Guide to the Dick Hedges World War II Memorabilia Collection, 1944-46


Descriptive Summary
	Creator	Hedges, Dixon D.
	Title:	Dick Hedges World War II Memorabilia Collection,
	Dates:	1944-46
	Abstract:	This collection consists of books, magazines, newspapers, clippings, photographs, photograph albums, maps, town plans, reports, writings and memorabilia, which were collected by Dick Hedges while he was serving with the U. S. Army in Europe in World War II.
	Identification:	MS 422
	Quantity:	4 linear ft. (8 boxes)
	Language:	Materials are in English.
	Repository:	Woodson Research Center, Fondren Library, Rice University, Houston, TX

Biographical Note

Dick Hedges was drafted into the United States Army in December of 1942. He was sent first to Dodd Field (Fort Sam Houston) in San Antonio and from there joined the 654th Engineer Topographic Battalion at Camp McCoy, Wisconsin. He was put in Company B (Art, Drafting & Printing).

In December, 1943 the 654th was sent to Camp Shanks on the outskirts of New York City for a short while, and then crossed the Atlantic Ocean on the HMS Aquitania to Gourock, the port for Glasgow, Scotland. After a week in Glasgow, Dick Hedges was sent to Tetbury, England in the Cotswold Hills.

With the First U. S. Army headquarters in Bristol, England requested that its G-2 (air) form a new unit to be known as APID (Army or Aerial Photo Interpretation Detachment), Dick Hedges was assigned to it. He was put on P.I. team #15 and put in charge of APID's small drafting section. He was given a Top Secret BIGOT card and was sent to London to do special detailed work on beach maps for the invasion of Normandy. APID was living in tents in the woods at Middle Wallop near the Stonehenge in Southern England when the invasion of Normandy occurred on June 6, 1944.

Landing on Omaha beach at D+24, APID was at Airstrip #9 at Le Molay when Generals Eisenhower, Bradley and Montgomery visited in July at the time of the St. Lo breakthru.

APID moved from Normandy to Gif-sur-Yvette, a village south of Versailles, where the soldiers again lived in tents, but did their work in a huge chateau nearby.

In September APID then moved from France north to Gosselies, a suburb of the city of Charleroi, in southern Belgium.

For recreation, the 67th's three squadrons plus the attached groups such as APID, formed a basketball league and Dick Hedges coached and played on APID's team.

In March, 1945 APID left Belgium and moved east into Germany. The first stop was Ordensberg Vogelsang (Orderly Mountain Bird Chant) a former school for Hitler Jugend (Youth). From there they crossed the Rhine River at Remagen, and proceeded to Limburg, Germany.

When the war in Europe ended in May of 1945, APID was at Eschwege, Germany. After APID was disbanded, Dick Hedges was sent to Weisbaden, Germany where 12th Army Group Headquarters was located. Its code name was "Eagle." Dick Hedges applied for a job and was assigned to G-2. He was billeted with MFIU- 4 (Mobile Field Interrogation Unit #4) which operated the Weisbaden jail housing several high ranking Nazis.

In July 1945 Dick was sent to (Military Intelligence Service Center) at Oberursel 12 miles from Frankfurt. He was promoted to Master Sergeant and put in charge of the library. While serving with MISC, Dick Hedges and Major Bill Silliman escorted five high ranking Nazis to Nurnberg to stand trial as war criminals. They were Field Marshall Albert Kesselring, commander of the Wermacht in North Africa, Italy and the Western Front; General of the Artillery Walter Warlimont; Reich Finance Minister Horace Greeley Hjalmar Schacht; Dr. William (Wilhelm) Stuckart, Secretary of the Minister of the Interior and Frans Xavier Schwarz, the Treasurer of the NAZI party.

Several other excursions were taken out of "Dulag Luft" at Oberursel by groups of GIs who were stationed there. One was to the Buchenwald Concentration Camp near Weimar, Germany. Another was to Bavaria and Salzburg, Austria. While visiting in Austria, the group visited Hitler's former mountain top headquarters, "Adlerhorst" (Eagle's nest).

