Lyle Leonard Bonkrud
Era: World War II
Military Branch: Army
Mr. Bonkrud served in World War II in the European Theater.
He joined the Minnesota Army National Guard in January 1941. A month later, on February 10, 1941, his unit was activated for federal service. He became part of the Army 34th Infantry (“Red Bull”) Division. This was the first American army unit sent to the European Theater during World War II.
On January 15, 1942, Mr. Bonkrud boarded a boat for Northern Ireland where he was trained. The 34th Division was then stationed in North Africa in November 1942, during Operation Torch. Mr. Bonkrud served as driver for his Division Commander during the entirety of the African campaign. Once, in Tunisia, the division commander and Mr. Bonkrud drove General Patton to a spot so that he could watch the battle on Hill 609 unfold.
After the fighting in Tunisia had ended, Mr. Bonkrud was assigned to be General George Marshall’s driver. In September 1943 his unit invaded Italy, landing at Salerno and later hitting the beach at Anzio. He was with the 34th Division when it nearly captured Monte Casino. He served as driver for his Division Commander for the entirety of the Italian campaign. Mr. Bonkrud was discharged in October 1945.
His rank was Technical Sergeant. He was decorated with the Division Commendation.
Mr. Bonkrud was born in Wisconsin on February 11, 192_, to Dave and Thelma Bonkrud.
Source: Veterans’ Hall Memorial History Form; veteran’s reminiscences (see below)
“Driving History”
An Interview with Lyle Bonkrud by David Beatty
Things were kind of slow in the winter of 1940, but the draft was on and Lyle Bonkrud had a suspicion that his number was going to come up soon. Lyle was working in Minnesota, so he decided to beat the draft and, following his cousin’s lead, enlisted in the Minnesota Army National Guard in January 1941. Lye is second-generation Norwegian, as were many of the men in his outfit, so it was more like an extension of the Sons of Norway fellowship than the Army. But then President Roosevelt mobilized his unit on 10 February 1941, and it became part of the 34th Infantry Division, known as the “Red Bulls” after the red longhorn steer shoulder patch insignia designed in 1917 in Texas during operations against Pancho Villa. Lyle deployed to Louisiana where the Red Bulls took part in the famous Louisiana maneuvers.
One day in Louisiana a call came in from Division headquarters to Lyle’s company requesting a cross-country driver. Lyle’s commander knew he could drive and was one of the older (i.e., more grown-up) kids, so volunteered him, and Lyle became the driver for the 34th’s Chief of Staff, Colonel (later, General) Norman E. Hendrickson. While [Lyle was] driving Hendrickson through Alexandria, a child bolted out in front of the command car, and Hendrickson rather needlessly yelled at Lyle to watch out—in Norwegian—which Lyle spoke fairly well! Lyle got the job permanently.
The Red Bulls performed quite well in the Louisiana maneuvers, serving under the overall command of General George Patton. On December 7, 1941, the “day that will live in infamy,” Lyle had driven the division commander, Major General Russell Hartle, to a reception in Leesville in Hartle’s new private vehicle, a Packard Clipper. When word came in of the attack on Pearl Harbor, Hartle ordered Lyle to drive the 50 miles back to division HQ at Camp Claiborne as fast as the new car would go. General Hartle kept shouting, “Faster, sergeant, faster!” Lyle was only a buck private, but he still hit 90 miles per hour across Louisiana.
Lyle’s outfit was immediately ordered to Europe as a show of support for America’s new ally, Great Britain, and thus became the first U.S. Army unit sent overseas in World War II. Lyle embarked with elements of his division on 14 January 1942 and sailed from Brooklyn for Northern Ireland the very next day. Lyle’s conveyance across the stormy winter waters of the North Atlantic was the “luxury” cruise ship RMS Strathmore. The P&O liner had been converted to a troop carrier in 1940 and held over 4,500 men—although designed to carry only 1,100 passengers and 500 crew—so there was not much luxury! Lyle recalls that the food was horrible, and most of the troops were seasick the entire crossing—so much so that it was hazardous to walk on decks slick with vomit. Part of the 133rd Infantry Regiment constituted many of the troops on board. Lyle and the 34th landed in Belfast on 26 January 1942 and were met by a delegation of British military brass and civilian officials, including the Governor General and the Prime Minister of Northern Ireland.
