Team MII 439-G

Soldiers whose infobox lists team MII 439-G. If someone is missing or listed in error, edit that soldier's page.

The full roster is also at Category:Team MII 439-G.

Class-roster terms: About the data.

Soldiers

Herz, Walter J. (32983132)

Heyl, William Carmalt Scull (12135845)

Kugelmann, Kurt (32906164)

Malsh, William R. (01596715)

Petrow, Chris G. (01061208)

Rea, Clayton C. (01000652)

Stein, Alexandre R. (32005684)

Associated IPW Team 69 (SO 103)

Kurt Kugelmann and William R. Malsh appear on the roster with MII 439-G and were listed together on IPW Team 69 in MITC Special Orders No. 103 (29 April 1944) (scan).

SO #125 (22 May 1944)

Kurt Kugelmann and William R. Malsh (with IPW Team 69) appear on Replacement Depot No. 2 SO #125 assigning IPW teams to Hq MIS / FID (scan).

SO 135 (23 May 1944)

IPW Team 69 (including Kurt Kugelmann; William R. Malsh lined through as Walsh) was placed on DS with FID by Hq MIS ETOUSA SO 135 (scan).

SO 145 (2 June 1944)

IPW Team 69 (including Kurt Kugelmann and William R. Malsh) was attached to Third U.S. Army for duty with Headquarters, XX Corps (scan).

Special Orders F-84 (7 December 1944)

MIS (Forward) Special Orders F-84 (APO 887), 7 December 1944, is a confidential EXTRACT. The binder holds both pages as separate scans (page 1 is not merely a blank continuation — it carries the EXTRACT header and paragraphs 10–20, with a handwritten margin note “MII 439 G over” pointing to the team’s assignment on page 2).

Page 1 (EXTRACT header / prior paragraphs)

Page 1 scan covers paragraphs 10–20 (other IPW/MII/OB/PI assignments and amendments) and ends mid-roster for MII Team 440.

Page 2 (MII Team 439-G)

Paragraph 21 assigns the following to MII Team 439-G, attached to 12th Army Group, initially reporting for duty with XX Corps of Third U.S. Army, to proceed to Headquarters Third U.S. Army (G-2) without delay by organic motor transportation (Page 2 scan):

• 1st Lt William R. Malsh (01596715) QMC (order middle initial H.)
• S/Sgt Kurt Kugelmann (32906164)
• Pvt Jerry G. H. Lissner (32090157 / also typed 32990157 on later status reports) — no Classes 1–31 roster page matched yet
• Pvt Walter J. Herz (32983122) — no roster page matched yet
• Pvt Oscar Moss (36895439) — no roster page matched yet

Hand annotation on page 2: “MII 439 G”.

Team status reports (December 1944–March 1945)

Activated 8 December 1944 (SO F-84). Attached to Third U.S. Army for duty with XX Corps (G-2), APO 340.

Roster (31 December 1944 / 29 January 1945 / 31 March 1945)

• Lt / 1st Lt William R. Malsh — OIC (ASN 01596715 / O-1596715)
• S/Sgt → Tech/Sgt Kurt Kugelmann (32906164)
• Pvt → T/5 Oscar Moss (ASN variants 36895439 / 36895493 on reports)
• Pvt → T/5 Walter J. Herz (ASN variants 32983122 / 32983132)
• Pvt → T/5 Jerry G. Lissner (ASN variants 32090157 / 32990157)

29 January 1945 status report: promotions per SO No. F-18, Hq MIS (Fwd) ETOUSA — Kugelmann to Tech/Sgt; Moss, Herz, and Lissner to T/5. 15 January 1945: negative report on casualties/awards for the referenced December period. 19 January 1945 MIS transmittal invites attention to an 8 January XX Corps letter on team personnel.

Vehicles on 31 March 1945 report: jeeps WD 20455916 and 20490257; 1/4-ton trailer WD 0631772.

Jeep casualty (Kugelmann)

Annex to March 1945 team status report: on 26 August 1944 S/Sgt Kugelmann was injured in a jeep accident south of Étampes, France, while on duty with Hq XX Corps (IPW Team 69)—fracture of the right acromion and subconjunctival hemorrhages in both eyes—evacuated via clearing station, 34th and 77th Field Hospitals (France), and 216th General Hospital (England). The annex states he still suffered after-effects when reporting as a member of MII 439-G.

Rheingönheim intelligence report (21 January 1945)

SECRET report from HQ XX Corps, MII Team 439-G (signed Lt. William R. Walsh / Malsh), 21 January 1945: civilian informant Henry Oettinger (Thionville) on “Chilinin Werk” war factory at Rheingönheim (possible V-weapon production) and 105 mm AA Batteries 2 and 5 nearby; six snapshots referenced.

