WW2 Footlocker Time Capsule: CO of 486th AAA Btn

[T1gertank519]

I’ve had Colonel Raymond Earl Dunnington’s footlocker for a while now, but I wasn’t quite sure how to tell his story. That was until I read a tribute written by one of his men. The following passage was written by Cpl Dick Goodie in 1998. 

“Our Colonel Dunnington
      Most of the 750 men who filled the ranks of Colonel Raymond Dunnington's 486th Battalion in January 1943, were 18 or 19-year-old draftees from New England. The battalion was activated at Camp Davis, a wartime camp surrounded by swamps on the North Carolina coast.
The Colonel was 37.
       His task was enormous and immediate. That January of 1943 the world was splitting at the seams. Not only had the colonel suddenly become surrogate father to over 700 teenagers, but within the span of a few months his quest was to turn us into a cohesive, combat unit and to make us responsible far beyond our years.
Hitler had already enslaved most of Europe; Rommel and the British 8th Army were battling in the deserts around Tripoli; and Hitler had 22 divisions amassed in the snow before the gates of Stalingrad.
      As with numerous other start-up units, the motivation of the colonel's newly formed 486th Battalion was clear: A madman was loose on the planet and the world was a mess.
       Everyone who had come to believe that Freedom would be a better choice than Nazi Tyranny wanted to help stop this self-anointed zealot who believed he was preordained to rule the world without a safety net of checks and balances - an ideology as wacky as he was.
To join the millions in the nation who were mobilizing to check this threat to a free society, the colonel, in record time, directed us through the rigors of basic training in the swamp country of North Carolina. Within a few months we left the swamps as qualified commandos. Then we became an anti-aircraft unit and were issued armored M-15 half-tracks that mounted a 37 mm cannon flanked by twin .50 caliber machine guns; and M-16 half-tracks armed with four fifties. Both vehicles carried great firepower for ground targets as well as for aircraft.
        The summer of '43 the battalion participated in the massive war games on the Sabine River along the Louisiana/Texas border. In December we shipped to England on the Queen Mary, having become efficient enough to take over a shift in the gun turrets of that famous ship - then converted to a troop transport.
       We arrived in England just before Christmas. Colonel Dunnington's first order of business was to have each man in the battalion adopt a London orphan (there were many) for Christmas Day. Each soldier had to be certain his orphan-for-a-day was presented with a gift before being chaperoned to an unforgettable Christmas dinner.
      We had been under the colonels' command for nearly a year and were becoming familiar with his style of leadership. Fueled by the ancient, military code: fair, firm, and honest (a natural manifestation of his character), his concern for the common soldier evolved around his inherent need to be around large groups of people and become involved in the betterment of each - the mark of a natural born leader.
Never in the battalion had anyone heard the colonel say an unkind word about another, and no one had ever heard another say an unkind word about the colonel, the perfect balance of mutual respect; the precursor for successful command; the awakening of pride within ones' psyche for the whole unit; and the necessary fermentation that nurtures esprit de corps, the vital component that formulates the perfect fighting machine.
        A thoroughly honest man, the colonel carried a sincerity that made others feel secure in his leadership. Yet he was as common as the men he led. Never ostentatious in dress or manner, his speech direct, clear, and as practical as the earth he stood upon, he had a subtle way of making each soldier feel the importance of his assignment, thus trusting his decision-making process.
        After a year under his command and six months before D-Day, he made the battalion efficient enough to qualify as an integral part of the crack Third Armored Division - the unit that would spearhead the U. S. First Army across France and Belgium and become the first unit to capture a German town since the Napoleonic wars - Roetgen.
         The Third Armored often teamed with the First Infantry Division (The Big Red One), and the P-47 Thunderbolts of the Ninth Tactical Air Force, and it has been recorded that those three units attacking as a single force were unstoppable. Our 486th Battalion was proud to have been part of that combat team.
         For this, we point to Colonel Dunnington for making us that way . . . even though at times during basic training, while hiking the earthen roads of North Carolina - once 35 miles - we couldn't figure out what he was up to.
And now as our years turn golden, the memories of those exciting, historical happenings return again and again as in kaleidoscope and they rest gently on our minds.
          I am reminded of our battalion reunion at Enfield, Connecticut during August of 1997. I was standing in the hotel yard with other men and their wives, saying farewell to comrades who were departing in every direction. The colonel was one of them, on his way to the airport. During the reunion we were concerned he might become overtired. He was 92. He had made a great effort to travel from Springfield, Illinois, accompanied by his niece.
Normally, a rugged, two-hundred-pound man, his weight was down to 121 pounds, and we all knew he wasn't feeling well, but he came "to be with my boys" - the way he often put it.
        Standing in the hotel yard, I thought about his generous contributions since 1947 to assure the success of each reunion, and I thought about the great distance he drove each time to attend them, and how he would make an additional donation to the Battalion Association if he didn't get a speeding ticket on the way home.
        And while watching the colonel being assisted into his car, in a sudden rush I began a mind game of comparing his gift of leadership with other administrators I happened to have been associated with since the war. None came close.
As the colonel's car left the hotel yard (the last time we would see him), I heard the comrade standing next to me utter: "There goes one hell of a man."
The rest of us nodded and watched his car disappear from view.”

