| Original caption: “Easter morning, Technician Fifth Class William E. Thomas…and Private First Class Joseph Jackson…will roll specially prepared eggs on Hitler’s lawn.” Technician 5th Class William E. Thomas, of 366 N. Pennsylvania Ave., Atlantic City, New Jersey, and Private 1st Class Joseph Jackson (November 27, 1923 – February 18, 1994), of 18 7th Street, Clarksdale, Mississippi, display M107 high Explosive shells for their M1 155 millimeter (6.1-inch) howitzer. This photo was staged; it was taken significantly before Easter 1945, which occurred on April 1, so it could be in newspapers on Easter weekend. Technician 5th Class (equivalent to Corporal) William E. Thomas (January 26, 1922 – August 21, 1997) enlisted in Philadelphia on June 28, 1943. He worked for the Pennsylvania railroad before the war. He married Odessa M. Thomas (August 2, 1927 – December 13, 2003). Private 1st Class Joseph Jackson Senior (November 27, 1923 – February 18, 1994) enlisted at Camp Shelby, Mississippi on February 4, 1943. He was discharged on November 11, 1945. He was in agriculture before the war. He married Geneva Tylor Jackson (April 17, 1927 – May 16, 2005). He is buried in Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery with his wife. The 9 separate African-American field artillery battalions remaining after the completion of the conversion program were all employed in Europe. All were heavy caliber units used as corps artillery for general support or for reinforcing the fires of 1 or more divisions. Because of the flexible group organization adopted by the Army in 1943 and because units were controlled by group headquarters according to the tactical needs of the day, the 4 African-American group headquarters controlled white and Negro battalions as the occasion demanded. The African-American battalions, similarly, were from time to time attached to 1 or another group, white or African-American, as required. The 969th Field Artillery Battalion, operating M1 155 millimeter howitzers, landed at Utah Beach on July 9, 1944, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Hubert D. Barnes (September 04, 1902 – January 02, 1992). The 969th’s 1st mission was to reinforce the fires of the 8th Infantry Division through the 333rd Field Artillery Group. On July 10, the battalion took its 1st positions at Lattage du Pont in the vicinity of Le Haye du Puits. At 2205 Hours, its “A” Battery fired the unit’s 1st rounds in combat. The battalion commander was wounded that night, but this circumstance had little adverse effect on the unit. The battalion, under its executive officer, Major Einar Erickson, for the next fortnight continued to sup- port the 8th Infantry Division through the 333rd Group, and later, from July 14, through attachment to the division. The 969th fired special missions for the 90th Infantry Division as well. On July 26, its “A” Battery was attached to the 4th Armored Division; on August 1, the full battalion went to the 4th Armored and occupied positions near Rennes. Fighting during this period was in country filled with snipers and the battalion was at times surrounded by the enemy and strafed by enemy planes. On 1 occasion “A” Battery’s 1st sergeant manned a 50 caliber Browning machine gun to silence sniper fire while a march order was completed, the battalion taking credit for 79 prisoners captured. In late August, the 969th began its participation in the siege of Brest, continuing until hostilities in the area ceased on September 19. In October the battalion, still in support of the 8th Infantry Division, moved from Brest to the Bastogne area where, attached to the 174th Field Artillery Group, it remained until December. On December 18, the 969th Battalion, approaching Vecmont, was assigned to the 333rd Group by oral order of the Commanding General, VIII Corps Artillery. When the enemy approached Villeroux, subjecting the 969th to heavy fire which killed its motor officer and killed and wounded several enlisted men, the 969th, on orders of the 101st Airborne Division Artillery, displaced to the northeast to a position a half mile west of Bastogne. There, as the 101st Airborne formed its perimeter defense line around the town, the 3 serviceable howitzers of the 333rd Battalion were incorporated into the 969th Battalion. The 2 battalions, with men of the 969th manning the abandoned guns of the 771st, operated as 1 through the siege of Bastogne, reinforcing the fires of the 420th Armored Field Artillery Battalion as well as giving general support to the 101st Airborne Division Artillery. The 333rd Group had only 1,450 rounds of high explosive shells left; missions were continually fired but with great care. On December 26, as the 969th continued to fire its dwindling ammunition, Douglas C-47 Skytrains dropped the 1st 155 millimeter ammunition received during the siege. The 969th continued to support the 101st Airborne Division until January 12 when, with operations approaching normal, it was relieved and reattached to the 333rd Field Artillery Group, now re-equipped and reorganized. The 333rd Group returned to its old command post at Bastogne with the mission of supporting the 11th Armored Division, then advancing north toward Houffalize. As 3rd Army widened its hold on the area to the south of the Bulge and as the siege of Bastogne was broken, Major General Maxwell D. Taylor (August 26, 1901 – April 19, 1987), commanding the 101st Airborne, wrote to the commander of the 969th Battalion: “The Officers and Men of the 101st Airborne Division wish to express to your command their appreciation of the gallant support rendered by the 969th Field Artillery Battalion in the recent defense of Bastogne, Belgium. The success of this defense is attributable to the shoulder to shoulder cooperation of all units involved. This Division is proud to have shared the Battlefield with your command. A recommendation for a unit citation of 969th Field Artillery Battalion is being forwarded by this Headquarters.” The 969th, along with other units of the 101st Airborne Division, received its Distinguished Unit Citation through 3rd Army on February 7, 1945, in accordance with authority granted by the War Department on January 21. Though not the 1st earned, this was the 1st award of the Distinguished Unit Citation to an African American combat unit in World War II. The 969th, arriving at Selestat on January 21, 1945, was attached to the Premier Division Française Libre, forming a groupment with the division’s 4th Battalion. With the help of heavy artillery preparations, the attack, which started on January 23, made good progress. The 969th Battalion alone fired 912 rounds on the 1st day. On January 28, the 999th Battalion was attached to the 40th Group in the newly arrived XXI Corps; the 969th, on January 25, was attached to the Cinquième Division Blindée (“French Fifth Armored Division”) upon commitment of that unit and, later, to the 75th Infantry Division and the Deuxième Division Blindée. Both battalions continued in support of the French and American divisions engaged in encircling and clearing the Colmar Pocket, a task which was completed by February 8. The fluid situation during the advance across central Germany and the resulting lack of targets kept the howitzers of the 969th Battalion, still in XXI Corps but then attached to the 4th Infantry Division, silent after April 28, 1945, when the battalion fired its last shots of the war. During its 10 months of combat, the 969th Field Artillery Battalion had fought with all 4 of the American armies in the European theater and with the French in the Colmar Pocket. It had fired a total of 42,489 rounds from its howitzers in support of American and French divisions. On May 3, 1945, the 969th found itself once more attached to the 101st Airborne Division under circumstances quite different from those attending its former attachment to this division at Bastogne. Though its howitzers were no longer firing, the battalion’s trucks were kept busy transporting American infantry and German prisoners and the battalion assisted in processing the thousands of German prisoners pouring into the 101st Airborne Division’s prisoner of war cage. | |
| Image Filename | wwii0854.jpg |
| Image Size | 743.13 KB |
| Image Dimensions | 2912 x 2361 |
| Photographer | |
| Photographer Title | United States Army Signal Corps |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | March 15, 1945 |
| Location | |
| City | Worms |
| State or Province | Rhineland-Palatinate |
| Country | Germany |
| Archive | National Archives and Records Administration |
| Record Number | NWDNS-111-SC-202330 |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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