Roy Upton TALHELM

 

TALHELM Roy
ARMY SERIAL NUMBER13102950
AGE17 yo
DATE OF BIRTH1 septembre 1926 Hagerstown, MARYLAND
STATEMARYLAND
FAMILY

Daughter : Donna

Parents : William Henry TALHELM

Siblings : William Madison 

RANKPrivate
FONCTIONInfantry
JOB before ENLISTEMENTSemiskilled paintersMD
DATE of ENLISTEMENT2 september 1942 Baltimore MARYLAND
COMPANYCompagnie G
BATTALION3rd Battalion
REGIMENT506th Parachute Infantry Regiment
DIVISION101st Airborne Division
DATE OF DEATH12 june 1944talhelm roy u tombe
STATUSKIA
PLACE OF DEATHNear a bridge over the moat, Carentan
CEMETERYNORMANDY AMERICAN CEMETERY from Colleville

Map Normandy American Cemetery

GRAVE
PlotRowGrave
C932
DECORATION
Purple HeartPhoto FDLM
Photo FDLM  div 101506pir
 STORY 

One destiny among others, but an unusual destiny for this paratrooper that was Roy TALHELM.

Son of William and Lydia Catherine, Roy is born in Hagerstown, Maryland and has a 16 year old brother.

The family lives in Washington County, Maryland.

On September 1, 1942, Roy falsified his birth certificate to join the United States military.

He was only 16, but pretended to be 18.

He then volunteered to become a paratrooper and joined the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division.

While he was training and preparing to fight for his country, Roy and his girlfriend had a daughter named Donna.

He would only see her once before going overseas.

He will join the airborne troops and the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment. 

Camp Toccoa

Its first stage in its formation is the camp Toccoa (Georgia), this one is planned for a duration of 13 weeks.

Near the camp was a hill called "Curahee", which was climbed 3 to 4 times a week by the troops.

The training was very selective and based on pronounced physical preparations, besides they learned the use of weapons, exercises, night walks, courses were the only moments of rest.

In the camp there was also a small tower in order to prepare them for the school of jumps. At the end of this period, the troops became masters in their specialties.

Fort benning


End of November Roy and his brothers in arms take the train to Fort Benning and Atlanta.
Fort Benning and its famous "frying pans", these towers of 80m whose future paras will be launched during phases of preparations.
4 weeks of training divided into 4 phases that ended in the last week and its decisive phase where they were going to perform five real jumps from a C-47 plane to get their wings, the paratrooper certificate. At the end of December, the day after Christmas after the last jump and after receiving the brevet  pinned on the chest, the men leave for 10 days of leave.
January 1943 the regiment departs for the part of Fort Benning located in Alabama for the combat in urban area.  March 1943 is the departure for the camp Mackall (North Carolina) headquarters of the command of the airborne troops, the training is intensive punctuated with jumps with equipment, exercises ....
 

At the end of May, the 506th joins Sturgis in Kentucky; June 10 a memorable day in the history of the 101st Airborne Division because the 506th P.I.R. Joined it.
In July, the largest exercise in airborne history ever carried out brings together airborne and glider troops.
Then he leaves for Camp Breckinridge (Kentucky) for a few days, Roy will see for his first and last time permission Donna his daughter then a few months old, the troops on their return of permission take the train For Fort Bragg, North Carolina, the last stop before embarkation.
Life is much more comfortable than in previous camps.

On August 28, 1943, Roy and his comrades took the train to Camp Shanks 50kms from New York.
On 5 September 1943, the men embarked on the HMTS Samaria and left the bay of New York for Europe.

HMTS Samaria

On September 15th, the ship docked at Liverpool, the next day the train took them to the south of England at Ramsbury, their new training camp to prepare them for the greatest operation of all time. They will again relive training phases worthy of Toccoa interspersed with jumps from C-47s.
The exercises are organized around the English countryside as well as the hearts of the life of the local population. On January 13, 1944, Roy's company made a demonstration jump for the Duke of Gloucester. Roy and his brothers in arms deplored the loss of the first paratrooper of the battalion following a failure of his parachute.

Roy and his regiment will participate in Exercise Tiger at the end of April 1944. The month of May arrives and it is the hour of truth that is looming, the briefings are linked to objectives whose exact location is still unknown for Roy And his comrades; Studies on models, knowledge of the enemy ... punctuate these last days. May 26 is the last day in Ramsbury, the departure for the Exeter airfield is near. During these days, the officers explain the plans and give the locations of the jump zones, missions, targets and important references on the ground.

It is designated by the company G as one of the two bridges spanning the Canal de Carentan near the village of Brévands, the pedestrian bridge. On June 4, last briefings, perception of endowments (crickets, ammunition ...), June 5 Masses, and final studies on sand tables, then it is the awaited moment, Roy goes towards the tarmacs to perceive the parachutes to Near the C-47s parked.
It is the 440th TCG which is responsible for transporting the battalion.

Station 463 Exeter USAAF

Station 463 d'Exeter  USAAF

 


It is the great start, the armada of C-47 is in formation and takes the road traced towards its objective: Normandy. After a normal crossing of the Channel, the convoy of C-47 penetrates the lands and confronts a ceiling of low clouds then the flak; The Roy stick is scheduled to be dropped on Drop Zone D near Angoville au Plain

Drop Zone D

 

A cursed area spotted by the Germans who will trap the paras of 101st Airborne and the third battalion in particular. The battalion will end up decimated, certainly the highest casualty rate of all battalions parachuted that night. Roy will be among the 150 paratroopers out of the 723 who have jumped to be able to reach the original goal. At dawn, the troopers join the objective and dig foxholes in the flank of the slope that borders the Douve.

Ponts Brévands 1944

Ponts de Brévands 1944

Ponts Brévands

Ponts de Brévands maintenant

The Germans are opposite on the other bank on the height of Brévands. The paras will be hit by mortars, attacks .... Patrols will be sent to the other side to estimate the German forces, on 8 June Roy is fatally wounded during shelling; He died as a result of his wounds on June 12, 1944.
Roy is certainly the youngest para committed to Normandy, he is the youngest soldier of the American cemetery of Colleville.

 

Ponts brevants Positions us Pont brevands position allemande
Positions US derrière le talus

Vue à partir des positions américaines de la hauteur de Brévands où se trouvaient les positions allemandes sur l'autre rive.



 

 

TALHELM Roy presse

Several years after her death, her daughter Donna came to Normandy to see the father she never knew.

She also visited Camp Toccoa, Georgia, where Roy trained alongside other paratroopers from the 101st Airborne Division.

The last time I went to the Normandy American cemetery, I only had to pay tribute to Roy (Plot C, Row 9, Grave 32).

Why ? Because he is more than a soldier, he is more than a hero, he is a symbol of the price paid for freedom.    MMHM.


INFORMATION SOURCESHerman HANCERLI - Bruno CADEVILLE - Aad.archives.gov
PICTURE SOURCEBruno CADEVILLE - Frédéric LAVERNHE
PROGRAMMERFrédéric & Renaud
TRADCTIONBruno  CADEVILLE
Partagez moi ...