XX Corps Signal commendation (9 April 1945)

Col. C. A. Carlsten, Signal Officer, Headquarters XX Corps, 9 April 1945, commended 1st Lt. William R. Walsh (Malsh) and the members of MII Team 439-G, in particular Technical Sergeant Kurt Kugelmann, for locating telephone exchanges, repeater stations, and underground cable routes (Metz–Saarlautern; Marnheim–Wiesbaden) by questioning civilians—data used for wire circuits and forwarded to Twelfth Army Group.

Commendation chain (April 1945)

Following the 9 April Signal Officer letter, Col. James O. Curtis, Jr., AC of S, G-2, XX Corps, wrote a 1st Indorsement on 12 April 1945 praising 1st Lt William R. Malsh and MII Team 439-G since attachment on 7 December 1944 and recommending a commendation or other recognition. On 30 April 1945 Lt. Gen. Walton H. Walker, Commanding General, XX Corps, added a 2d Indorsement commending the team’s outstanding performance (referencing the Signal Officer and G-2).

Team status report (May 1945)

31 May 1945 status report (received Hq MIS 12 June): still attached to Third Army / XX Corps per SO F-84. Roster:

• 1st Lt William R. Malsh (0-1596715) QMC — OIC
• M/Sgt Kurt Kugelmann (32906164)
• T/4 Walter J. Herz (32983132)
• T/4 Oscar Moss (36895493)
• T/4 Jerry G. H. Lissner (32990157)

Awards line: “Commendation, see attached copies.” Casualties: none. Same jeeps/trailer as March.

Good Conduct Medal (GO 133, 30 July 1945)

Headquarters XX Corps General Orders No. 133, 30 July 1945, Section III, awarded the Enlisted Man’s Good Conduct Medal (AR 600-68) to the enlisted men of Military Intelligence Interpretation Team Number 439-G:

• Master Sergeant Kurt Kugelmann (32906164)
• Technician Fourth Grade Walter J. Herz (32983132)
• Technician Fourth Grade Jerry Lissner (32990157)
• Technician Fourth Grade Oscar Moss (36895493)

XX Corps operations context (Sunday Punch)

While MII Team 439-G was attached to Headquarters XX Corps (Third U.S. Army) from December 1944, the corps—under Lt. Gen. Walton H. Walker—fought from the fall of Metz (November 1944) through the Saar–Moselle / Siegfried Line fighting, Trier, the Rhine crossings near Mainz, and into Austria, ending with the Enns River link-up with Soviet forces (May 1945). Contemporary Sunday Punch reprints summarize that corps campaign. They do not name MII 439-G or its members; they are kept here only as operational background for the headquarters the team served.

Organizational equipment turn-in (July–August 1945)

On 25 July 1945, 1st Lt William R. Malsh, OIC MII Team 439-G (Hq XX Corps, G-2, APO 340), requested permission to turn in organizational equipment no longer needed for operations to the XX Corps Supply Officer (request + 1st Ind):

• 1 Tent, CP, fire resistant, complete with pins & poles
• 1 Apparatus, decontaminating
• 1 Net, camouflage, cotton shrimp 22′ × 22′
• 5 Masks, gas, lightweight

1st Indorsement, 7 August 1945 (Hq MIS Forward, USFET, APO 887), by order of Colonel Ford, Capt. Howard G. Baier (MI, Adjutant): authority to turn items in to Corps Supply could not be issued by MIS Forward; however, at final clearing, proper “Tally In” receipts from responsible agencies (e.g. Corps Supply) would be accepted and credited if that supply accepted the items. Circular OUT stamp 7 Aug 1945 (no. 133).

A separate Supply Office slip from 1st Lt Paul A. Brauth (CAC), Supply Officer, Hq MIS Forward, restates the same policy to MII Team 439-G (Brauth reply).

Buchenwald annex (14 April 1945)

On 14 April 1945, Headquarters XX Corps issued Annex No. 2 to G-2 Periodic Report No. 248, titled “Concentration Camp Buchenwald,” prepared by MII Team 439-G and signed by OIC 1st Lt William R. Malsh (p.1 · p.2 · p.3).

The SECRET three-page annex summarizes prisoner-committee information on Buchenwald (near Weimar): camp origins (July 1937), successive waves of Jewish, Austrian, Czech, Polish, Dutch, and Soviet prisoners, named SS and medical perpetrators, transfers to other killing sites (including Auschwitz, Gusen/Mauthausen, Bernburg, Sonnenstein), evacuation figures in early April 1945, remaining prisoner detachments at unoccupied war plants, doctor-record death totals (32,705 excluding certain mass executions), January–April 1945 monthly death figures, burned SS records, a prisoner memorial for President Roosevelt (news of 12 April), and a screening warning about possible Nazi agents among inmates.

The same G-2 periodic-report package includes Annex No. 1 (units in contact / tactical notes for 14 April 1945), signed for G-2 by Curtis (Annex 1 scan) — the same Col. James O. Curtis, Jr., AC of S, G-2, XX Corps, who endorsed the team’s April commendation chain.

