Allen H. Barbee
The following text (with minor changes) was written and provided to us by Allen H. Barbee Jr.
Biography: Allen Howison Barbee Sr. was born September 11, 1911 near rural Manassas, Virginia. The son of Sheriff Charles Barbee and wife, Mollie (Cornwell), he was one of six children, Allen was a fun-loving rascal who enjoyed being and working outdoors. Early on, his interest in machinery drew him to become an operator of heavy equipment (HEO). As an HEO, he helped clear land for a hydro-electric dam (Lake Jackson) project near Manassas. He also worked on interstate pipeline construction projects. He made time to regularly take pictures of his workmates and friends with his Brownie box camera. Throughout his life, he continued to take snapshots of people and places filling several albums with photos, including of his time in the Army. In 1933, he got a job with the Virginia Highway Department beginning as an HEO, rising to foreman whose duties included not only road maintenance operations but also being responsible for a road gang of convict labor.
Service Time: Barbee was inducted into the Army on April 27, 1942 at Ft Meade, Maryland. He received training at Camp Wheeler near Macon, Georgia where in May 1942, he earned an expert badge with the Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR) and qualified as marksman with the M-1 rifle. After basic training, Barbee was assigned to HQ and HQ company of the 1st Tank Destroyer Group, initially as a radio operator, but his MOS (military occupation) changed to truck driver-light (345). The 1st TD Group, formed at Fort Hood, Texas, was commanded by Col Burrowes G. Stevens beginning May 18, 1942. Tank Destroyers were conceived to be light, fast, independent anti-tank battalions to out maneuver panzer tanks. The 1st TD Group unit shipped out from New York enroute to England on August 18, 1942, 2000 hours, aboard the Reina del Pacifico (Queen of the Pacific), an ocean liner that was put to service to transport Allied troops. Barbee and the rest had to sleep on the ballroom floor of the liner because it hadn’t been refitted yet as a troop transport.
The 1st TD Group arrived in Liverpool, England on August 31st (having left New York 22 days earlier, zigzagging across the North Atlantic to avoid German submarines). They then disembarked and traveled 200 miles to Camp Perham at Tidworth, Wiltshire, England. They stayed at Camp Perham for a month before moving to Camp Chiseldon (Chiseldon Barracks), near Swinden, Wiltshire, England, about 80 miles west of London and 40 miles north of Downton, Salisbury where they garrisoned for the winter. They stayed here for about four months training and exercising for future operations. Camp Chiseldon, in late 1942, was the very first British camp to receive American troops, heralding a period that would see U.S. forces concentrated at Chiseldon over the next years of WW2. Very little remains of Camp Chiseldon today which gives any hint of the fascinating story behind its existence.
It was a key training facility and staging post. Most soldiers were accommodated in rows of pre-fabricated half round metal buildings called Quonset huts. The locals were very welcoming to the “Yanks” who came to England to join in the war effort. Barbee made friends with a number of families while stationed at Chiseldon and he maintained communications with them after the war. At Chiseldon in November 1942, Barbee earned a sharpshooter badge with the Thompson submachine gun and qualified as marksman with the 30 caliber machine gun. Barbee served as a principal driver for HQ company of the 1st TD Group and its officers, particularly its commanding officers (COs) Col. Stevens and Lt. Col Foreman. In January, a little over four months after arriving in England, the 1st TD Group boarded, by coincidence, the Reina del Pacifico again (by now refitted to be a troop carrier) and sailed to Oran, Algeria, North Africa, arriving January 16, 1943 where they would be for the next eleven months as part of the Allies North Africa campaign.
Allied Forces were fighting General Rommell’s Axis army from the east (Egypt and Libya) pushing them toward Tunisia. The 1st TD Group was among additional Allied forces landed in Algeria, west of Rommell’s forces, to cut off his supply lines and to put him in a “pinch”. Upon arrival, January 17, 1943, the 1st TD Group bivouacked in the vicinity of Assi Ameur, on the outskirts of Oran. From there, they advanced toward Tunisia and the German forces. The 1st TD Group arrived at Feriana, Tunisia on March 17, 1943 staying in the combat zone until April 11, 1943. During this period, they were at or near: Feriana, Tunisia – March 17-26, 1943; Gafsa, Tunisia – March 26-27, 1943; El Guettar, Tunisia – March 27 – April 8, 1943; and Sbeitla, Tunisia – April 8-11, 1943. The 1st TD Grp had one killed and three wounded as result of action there in separate events: 1st Lt. John R. Talbot, wounded by an anti-tank mine; T4 Paul C. Seyfreid, wounded by a bomb; T5 Claud V. Bridges was killed (and buried in Tunis) and T5 Jake J. Zagar, Jr. was wounded when their jeep carrying ammunition ran over an anti-tank mine.