Dick Hedges spent three years in the United States Army earning the ranks of Private, T-5 (Corporal) for one year, T-4 (Sergeant), and T-3 (Staff Sergeant) for one year, Technical Sergeant and finally, Master Sergeant.

Among the many awards that he won were the Legion of Merit-Legionaire, Bronze Star, Good Conduct Medal and Victory Medal, American Theater of Operations medal, and the European Theater of Operations medal with five battle stars.

He received an Honorable Discharge from the United States Army at Camp McCoy, Wisconsin in March of 1946. After a shortvisit with his family in Iowa, he returned to Houston and his job in the Land Drafting Division of the Land Department of Shell Oil Company.

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Scope and Contents

The Dick Hedges World War II Collection consisting of approximately 3.75 linear ft. of books, magazines, newspapers, clippings, photographs, photograph albums, maps, town plans, reports, writings and memorabilia, were collected by Dick Hedges while he was serving with the U. S. Army in Europe in World War II.

The various intelligence reports that are part of the collection were all extra copies and were declassified at the end of World War II.

The photograph albums containing pictures of Lt. Col. Otto Skorzeny and his friends were used by U. S. interrogators at the end of World War II.

Some of the German books in the collection, such as Hitler wie ihn keiner kennt,Deutschland Erwacht,SS Kavallerie im Osten and Die Malerei der Gotik und Fruh Renaissance, can possibly be found in libraries in West Germany.

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Arrangement
	The collection is divided into seven series, with subseries as necessary.

		Series I: Personal
		Series II German Leaders
		Series III: Intelligence
		Series IV Publications
		Series V: Photographs and Postcards
		Series VI Topography
		Series VII Oversize

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Restrictions

Access Restrictions

This material is open for research.

Use Restrictions

Permission to publish from the Dick Hedges World War II Memorabilia Collection must be obtained from the Woodson Research Center, Fondren Library, Rice University.

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Index Terms

	Subjects (Persons)
		Hedges, Dixon D. - Diaries.
		Hedges, Dixon D. - Correspondence.
	Subjects
		World War, 1939-1945 - Personal narratives, American.
		Soldiers - United States - Correspondence.
	Formats
		Diaries.
		Correspondence.
		Photographs.
		Clippings.
		Maps.
		Postcards.

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Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Dick Hedges World War II Memorabilia Collection, MS 422, Woodson Research Center, Fondren Library, Rice University.

Acquisition Information

Gift of Dixon D. Hughes, 1987.

Acquisition Information

The papers were a gift from Dick Hedges to Rice University.

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Detailed Description of the Collection



Series I: Personal
	One of the most interesting parts of the Personal series are the writings by Dick Hedges, of his many trips through Europe at the end of World War II, both personal and as a member of Military Intelligence Service Center. Of particular interest is "The Trip to Nurnberg", which chronicles his experiences while guarding various high ranking Nazi officials and generals to Nurnberg to stand trial as war criminals.
	This series also contains correspondence sent to and received by Dick Hedges while he was serving his tour of duty with the U.S. Army. Memorabilia from his army days can also be found in this series.
Box	folder
1	1	"A Trip to Salzburg" (With Photos, Newsclippings, Maps and Memorabilia)
	2	A Trip to Brussels (With Map)
	3	A Trip to Nuremburg (Including Cards, Photos, Newsclippings, Illustrations and Memorabilia)
folder
4		The Pecten, Volume 7, Nos. 7-8 July-August 1945
Box	folder
1	5	The Military Engineer October 1946
	6	A note of explanation about Lt. Col. Otto Skorzeny
	7	Interrogation of Julius Streicher
	8	Family correspondence June 1942-December 1944, n.d.
	9	General correspondence July 1944-January 1946
	10	Dick Hedges diary 1942-1943
	11	Promotions, emblems, awards, recommendations and application papers of Dick Hedges
	12	Drawings by Dick Hedges (See Seriers II, Skorzeny Report and Series IV Publications (Apidigest) for Additional Drawing
	13	Memorabilia: address book, programs, cartoons, tickets, cards, and drawing
	14	Magazine - The Longest Day , Darryl F. Zanuck June 6, 1944
	15	Christmas and birthday greetings
	16	Guidebook to Heidelberg and Salzburg, Do's and Dont's in Brussels
	17	Turnover book (log) December 15, 1944-February 6, 1945
	18	Memorabilia - miscellaneous

