522nd Field Artillery Occupying Germany

Fire for Effect, the history of the 522nd Field Artillery Battalion (written by the veterans) includes a brief description of their role in the Occupation of German, and several anecdotal contributions by individual veterans.

The Occupation

(pages 70-72)

With the end of the war in the European Theater, the 522nd was detached from the 101st Airborne Division and attached to the 30th Field Artillery Group. On May 9, 1945 at 0815 hours, the Battalion moved out of Shaftlach and traveled 77 miles to the north by motor convoy over the autobahn past Munich to Steppach, a town on the outskirts of Augsburg, where the 522nd CP was established and occupied until May 17, 1945.

Headquarters Battery then moved to Mertingen on May 17 where the Battalion CP was established while Service Battery moved to and occupied Bauhmenheim for the balance of the occupation. Able Battery occupied Ellgau and Ebermergen where they were quartered in tents for most of the occupation, while Baker Battery was stationed in Genderkingen. Charlie Battery was stationed on the outskirts of Donauworth living in tents until July 20 when they moved into a four story building. On July 18 Headquarters Battery moved to Donauworth, in turn, Baker Battery moved to Mertingen.

From mid-July, 522nd MP directed traffic flowing through the busy streets of Donauworth from 0800 hours in the morning until 1800 hours at night with watchful and reliable efficiency. They are T/ 5 David Sugimoto, T/ 5 Tadao Nagasawa, Cpl James Moriwake, Pvt Harry Hirada, Cpl Walter Sakamoto, Pfc Masami Higuchi, Cpl Albert Kimura, Pfc Masayuki Higa and Cpl Teruo Anzai.

The SP detachment of the 522nd was formed on May 5 in Shaftlach with Lt James Craig as Security Officer and showed great proficiency as road patrol controllers when the Battalion moved 77 miles from Shaftlach to Augsburg. At Donauworth, they guarded the control point in the Battalion area, the railroad bridge near Nordheim and the Donauworth bridge crossing the “blue” Danube (Donau) River.

During their Donauworth stay, personnel of the SP detachment were twice cited for alertness in the line of duty. Pfc Tamotsu Fukuoka received a commendation from the area General for the arrest of a wanted member of the Nazi Party Art Collector, while T/ 4 Tadashi Tojo, Pfc Robert Yutaka, Pfc Shunro Nomura and Pfc Torao Nitta were awarded Soldiers Medals for the rescue of a little German girl from drowning in the swift waters of the Danube river. Other members of the SP detachment were Pfc Tsuneshi Maruo, Pfc Yukio Ogawa, Pfc Fred Shimomura, Pfc Masaru Nakakura, T/ 5 Richard Kuba, Pfc Yukio Kawasaki, Pfc Tatsumi Tanaka, Pfc Yujio Hibino, Pfc Yujio Arai, Pvt Morio Nunokawa, Pfc Jiro Yamada, Pvt George Nishikawa, Pfc Jimmy Umamoto, Pfc Brian Matsuo, Pfc Mitsuo Tabuchi, Pfc Thomas Toguchi, Pvt Isamu Naka, Pfc Canan Takaoka, Pfc Douglas Iwamoto, Pvt Frank Takeuchi, Pfc Hideo Noda, Pfc Kiyoshi Ozaki and Pvt. Echio Andow. Lt Toru Hirano succeeded Lt Chang as Security Officer when the latter was transferred to the 13th FA Brigade.

During the Donauworth occupation men of the 522nd participated in brigade baseball, officer softball, track & field, and swimming competition; while basketball, softball, ping pong, horseshoe pitching, etc. were enjoyed at the Battalion and battery level. About 300 enlisted men furthered their education in USAFI courses and unit school programs. During this period 51 EM volunteered for military intelligence school training at Fort Snelling, Minnesota. During this whole period, 522 men went out on passes to Nice, Paris, London, Brussels, Konigsee, Laussane and other European centers of interest.

The Battalion CP and HQ Battery were stationed at Donauworth until about October 5, 1945 when the 522nd Field Artillery Battalion was de-activated and its personnel dispersed. About 375 personnel who volunteered for the 442nd RCT from Hawaii with more than 70 points headed home for Hawaii while the remainder of the Battalion consisting mostly of volunteers of mainland US origin who were transferred to the 53rd Quartermaster Base Depot near Nurnberg.

After the War in Europe

By S. Don Shimazu (pages 126-7)

After the surrender of Germany on May 6, 1945 (signings on May 8, 1945 ), the Hq Battery of the 522nd FA Battalion was stationed in Mertingen as part of the occupation forces. They remained there about a month with S/Sgt Don Shimazu serving as acting 1st/Sgt while 1st/Sgt Charles Ishii attended a special school.

From Mertingen, Hq Battery moved to Donauworth on the Danube River with its headquarters in the Hotel Krone. While there the Battery provided many opportunities for self-improvement with classes on many different subjects. It provided opportunities also for all kinds of competitive sports, and allowed its people to travel and do sightseeing to many places of interest.

Shortly after the move into Donauworth, the Battery began publishing a weekly newspaper for the whole 522 FA Battalion called “High Angle” with T/4 Earl I. Tanaka as editor-in-chief.

Anyone interested in the further history of the 522 would find old copies of “High Angle” to be full of information.

