Kenneth George Bateman

Kenneth George Bateman was born Sep 13, 1923 in Richmond to George Quayle and Mary Edith Cundick Bateman. Kenneth was a veteran of World War II.

Military Service

Training

Ken was called to arrive at Fort Douglass, Salt Lake City, Utah on March 1, 1943, and was assigned to the United States Army. He was sent to Camp Swift, Texas for basic training and assigned to the Headquarters Battery of the 401st Field Artillery Group.

"I was advised that I had one of the highest passing scores, which I contributed to learning and passing the 'Morse Code' merit badge in scouting a few years earlier. Subsequently I was assigned to the Radio Section, Boyd [Hall of Logan, Utah] the Fire Direction Center, Howard [Heninger of Mendon, Utah] the Motor Pool, and the others from Utah to the Wire Section. From then on each one spent part of each day learning the basics of their own assigned area and the other daylight hours becoming physically fit and following orders.

"... Upon returning to the barracks I found a letter on my bunk from Afton [Nyman], which contained a picture of her that I carried throughout the war."

After some training, Ken was transferred to Fort Sill, Oklahoma in Dec 1943. Here, he took a Radio Repairman course and an Enlisted Communication Course. While in the fort, a friendly boxing match was underway between two LDS soldiers. After a punch to the head, one of the soldiers fell and died from the punch, but it was later ruled that he had a pre-existing brain tumor. Ken was assigned to see that the casket and body were sent to his family in Salt Lake City, Utah. On his return, Ken continued training

"The week following this experience I was selected from the unit to attend a noxious gas school where I was taught to detect various types of gas. Most of them could be detected by using chemical sensitive tape. However, we knew that mustard gas was supposed to smell like new-mown alfalfa, and I found it to be so as they sprayed some on a cloth so we could actually smell it."

War Service

In early September of 1944, Ken was loaded onto a train to Camp Shanks, New York to go out to Europe. They arrived in Scotland in late September and made their way through the United Kingdom to get to the beaches of Normandy, France by boat. They arrived on Oct 1, 1944 and began their trek through Europe until they moved to Belgium in December.

"One morning I had just stepped out of the tent and I heard an airplane approaching from the south. I moved to a covered area and as I watched a single seated German fighter plane with distinct black crosses on its wings and fuselage cross the courtyard, it was so low that I distinctly observed the pilot. Since our tent and equipment were well camouflaged he may not have recognized us as a military unit. However, they may have picked up the location of our radio signal and were preparing to put the radio out of commission. This was because we had been advised that the “Battle of the Bulge” was in full progress and that our Artillery Unit was the only major unit preventing the German advancement. It was therefore necessary that we remain at this position for about a week so additional artillery guns could be brought into position for more fire power."

At one point during their travels in the cold months, Ken received a transmission from an unknown code name. With permission, Ken answered, and it was discovered that an Allie was behind enemy lines and accessed a radio and coding machine. This unknown coder disclosed vital information about the locations and movements of German troops. This information became a great advantage to Kens unit and helped to make their movements swift and unpredictable.

On March 10, 1945, Ken entered Germany, where they continued into the war-ridden country.

"For the next week we had hardly time to sleep as we went through eight towns trying to keep up with the fast-moving front lines. German soldiers were surrendering in tens or more. Where we used to find a few soldiers hiding out, we would search them for weapons and take them to a central point to be trucked to a stockade. Now we just disarmed them and sent them down the road where patrolling military police picked them up. Many of these soldiers were not more than fourteen years old, very scared, dejected, and poorly equipped."

Ken's unit continued into Germany after Hitler was killed on April 30, and German commanders surrendered on May 7, 1945. In total, Ken participated in major campaigns such as Northern France, Rhineland, Ardennes, and Central Europe, traveling 1,200 map miles over 141 days of continuous combat.

Post War

"...two Polish prisoners who had been deprived of their manhood and released from the Dachau prison disclosed where a number of high-ranking German SS officers were living in the town. I was ordered to take a number of men and vehicles and pickup these officers at their homes. When we entered their homes the officers were, of course, out of uniform and we couldn’t speak German, so they made a quick goodbye to their wife or family. I’m sure they must have expected that they would be caught because there was no resistance of any kind. We took them to a prison just outside the town where we turned them over to the Military Police. The prison was a long, one-level poorly lit concrete building with barred cells running down both sides. It was dark and when we were sure the prisoners were in a cell, it didn’t take us long to vacate that deplorable building and return to our unit. Since I don’t remember their names and never knew their rank, I don’t know if they were ever convicted as war criminals."

During Ken's post-war time, he made several trips to historic Nazi grounds. While in Nurnburg, on the grounds of once Hitler's pomp Nazi parades, he watched Kate Smith sing God Bless America. 

"It was about this time that I reflected on all the events that had transpired during my military service. I again thanked my Heavenly Father that after my bout with pneumonia I had fully recovered. Also, for the protection and guidance I received as I drove through the many miles of mud and snow in unfamiliar terrain, to assemble and maintain radio equipment for which I was responsible. Also, whenever time permitted I could read passages from the two books that were given men when I first entered the services, the Book of Mormon and Principles of the Gospel. That my supplication through prayer, each time I got in my sleeping bag, giving thanks for the protection I had received that day and for the following day would be ratified."

With the war in Europe being over, Ken's unit was a category four, meaning that the unit would go back to the United States and be split up to where services were required. While in France at Camp Philadelphia, Ken received the news of the Atomic bomb droppings on Japan and their surrender on Sep 2, 1945. After a trip to Swizerland, Ken was finally granted to return home on Dec 15. Kenneth George Bateman was discharged on Jan 24, 1846 at Fort Douglass, Utah.

Epilogue