GENERAL HARRY J. COLLINS

Transcription

1 GENERAL HARRY J. COLLINS THE GENERAL OF THE CHILDREN Mike Chapman Transitional Poetry by Bette Chapman Buckley Royal Fireworks Press Unionville, New York

2 PREFACE Harry J. Collins , was an American Army major general best known for his command of the 42nd Infantry Division (the Rainbow Division), which played a crucial role in blunting the German assault in the Battle of the Bulge and in the liberation of Dachau, and for his benevolent role in the occupation of Austria after the war. This book presents a tribute to, and a biography of, General Collins, with particular emphasis on his role in World War II and in the occupation of Austria. It is based on the reminiscences of those who knew him and uniquely includes excerpts from the general s own notes that he kept throughout the war, and afterwards when he returned to Austria. Mike Chapman visited the general s widow, Irene, in Salzburg several times, and she gave him the exclusive rights to the material in her husband s diaries. General Collins was an outstanding member of a remarkable group of American commanders who helped to win World War II; unlike some of the more flamboyant commanders, he was largely forgotten until now, and we are pleased to publish this uniquely-documented account by Mike Chapman. Dr. T.M. Kemnitz President, Royal Fireworks Press iv

3 INTRODUCTION It was during a quiet rainfall that I stood at the grave of General Harry Collins for the first time. I had no idea who he was; I had never heard of him. I had wandered into this old Austrian cemetery located in the center of the old part of Salzburg. The archaic tombstones fascinated me: many were plain, simple, and hard to read; others were ornate with scrolls and hand-crafted details. Names like Hofbauer, Schmidt, Zeller, Kronschnabel, Grosskopf...and suddenly General Harry Collins, U.S. Army. Somehow it didn t seem a fitting place for an American general...for the man who, I was to find out later, commanded more divisions than any other American general in history. My first impulse was to say a prayer for a forgotten man, which I did. When I finished, I stood a moment watching the rain trickle off the dead leaves that nature had formed into a perfect blanket. I knew then that I had to learn more about this man who was left behind. Little did I realize that my new forgotten friend was anything but that. Few, if any, have been more remembered than Harry Collins of Chicago, Illinois. Left behind? Hardly! By choice he stayed where he was loved...as no other American military man was loved in history. But this knowledge was to come later. What brings a man to fame? If it were simply the things that he did, Harry Collins would be immortal. But since in fact, fame comes only when people have knowledge of a man s deeds, General Collins remains in relative obscurity. It is my hope that this story leads to the tribute he justly deserved but was too busy helping others to acquire. Mike Chapman 1

4 CHAPTER ONE The year was The war was over. Austria was spent and exhausted, elated, but apprehensive of the task ahead. She had been an unwilling ally of Nazi Germany because Adolf Hitler had always dreamed of annexing his native land to Germany. Now the departing Germans were leaving a political vacuum, which a four-power alliance was supposed to fill. The French, British, Americans, and Russians were in Vienna to work out the country s future. Each paid the costs of its army s occupation except the Russians. They lived from the land. Soon Austria was as poor and hungry as every other country in Europe. General Mark Clark, who headed the American Alliance, said that he was greatly hindered by America s attitude. The people only wanted the men to come home, and the men felt the same way. They did not want to worry about Austria s future. General Eisenhower in Berlin was fettered by the same attitude. While he worked out the political aspect in Vienna, General Clark needed a man with stature and charm (the modern word is charisma) to handle the troops of the occupation army and the people of Austria. He wanted a man with the common touch. He was jubilant when he discovered that General Harry Collins was in the vicinity: the right man at the right time and the right place. General Clark knew that Harry Collins would do the job in a workmanlike way but also with all the creativity needed. General Collins didn t share his enthusiasm. He was disgusted when he heard the rumors that he was to head an occupation army. He had just taken the famous Rainbow Division over six hundred miles of France and southern 3

