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Records for U. S. Army Guard at Nurnberg war trials

MichaelHusman

My wife's uncle PFC William H. Mitchell, Jr. served in the 26th Infantry Regiment during WWII. He fought in the Battle of the Bulge (possibly as part of the 79th Infantry) and was shot one inch below the heart, yet survived. After the war, he re-enlisted so he could stay in Germany as he wanted to marry a German girl. He was assigned to serve as a guard at the Nurnberg war Trials. He guarded many of the war criminals including Rudolph Hess and escorted him to the trial daily. Are there records which could reveal insight into his life as a guard? Have seen numerous websites about the Nurnberg war trials, but have not found anything about him nor do we see a picture of him (We have a picture of him in his WWII uniform to compare faces to.)

  • 0 in reply to KarenAnt

    I checked everything I have for the staff personnel for the last name Brogdon and couldn’t find anything but that doesn’t mean much because there are nearly no known records of prison guards.  Escort guards are well documented but no such name. There are two Herbert’s in the NARA records. One born in 1917 and one in 1912.  

  • 0 in reply to Dalton

    Dalton,

    Sorry to bother you but do you have record of a Laurence F.X. Hooper?  He is my father and has told us that he was one of the escorts.

    Doug Hooper

  • 0 in reply to Dhooper

    Doug, I have a record of him having escorted Alfred Rosenberg, one of the principal defendants but no date.  Is it possible he was also a prison guard?  

  • 0 in reply to Dalton

    Yes, I spoke with my brother and we believe that prisoner guard was his main role.  He once told me a story of confiscating a sword cane that someone tried to bring into the cell area.

  • 0 in reply to Dhooper

    Doug I found that guys with limited records tend to be the prison guards.  I feel pretty good in saying it would have been super hard for anyone to get anywhere close with a sword.  But it’s a great story!  I managed to find some stories and am working through this. The interesting thing I found is if you put the stories out there as they are, they’re interesting. But if you put the official records and the rules first - it’s all dry - then they make the stories pop. You can see what the rules were for guest inspections. And then read the story of smuggling in something. It couldn’t have happened if the guards were on the ball.   It’s interesting to me because I’m so hungry for details.  I’ve got months and months of work left. By the way did your dad ever mention the name Nathan Hilu?  He was my uncle.  Thanks

  • 0 in reply to Dalton

    No, sorry no mention of Nathan.  My dad rarely spoke of his military service.  Do you know if the guards/escorts were pulled from the same outfit or were they pulled from various groups?  My father was army artillery for most of his tour and I do have pictures of him and some of the men he served with. 

  • 0 in reply to Dhooper

    Doug hang in on the answer of origins. I will have a bunch on that. Short answe, the guards at ASHCAN all came from the 391st AAA.  The others came from different units with no exact unit being a particular source 

  • 0 in reply to Dalton

    Thanks, I just did a search of the 391st AAA and did not find his name on the roster.  I will review his papers. He was artillery; below is a photo of him in front of the big guns.

     

  • 0 in reply to Dalton

    Hi Dalton,

    I‘m just starting my search for more information on my grandfather’s time at the Nuremberg trials. I know he served as a guard; however, I’m unsure of the exact role. Is there any chance you’ve come across the name Beverly Hawks in your research?

    -Julianne

  • 0 in reply to Dalton

    Good evening Dalton. I apologize in advance for inserting my question into this thread, but I wanted to check with you and others in this thread, while I was researching my paternal Great Uncle Elbert Ray Glasscock, who served as a guard during the Nuremberg Trials. He always told us he was assigned to guarding Hermann Goring.  There is an article in the Cullman Democrat from 1946 that also relayed this same information.  Uncle Elbert would never talk anymore about the trials than that. He said it was something he always tried to forget for the rest of his life.

    There is a new Netflix Documentary out on the trials and I'm scanning the footage to see if I can catch an image of him.  There is one scene very early on where there is a guard coming down the stairs behind Goring and it looks very much like the picture below, but after reading your description, I was hoping you might could shed a little more light on his work schedule there.