Raymond H. Kohtala
Era: World War II
Military Branch: Army
Mr. Kohtala served in World War II in the European Theater.
Raymond H. Kohtala of Duluth enlisted in the U.S. Army on August 20, 1942. He was a sergeant and a gun crew chief with the 446th Antiaircraft Battalion, Battery C, Gun Section No. 2. Mr. Kohtala was discharged on January 10, 1946.
The 446th was trained at Camp Davis, one of the Army's seven anti-aircraft artillery training centers, from November 1942 until September 1944, broken by a six-week stay in Indiantown Gap, Pennsylvania.
In September 1944, the unit went to Camp Kilmer, New Jersey, and then to New York harbor. They left on the British ship H.M.S. Clies on September 28. They traveled through the St. George Channel and to the Irish Sea, docking at Greenock, Scotland on October 10, 1944. They traveled by train to England and then went on to France, arriving in LeHavre on December 1, 1944.
They made their way to Belgium and the Netherlands in December 1944, and they saw combat. In the Netherlands and later in Germany, their assignments were to protect ammunition dumps, gasoline dumps, artillery pieces, and pontoon bridges. They also guarded Russian refugees and German S.S. prisoners.
Mr. Kohtala’s unit returned from Germany to France in boxcars known as 40 and 8’s; these French boxcars, designed to travel on the light-gauge French railroads, have approximately half the capacity of American boxcars and could carry up to 40 people or 8 horses. They were unheated.
Mr. Kohtala’s rank was Chief Sergeant.
Mr. Kohtala’s unit returned to the United States on the S.S. Elgin Victory.
Source: Material from veteran (see below)
A Journal Written by Eugene O. Palmer
From 1942-1946
Battery C/Gun Section No. 2
As told to Raymond J. Kohtala, Chief Sergeant
We left on November 29th, 1942. The 446th Battalion moved from Camp Davis, North Carolina, to Fort Fisher, North Carolina, which was about 25 miles from Camp Davis.* We were at Camp Davis until February 1943 and then moved back to Camp [Fort] Fisher to 16th St. [September 16?], and we stayed there again until December 1943, when we moved back to Camp Davis again to Area 5, which was called “The Swamp.” In April 1944, we move to Indiantown Gap, Pennsylvania, and from there we were attached to the 95th Infantry Division (“Hickory Division”), where we stayed for six weeks.
In June of 1944 we moved back to—guess where?—Camp Davis! On September 18th, 1944, we left Camp Davis by train. On September 19th, 1944, we arrived at Camp Kilmer, New Jersey. On September 27th, 1944, we went by train to New York harbor, where we went aboard the British ship Clies, manned by a Scottish crew. On September 28th, 1944, we pulled out of the harbor about 4:00 a.m. On September 30th, 1944, another convoy joined us, off the coast of Canada. We had a nice voyage—no trouble from the submarines. We went up through the St. George Channel, then to the Irish Sea. We docked at Greenock, Scotland, on October 10th, 1944. It was the most beautiful harbor I have ever seen, with the plots around the hills.
On October 11th, 1944, we left the ship and went by train to Winbourne, England, arriving October 12th, 1944. There we received our 40mm guns and M-51’s and more boot training. Then we moved to London and on to Bournemouth, England. On November 29th, 1944 we boarded an LST** at Portsmouth, England. On the morning of November 29th, we sailed for France. On the night of December 1st, we docked at LeHavre, France. That night, we sailed up the Seine River to Rouen, France. We docked and unloaded on December 3rd, 1944. From there, we went about 30 miles to a camping site and stayed there until December 8th, 1944. It rained every day, it was a miserable week—lucky we found some wire to put our bed rolls on, under the tents.
On December 8th, 1944, we left by convoy to Vise, Belgium. We got there on December 9th and set up our 1st gun position. On December 21st, 1944 a V-1 (buzz bomb) hit about 15 yards from our M-51 gun. Rogers got a piece of shrapnel in his back and Hightower got a cut on his hand from broken glass. Rogers got the Purple Heart. I thought about a thousand V-1’s came near us. Our mission was to guard a gasoline dump and a vital bridge from German airplanes. We were not allowed to shoot at the V-1’s.
We moved to our 2nd gun position about ½ mile away, into Holland, on January 4th, 1945.
On January 7th, 1945 we moved to our 3rd position, on the Prince Albert Canal. Our mission here was to protect the largest gasoline dump of the 9th Army. On January 20th, I started to cook for our 16-men gun crew. Sgt. Raymond Kohtala was chief of our gun crew (and a good one). We went to Brussels, Belgium, on a pass. Our former battery commander, Capt. B. P. Fowler, was killed by a V-1, and a boy from D Battery was killed by a stray bullet. They were the only ones killed during the war from the 446th.
On February 15th, 1945, we moved to our 4th gun position, back into Holland. We were protecting a big ordnance outfit of the 9th Army. While here, convoys were passing all the time with supplies, getting ready for the big push into Germany.
On March 8th, 1945, we moved to our 5th gun position at Rhienberg, Germany. Up until this time, we had only fired 5 rounds of 40mm ammo. The M-51 had not been fired at all. At Rheinberg, we were to protect field artillery, which were 155 (“Long Toms”). When we got here, we saw our first dead Germans. There were about six of them, and they lay about 4 days before they were taken away. We were only 2 miles from the front lines, here.
We moved to Moers, Germany, on March 16, 1945, our 6th gun position. There, we were protecting over 2,000 pieces of field artillery, which included 75’s, 76’s, 105’s, 155’s, and 240mm. The job was to throw the barrage before the 9th Army crossed the Rhine River. What a barrage it was! The sky was lit up all night. Here, the British plane was shot down by U.S. A.A.,*** by mistake (not our crew).
