Item:
ONJR23SS122

Original U.S. WWII 106th Infantry Division Wounded Prisoner of War Medal, Insignia and Document Grouping for Sergeant Lars Ragnar Olson - 30 Plus Items

Item Description

Original Items: Only One Grouping Available. This is a fantastic insignia and document heavy grouping for US Army Sergeant Lars Ragnar Olson of the 160th Battalion Infantry Replacement Training Center / 160th Infantry DIvision. Sergeant Olson was a Prisoner of War at various camps from the time of his capture near Belgium on December 19, 1944 until he was returned to “Friendly Control” in May 1945 after initially being liberated by the Soviets.

We have not been able to locate much service information on Sergeant Olson, but luckily the included binder of research and documentation gives us an insight into his career. He enlisted on March 10, 1943 in Marquette, Michigan and was Honorably Discharged on November 16, 1945. He was wounded around the time of his capture, receiving shrapnel wounds to both his legs as well as frostbite in his hands.

The binder contains various Veterans Administration forms and they have a section where he talks about his captivity.

Camps Detained At:

- Stalag 4B: Stalag IV-B was one of the largest prisoner-of-war camps in Germany during World War II. Stalag is an abbreviation of the German Stammlager ("Main Camp"). It was located 8 km (5.0 mi) north-east of the town of Mühlberg in the Prussian Province of Saxony, just east of the Elbe river and about 30 mi (48 km) north of Dresden. From 1944 to 1945 it belonged to the Province of Halle-Merseburg. Now, the area is in Brandenburg. A sub-camp, sometimes identified as Stalag IV-B/Z,Stalag 304 or Stalag IV-H was located at Zeithain, 10 km (6.2 mi) to the south in Saxony.

- Stalag 3B: Stalag 3B was situated 3/4 mile northwest of Furstenberg, Germany (52.9N - 14.42E), which is 60 miles southeast of Berlin and 15 miles south of Frankfurt-on-Oder. The camp lay on the east bank of the Oder Spree canal, between the canal and the railroad, and was set in an agricultural region. As of 20 July 1944, this ground forces, enlisted men's camp held, out of a total of 22,522 prisoners, 2903 Americans of whom 2207 were in the camp, 27 in the infirmary and 36 in the hospitals, including 3 American doctors and 27 NCOs, members of the sanitary personnel. The remaining 600 were in work detachments.

By 18 Dec 1944, the number of Americans in the camp and its kommandos totaled 4207, 3338 of whom were in the base camp at Furstenberg. Of the 4207 American PW, 3205 were NCOs; 3 were American medical officers. The number of army ground force personnel, mostly NCOs, continued to mount in Stalag 3B. Finally, when the Germans decided to move the men westward on 31 Jan 1945, it had reached 5000.

- Stalag 3A: Stalag III-A was a German World War II prisoner-of-war camp at Luckenwalde, Brandenburg, 52 kilometers (32 mi) south of Berlin. It housed Polish, Dutch, Belgian, French, Yugoslav, Russian, Italian, American, Romanian, British and other Allied POWs. The camp was generally run according to the guidelines of the Geneva Convention and the Hague Regulations, and was regularly inspected by representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Russian POWs were excluded from this on the grounds that the USSR was not a signatory of the Geneva Convention, and suffered significantly poorer conditions as a result. Generally treatment of prisoners depended on nationality. The French, British and Americans were treated relatively well, while the Italians, and particularly the Russians, suffered from the consequences of maltreatment.

Weight Before Captivity: 175lbs
Weight After Captivity: 135lbs

The Following Are His Worst Experiences As A Captive and Additional Remarks:

“Eight days and nights in a crowded boxcar - 23 Dec 1944 to 31 Dec 1944 from Prum to Muhlberg, Germany, Stalag 4B. On the 24th of Dec. the POW train was in a rail yard in Limburg. Germ. it was Christmas eve. 1st Air Raid siren. 2nd flares dropped by RAF planes. 3rd 500 lbs bombs came screeming down. 4th boxcars and bodies flying all over the rail yard. Many casualties, I was lucky to survive.”

“Luckenwalde Stalag 3A. Liberated by the Russians end of April 1945. The Russians couldn’t feed us any better than the Germans. We were moved to A-H Lager in Juterbog, moved out several days later back to Stalag 3A. We heard that we were to be repatriated thru Poland - Russia Black Sea and to the States. We didn’t like that idea. We heard Americans and Russians joined up at Dessau on the Elbe River. Myself and five others escaped Russian control and spent three days and nights going thru Treunbrietzen, Wittenberg and Koswig to the Elbe River. We stole a boat and crossed the river. We met an American patrol and we were taken to Halle then flew to Camp Luckey Strike on the French channel coast. Sailed on the Victory ship Marine Dragon from LaHarve June 1, 1945. Arrived Boston USA Jun 10, 1945.”