As the weeks and months passed, people began to leave for discharge based on earned points, reassignments to other units, and for a large contingent a move to Fort Snelling to become Military Intelligence Service interpreters for further service in Japan where the war was still going on.

S/Sgt. Don Shimazu was one of the latter group and ended up as the NCO in charge of the group. He had to lead a contingent of about 50 from one “repple depple” to another after leaving the 522 for at least another month in Europe before finally getting aboard a ship to cross the Atlantic. It was while being shunted from one repple depple to another that Shimazu received a V-Mail letter from his Battery Commander who wrote from his sick bed. It was a letter-to-soldier kind of good-by letter that Shimazu will always treasure. After the group got to Boston, its members were told that they all had enough points for discharge if they so desired. On the other hand, anyone choosing to go on to Fort Snelling had to re-enlist for another three years at the minimum. Faced with these options, most people chose to get out and that included Shimazu, too, who was honorably discharged at the Army Separation Center on Oahu on November 24, 1945. The process of separations and discharges from the 522 and the Army went on until very close to the end of 1945.

Capturing a Nazi Art Collector

By Lynn Crost (pages 96-7)

Donauworth, Germany, August 4 1945

Several months ago when I first came overseas, Brig. Gen. Ralph Tobin, commander of the 44th (Anti-Aircraft) Brigade with which the Nisei regiment fought in the French Maritime Alps, told me he always felt safe when men from that regiment were around.

His faith in the Combat Team was once more rewarded by a recent action of the 522nd Field Artillery Battalion.

One night the battalion received a message to apprehend a German named Frederick Kops, member of the Nazi Party Art Collectors Association. Kops had left Berchtesgaden that morning, driving a civilian car which was probably an Opal.

Battalion outposts, including one at a strategic bridge crossing the Danube here, were notified. Fifty minutes after the message was received, a security platoon stationed at Donauworth bridge stopped a civilian vehicle to check the passenger’s identification. One passenger was named Richard Kopf, but otherwise fitted the description of the hunted man.

The man admitted he had left Berchtesgaden that morning, but denied he was the man they were seeking. Nothing but his physical description corresponded with the data the message had given. The car he was driving was a different make, didn’t contain trunks or boxes, but the battalion by this time were used to being on the alert for suspicious characters so the man was arrested and placed in Donauworth’s jail.

To reach Donauworth from Berchtesgaden, the man had to drive through 150 miles of carefully policed 3rd Army area, and had successfully run the gauntlet until he reached the 522nd Battalion.

When Gen Tobin, now in command of the Berchtesgaden area, heard of the man’s apprehension, he inquired who had caught him. And being told it was this battalion, his response was: “I might have known.” [The 522nd soldier who apprehended and captured the wanted Nazi was Pfc Tomotsu Fukuoka who was awarded a Letter of Commendation for his diligence.]

Rescue of a Little German Girl

By Tadashi Tojo (pages135-6)

This is a story about the rescue of Carolla, a little German girl, from the fast flowing cold waters of the Danube river by Donauworth, in the state of Bayern in Bavaria, Germany in June 1945. This harrowing incident was experienced not only by the little one, but also by four special police from the 522nd Field Artillery Battalion: Pfcs Torao Nitta, Shunro Nomura, Robert Yutaka, and T/4 Tadashi Tojo.

Carolla was no more than 8 years old then, somewhat shy but with a pleasant smile. She lived in a house located next to our building commandeered by the U. S. Army to house the special police. My office was located on the first floor of that house. She visited my office almost every day to say hello.

On that eventful day, as I remember it, Carolla was walking across the bridge on her way home from the milking parlor behind the Hotel Krebs where the townspeople went to buy their daily quota of milk and milk products.

Carolla tumbled into the Danube when a group of GIs on a weapons carrier truck apparently decided to have what they regarded as harmless fun by playfully but dangerously, swerving the carrier truck to frighten the queue of kids walking the bridge. The heavy wooden plank bridge was a temporary structure with only a marked pedestrian walkway and no retaining wall. The other children scattered away, but Carolla stumbled when she panicked fearing that she would be hit by the vehicle. In doing so, she fell into the river. At that point, the river was swift and full of whirlpools; no one went swimming near the bridge area.

Luckily, Pfcs Nitta and Yutaka, who were dressed in shorts, taking snapshots on the south bank, saw Carolla falling into the river. Without hesitation, they dove into the water. Pfc Nitta reached Carolla first. Because of the swift current, he was unable to tow her to the north bank by himself. Pfcs Yutaka and Nitta ultimately took turns in keeping Carolla afloat. When Pfc Nomura and I (on duty and in full uniform) came upon the scene, we immediately stripped and joined the two rescuers.

Carolla recognized me at once. During the rescue, she stubbornly clutched my neck and hung on. I was afraid that unless I could disengage myself, both of us would drown. After frantic efforts, I was able to free myself from her stranglehold and alternating with the others, towed her safely to the riverbank, but only when we reached the bend where the current flow was not as strong and swift.

The rescue was completed in just about ten minutes and Carolla required no special attention or medical care.

The entire incident was witnessed by several passersby, including a Colonel and a Lieutenant Colonel. All four rescuers were each presented the Soldiers Medal.