It is hard to beat the testimony of someone who was there. Happy holidays!

 

 

[Bluehawk]

Holy Toledo 😃

[Nack]

Spectacular!

[katieony]

What an outstanding group...congratulations!

Mike

[The Iron Brigade]

Congratulations! An outstanding group of material!

[Persian Gulf Command]

T1gertank519,

   Interesting, I have over 50 GSGS 4250 1:50,000 & GSGS 4347 1:25,00 Tactical Maps covering the Normandy Beachhead to the just south of La Mans, France. These came from the Col. Dunnington's house sale, which took place in Springfield, IL. Did you obtain the footlocker at the same sale?

 

Could you tell me what are the regions of the maps that are found in the Footlocker? in the first photo of the footlocker the map to the left of Dunnington's side cap looks like it could be a GSGS 4040, so somewhere in Belgium.

 

 

 

 

 

   

[T1gertank519]

5 hours ago, Persian Gulf Command said:

T1gertank519,

   Interesting, I have over 50 GSGS 4250 1:50,000 & GSGS 4347 1:25,00 Tactical Maps covering the Normandy Beachhead to the just south of La Mans, France. These came from the Col. Dunnington's house sale, which took place in Springfield, IL. Did you obtain the footlocker at the same sale?

 

Could you tell me what are the regions of the maps that are found in the Footlocker? in the first photo of the footlocker the map to the left of Dunnington's side cap looks like it could be a GSGS 4040, so somewhere in Belgium.

 

 

 

 

 

   

Will look tomorrow! I have hundreds of maps in the footlocker. I won this from an auction roughly a year and a half ago. Did you see any other military memorabilia at the sale?

[dan]

Super amazing group!

[Persian Gulf Command]

There were some German items that went to another bidder.

 

Anyway, the footlocker is a great and Historical acquisition on your part!

[irish]

This was once purchased by myself at the family estate auction in Springfield Illinois 15 or 20 years ago…. There was a number of nice German souvenirs at his sale to include several SS rings purchased by a buddy of mine who was also at the auction..

[manayunkman]

Amazing group and fine acquisition.

[Big Iron]

Great grouping for sure, it is always sad to see a group split to the four winds.

 

Any idea what his entire estate consisted of? Was this an online auction?

[T1gertank519]

1 minute ago, Big Iron said:

Great grouping for sure, it is always sad to see a group split to the four winds.

 

Any idea what his entire estate consisted of? Was this an online auction?

Hey Big Iron, 

 

I believe the original sale was an in-person estate sale 20 years ago. I purchased the complete footlocker group (with the uniforms) roughly a year and a half ago from an online auction. I do not have a few maps that were not with the footlocker, or any german items. These were not in the sale I purchased the footlocker from. I would love to see photos of anything else out there. Does his ike jacket exist? What German items did he bring home?

 

Preston

[eaglerunner88]

That letter from Walt Disney productions explaining the design of the group insignia is amazing.

[486thAAAancestor]

Hello, What a wonderful post you have.  The note about Lt Co. Dunningham brought tears to my eyes.  Here is why:  my Great Uncle,  Private Edward S. Nowicki, is one of the twenty-five soldiers listed on the Dedication page of the "Anti-Anything" Book (which luckily I have been able to read through a public library).  How great it is to know that Great Uncle Ed served and died under a commander who cared for his men.   Ed Nowicki was my mother's favorite uncle.  She was only twelve years old when he was killed.  Ed was the son of immigrant parents who had left eastern Europe before the start of WWI in search of safety for themselves and their family.  Ed enlisted to help preserve the freedom his parents so greatly cherished and never took for granted.

 

The trunk seems to be loaded with items that may help us know more about the time Ed spent as a member of the 486th AAA Btn.  He was in C Battery.   There is so much to learn about the specifics of his death - exactly where, when and how.  His records were part of those lost during the fire at the Archives.  What is known is that he was admitted to a hospital in September, 1944 with serious wounds to his upper body.  Private Edward S Nowicki died there on 12 Sept 1944.  He is buried in the Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery in Belgium.  

 

I was wondering if you would be willing to look through what you have for anything that might help me and my family learn more.  Do you have anything besides the "Anti-Anything" book that may have Private Edward S Nowicki's name mentioned?  How about C Battery's whereabouts in the first half of September?  Did Priivate Nowicki make it over the Belgium-German border or was he wounded hours, days or weeks before?  As a Private, what role did he have with C Battery?

 

One thing that I would love to find out is how/why a guy from New Jersey became a part of the 486th AAA Battalion given that most of the Batallion were from Maine, Mass, RI and CT.  I actually went through the roster in the "Anti-Anything" book and counted about five guys from NJ.  That part of family history is lost.

 

Thank you in advance for any assistance you may give in helping me and my family learn about the 486th AAA Battalion and Private Edward S. Nowicki. 

 

Any knowledge anyone has on this subject would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks again.     

 

Warmest Regards from the greatful grand-niece of an American hero.