WWII 36th Division Distinguished Service Cross and POW Uniform Group

[36thIDAlex]

     Rounding off the year with a pretty sweet valor group that just happened to fit in my focus, from Colonel James F. Skells, a battalion commander, Distinguished Service Cross recipient, and POW from the 36th Infantry Division.

 

My full article here: https://www.36thdivisionarchive.com/pa-36-skells

 

     The group contains a real mixup of items including one of Skells’ khaki uniforms, several award citations and certificates, and lots of paperwork from newspaper clippings, every promotion document, his West Point appointment, his various qualification diplomas, photos, and more. I was thankfully able to get even more research by getting in touch with his family who was extremely generous in sharing information and even sent me a copy of his (very rare) autobiography to scan and read through.

 

     Skells originally hailed from Watertown, South Dakota in an immigrant family from London but in 1931, after working his butt off, received an appointment to West Point. He graduated in ‘35 and for the first few years of his service traveled around performing duties from infantry training, heading the motorization of the 2nd ID, and even becoming an armor platoon commander. After the war broke out he applied for the air corps, training as an aerial observer, but couldn’t qualify for flight school so transferred back to armor and shipped overseas to Ike’s headquarters in North Africa, transferring to the 1st Armored Division in November 1943.

 

     He served as an air liaison for the division, overseeing air strikes and the like, but by January 1944 was feeling he would still miss most of the war in this role. Meeting up with General Walker of the 36th ID, after a single luncheon they offered him a spot as a battalion commander, officially giving him the role of leading 3rd Battalion, 143rd Infantry Regiment, on 3 February 1944. Only a week and a half after the Rapido, the unit was extremely understrength but Skells led it well mostly through several defensive positions as they tried to recover. On 12 February, however, his mettle would be tested while defending a critical juncture in the Allied line at Monte Castellone, near Monte Cassino. 

 

     With his single weakened battalion, Skells was assaulted, after a three-hour 109-gun bombardment, by three German battalions from the IV HochGebirgsjager and 200th Panzergrenadier Regiment who attempted to once again recapture the mountain for fear the allies could use it as a launching off point for a flank attack of Monte Cassino. Despite the overwhelming odds, Skells launched into action, running across the frontline personally creating new defensive positions, repositioning and directing machine guns, motivating his men, and simply jumping from foxhole to foxhole making sure his line was both fluid and firm to resist the German advances, all the while directing extremely accurate mortar fire on the German routes of advance. The actions are described in further detail in his Distinguished Service Cross citation:

 

James F. Skells, Major, O-19830, 143d Infantry Regiment, for extraordinary heroism in     action on 12 February 1944, on Mt Castellone, Italy, near Cairo, Italy. The Third Battalion was in a defensive position on the south slope of Mt Castellone when just before dawn the Germans laid down an intense mortar and artillery barrage lasting two hours. Following the barrage the Germans launched a fierce counterattack penetrating our lines, necessitating reorganization of the front line elements. With complete disregard for his own life under intense artillery, mortar, machine gun, and rifle fire he went forward to the forward elements of the battalion, reorganized the companies, placed the machine guns in position and directed fire against the enemy. He then took command of the remaining elements of Companies I and K and personally led his Battalion in a quick, vicious counterattack against the Germans forcing them to withdraw. Accomplishing his mission he placed his reserve unit on the flank securing the Battalion’s position. His magnificent courage, outstanding devotion to duty, and superb leadership is a perpetual inspiration to the troops under his command, and reflect great credit upon himself and the Armed Forces of the United States.

 

     Skells’ frontline actions and counterattack personally pushed back an overwhelming German force, causing mass casualties on their ranks in the process. For his actions he was put in for the DSC, even though this was truly his first actual frontline infantry combat. After the battle, Skells also oversaw a famous truce between the American and German troops when the Germans hoped to pick up their numerous casualties (several hundred). While Skells does not appear in several of the famous photographs from the incident, a small American flag he brought with the party of officers who met the Germans is shown in the hands of Colonel Reece, a representative from Division HQ. The truce went on for several hours and saw both American and German troops working together to clear the dead and wounded that Skells had helped create. 

 

     After Monte Castellone the regiment went into a pretty lengthy recovery and training period, not going back into combat until May when they were sent to Anzio for assistance in the breakout. It was here that on 27 May, while reconnoitering an assault on Velletri, that Skells and his S-3 drove their jeep straight into an outpost full of MP-40 armed Fallschirmjager, ending their war right on the spot. 

 

     After a two month journey, Skells ended up in OFLAG 64, an American officer camp in northern Poland, where he passed his time playing sports, serving as a barracks commander, and teaching math to younger officers imprisoned there in a school set up by the prisoners. In December 1944 food and Red Cross supplies were cut off and the prisoners began suffering from malnutrition and starvation as the Red Army approached. On 16 January Skells and the others were all gathered up and put on a forced march westward to avoid liberation by the Russians. Skells, however, had other plans and while the column rested near a collective farm he hid himself in a pile of straw, coming out later to find other prisoners with the same idea. He and another traveled together, meeting Polish farmers in the countryside until they discovered a Russian armored unit (who almost shot them for fear of being disguised Germans) but eventually brought them back behind allied lines and began the process to get them home, finally arriving back in the U.S. in April 1945. 

 

     Skells went on to have a successful postwar career in the Pentagon, commanding the 180th and 38th Infantry Regiments in Korea, and serving as the head instructor for ROTC at Michigan State University.

 

     Very happy to add this set to my 36th Infantry Division collection, my first Distinguished Service Cross recipient and a battalion commander/POW to boot. He was a truly heroic soldier who gave much for his country.

 

[36thIDAlex]

[eaglerunner88]

Wow, great grouping with a full story of an American hero! I think I've mentioned it before but your photos of uniforms in your collection look professionally done. What's your set up with lighting/editing and camera type? Stunning digital archive.

[36thIDAlex]

13 hours ago, eaglerunner88 said:

Wow, great grouping with a full story of an American hero! I think I've mentioned it before but your photos of uniforms in your collection look professionally done. What's your set up with lighting/editing and camera type? Stunning digital archive.

Thanks! I actually don't really have any special setup. Pretty much every photo I take is on top of a folding table outside using my iPhone 13 Pro. I usually try to make some sort of flat background with a sheet or wall and then just edit the pictures onto a flat white background using an app called PicsArt. Sometimes the editing can be meticulous, but the cutting tool is generally pretty solid and makes some great looking edits!

[KASTAUFFER]

Nice group Alex!

 

Kurt

[Backtheattack]

What a great grouping!

[rusl4]

Wow, that is a great grouping!

[DougO]

Tough to find such a complete grouping.  Just great!

Congrats.

Doug

[Skysoldier80]

Amazing grouping; thanks for sharing it.

[Sumserbrown]

Impressive grouping