Robert “Bob” James Kenney 

February 16, 1921 - November 1, 2005

Bob was born in Arlington, Massachusetts. Known to many at Arlington High School as “Red” due to the color of his hair, he played basketball, was an honor roll student, and he was class treasurer in his senior year in 1939.

He went on to attend Boston University’s College of Business Administration where he registered for the draft and joined the Enlisted Reserve Corps on campus. At the time of his marriage to Jean Walsh in May of 1944, Bob was on a break from training as an Aviation Cadet at the Santa Ana Army base in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.[1]

After serving briefly in the Army Air Corps, Bob was re-assigned to the infantry. He landed in France on July 22, 1944, at Omaha Beach, as a replacement soldier[2] and it wasn’t long before he was assigned to 117th Infantry Regiment of the 30th Infantry Division, First Batallion, Company C.

In France, Bob fought in the Battle of St. Lo and the Battle of Mortain, when in the early morning hours of August 7, 1944, his battalion took the brunt of a significant German counterattack. [3]After several days of intense hedgerow fighting against German armor and heavy infantry he was wounded and taken prisoner.[4]

As a POW, Bob was transported overland for several days by trucks and train to Stalag 7-A at Moosburg.

As Bob remembers it, it was in late February of 1945 that he and ten other POWs from Stalag 7-A were transferred to a small prison camp in Nussdorf am Inn, where he was assigned to work as a farmhand for a German family.

The following is based the 30th Anniversary Edition of his book, Somewhere in France:[5]

They traveled to Munich by train, where they changed trains and were no longer transported in boxcars but with passengers. Bob observed that the civilians on the train appeared extremely tired, yet they showed no particular animosity towards the POWs, despite the constant bombing of their cities by the Air Corps. The train journey included a few stops for track repairs due to recent bombings, but they finally arrived at Rosenheim. Upon disembarking, they were placed on flatbed trailers pulled by tractors and accompanied by two guards. These guards, like others encountered, had been wounded on some front and were now assigned to homefront duties. The group traveled south approximately 19 miles through the most beautiful countryside Bob had ever seen. The towns resembled picture postcards. Eventually, they reached Nussdorf am Inn, a charming little village. To Bob, it felt remarkably distant from the war and the harsh conditions of Stalag 7-A. Their “lager” was comprised of a single room for sleeping and a fenced-in exercise yard reminiscent of a chicken coop. The following day, they were assigned to work on various farms, with each POW sent to a different farm.

Bob was assigned to the farm of World War I veteran, Peter Dräxl,[6] whose farm was (and is) in Oberthann, which is in Samerberg foothills above and to the north Nussdorf.

On his first day at the farm, accompanied by a guard, Bob was introduced to Peter Dräxl, his wife, and their three children, who were particularly excited about Bob’s arrival. The Dräxls operated a small dairy farm, with ten to twelve cows. A small, attached barn was at the back fo the house.

Luftwaffe major, Oskar Kössler,[8] and his wife Anni, also lived with the Dräxls. Oskar was recuperating. He had been wounded on the Russian front. The Kösslers lived in an apartment on the second floor and did not share meals with the Dräxls.

Bob began his work by tackling a bomb crater, created by a 500-pound bomb dropped by a returning American plane just days before. Despite being given only a cup of coffee for breakfast, Bob persevered in filling the crater, though progress was slow. The German eating habits were unfamiliar to him: meals were small and frequent, with breakfast being just a cup of coffee, followed by a mid-morning meal called "Bordside", a lunch of soup with specific spoon etiquette, an afternoon meal called “Avenbrode”, and a lighter evening meal. Dairy products from the farm were also part of the diet, but the farmer had to get permission to sell or dispose of any cattle.

Bob worked on filling the bomb crater for two days until Peter recognizing the futility of filling the crater. From that point forward, Bob tended to the cows. Because Bob had grown up on a farm he learned quickly and developed a warm relationship with the Dräxls. The pace was slower than what Bob was used to, but Peter’s fair and gentle nature made the work pleasant.