The 34th went to [Northern] Ireland with the old WWI style tin helmets, leggings, and British-made Enfield rifles, and were equipped once there with inferior British artillery. Duty largely involved training and “showing the flag” for the Brits. Lyle saw General Hartle in a jeep once with the Queen of England going up to a hilltop observation post to watch a firepower demonstration, and the general had his arm around the Queen—no doubt to steady her on the rough ride up the hill!
Duty in Northern Ireland was not all work—Lyle saw a fair amount of the countryside and enjoyed the local beer and friendly natives. Lyle recalls going to Scotland with elements of the 34th for field training, and taking the train from Paisley to Edinburgh for a day. Lyle reports that many British families would invite American soldiers over for Sunday dinner—and that the Americans would raid the mess tent for treats to bring. The Brits were particularly fond of Spam . . . which the Yanks were glad to get rid of!
The 34th was training in [Northern] Ireland for a raid on the Cherbourg peninsula a la Dieppe, but that operation fortunately never took place. Major General Charles Ryder took over as the division Commanding General in May 1942, and Lyle became his driver. Lyle recalls when Ryder created the first battalion of U.S. Army Rangers from within the ranks of the 34th Division during training in Northern Ireland.
Lyle had a lot of cousins in Norway during the war. One had been in the Norwegian army, and most were in the underground, resisting the German occupation. Lyle knew about an all-Norwegian speaking unit (not part of the 34th) that was training to go into Norway but was eventually sent to France, where they were mistaken for Germans in American uniforms, because they were in the habit of talking to each other in Norwegian! Fortunately for all concerned, the error was discovered before any mishap occurred.
Lyle went into North Africa in November 1942 during Operation Torch, still driving for General Ryder. During the battle for Hill 609 in Tunisia, General George Patton came up and wanted to watch some of the action, so Lyle and General Ryder accompanied old “blood and guts” forward. Coming down the hill was a dirty, disheveled, unkempt and unshaven GI, and Patton stopped him. “Let me see your rifle, soldier,” said Patton. Unabashed, the trooper handed over his MI rifle. “Soldier, do you know that this rifle is so dirty that it would probably blow up in your face if you fired it?” asked Patton. “General, I don’t think so,” said the GI. “I just killed two Germans with it.” “Good lad,” said Patton with a smile, and patted the soldier on the back and sent him on his way!
The first airplanes Lyle saw in North Africa were beautiful—pretty silver planes way up in the sky—then they came down and strafed him! Turns out they were German and not so pretty after all!
After the fighting in Tunisia had ended, General George Marshall came over and Lyle was assigned to be his driver. Lyle recalls that Marshall patted him on the leg and asked, “Sergeant, what do you do with your money?” Seems Marshall was on a kick encouraging the troops to send their pay home. Later (and just for fun), Lyle flew in an RAF Lancaster on an anti-sub patrol. He was impressed at how low they would fly.
Lyle [and his unit] invaded Italy in September 1943, landing at Salerno, and later hit the beach at Anzio with the 34th. The Anzio beachhead had a metal-planked airfield with British RAF Spitfires based on it that served as a magnet for German artillery. The Germans brought in a big railroad gun that would shell the entire beachhead, but concentrated on the rear areas—the front line troops (like Lyle) took pleasure in seeing the 5th Army headquarters routinely shelled! Unfortunately, the shelling was deadly—Lyle recalls a couple of times when a field hospital was hit and several female nurses were killed. He thinks that the fight at Anzio would have gone much better with Patton in charge.
