Grouping, D Battery, 126th AAA Gn Bn

Identified to Harry J. Wesolowski #33693332

Nice group of photos and personal possessions of Harry J. Wesolowski who served with D Battery of the 126th AAA Gun Battalion. This unit was set up during Operation Antwerp X, among other places, in Emblem alongside the canal. Included are 49 photos of the 126th AAA during their time in Europe with some beautiful shots of their time as part of Operation Antwerp X. Including six photos taken after the incident on March 16, 1945, when a flying bomb crashed just a few feet from their radar and computer stations. Among other things this group also includes the unit history of D Battery, 'Those Dog-Gone Dogs', a WW2 victory medal & ribbon bar and a few souvenirs of Harry such as the pictures of Viersel, Brussel & Paris and a collection of coins with British, French, Dutch, German and Belgian coins.

click on the images to enlarge

T/5 Harry J. Wesolowski

Harry Joseph Wesolowski was born on January 2, 1917, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to Romona Skrzydlewski and Joseph Wesolowski. He married Stella Barbara Rapala on August 19, 1940.

Harry J. Wesolowski joined the US Army in June 1943. He completed basic training at Camp Haan, California, and was assigned to D Battery, 126th AAA Gun Battalion, continuing his anti-aircraft training at Camp Davis, North Carolina. He departed for England in July 1944. While in England the 126th was one of the units assigned as one of the units defending London against the V1 rockets. After this assignment the unit arrived at Omaha Beach, France on September 28, 1944 and was at Cherbourg by October 1, 1944.

They left Cherbourg, France for Viersel, Belgium on October 19 arriving at possition on October 23, 1944. Again they took up against the V1 rockets, this time protecting the vital port of Antwerp. The equipment and pyramidal tents were placed in the side of a bank of the Nete-canal. Early in the morning of October 24, 1944 D Battery scored two kills to inaugurate the campaign. From this day to December 21 they had much shooting in operation Antwerp X.

On December 16, 1944 the Rex Theater in Antwerp received a direct hit by a V-2. Among the dead were three D Battery boys, William J. Blain, Frank J. Burn and Bernard E. Mikrut, all of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania.

They remained in this position until December 21, when they were hurried South to counter the Battle of the Bulge. On January 4, 1945, at midnight, a Buzz Bomb had landed near the mess hall and sujected heavy damage to the 602nd Convoy parked on the road waiting to relieve D Battery of the 126th.

They left their Ardennes position to return to the defense of Antwerp. The Battalion set up an anti-aircraft gun every 200 meters along the dike of the Nete-canal from Lier to Viersel. It must have been an impressive sight. D Battery found itself situated several miles west of Lier, in a farmer's field. This possition affered very few opportunities to fire and was abandoned.

On February 3, 1945, the new site was along a road just outside of Emblem, a small town four kilometers east of Lier. On March 16, 1945, another buzz bomb struck nearby, this time hitting a road just a few feet from the Radar and Computer positions, destroying both. A first impression indicated a huge casuality list, but luckily no one was killed. Those removed to the 30th General Hospital were William Coppola, George Hutchinson, Donald Morse, Richard Repasz, James Wilkinson, Ray Pequet and Alonzo Miller. On March 28, 1945 they left Emblem for Holland and set up position just West of the 184th AAA.

While in Emblem/Viersel, Harry Wesolowski became good friends with the Landuyt family. It was thanks to 12-year-old Louis Landuyt’s curiosity that they met and befriended.

After the war Harry Wesolowski returned to his hometown of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where he died on 3 May 2003. His wife Stella Barbara Wesolowski died on April 29, 2013, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, when she was 93 years old.

The Story of Louis Landuyt

Louis Landuyt was born in Viersel as the son of J. Landuyt and Lucie Obbels. The lived, Dorp 24, Viersel, right next to the church. Louis and his friends were 12 years old and very curious when they heard that tents and cannons were being set up along the Nete River. So they definitely had to go take a look, whether there parents allowed it or not. By the Nete was a large open field with an unobstructed view toward Lier, and there were 8 tents, each housing 5 to 6 soldiers. Each tent had 1 cannon, its barrel pointing toward Grobbendonk (Northwest). Louis and his friends only went into the first tent, and that’s how Louis met Harry Wesalowski. His clothes were dirty, so he suggested asking his mother to wash them. His mother agreed, and so Harry started coming over to Louis' family house from time to time. He brought detergent and paid in kind: we regularly received corned beef, cheese, and even the occasional packet of coffee. Harry told the family that they had to protect Antwerp. They never stayed in one place for long but moved along with the troops. The biggest danger was the V2 rocket: you couldn’t see or hear it. But you could see the V1 coming: you saw the smoke trail and could hear it roaring. And they had to shoot those rockets down. Louis also got to know sniper Bill: he was one of the best. When he was on duty, the rocket was a goner!

They would often sit with the soldiers in the tent, and when they had time off, they would play Bingo. Sometimes Louis and his friends were allowed to join in. Harry noticed how Louis watched the game, and at Christmas 1944, he gave me a present... a red Bingo box! Louis always took very good care of that box, and it has become a family heirloom. It was regularly brought out at family gatherings to play with, and Harry’s story was invariably told along with it.

Many thanks to the Landuyt family and Glen Willems for providing Louis' testimony.