While browsing around to see if I could find any recollections and general info on connections between Whittington Barracks and Hopwas woods I came across a shocking revelation.
For added effect, I’ve written the shocking revelation further down the page so you’ll scroll down in anticipation
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Whittington barracks one of the oldest in the country was witness to what time magazine dubbed as ” the most shocking army scandal of World War II. It was all down to Colonel Killian who ran the US 10th Reinforcement Depot at Lichfield including Whittington Barracks. By what I’ve seen so far he sounded like an almost Colonel Kurtz type character.
the horror…the horror, Colonel Kurtz in Apocapypse now. Would he have been at home in Hopwas woods?
It turns out that Whittington Barracks during it’s occupation by the US army depot in WWII was a feared place to be by US troops. Colonel Kilian seemed to specialize and relish in ‘punishing’ soldiers with the blanket excuse of desertion in the face of the enemy.This included not getting to the barracks before 22:00(from Paul Generuex’s account). So far nothing out of the ordinary, just another severe army commander. By the looks of it though, those punishment verged on the sadistic side and gave Whittington barracks a notorious reputation among US troops.
The accused: Colonel Kilian with other officials at Whittington barracks, photo taken from Staffordshire pastrack(click on image to go to link)
The base was used to rehabilitate US soldiers after injuries and get them fit for combat duties. Colonel Kilian interpreted this as making the place a worse place alternative to serving in combat. Conditions were so harsh that the US army newspaper Stars and Stripes characterized the barracks “as a concentration camp run by Americans for American soldiers. That may be a bit extreme but it gives an idea of the reputation and fame the barracks must have had. I’ve pasted an extract from the Times magazine describing some of the punishments, it makes for a grim read.
“Men had been beaten there with fists and rifle butts till they were unconscious, then revived and ordered to clean up their own blood. Prisoners who complained of hunger were gorged with three meals at a time, then dosed with castor oil. Hours of calisthenics, of standing “nose and toes” to a guardhouse wall were routine punishments. Purple Heart veterans were deliberately jabbed in their old wounds. There was even a ghastly, sardonic slogan among Lichfield guards: “Shoot a prisoner and be made a sergeant.”
From Times magazine
It’s pretty shocking stuff but it appears substantiated by other accounts of US soldiers so it’s on rock solid ground. You’ve got this from US veteran Irvin M Herowitz who was told “to keep your nose clean when you get there” in reference to beatings and then there’s the veteran’s Paul L. Genereux’s personal story of time at the Notorious barracks.
Then there’s the fact that Colonel Kilian was court martialed in Germany for what happened, the court-martial turned out to be little more than a slap on the wrist but it looks like the famous case seared itself onto US wartime memories on the other side of the pond. For example just type in Lichfield Kilian into google and see what turns up. Sorry Lichfield but at least in the annals of US military history the name is synonymous with cruelty and sadistic colonels. Just take a look at the book below:
Bet you’ve never seen the word Lichfield look so threatening! Click on the book cover to go to a description of the book Lichfield: The U.S army on trial.
Then there’s an article from themagazine series After the Battle on the barracks. I’m going to try and get my hands on this, it’s such an intriguing ‘international’ and unexpected story and right in the midst of the Tamworth/Lichfield area . As this is part of the Pastorm Tamworth project this is an ‘open post’ It’s a post under development and may go onto form part of the final book, depends on what’s found. As part of this I’ll be adding, modifying and subtracting as I hopefully get more information on this story. So the case is still open. ‘Innocent until proven guilty”
An interesting feature of all this is its coverage on the other side of the pond contrasted with the silence on the dark episode back here. At least I haven’t been able to find out anything so far. Is there anything on the story in the Whittington barracks museum?
Despite being on ‘local ‘ soil the whole thing is a very American affair so that might explain its silence over here to a point. The trouble making side of me though can’t help thinking that the reason might lie in that it sits a little uncomfortably with the whole official historical discourse of World War II in the area. However much we want it to be, history is seldom black and white and I think we owe it to the soldiers who suffered that cruel regime in the local area to give them more exposure.
What’s missing from the history books is often as revealing what’s in there.
Tamworth Time Hikes 
[…] is an interesting and shocking fragment of history, touched on by the venerable, but dormant, Tamworth Time Hikes. It deserves wider exploration, which is why, I believe, Mark posted his original piece in […]
[…] history surrounding Colenal James Kilian, and his cruelty and subsequent disgrace following the mistreatment of soldiers at the U.S. Army base stationed at Whittington, near Lichfield, during the […]
[…] story surrounding Colenal James Kilian, and his cruelty and subsequent disgrace following the mistreatment of soldiers at the U.S. Army base stationed at Whittington, near Lichfield, duringWorld War Two – it’s a subject we’ve touched on occasionally and is little […]
Col. Killian also was over a training camp prior to Lichfield, I think. He starved and weakened U.S. soldiers before they were deployed into action. My father didn’t speak much about his military experience in WWII to his children but he did talk some before he passed away. It seems that Killian never allowed the troops full rations. Men lost great amounts of muscle mass as they were forced to train exceedingly difficult courses on the sand dunes. What few rations they were given were filled with sand, making it difficult for the troops beneath Killian to eat their half rations that they were given.
My father was severely wounded during a battle where he served with the medical corps. He would go to the front and carry the wounded on his back until he got them behind the lines to be treated. My father was injured when the man he had on his back took a direct hit. The wounded man died instantly but my dad was knocked unconscious, a state he stayed in for six (or nine) weeks. He was in a French hospital, flown to a British hospital, then to the U.S.A. Because a very young dr. who diagnosed him as suffering “shell shock” my dad was embarrassed and refused any VA benefits. He suffered excruciating back pain throughout his life, but he pushed himself to work and own a barber shop as well as work on the railroad as a brakeman for many years. He didn’t agree to a VA pension until years later. Because many of his military records were destroyed in a fire, my dad didn’t receive a Purple Heart or any other recognition for his service. He was always embarrassed by the diagnosis of shell shock even though he knew that he was not a coward. My dad was one of the strongest men, in physical strength and even more so in character, that I have ever encountered. He was a true patriot who worked hard, pushing himself to work two jobs most of his adulthood, to make certain that his family would never be hungry. I miss him.
did kilean get the iron cross