The last major battle between the two forces in Africa was at the Kasserine Pass February 18-24, 1943. The Americans initially took a beating, but ultimately rallied to prevail causing Rommell’s troops to withdraw toward Tunis, Tunisia. Rommell, himself, escaped to Europe. The 1st TD Grp departed Sbeitla (south of Tunis) April 11, 1943 at 1300 hours and began their journey back toward Oran, Algeria. Commanding Officer Col. Stevens reported Tank Destroyers should not be used as spearheads or baits primarily because of the limitations of the M3 half track, its principal armament. He reported it had a large turning radius, a high profile, a single cannon that could only face forward and was unsuitable for rough terrain. The 1st TD Grp arrived 8 miles south of Sebdou, Algeria June 19, 1943, at 1550 hours at 5th Army TD Training Center where they stayed for four months taking over all functions at the 5th Army TD Training Center on August 15,1943. The 1st TD Grp left 5th Army TD Training Center October 5, 1943 at 0800 hours arriving the same day at 1800 hours at Staging Area No. 1 near Assi-Ben Okba, Algeria, where they made ready to leave North Africa for their next campaign, Italy.
They boarded LST 301 (Landing Ship, Tank) on Oct 18, 1943 traveled across the Mediterranean 1000 miles with fair and mild weather to arrive 5 days later at Bagnoli, Italy (an outskirt west of Naples) on October 23, 1943. Effective October 26, 1943, 1st TD Group was downsized from 16 officers/126 enlisted to 10 officers/47 enlisted. Among the remaining officers were Col. Burrowes S. Stevens, Lt Col. Allen H Foremen plus captains and lieutenants; and among the enlisted were PFC Allen H. Barbee, Cpl. Robert E. Bagnell, PFC Michael S. Baraniak, T-5 Harold O. Bernhardt, and T-4 Robert E. Holliway, all of whom he kept in contact after the war. After only a month in Italy, they were recalled. They departed from the Port of Naples, November 18, 1943 (a rainy day with hail) on board USS Charles Carroll (an attack troop transport ship) and arrived in Scotland three weeks later (3500 miles) on December 10, 1943. Upon disembarking at Gourock (near Glasgow), they traveled by rail about 500 miles returning to Camp Chiseldon that same day. They remained at Camp Chiseldon, Swinden, Wiltshire, England for the next six months, training and preparing for their next operation, the invasion of Europe.
At the beginning of June, the 1st TD Grp was in Weymouth, England where they were loaded on a LST. They were scheduled to land in Normandy, France on D-Day+3. Due to heavy seas, they didn’t until June 12th (D-Day +6). As their LST approached Utah Beach on the French coast, an American destroyer crossed their bow. It hit a mine and began to sink. A number of the casualties were brought to their LST, some with missing legs. When the 1st TD Grp landed on Utah Beach that day, German artillery was still shelling it. They assembled at Transit Area “A” and moved out to Carentan, France. The 1st TD Grp’s mission was support the VII Corps and act as their Traffic Control Section as they moved with the VII Corps expediting movement of arms, materials, and men to the front ahead. They also provided Rear Area Security for the European Theater of Operations (ETO). By late August 1944, following the breakout from the beaches, the unit was moving rather quickly across northern France and through Belgium, supporting the front. Learning from their casualties in North Africa, some guys put sandbags in the floors of their jeeps in case they ran over any land mines. It rained almost every day for a while and mud was everywhere. Roads were slippery and treacherous. Many of the halftracks became stuck when they slipped off roads into ditches along side.