Lyle was with the 34th when they nearly captured Monte Casino—the division took 80% casualties in their infantry battalions during that fighting. He drove Gen. Ryder into Casino during the fighting and was surprised at the absence of anything living above ground—all the vegetation had been blown up, and all the troops were in underground bunkers—just like in WWI. Ryder had a knack for avoiding shelling—he would tell Lyle to “wait” until the first shells landed—then “drive fast!” before the next barrage impacted. Lyle says Ryder learned that in WWI. He was with Ryder one day when an 88 shell landed right in front of the jeep—and failed to explode, luckily for Lyle and Ryder. Brigadier General Bond, the 34th Division Deputy Commander for Operations, was not so lucky—he was killed in Italy, and his body was recovered by the Germans—Lyle reports that they buried him with full military honors and erected a cross on his grave.
Italian women did the laundry for the division commander and his staff (and were paid for the work by the individual soldiers). One time Lyle had to take some troops across a pontoon bridge over the Rapido or Volturno River (he forgets which) to pick up the laundry, and the Germans began shelling as they approached the river. The passengers all jumped out and wouldn’t get back in, so Lyle calmly drove across the bridge, picked up the laundry, and came back, only to discover that the bridge had been knocked out. He was late getting the laundry back to HQ.
After Rome fell, Lyle enjoyed eating real meat in a real ristorante—and did not complain even when he found out it was horse meat. Beat the heck out of Spam. He hated Spam. He also hated steak and kidney pudding, as well as mutton—both of which he was fed when attached to the British Army. Once, when stuck in the Anzio beachhead, they received a delivery of real eggs. Before the cooks could prepare them, the German Luftwaffe came over and dropped fragmentary bombs on them and broke every one. The remnants were not even fit to be scrambled. To augment their sparse diet at Anzio, Lyle and his buddies would go out at night and shoot stray cows, delivering the carcasses to the mess tent in time for breakfast.
Lyle stayed as the CG’s driver all the way up into the Alps. After the war, he drove the new CG, General Charles L. Bolte, from northern Italy to Paris to catch a flight to London for a conference. Bolte told Lyle to “get to know Paris” while waiting for him to return, so Lyle spent a few days doing just that. He had a great time in Paris—with his own vehicle and plenty of cash. After the war, Lyle was disappointed that the U.S. did not back de Gaulle to head France—thinks he was the best man for the job. Gen. Bolte wanted Lyle to stay on with him after the war as his driver, but Lyle was happy to return to civilian life. Bolte went on to be a 4-star general and kept in touch with Lyle over the years.
Lyle boarded an old troop transport in Leghorn (Livorno) in the summer of 1945 on his way home. The ship was anchored in the Bay of Naples when the A-bomb was dropped on Hiroshima—Lyle was not at all surprised by the event. While shore leave was granted in Naples, Lyle found it to be a “horrible place”—full of crime, corruption, prostitutes, and thieves. A bunch of the boys on the ship (“We called it a boat, but the Navy hated that—which is why we did it”) decided to go swimming in the bay. Well, it was quite a dive off the ship into the water, and Lyle was determined not to let the kids show him up, so off he went. He tried to do a proper dive, but ended up doing a belly flop. The force knocked him out for a few seconds and left horrible red blotches on his stomach and chest. When he came to, he found himself floating amidst the raw sewage from the city of Naples.
The rest of the 34th Division returned to the U.S., and the unit was deactivated back into the National Guard on 3 November 1945. The 34th saw more days of front line combat than any other U.S. outfit in the war—517—and had the highest casualty rate of any U.S. Army division—and Lyle Bonkrud was with them every step of the way. Lyle mustered out with twice the “points” needed to be discharged. He went on to careers in finance and insurance, and is now a hale and hearty retiree. But he still recalls his time in the Army during World War II where he was . . . driving history!
