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The Lost Eleven
The Forgotten Story of Black American Soldiers Brutally Massacred in World War II
1 of 1 copy available
Their story was almost forgotten by history. Now known as the Wereth Eleven, these brave African-American soldiers left their homes to join the Allied effort on the front lines of WWII. As members of the 333rd Field Artillery Battalion, they provided crucial fire support at the Siege of Bastogne. Among the few who managed to escape the Nazi’s devastating Ardennes Offensive, they found refuge in the small village of Wereth, Belgium. A farmer and supporter of the Allies took the exhausted and half-starved men into his home. When Nazi authorities learned of their whereabouts, they did not take the soldiers prisoner, but subjected them to torture and execution in a nearby field.
Despite their bravery and sacrifice, these eleven soldiers were omitted from the final Congressional War Crimes report of 1949. For seventy years, their files—marked secret—gathered dust in the National Archive. But in 1994, at the site of their execution, a memorial was dedicated to the Wereth Eleven and all African-American soldiers who fought in Europe.
Drawing on firsthand interviews with family members and fellow soldiers, The Lost Eleven tells the complete story of these nearly forgotten soldiers, their valor in battle and their tragic end.
INCLUDES PHOTOS
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
January 31, 2017 -
Formats
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Kindle Book
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OverDrive Read
- ISBN: 9781101987407
- File size: 22003 KB
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EPUB ebook
- ISBN: 9781101987407
- File size: 22003 KB
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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January 1, 2017
The underreported story of 11 young African-American GIs captured and massacred in the winter of 1944 by the Germans in Wereth, Belgium.In this fast-paced, anecdotal account, George (A Woman's Right to Rest: Fourteen Types of Biblical Rest that Can Transform Your Life, 2012, etc.) and Child (Ghost Carrier, 2016, etc.) narrate a little-known but "graphic and deeply moving" World War II tale. Since the dialogue is "creatively retold," the book reads more like fiction and thus aims at a wider audience than just historians. The authors provide an admirable follow-up on their protagonists and offer the right amount of detail for general readers. In addition to their main characters, they explore the role of African-Americans in World War II in general. Though they were drafted along with whites, the Jim Crow discrimination they faced will surprise many readers; most of the million who served were relegated to menial, subservient jobs like kitchen work and driving, and they lived in segregated housing. Moreover, they saw that the German POWs were often treated better than they were. The Wereth 11 trained under Capt. William G. McLeod at Camp Gruber, Oklahoma, from late 1942 onward and joined the 333rd Field Artillery Battalion. They operated the 155mm Howitzer, a complicated new weapon that required considerable skill to master. The mostly farm-born men were eventually sent to the U.K. for further training and then stationed in France after D-Day. Entrenched just outside the Siegfried Line (the "West Wall"), the unit was overrun during the surprise attack of the Battle of the Bulge and captured. The authors also tell the story of the kind treatment of the black men by one Catholic German family (in Wereth) before they were found by the Germans. A sad, chilling work that displays a vigorous buildup and suspense.COPYRIGHT(2017) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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January 1, 2017
A history of 11 black American soldiers during World War II who were murdered by SS officers they surrendered to during the Battle of the Bulge.
Copyright 2017 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
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