Hermann Johann Friedrich Bottcher July 13, 1909 -- December 31, 1944 |
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Archive Contents Note: Some of the files are quite large. With a few exceptions, most of the files in this archive are pdfs that can be opened with Adobe's free Acrobat Reader. These personal records and documents were provided by Hermann
Bottcher’s cousin after she was located by Stephen Martin. At Stephen's
suggestion, she and her husband graciously donated Bottcher’s medals
and other personal effects to the Australian War Museum where they were
eagerly accepted, recollecting that Bottcher fought beside the
Australians in New Guinea and was remembered to this day with respect
and admiration. Lincoln Brigade Archive Records Personal Recollections Miscellaneous (news clippings, book excerpts, letters, etc.)
Yank Article - March 2, 1045 (1.4 MB) Government Records Combat Journal of the 126th Infantry, 32 ID ------------------ Capt. Hermann Bottcher's 201 File (damaged by fire) (12.9 MB) The documents in this section were recently obtained from the new National Military Personnel Records Center, NPRC, in St. Louis, MO, part of the National Archives Records Administration, by Stephen Martin who visited in May 2013. Previous to his visit and discovery of the documents, I had been told three times in writing that the 1973 fire had destroyed the documents. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Personnel_Records_Center_fire) Stephen's research skills and persistence allowed him to track them down with the assistance of a few of the very dedicated and professional archivists at the facility. It's truly an amazing story in itself. As you can see from the burned edges on the documents they ALMOST did indeed perished in the fire, but not quite. These color scanned documents really are remarkable as they provide a window into the difficult fighting by Capt. Hermann Bottcher and his troops of the 32nd Infantry Division and practically detail a who's who of the command staff of the theater, the names of which appear through the documents. We can also see the front line company level administration, which took place on the battlefield during these campaigns in New Guinea and the Philippines during the Pacific war. Stephen Martin would welcome any comments or suggestions and may be reached at missionpurisima@yahoo.com -Lee Allen
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