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D-Day Invasion Planner Capt. Helmet- SHAEF QMC


36thIDAlex
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36thIDAlex

Hello, I posted about this helmet that I found a few months ago in my area and have since researched it's owner quite heavily, thus I felt an official post on the helmet and its owner was fitting. If the admins would like to take down the prior post they can feel free, but here is the link to the original post and many more photos of the helmet that I won't include here.

 

 

http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/304637-named-early-war-salty-captain-m1-st-clair-liner/

 

 

Col. William F. Edinger was born in 1914 in Louisville, Kentucky and was commissioned sometime in 1941. On June 24th, 1941, Edinger graduated from the Army Quartermaster School in Philadelphia and became an instructor there until the war began.

 

I do not have any records from his service Until 1944, however, by the 15th of May, Edinger had been promoted to Captain and moved to London to serve with the Quartermaster Corps at Allied Supreme Headquarters for the ETO. It was here that Edinger played a key role in planning the logistical side of not only Operation Overlord, but Operation Rankin "C", one of many Allied contingency plans should Germany experience some mass change in military or economic power. According to Allied documents Edinger had "Complete" knowledge of both operations, which "includes target dates and assault areas. Limited knowledge means knowledge of the operations generally, but such knowledge does not include target dates and assault areas." Edinger had this authority by May 15th, a privilege afforded to only a select few in each section of the Army.

 

My next records come from the directories of the Com-Z group in October of 1944. These records detail the contact information for various headquarters of US Army components while stationed in Paris. In these records, it shows Captain Edinger as staying at the Hotel Astoria as Chief Clerk (2nd in command from what I can tell) of the Quartermaster Corps' Field Service Division, the part of the Quartermaster Corps responsible for delousing stations, field bakeries, equipment repair stations, laundry services, aerial delivery, showers, etc.

 

That is all I have on Edinger's service during WWII, but his career did not end until the 60s.

 

After the war, Edinger returned home and remained active in the Army Reserves. One activity he prided himself in was the proper burial of German POWs who died while living in the United States both during and after the war. For his dedication to the respectful treatment of German dead, on July 31st, 1968, Edinger was awarded the Officer's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, one of the highest honors available to non-German military members and only given to a few Americans.

 

One story goes that a group of German POWs once murdered a prisoner known as Heinz Peter who embraced life as an artist and painter in the United States. For years he had remained with a group of fellow POWs who never returned to Germany. Supposedly, they found out he had given the allies information during the war and was subsequently killed, although this was never confirmed. Edinger had Peter buried in a small POW grave outside the city which was later included in a private transaction. Edinger managed to move the bodies of these POWs from the now private land to new graves on Federal Land at Fort Knox

 

As a Lt. Col he graduated from the Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. At this point, he was attached to the 2074th Army Reserve Service Unit in Kentucky. Soon after he was promoted to full Colonel and became the executive officer for the 2074th Reserve School in Louisville and eventually retired.

 

Edinger passed away in 2004 and was buried in Louisville's Cave Hill Cemetery. This memorial day I took the trip to the cemetery and found his grave, which is what inspired me to share his full story on the forums.

 

 

I am only an amateur researcher so if I wrote anything incorrectly please feel free to correct me and if anyone has any more information or leads where I can find more information on Colonel Edinger, please do share.

 

Included are a few basic photos of the helmet, more in the original post, the documents I have from SHAEF of his service, and a few other things. Sorry if some are blurry, the uploader I am using kind of sucks.

 

Also if anyone could answer a question for me, I was wondering why Edinger would have the netting on his helmet? Is it possible he went out into the field? I haven't seen any reference photos of officers stuck at the Paris or London HQs wearing netting on their helmets and I wouldn't expect them to. This makes me wonder if Edinger actually found himself outside of HQ and on the front somewhere.

 

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post-167017-0-72399000-1527657779.jpg

 

post-167017-0-77236900-1527657795_thumb.jpg

 

 

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36thIDAlex

The Hotel Astoria during the war

post-167017-0-36579100-1527659038.jpg

 

Information on the document detailing the knowledge of Operation Overlord of specific individuals on the staff

 

post-167017-0-04487100-1527659021_thumb.jpg

 

 

 

 

 

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36thIDAlex

Captain Edinger in the document

 

post-167017-0-79479600-1527659220_thumb.jpg

 

Major Edinger at Bowman Field, Louisville, KY, after the war.

 

post-167017-0-64838300-1527659251_thumb.jpg

 

 

 

 

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Screamingeagles101

Great looking helmet. Looks to have Been an important man during the war.

Very cool!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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M24 Chaffee

Great helmet and information to go with it! It is interesting that the net is on the helmet.

 

 

Frank

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  • 1 year later...

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