On the night of March 25th, we moved across the Rhine to help protect the pontoon bridges. This was our 7th gun position.
Two days later, we moved 200 yards to our 8th gun position. Here, we stayed until April 2nd, where we left the 9th Army and went into the new 15th Army, commanded by Lt. Gen. Gereau.
On April 2nd, we set up our 9th gun position, protecting 105 Roughers outside of Cologne.
On the 3rd of April, 1945, we moved to our 10th gun position at Burr, Germany. There we were protecting a big ammo dump.
On April 15, 1945, we moved to Cologne for our 11th gun position. Here we protected field artillery again, which consisted of 105’s and 155’s.
There was an important job for the artillery in clearing up the Ruhr Pocket. On April 20th, we moved about 15 miles from Cologne to set up our 12th gun position. Our job here was to protect 240mm field artillery pieces as they shelled the Ruhr Pocket.
On April 27th, 1945, we moved outside of Dusseldorf, Germany, protecting the 240mm’s again. On April 28th, 1945, we moved to Herzogenrath, Germany, on the Rohr River to guard 3,000 Russian D.P.’s****. Here we had the whole building. We were known as SG (security guards). We had “SG” painted on our helmets with a white band around the bottom of the helmet. This is when I went to Eisenhoven, Holland, on a 3-day pass. Here, also, several of us were in a wreck coming back from taking showers at the coal mines. The truck hit a tree because of a steering wheel malfunction. Three boys were injured pretty bad, but I only had my knee skinned up a little and a scratch on my nose. No one was killed, which was a miracle.
While here, the 446th lost 4 men by mines and wrecks. About June 15th, 1945, the Russians were put aboard a train and shipped back to Russia. On June 22nd we left Herzogenrath and moved to a place we called “Tent City,” in Bavaria, Germany. On June 28th, 1945, we move to Palling, Germany. And we were SG’s. We had to guard several little towns. From here I went to Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest home at Berchtesgaden.
We also saw the U.S.O. show of Jack Benny, Larry Adler, Martha Tilton, and Ingrid Bergman. Here most of the guys went to the 597 AAA (A.W.) Battalion, 106th AAA (A.W.) Battalion, and the 580 AAA (A.W.) Battalion. The 446th was to be made up of 85 pointers and above for shipment home. About 200 of us 446th guys got to stay for while (I was one).
On July 10th, we moved to Siegsdorf, Germany, and we were again SG’s. Here we had a roadblock and a German S.S. hospital. This was where the prisoner did my portrait while I guarded him—for a pack of cigarettes. I went to Paris from here, and stayed 3 days. The train ride to Paris was terrible, on those hard seats. Went to see Bob Hope, Vivian Blaine, Jerry Cologna, and Jack Pepper at a U.S.O. show. Also, saw Billy Rose’s “Diamond Horseshoe” Review at Bad Reichenhall. Here, Hightower received his Purple Heart for the wound he received December 21st, 1944, by the buzz bomb.
On August 11th, 1945, we moved to Bergen and were SG’s again, but on a bigger scale. Here, Hammrick left us for France, also Hightower and all with 75 points and above.
On August 11th, 1945, C Battery moved to Berchtesgaden. From here, the guys were sent to the 131st AAA Gun Battalion and the 207th AAA Group. I went to C Battery of the 131st at Grensurer. Our job here was to guard S.S. prisoners. We moved there the 29th of September 1945.
On September 10th, 1945, I went to the 207th AAA Group at Berchtesgaden. My job there was to operate the German switchboard. On September 22nd, 1945, I moved to the B-Battery, 217th AAA Gun Battalion, at Bad Reichenhall. I stayed in a 3-story home in front of some tennis courts. From here I went on a 3-day pass to Chiemsee with Harry O’Brien. This was a beautiful place.
On October 15th, 1945, we transferred about 1,000 S.S. prisoners from Berchtesgaden to Dachau Concentration Camp, outside of Munich.
On November 26th, 1945, the 217 AAA gun Battalion left on 40 and 8’s***** for Camp Boston, France Assembly Area, arriving there November 29th, 1945—a total of 40 hours to make the trip from Bad Reichenhall, Germany, to Camp Boston, France. We traveled with 23 men to a boxcar, which was crowded.
On December 13th, 1945, we left Camp Boston, France, for Calais Staging Area at Marseilles, France. Again, we traveled by 40 and 8’s. We got there on December 15th. I was almost trampled to death!
By December 21st, 1945, we boarded the S.S. Elgin Victory with the 3rd Chem Motor Battalion. On December 22nd we sailed out of the harbor. Three-fourths of the guys were seasick. We hit our first storm on December 26th and the next one on December 31st. On January 2nd, 1946, we docked at Hampton Roads, Newport News, VA. We went to Camp Patrick Henry by train. On January 5th I left for Camp Kelly by train, arriving January 7th. On January 9th I got my “requested duck.” My dad and brother Paul met me.
I close my army career at 4:00 Wednesday afternoon on January 9th, 1946, after 38 months of service—
Eugene Palmer
*Editor’s note: Camp Davis was unusual in that its firing ranges were not on base. Five remote firing ranges existed; over time, the one at Fort Fisher became the primary firing range associated with Camp Davis.
(Source: http://www.nchistoricsites.org/fisher/ww2/ww2...)
**LST: landing ship, tank (vehicle for amphibious landing)
***AA: anti-aircraft artillery
****D.P.: displaced person
*****40 and 8: French boxcar, with approximately half the capacity of American boxcars, so called because it could accommodate either 40 persons or 8 horses
