In an internet search, I found a thread started by Kate in 2007, who knew this unit started in North Africa and also fought in Italy before being transferred to the 14th Armored Division in France. My uncle, Tech 4 Norman M. Allport, joined the 125th in North Africa. He was not allowed to enlist, but finally drafted because he was born in Canada. Fast forward to 7 April 1945 and he was KIA in Neustadt, Germany. I found the men riding with him that day from the 14th Armored history book. All his friends had passed away, but I interviewed the replacement seargent. In retrospect, I am very glad not to have troubled his buddies who knew him well.
Anyway, the point of this post is that I did not succeed in finding anyone who knew Uncle Norman. The seargent did not know anything about the unit's activity in France, only a little about Germany, and nothing about North Africa and Italy. Does anyone reading this post know any stories about the 125th? I have his bracelet, that includes the names of the North Africa Campaign and the Italy battles (e.g Palermo, Rhome, etc.). They must have experienced an extraordinary amount of combat, even for seasoned veterans.
I do not have much information other than the history book that begins in France, but I have a letter from Uncle Norman. He wrote to my father and mentioned nothing about combat, but said that he preferred the mud in Italy to the snow in France. He was interred in a military cemetery in France with 1,100 other Americans, but in 1947, the French asked for these men to be removed so they could plant a vinyard. My grandparents elected to have his body transfered to the Golden Gate National Cemetery.