5 Germany and had paid with a soldier s life for almost every mile. He was tired and in no mood to lift a country by its bootstraps. I called Mark Clark and tried to get out of it. He wasn t there so I talked to his aide. I said, Say it isn t so or something to that effect. Sorry, General, it s so, the aide said, laughing. Hell, I thought. However, once he realized it was something that he had to do, his characteristic optimism came to the fore. He moved to Salzburg and literally soaked up all there was to know about this new foster-country of his. He reveled in all things Austrian, in an all-out effort to do his best for his people. Of course, he could not know that he would marry, retire, and die in this country. First of all, he set about making things as pleasant as possible for his troops. He founded a college with accredited courses for those of the men who were interested. He gathered textbooks from the army warehouses and other equipment from anywhere he could find it. He also provided recreational opportunities of all types for them. He knew a reasonably contented army could do more for the people than a dissatisfied one. Of course, the men would be bucking to go home, but he tried his best to make things good for them while they waited. There were sports of all kinds, and there were dances. Bob Hope entertained the troops. 4

6 CHAPTER TWO Having seen to the welfare of his men, General Collins turned his attention to the Austrian people. Seeing their misery, he said to his aide, Roger Cutler, What can we do? There is still plenty of money around, but how can we get our hands on some? Let s do what we do in Boston, said Cutler. They organized a Red Feather Campaign, begging from those who had money for those who did not. It was a great success. They bought blankets, clothing, and food to distribute among the poor. The POWs still in Austria were put to work cutting enormous piles of wood against the coming cold. General Collins noticed long lines of hungry people standing patiently at the garbage cans outside the mess halls. He wrestled with this problem each night. One morning dressed in an ordinary uniform with none of his rank apparent, he loaded up his jeep with food packages and went out looking for hungry people to help. It eventually became part of his daily itinerary. One day he saw an elderly lady walking along in an old fur coat. He pulled up to her. Would you like to have a food package for your household? he said, respectfully. Soldier, I am a countess, she snapped. Yes, of course, I can see that by your bearing, he answered, but maybe your household needs some food anyway, things being what they are. She finally accepted the package. I could tell she was very hungry by the way she kept looking at the package, he said later. At other times, he loved to be driven in his big, shiny limousine, in full regalia, flags waving. Then he would pick 5

7 up children on the streets and give them a ride. Sometimes there was hardly room for the general, said his aide. On one such occasion, the general picked up the usual number of street children. After the ride, when dropping them off, he noticed one remaining. He turned to the youngster and said, Well, Jules, where do we go now? You can let me out anywhere, said Jules, a desolate look on his face. The general knew that look. Well, let s go back to headquarters and get some chow, he said. The boy brightened. Over a hot dinner, the general found out what he had expected. The boy had no home and had been a street child for many months. He took the child with him after dinner, found him a bunk, and gently wished him good night. Jules eyes followed him worshipfully. The next morning the general s staff had until noon to find a home for the lad they did! General Collins zone of command was serene and extremely well-regulated. Perhaps his youthful friends like Jules scouted the city for him, letting him know where people were desperate or troubled, so that he and his aides could reach them with extra food, clothing, or fuel. Maybe that was the way that General Collins found pockets of unhappiness before they could turn into serious trouble for the Allies and opportunities for the Russians. Be that as it may, the general soon had a retinue of youngsters with him wherever he went. He later wrote about it:...being there in Austria alone, and liking children, I soon had a retinue of twenty to thirty children about me wherever I went. 6

