WebCatt's Genealogy
Captain R. A. Kerley in WWII
The following is an account of Captain R. A. Kerley of Texas and his encounter with the Germans, as furnished by John A. Kerley of California:
Captain Kerley had a confrontation during WWII with the Germans. It was written-up in Time magazine August 21, 1944 page 26 as follows:
"A Hell of a Nerve"
Mortain was a critical spot (see above). There the Germans had thrown four armored divisions into desperate counter-attack. The object: to pierce the narrow waist of the U.S. corridor from Normandy, thus split the Allied front. One U.S. division, new to combat when it landed in France, which took the brunt of the panzer blow, recoiled, then stood and slugged.
On an ear-shaped hill, bypassed in the German's thrust, was one of the division's battalions. It was in a fine position and in a bad way: it held a prized spot for directing artillery fire, and it was surrounded, raked by German shells. It had many wounded, and no medical supplies, but food and ammunition were dropped by planes.
By the third day the battalion's plight seemed hopeless. Up the hill, under a white flag, came a shiny-booted SS officer. His ultimatum to the battalion's gaunt, lanky, black-bearded commander, Captain R. A. Kerley: surrender by 8 O'clock that night, or be destroyed - totally. Texan Kerley's reply: 'Go to hell.' Then he amplified: 'I will surrender when every one of our bullets has been fired and every one of our bayonets is sticking in a German belly.'
Salvos of Mercy. The hillside took an awful going over that day & night. There were many more wounded. U.S. shells also began to plunk in the battalion's lines. But the big 155 mm. projectiles did not explode. They were salvo's of mercy: smoke shells stripped of powder, cotton-packed with sulfas, plasma, morphine.
After five and one-half days the Germans retired. Captain Kerley's outfit spotted a long line of tanks and guns moving out, radioed the range. This time U.S. shells were merciless. The lost battalion could report "Total destruction." By night Americans were back in Mortain, and a rescue battalion had worked itself up to the hillside. The regiment's colonel heard then of Kerley's talk with the SS officer. Said an officer: ' You had a hell of a nerve to tell the Germans that.'
Said Captain Kerley: ' They had a hell of a nerve to put a proposition like that to me.'
Comment from John E. Kerley: If you recognize this Captain R. A. Kerley, or are related, and/or know his full name - please let me know.
John E. Kerley
PO Box 341
Newport, TN 37821
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