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Series II: German Leaders
	The material covers a period from approximately 1944 - 1946.
	Although many titles appear in German on the books, they have been written in English on the guide for clarification.
Box	folder
2	1	Hitler wie ihn keiner kennt (Hitler as he is little known) - Heinrich Hoffman
	2	The Mind of Adolf Hitler - Walter C. Langer 1972
	3	Excerpts by Dick Hedges from The End of Adolf Hitler by Hanna Reitsch February 11, 1946
	4	Hitler as seen by his doctors
	5	Newspaper clippings 1945-1987
	6	The Skorzeny Report July 23, 1945
	7	"The Most Dangerous man in Europe" - True, The Man's Magazine January 1948
	8	Photograph album - Colonel Otto Skorzeny
	9	The Nurnberg Diary - Major B. D. Silliman
		X Rays of Adolf Hitler's Head (See Archivist) (material in vault)

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Series III: Intelligence
	This series consists of some very interesting interrogation reports about some of Germany's most notorious war criminals. "Economics a German View" gives an excellent over-all picture of German thought concerning their own economic situation at the end of World War II, their hopes and fears for the future. Another interesting feature to be found in this series are the German Propoganda documents.
Box	folder
3	1	Interrogation, Friedrich Von Boetticher
	2	Interrogation, Friedrich Fischer
	3	Interrogation, Field Marshalk Karl Von Runstedt's summary of operations in Europe
	4	Interrogation, Dr. Karl Ritter and Dr. Otto Meissner
	5	Political situation in Belgium January 29, 1946
	6	Types of German obstacles (Beach Defenses at Normandy), Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force - Theatre Intelligence Section
	7	Intelligence Administration
	8	Report by the Supreme Commander to the Combined Chiefs of Staff of the Operations in Europe of the Allied Expeditionary Force June 6, 1944-May 8, 1945
	9	Photo interpretation reports November 1944
	10	Breakthrough in Western Germany March 1945
	11	U. S. Intelligence, Economics: A German View January 11, 1946
	12	War Department Field Manual (FM 30-5) - Military Intelligence, Combat Intelligence February 1946
	13	Propaganda - Germany

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Series IV: Publications
	The publication series has an excellent collections of newspaper clippings, books and magazines. The newspaper clippings includes copies of Stars and Stripes, and Apidigest, both military publications. One of the most important documents in this series, if not the whole collection, is the publication entitled "Picture Stories About Five Concentration Camps." This chronicles Dick Hedges' thoughts and what he encountered upon entering Buchenwald concentration camp during it's liberation in 1945.
	Another interesting document in this series is titled "The German Women at War," which gives an account of what was expected from the German women during the war effort.
Box	folder
4	1	Stars and Stripes clippings
	2	Clippings
	3	The API Digest August 7, 1944-March 12, 1945
	4	The API Sentinel November 20, 1944
	5	Recflash
	6	Der Stehgurt July 1-Spetember 31, 1944
	7	Yankee Kriegies, by Colonel C. Ross Greening and Sergeant Angelo M. Spinelli
	9	Bristol Siren Nights: Diaries of the Blitzes, compiled by Rev. S. Paul Shipley
	10	APID, 12th Army Group
	11	Bivouac - 654th Engineer Topographic Battalion
	12	Souvenir aerial photos
	13	30th Photo Reconnaissance Squadron, 67th Tactical Reconnaissance Group, 9th Air Force
	14	654 Engineer Topographic Battalion
	15	Report of Technical Operations, 654th Engineer Topography Battalion August 1, 1944-December 31, 1944
	16	Report of Technical Operations, 654th Engineer Topography Battalion December 21, 1943-June 30, 1944, July 4, 1944-August 1, 1944
	17	Report of Technical Operations, 654th Engineer Topography Battalion January 1, 1945-May 9, 1945
	18	Up Front by Bill Mauldin
	19	Achtung Jabos!: The Story of the IX Tactical Air Command

