 

I agree with you--I would expect to see this group in a museum, it is that interesting! Great website too, very informative. One of the photos I posted was of a proposed plan to either offer a citation to all Antwerp residents or erect a memorial. Do you happen to know which occurred? Thanks,

 

Justin