Research notes

• March 1945 roster ASN variants for Moss/Herz/Lissner differ slightly from SO F-84; no soldier pages matched yet for those three EM.
• May 1945 status report types SO F-84 date as “7 December 45” (activation was Dec 1944). Herz / Moss / Lissner still have no Classes 1–31 roster soldier pages.

Gallery

• 
  MITC SO 103 p.2 — IPW 69 roster including Kugelmann and Malsh (Walsh).
• 
  RD #2 SO #125 p.2 — IPW 69 (Kugelmann / Malsh) → Hq MIS / FID.
• 
  Hq MIS ETOUSA SO 135 p.1 — IPW 69 circled.
• 
  Hq MIS ETOUSA SO 145 p.1 — IPW 69 → Hq XX Corps.
• 
  SO F-84, 7 Dec 1944 — MII Team 439-G roster (Kugelmann / Malsh).
• 
  SO F-84, 7 Dec 1944 — page 1 (other team assignments).
• 
  Team status report, 31 December 1944 — roster at activation+.
• 
  Team status report, 29 January 1945 — promotions (SO F-18).
• 
  Negative casualties/awards report, 15 January 1945.
• 
  MIS transmittal, 19 January 1945 — XX Corps letter on personnel.
• 
  Rheingönheim factory / AA report, 21 January 1945.
• 
  Team status report, 31 March 1945.
• 
  March 1945 casualty annex — Kugelmann jeep accident.
• 
  XX Corps Signal Officer commendation, 9 April 1945.
• 
  G-2 1st Ind. (Curtis), 12 Apr 1945.
• 
  CG 2d Ind. (Walker), 30 Apr 1945.
• 
  Team status report, 31 May 1945.
• 
  GO 133 — Good Conduct Medal to MII 439-G EM, 30 Jul 1945.
• 
  Sunday Punch reprint — XX Corps summation (Metz to Russian meeting); corps context only, team not named.
• 
  Sunday Punch reprint — XX Corps campaign ends in Austria; corps context only, team not named.
• 
  Equipment turn-in request 25 Jul 1945 + MIS 1st Ind 7 Aug 1945 (Malsh / Baier).
• 
  MIS Forward Supply Office (Brauth) — Tally In clearing reply.
• 
  XX Corps G-2 Periodic Report No. 248, Annex 1 — 14 Apr 1945 (Curtis).
• 
  Annex 2 — Concentration Camp Buchenwald, p.1 (MII Team 439-G, 14 Apr 1945).
• 
  Annex 2 — Buchenwald, p.2.
• 
  Annex 2 — Buchenwald, p.3 — signed Malsh, OIC, 439-G.

Sources

• MII 439-G Buchenwald annex (G-2 PR 248 Annex 2) p.1, 14 Apr 1945
• XX Corps G-2 Periodic Report 248, Annex 1, 14 Apr 1945
• MIS Forward Supply (Brauth) Tally In reply
• MII 439-G equipment turn-in request, 25 Jul 1945 + 1st Ind 7 Aug
• Sunday Punch — XX Corps ends campaign in Austria (corps context; team not named)
• Sunday Punch — XX Corps summation (Metz to Russians) (corps context; team not named)
• XX Corps GO 133, 30 Jul 1945 — GCM
• Team status, 31 May 1945
• CG 2d Ind. (Walker), 30 Apr 1945
• G-2 1st Ind. (Curtis), 12 Apr 1945
• XX Corps Signal commendation, 9 Apr 1945
• March 1945 casualty annex (Kugelmann)
• Team status, 31 Mar 1945
• Rheingönheim intel report, 21 Jan 1945
• MIS transmittal, 19 Jan 1945
• Negative casualties/awards report, 15 Jan 1945
• Team status / promotions, 29 Jan 1945
• Team status, 31 Dec 1944
• MIS (Fwd) SO F-84, 7 Dec 1944 — MII 439-G / page 1
• Hq MIS ETOUSA Special Orders No. 145 (extract), 2 June 1944 — page 1 / page 2 (relieved FID DS; attached Third U.S. Army units)
• Hq MIS ETOUSA Special Orders No. 135 (extract), 23 May 1944 — page 1 / page 2 (IPW Teams 62–74 placed on DS with FID)
• Replacement Depot No. 2 SO #125 (extract), 22 May 1944 — page 1 / page 2 (IPW teams → Hq MIS ETOUSA / FID, APO 887)
• MITC Special Orders No. 103 (extract), 29 April 1944 — page 1 / page 2 (teams relieved Camp Ritchie; WP Camp Shanks, N.Y., 2 May 1944)
• Members awarded the Bronze Star Medal in Headquarters XX Corps General Orders No. 134, 31 July 1945 (scan): Malsh, William R. (01596715).