Russell Edward "Jeff" Banks, Sr.

June 16, 1913 - April 2, 2000

Russell (often spelled "Russel") was born in Middletown, Ohio, to Hiram and Mollie Banks. He attended school until 8th grade and worked on the family farm . On April 8, 1940, he married Mattie Vern Gibson. They took up residence in Whitesburg, Kentucky, where he worked as a laborer for the WPA through September of 1943 when he enlisted in the US Army.  First, he trained at Fort Thomas, Kentucky, with "Company C" of "HQ 1544th."  Then he was sent to Infantry school at Fort McClellan, Alabama, after which he was assigned to the Second  Battalion, Company E, of the 142nd Infantry Regiment of the 36th Infantry Division.  [1]

Finding records and information about Russell E. Banks was difficult. That's because he was known far and wide as "Jeff", a fact that only became apparent with the chance discovery of a cousin named Elsie Banks, a journalist for The Mountain Eagle of Elizabethtown, Kentucky, who mentioned it in an article. [2] As can be seen (below) that same newspaper first reported "Jeff Banks" as MIA in France in October of 1944. [3]  

Prior to his capture in France, Jeff saw action in Italy with the 142nd Infantry Regiment of the 36th Infantry Division. He fought at the Battle of Monte Cassino and took part in the liberation of Rome in June of 1944. Thereafter, they redeployed to southern France, where Jeff participated Operation Dragoon. Company E landed at Green Beach near San Raphael and was involved in the capture of Frejus. The German 19th Division was overwhelmed and made a chaotic retreat north, with Jeff's unit in pursuit. It was during the subsequent drive north to Lyon that the Second Battalion, Company E, was subjected to a strong counter-attack by the 11th Panzer Division on August 25-26, 1944, and Jeff was captured.  The 36th Infantry Division reported Jeff as "Missing in Action  near Montélimar, France."

It took five months before his status was updated by the War Department. [4] Jeff's family feared the worst until confirmation that Jeff was alive and well when 

Mattie received a letter from Jeff explaining that he had been imprisoned at Stalag 7-A until March, when he volunteered for farm work detail and was part of a small group of soldiers transferred to a village in southern Germany called Nussdorf. His letter indicated that he had sent several letters from Stalag 7-A, but, for whatever reason, none of them made it through. This letter was dated Sunday, March 18, 1945. In it, Jeff explained that he would be assigned to do manual labor "around town".

The POWs received their assignments early on Monday morning when the Mayor of Nussdorf visited with the guards.  It took most of that morning for the guards to deliver the men to their posted families and during that time curious Nussdorfers stopped by to greet the men, including a man who spoke impeccable English, with a British accent, and a teenage boy who had been born in Philadelphia.  Several members of Mayor Auer's family also visited and were quite friendly, including  and old grandma, two pretty girls perhaps 12 and 15 years old, and several pre-school aged boys and girls who were shy but not afraid of the strange men on the other side of the fence. 

Jeff was not originally assigned to farm detail. He was "part of a road crew for the first two weeks". Three of Jeff's fellow POWs worked with him: Leonard Oviedo, Sam Genovese, and Armando Uva. They dug drainage ditches, cleared roadside brush, and put down crushed stone in a variety of locations. Another unnamed local Nussdorfer, had a horse-drawn wagon and helped to transport the  stone  that the three men would load, unload, and spread with shovels and rakes. This work was supervised by "an old, retired, German Navy Captain who spoke a little English".  Jeff never mentioned the name of this captain, but based on phone and address books from after the war, it was probably Captain August Weihe, who had served in WWI as a "Korvettenkapitän" in the Navy.

After Easter, which was April 1, 1945, Jeff "Was assigned to the Fischer family, next to where my buddy Jon [Fink] worked." The Fischers operated a saw mill. Although Jeff only spoke of "Herr or Frau Fischer", he never mentioned first names to his family and friends. However, based on WW2-era address books, it was probably the Josef Fischer family because they were neighbors of the Reisinger family, for whom Jon Fink worked. 

After the war, Jeff had many positive things to say about the Fischer family, including that they were Christians of deep faith who treated him like he was a part of their family.  They apparently tried to teach Jeff common German words related to food and work and they had many a laugh at Jeff's mispronunciations of German words that often became malapropisms.  

Josef Fischer's son, "Sepp", was 18 years old at the time and knew Jeff. Unfortunately, Sepp passed away shortly before the author of this project visited Nussdorf in the summer of 2024, so we never had the chance to interview him about what he remembered about Jeff and the other POWs. Here is a video of Sepp from October of 2020. He was obviously quite a character! 

Liberation and Post-War Life

Jeff never told his family anything about the day of his liberation other than he and the other POWs were "sent to another beautiful town in southern Germany for rest an recuperation before being flown to Paris and then going home by boat. [5]

Curious readers may wonder why so many POWs kept their lips buttoned after returning home. For many "RAMPS" (Recovered Allied Military Personnel) it was a matter of doing their duty until the war was over. They kept quiet because they were under orders to "keep your mouth buttoned up."  For many returning soldiers, this period of self-censorship became a life-long habit. 

Pictured below is Jeff (on the left) and fellow former-POW, Jon Fink,  recuperating at Garmisch, two days after liberation, and two scanned pages from the pamphlet that Jeff (and all RAMPS) received when they boarded the ship to for home.

Back in the US, Jeff moved to Elizabethtown, Kentucky, where he worked at Ft. Knox for 30 years and was a member of the Disabled American Veterans. Jeff and his wife were long time members of Severns Valley Baptist Church and fondly known in the community as "uncle Jeff" and "Aunt Matt". [6]

[1] The Mountain Eagle (Whitesburg, KY) Oct. 10, 1943, p. 6; NARA: Unit History - US, 36th Infantry Division, 1940-1945, 36th Infantry Division WWII Rosters, p. 44; (marriage)  The Mountain Eagle, Mar. 14, 1990 , p. 22; NARA: WWII Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946: Box Number 0990, Reel Number 5.52; 36th Infantry Division Roster-WWII, 36th ID-Roster Part 2, The Texas Military Forces Museum; NARA: RG 64: Several "Morning Reports" at Ft. Thomas, KY, of Oct. 1943 ("Company C" of "HQ 1544th.") 

[2] "Big Snow of 1998" by Elsie Banks in The Mountain Eagle, Feb. 11, 1998, p. 29.
[3] Oct 19, 1944, p. 1

[m] Texas Military Forces Museum website: https://texasmilitaryforcesmuseum.org//36division/archives/montelim/montemap.htm

[4] "Kentuckians Held by Nazis", The Owensboro Messenger, March 14, 1945, p. 5. Note: In this case his birth name is listed; "Big Snow of 1998" by Elsie Banks in The Mountain Eagle, Feb. 11, 1998, p. 29.

[5] Author email correspondence with several of Jeff's Church friends and former Minister (Aug. 30 - Nov. 22, 2024).

[6] Obituary of Mattie Vern Gibson Banks, March 29, 2012 in The News-Enterprise (online) https://www.thenewsenterprise.com/archives/mattie-vern-gibson-banks/article_4ee317ee-e2a6-56f6-8a73-bf0bb4fb2171.html

[7] The Mountain Eagle, Mar. 14, 1990 , p. 22