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Series V: Photographs and Postcards
	The material in this series consists of military and nonmilitary photographs. Some of the most interesting photos were taken while Dick Hedges visited Paris and other parts of Europe at the end of the war. Most of the photos of the Cherbourg, Omaha, and Utah beaches were taken just before the Normandy invasion in 1944.
Box	folder
5	1	Basketball Banquet 1944-1945
	2	King Leopold III of Belgium - postcard
	3	Brussels, Versiers, Gosselies - Belgium
	4	Pinup girls of Nazi Luftwaffe Officers
	5	Personnel of the first U.S. Army photo interpretation detachment - Gosselies, Beligium March 5, 1945
	6	Mont St. Michel, France
	7	Paris, France
	8	Oxford, England
	10	General Runstedt
	11	Germany (aerial views)
	12	Bonn, Germany
	13	Beaches of Normandy (See Box 7 for Map)
	14	"Army Buddies"
	15	Postcards (Belgium)
		See Series I, II, III and VIII for Additional Photos

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Series VI: Topography
	The Topography series contains Maps, Town Plans, Guidebooks, and a War Department Technical Manual.
	Of special interest are the maps and townplans of Germany and England.
Box	folder
6	1	Map and Aerial Photo Reading Simplified, by Col. W.F. Heavey - Corps of Engineers, U.S. Army 1942
	2	War Department - Technical Manual, Topography and Surveying Map Production April 1942
	3	Map of Bristol, Bath, and Cardiff, England
	4	Maps of London
	5	Map of England and Wales
	6	Maps of Brussels
	7	Map of Belgium
	8	Road map to Germany
	9	Map of Europe - Grand Operations
	10	War Department - Corps of Engineers, U.S. Army - Uncontrolled Mosaic (2nd edition) Defense Legend (map)
	11	Map of Camp McCoy, Wisconsin
	12	"Geographia" Pictorial Plan of London
	13	Belgium - Town Plans
	14	Holland - Town Plans
	15	Germany - Town Plans No. 1
	16	Germany - Town Plans No. 2
		See Oversize for Map of Utah Beach

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Series VII: Oversize

The material in this series is comprised of a mixture of Books, Photograph Albums, Newspapers, Magazines and a Map of Utah Beach for the Normandy invasion.

One of the most exciting books in the collection is The Artists of the Gothic and Early Renaissance, which contains excellent color reproductions of famous paintings by Dutch, French, Italian and German artists.

Information on the battle of Iwo Jima, the Normandy Invasion and the death of Adolf Hitler can be found in the Stars and Stripes, a military newspaper.

Of particular interest is the photograph album containing pictures of Colonel Otto Skorzeny training with the S.S. at an Summer Training Camp in Loas, Tyrol.

Box

Map, Utah Beach - North (Ravenoville) April 21, 1944

Stars and Stripes, The Daily Newspaper of the U.S. Armed Forces - Vol. 4, No. 188 June 10, 1944

Stars and Stripes, The Daily Newspaper of the U.S. Armed Forces - Vol. 1, No. 32 February 20, 1945

Stars and Stripes, The Daily Newspaper of the U.S. Armed Forces - Vol. 1, No. 28 May 2, 1945

Deutschland erwacht - Werden, Kampf und Sieg (Germany Awakes - Will, Struggle and Victory) - Nazi Propagation Office 1933

Kavallerie Im Osten (Cavalry in the East) 1939-1942

Box

Der Adler 1943

Der Adler, Number 11 June 1, 1943

Der Weg Zur Ordensburg (The Way of the Orderly Town)

Die Malerei Der Gotik und Fruh Renaissance (The Artists of the Gothic and Early Renaissance

Skorzeny - Summer Training Camp Alpine Inn, Loas, Tyrol (Photograph Album)

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