They arrived in Nutheim, Germany on Sep. 17, 1944, and on December 16, 1944, the German Army began a major counter offensive against the American Army by pushing through the Allied line creating a Bulge in the line in the Ardennes region. On Dec 23, the 1st TD Grp was ordered 55 miles back to Borsu, Belgium to protect the rear of the advanced divisions and to organize defenses against enemy airborne attacks, parachutists, infiltrators, snipers and enemy actions. The Battle of the Bulge was the largest and bloodiest single battle the U.S. Army has ever fought, with over 80,000 casualties. By the end of January, after hard fighting in a brutal winter, the Allies had pushed the Germans back. The 1st TD Grp was ordered forward again to Nutheim, Germany, arriving on Feb. 6, 1945. Lt. Col. Allen H Foreman was made unit commanding officer on March 1, 1945 when Col. Stevens left for another assignment. Near a crossroad outside Aachen, Germany, the unit bivouacked in an orchard, digging in. The officers, except for Col. Foreman, stayed in the farm house across the road. The area was shelled daily by a gun mounted on a railcar hidden in a cave. It would roll out in the morning and fire about ten shells and withdraw into the cave. One day, a shell came whistling in causing Col Foreman to dive into one of the water-filled foxholes. One of those shells eventually destroyed the barn next to the house.
The 1st TD Grp advanced to Nordhausen on April 13th, a couple days after it was liberated by the American 3rd Armored Division. Outside of town, they found Mittelwerk, a vast tunnel complex where forced labor (prisoners) were used to build V2 missiles. Nearby were concentration camps (Dora and Boelcke) where most of the prisoners were found dead and the few surviving ones were severely malnourished. The local German citizens were made to go to the camp to view the horrific atrocities committed there and help bury the dead. On May 1, 1945, the 1st TD Grp was ordered eastward about 90 miles to Leipzig which they occupied. One week later, Germany surrendered on May 8, 1945. The 1st TD Group secured Leipzig for the next two months. This was as close (110 miles) to Berlin as they were stationed. On July 2, 1945, they withdrew from Leipzig on orders, so the Soviets could move in as part of the Allies agreement to let the Soviets occupy East Germany. The 1st TD Group was sent to Weilburg, Germany where they remained until deactivated on November 5, 1945.
Crossing three countries, It took nearly a year after they landed at Normandy to defeat the German Army. During the war, the 1st TD Group was recognized for participating in seven campaigns, including Tunisia, Africa; Naples-Foggia, Italy; Normandy, and Northern France; the Ardennes, Belgium; the Rhineland, Germany; and Central Europe. Technician 4th Grade Barbee received orders August 4th to leave the 1st TD Group in Germany and return to the U.S.A. The Army sent him to southern France, then to N. Africa. From there, he boarded a C54 transport plane and flew to Miami, Fla, landing on August 14, 1945. He was honorably discharged at Ft Meade, Maryland separation center on August 19, 1945, having served 3 years, 3 months, 23 days.
After the war, Barbee returned to Virginia and again worked at the Virginia state highway department. In 1946, Allen Barbee married Rachel Cornwell, of the same county, and over the years they had seven children (3 boys and 4 girls). In 1950, he was hired at Ft. Belvoir, the U.S. Army’s Engineering School, as a civilian HEO at the Engineering Proving Grounds, the home of the Army’s ERDL (Engineering, Research, Development and Laboratory). There he operated many different types of light and heavy construction and earth moving equipment being tested and evaluated (R&D) for the Army until he retired June 30, 1972. Throughout his life, he regularly donated blood to the Am. Red Cross, ultimately, giving over 15 gallons. Only three years after his retirement, Allen H. Barbee, a Master Mason, passed of pancreatic cancer at the age of 63 and is buried in Stonewall Memory Gardens near Manassas, Virginia.
Allen’s eldest son, Allen Jr, was also driver in the U.S. Army. He was drafted into the Army in 1970 during the Vietnam War and had a MOS of 64B, (truck driver – medium). He was assigned to HQ of the 180th Transportation Battalion, 13th Support Brigade at Fort Hood, Texas where he drove the commanding officers (COs) and supported other HQ activities. Allen Jr. earned an expert rifleman badge in basic training and for 9 months was assigned temporary duty (TDY) to Ft Hood’s Advanced Marksmanship Unit participating in shooting competitions in Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas. He was honorably discharged in 1972 having never been stationed anywhere other than Ft Hood, Texas.
The following sources were used in the creation of this tribute: Allen Howison Barbee Sr’s photo albums and letters; Harold O. Bernhardt’s “My WW2 Story”, 1st TD Group HQ.; Robert “Bob” Holliway, 1st TD Group HQ; TankDestroyer.net; the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library; Chiseldon Camp Swindon – history of an army base not forgotten (swindonweb.com).