8 Austria is predominantly Roman Catholic, so on special occasions, being Catholic myself, I would appear at the cathedral (which the Americans almost destroyed with bombs) for mass. Much to my amazement and embarrassment, the Prince Archbishop had some of the junior clergymen waiting for me at the door, and they escorted me to the altar where I had a kneeling bench. Upon the completion of the high mass, the Prince Archbishop and all of the lesser dignitaries marched down in force through the main aisle of the cathedral. In each case I was asked to follow them and inevitably at least ten or fifteen little Austrian kids would dart out from the pews and join me on my way to the door. What a procession an American major general with all the high ecclesiastics and ten to fifteen Austrian youngsters in the middle. No wonder my face was red! Since music is life itself to most Austrians, one of the first things the Allies did was to rebuild the music halls and the opera houses. General Collins wrote about this period. Higher Authority, (probably General Mark Clark) reestablished the Salzburg Festival in the summer of 1945 and then very graciously said, Harry you take over, I m going back to Vienna. Frankly, I didn t blame him, because we had ambassadors and their wives, and other diplomats attending the Festival. It was part of my job to see to it that they were all cared for, as well as getting seats when and if they decided to go, which was sometimes twenty minutes before the program began. The average opera in Salzburg lasts from three and a half to four hours; and after sitting on a hard chair the first time, I devised a plan which I found to be quite effective. Each night I would welcome these dignitaries in the antechamber to the box, see to it that they were all properly seated according to rank; and then within fifteen minutes 7

9 after the opera opened, I had one of my aides rush in with an official envelope, saying, This is secret and must be answered immediately. Whereupon I would excuse myself; the aide and I would go home, turn on the radio, and listen to the opera in a comfortable seat. Then fifteen minutes before the opera closed, I would again be back in the ante-chamber to bid my guests good night. This may sound like a very small operation, but the Salzburg Festival went on morning, afternoon, and night for the latter part of July and all of August. When you added to this the necessity of entertaining these very charming people in your quarters sometimes as many as 120 it really meant something. I did this for three years, and the only sad note during the festivals was Grace Moore, bless her! Apparently she was apprehensive, because she wanted the background of the stage filled with American soldiers. Some kind soul gave them white gloves, and they looked like a minstrel background. Grace sang American songs well, but one time she missed a quarter of a note in Salzburg, that was a mortal sin. Since she was an American girl representing America, I had a supper party for her following the opera, at midnight. I had 120 guests; she, being the prima donna, arrived twenty minutes late, very haughty, very cold. As she came over to me, I walked toward her and said, Hi, Gracie. At that she melted and was the most charming guest I had. Sadly, two weeks later she died in an airplane accident in Norway. The general goes on: During the festival, I was visited by a navy commander and six members of his staff. He was exceedingly charming, but rather stuffy. In my quarters in Salzburg I had living with 8

10 me, about six youngsters, aides, former aides, and members of my general staff. We had a routine whereby if the party became stuffy, we would try to put some humor into it. This party was definitely stuffy. The high ranking naval officer lacked a sense of humor, and when occasionally he smiled, the rest of his staff smiled, but that was darned seldom. Finally my chef (who had commanded a tank against me in the battle of Wurzburg) brought in a beautiful cake about three feet in length in the shape of a battleship, and with the officer s name on it. Instead of saying how nice it was, he said, We only name ships after admirals when they are dead. At this, my former aide at the end of the table gave me one look I knew exactly what he meant: That guy s been dead for a good many years! At the end of lunch I pulled our Planned Operation No. 1 for the entertainment of guests, and I said, Gentlemen, shall we have coffee in the other room? At this the youngsters who lived with me, in concert, yelled out, We don t give a good goddamn where we have coffee so long as we get some. I thought the look the admiral gave them would kill them. We had coffee in the other room. He was still stuffy. So I pulled Operation No. 2. Two of my aides started an argument in the outer room. I excused myself, supposedly very much embarrassed, and went out to remonstrate loudly with them. Then I came back and joined my guest. In a few minutes, the men started arguing again, and then suddenly the door crashed in. One of them had blood all over his shirt and his face. They wrestled on the floor, fighting to the best of their ability. Then the admiral and I rushed over to separate them. It was a beautiful gag because the blood was catsup. Finally he broke down, and the last thirty minutes of my luncheon were a complete success. 9