Bob left the compound each morning with the guard, arriving at the Dräxl farm between 7:00 and 7:30. As the war neared its end, Anni (Also spelled Anny sometimes) Kössler became increasingly friendly with Bob, speaking English and offering insights into farm operations. She occasionally baked cakes from their meager rations, which Bob shared with the other POWs back at the lager. Bob sensed that her kind attentiveness was self-serving; that she was hoping Bob and the others would put in a good word for her after Germany’s capitulation.

Bob came to be treated like a member of the Dräxl family. He recalled fondly that one of the children, Josef, ran out to greet him each morning with coffee and bread as he walked the hill to the farm.

Bob learned about the war's progress through BBC broadcasts. Listening to enemy broadcasts were illegal, but the Dräxls had become disillusioned with German broadcasts which so often turned out to be unreliable. It surprised Bob, when President Roosevelt's death was announced, that the Dräxls and Frau Kössler recognized the impact of his passing on the POWs and expressed genuine sympathy.

As the war drew to a close, the Dräxls began constructing a bomb shelter on the mountain above their home. The task was arduous. Bob helped transport cement and bricks.

Bob worked six days a week on the farm, with Sundays off. On Sundays he went to the farm for one meal and spent time talking about the war and life in America.

Though his relationship with the Dräxls and Kösslers was good, Bob’s longing for liberation was ever-present. The same held true for the other American POWs. For this reason, there were many discussions about escape plans at the lager after work. None of these plans materialized due to the risks involved. Where would they go? The US Army was getting closer by the day. It was more sensible to stay put.

As the situation in Germany deteriorated, the Dräxl farm became a hub of military activity, and Bob was asked to return to the farm to assist if the Americans arrived. Despite the risk, he went up the hill, where he encountered a German colonel seeking advice on whether to surrender or retreat. Bob advised the colonel to remain in the house and encourage his troops to leave. Shortly after, a farmer ran up with news that the Americans had arrived in town.

Sure enough, it was true. When Bob walked back to town, he saw American forces in a jeep and half-track. His fellow POWs were gathered in excitement. That same day, Bob clambered aboard a truck in a small convoy of vehicles that eventually ended up in Garmisch where they lived in a confiscated home and were treated to beer, good bread, and treated for wounds if needed.

[1] The Boston Globe, Jan. 25, 1944, p. 17.

[2] Robert J. Kenney, Somewhere in France (30th Anniversary Edition), p. 87-89.

[3] Operation Lüttich.

[4] Robert J, Kenney Obituary in GreenwichTime (online) on Nov. 4, 2005. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery. Bob was awarded the Purple Heart for his wounds and the WWII Victory Medal.

[5] Robert J. Kenney, Somewhere in France (30th Anniversary Edition), pp. 50-62.

[6] Bavaria, Germany, World War I Personnel Rosters (1914-1918) Peter Dräxl (Born May 23, 1898) Service: Infanterie/Reserve-Infanterie-Regimenter/Bayer- Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr- 12 (Neu-Ulm)/02867- Kriegstammrolle: 1- Maschinen-Gewehr-Kompanie für M--G--Komp-, Bd- 1.

[7] The Dräxls were (and are) neighbors of the Niederthanner family to whom fellow US POW, Clyde Vineyard, was assigned.

[8] Munich phone and address books from the 1930s reveal that Oskar Kössler was an architect by profession. A photo and handwritten note that Frau Kössler gave to Bob, dated May 1, 1945, also lists her husband’s profession as “architect”. (Jon E. Fink collection, p. 35). There’s no record of a pilot, radio man, navigator, or ground crewman or mechanic named Oskar Kössler, so it’s likely he was an architectural engineer in the Luftwaffe.

[9] Jon E. Fink collection. Taken on May 4 or 5, 1945.