The Items In This Lot:

- x9 Sergeant Chevrons
- 3 ½” x 5” Photo
- Medals/Ribbons: The medals consist of a name engraved Good Conduct Medal (with lapel device), American Campaign, EAME, POW Medal, Bronze Star and cased Purple Heart. All but the Good Conduct medal appear to be replacements. Also included is the Honorable Discharge lapel device.
- x4 Patches: The patches consist of (3) 106th Infantry Division patches and a US Army Training and Doctrine command patch.
- x5 Uniform / Cap devices
-x3 “Ruptured Duck” Patches
- U.S. Army Combat Infantryman Badge
- Rifle Marksmanship Badge
- Binder: The binder is packed full of original documents as well as copies of original documents. There are photos, VA documentation, newspaper clippings, maps and official US Army documents present. All that we have seen was still very legible and able to be read easily.

A lovely grouping ready for further research and display.

106th Infantry Division (United States)
The 106th Infantry Division was a division of the United States Army formed for service during World War II. Two of its three regiments were overrun and surrounded in the initial days of the Battle of the Bulge, and they were forced to surrender to German forces on 19 December 1944. The division was never officially added to the troop list following the war, despite having been almost completely organized in Puerto Rico by 1948; subsequently, the War Department determined the division was not needed and inactivated the division headquarters in 1950.

The 106th Infantry Division's Headquarters and Headquarters Company was constituted in the Army of the United States on 5 May 1942, five months after the United States entered World War II. The division’s numbering followed in sequence with the 105th Infantry Division, a planned African American infantry division that would be constituted on the Army’s troop list, but never ended up being activated. The 106th Infantry Division was activated on 15 March 1943 at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, with a cadre from the 80th Infantry Division. Following basic and advanced infantry training, the Division moved on 28 March 1944 to Tennessee to participate in the Second Army No. 5 Maneuvers.

The 106th Infantry Division relieved the 2nd Infantry Division in the Schnee Eifel on 11 December 1944, with its 424th Infantry Regiment being sent to Winterspelt. Prior to the battle, according to the US Army Service Manual, one division should be responsible for no more than 5 miles (8.0 km) of front. On the eve of the battle, the 106th, along with the attached 14th Cavalry Group was covering a front of at least 21 miles (34 km).

In the Ardennes-Alsace Campaign, the Germans attacked the 106th on 16 December 1944. The division's 422nd and 423rd Infantry Regiments were encircled and cut off by a junction of enemy forces in the vicinity of Schönberg. They regrouped for a counterattack, but were blocked by the enemy. The two regiments surrendered on 19 December. The Germans gained 6,000 prisoners in one of the largest mass surrenders in American military history.

The remainder of the division that evaded the German pincer movement was reinforced by the 112th Infantry Regiment of the 28th Infantry Division and withdrew over the Our River and joined other units at Saint Vith. Along with the city of Bastogne to the south, St. Vith was a road and rail junction city considered vital to the German goal of breaking through Allied lines to split American and British forces and reach the Belgian port city of Antwerp. A scratch force of 106th Division personnel, in particular the division's 81st Engineer Combat Battalion, was organized and led by the 81st's 28-year-old commanding officer, Lt. Col. Thomas Riggs, in a five-day holding action (17–21 December) on a thin ridge line a mile outside St. Vith, against German forces vastly superior in numbers and armament (only a few hundred green Americans versus many thousands of veteran Germans). For this action, the 81st Engineer Combat Battalion was later awarded the Distinguished Unit Citation for gallantry. The defense of St. Vith by the 106th has been credited with ruining the German timetable for reaching Antwerp, hampering the Bulge offensive for the Germans.

The 81st and other units, including the 168th Engineer Combat Battalion, pulled back from St. Vith on 21 December, under constant enemy fire, and withdrew over the Saint River at Vielsalm on 23 December. The following day, the 424th Regiment, attached to the 7th Armored Division, fought a delaying action at Manhay until ordered to an assembly area. From 25 December to 9 January 1945, the division received reinforcements and supplies at Anthisnes, Belgium, and returned to the struggle, securing objectives along the Ennal-Logbierme line on 15 January after heavy fighting. After being pinched out by advancing divisions, the 106th assembled at Stavelot on 18 January for rehabilitation and training. It moved to the vicinity of Hunningen on 7 February for defensive patrols and training.

In March, the 424th advanced along the high ground between Berk and the Simmer River and was relieved on 7 March. A period of training and security patrols along the Rhine River followed, until 15 March, when the division moved to St. Quentin for rehabilitation and the reconstruction of lost units.

The division was reconstituted on 16 March when the 3rd Infantry Regiment (the Old Guard) and the 159th Infantry Regiment were attached to replace the two lost regiments. The division then moved back to Germany on 25 April, where, for the remainder of its stay in Europe, the 106th handled POW enclosures and engaged in occupational duties.

In the meantime, the 422nd Infantry Regiment and the 423rd Infantry Regiment were reconstituted from replacements in France on 15 April, were attached to the 66th Infantry Division in training status, and were still in this status when the Germans surrendered on 8 May 1945.

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