William C. Somers

NAME: William C. Somers

ASN: 11021205

PLACE OF BIRTH: ?, Massachusetts

DATE OF BIRTH: 21 Apr 1922

DATES OF SERVICE: 09 Jan 1942 -

UNIT ASSIGNED:

CAMPAIGNS: Tunisia

AWARDS:Parachutist Badge with combat jump star, Combat Infantry Badge, EAME Campaign Medal with campaign star, Good Conduct Medal, WWII Victory Medal

SUMMARY OF SERVICE:

09 Jan 1942 - Enlisted at Boston, Mass - NARA Enlistment Record

24 Dec 1942 - Jumped at El Djem Bridge mission

28 Dec 1942 - Captured in Tunisia

Transferred to Stalag 2B Hammerstein (99 work camps in vicinity of Koslin & Stolp) West Prussia 53-17

06 Oct 1945 - Honorably Discharged

17 Jun 2005 - Passed away

William Somers’ grandson-in-law, Karl Preusser, wrote the following narrative describing Somers’ adventures:

At 2230 hours on Christmas Eve 1942, two C-47s carrying Pvt. Bill Somers of Rockport and 31 other paratroopers of the 509th PIR took off from the Thelepte airfield near Algiers. Their mission was to blow up a railroad bridge near El-Djem, Tunisia, that was one of the few remaining supply links for Gen. Erwin Rommel's Afrika Korps. After blowing the bridge, the “plan” was to walk 90 miles through enemy-held territory, back to Allied lines. Many in the 509th commented that it was a "suicide mission."

Somers, who had boarded the plane last and, as a consequence, found himself standing in the doorway, the first to jump. As they passed the drop zone, the C-47s dropped their supply bundles containing the explosives and alerted the troopers that it was time to jump. They hooked up, checked their gear and prepared themselves mentally for what was to come. The light turned green, and Pvt. Bill Somers threw himself into the darkness, on a mission that history would come to view as the first modern-day “special forces” operation.

The paratroopers were supposed to be dropped north of the bridge, find the railroad tracks and head south toward the bridge. In reality, the group was dropped south of the bridge, found the tracks and headed south ... getting farther away from their objective with every step.

By morning, the group had discovered the error. They were 20 miles south of their objective, with daylight coming on, and they were deep within enemy territory. Dan DeLeo, the commander of the mission, decided they would blow the tracks and a switching station where they were and then try to make the break back to Allied lines in small groups. Just as the charges were set to blow, sentries reported German forces were closing in from all directions. The troopers hurriedly set fuses, blew the tracks and headed west ... only six would eventually return to friendly territory.

Somers was one of the few of the group who was captured instead of killed. He was immediately put on a German ship and sent to a prison camp in Italy. Upon arrival, the Italian commander of the camp informed him that he would be shot in the morning. After a rough night, Somers discovered that he was in fact to be put into the general population of the prison.

As the tide of war changed, Italy was becoming less enthusiastic about its alliance with Germany. Somers and several others noticed the weakened security efforts of their Italian captors and planned an escape. All at once, dozens of prisoners made a break for the camp’s main gates and headed for the mountains. The guards just shot over their heads and did not pursue them. This would be Somers’ first of his three escapes from the Axis powers.

Somers and a friend he called “Patty” ended up living with an Italian family and working with them in their fields for several months. Eventually they were discovered by a German officer who lived in the area, and they had to escape to the mountains. The German officer was killed by the family’s sons to protect the two troopers. Somers would find out later in life that the father of the family was executed for this.

The two connected with a group that was traveling over a snow-covered pass in the mountains in an effort to get to Allied lines. Unfortunately, the Germans were tipped off to the plan and were waiting with machine gun nests on the other side of the pass. As the group came into view, the machine gunners opened up and very few of the group were left standing. Somers managed to run through the deep snow with bullets hitting all around him and eventually found a hiding spot in the rocks. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a good enough hiding spot, and he was soon discovered. He was sent north and ended up in a prison camp in Germany. Somers never saw Patty again.

The camps were very hard, and the prisoners were in rough shape. The main diet for the prisoners was a stew made from cabbage and sawdust. At the limits of their endurance, Somers and two others decided to attempt an escape. As the prisoners worked in a field, two of the men started a fight as a distraction, Somers and the two others promptly snuck into the woods and escaped. They hid out in a barn for a few days, until a German column discovered them. After the Germans killed their friend D-Bar, who was initially reluctant to escape, the remaining two men were put up against a wall and blindfolded. A firing squad assembled, and it seemed like the end. Just then, a German officer with a sense of morality rushed in and stopped the execution. Their lives were saved, but they were once again POWs.

Toward the end of the war, German forces were retreating from the Russians, and they marched their POWs along with them during a springtime with particularly harsh weather conditions. Somers and the others who were a part of this retreat found themselves on what today is called the European Death March. One day as they were marching, Allied planes strafed the column and everyone scattered. Somers and some of the other survivors hid out in a small village. Eventually, Allied troops overtook the area and they were saved.

Pvt. Bill Somers had survived a journey at the limits of human endurance. He was involved in the very first American action against the Germans of the war and was put on the hospital ship to go home on VE day.

He returned to Rockport, where he lived with his wife, Ruth, until his death from cancer in 2005.

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