H R NG ADVERTISING ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE A Centenarian’s story of World War II (Part 1)

Americans owe a great debt to WW ll veterans, especially those very few who reach a major milestone, celebration of their 100th birthday. While the debt can never be repaid, we can recognize those who came home and those who did not by telling their stories to current and future generations. This is the story of one centenarian, Henry Cockerill of Sandy Springs. who will celebrate his 100th birthday in May. His life reads like a book with many chapters, each one worth telling.

Henry (Hank) Cockerill (1923) was born and raised in Detroit. His father worked in a machine shop and then became a superintendent at Kermath Marine Industries, maker of marine engines from the 1910s until the 1950s including engines for Liberty Ships built to carry men and supplies to Europe during WW ll. Hank also worked in the Detroit commercial district at one of the two gas stations his father owned.

In March 1943, Hank joined the Army with a friend. They stayed together until the June 6, 1944, D-Day invasion. Hank was inducted into the Army at Fort Custer, Michigan, a facility that dates back to WW l and where 300,000 troops were trained during WW ll. The fort is still used as a training facility by the Michigan National Guard. Hank did his basic training at Camp White, Oregon, a large WW ll training camp that was deactivated in 1946.

Hank was trained in bridge building as well as installation of anti-tank mines and their removal using bayonets as prods. In combat, mines were also dismantled using tanks fitted with flails, rapidly rotating rollers mounted in front of a tank with heavy chains attached. The chains would whip around and strike the ground with such force that the mines would detonate without damage to the tanks.

His first assignment was Normandy, France. On June 11, five days after the D-Day invasion by Allied Forces, Hank landed on Utah Beach, one of five beaches invaded on D-Day. Hank’s group of engineers had to construct floating docks to get the heavy equipment to shore. Tanks, tank destroyers, other artillery and a company of machine gun specialists were all pushed to shore on these floating docks by use of a boat with an outboard motor.

Although D-Day (code named Operation Overlord) had successfully established a beachhead at tremendous cost in lives, the Germans still occupied most of Normandy and Western Europe, and American troops continued to suffer significant loses. Allied Forces knew they had to capture major ports and towns to force the Nazi troops to retreat.

Hank spent a few days on Utah Beach and then convoyed for about three days to the port of Cherbourg. The objective was to surround the port so the German soldiers there could not leave. Hanks group, the 990th Combat Engineers Battalion, then moved on toward the town of Saint-Lô.

The fighting was intense in the hedgerows around Saint-Lô in July, 1944. The town was a major transportation hub used by the Germans to carry men and equipment to the French coast. Hedgerows in Normandy date back to Roman times and were used by farmers to surround fields. Each hedge consists of an earth wall up to six feet wide at its base with shrubs and trees on the wall up to 15 feet high and nearly impenetrable by tanks or soldiers. The Germans had dug fortifications within the hedgerows, making forward progress very slow and dangerous for American troops.

Following the capture of Saint-Lô in July 1944, Hank’s group went by convoy to the large German submarine base in the town of Lorient on the west coast, formerly the site of a French naval base. Prior to converting the French base to a submarine facility, German U-boats had to travel from ports in Germany. Hank’s group attempted to get the Germans to surrender, but they would not, and the fighting continued. Later, after U.S. forces heavily shelled all above-ground structures, the Germans surrendered when they ran out of provisions. After the war, the base reverted to the French Navy until it was converted to civilian use in 1995.

Hank’s group then left Lorient and joined up with the 7th Armored Division in Malmedy, Belgium, for what became known as the Battle of the Bulge.

Battle of the Bulge

One of the most important battles in the war was the Battle of the Bulge in December and January 1944-45 in the Ardennes Forest in Belgium. It represented the last major offensive campaign by Germany in Europe and opened the way for American troops to enter Germany. The U.S. Army Center of Military History quotes Winston Churchill as stating, “This is undoubtedly the greatest American battle of the war and will, I believe, be regarded as an ever-famous American victory.”

In a future column we will continue the wartime story of Henry Cockerill with details of the Battle of the Bulge as seen through Henry’s eyes, the famous Battle of the Ludendorff Bridge at Remagen, Germany, and his highly successful post-war business career.

Bob is director emeritus of the Milton Historical Society and a Member of the City of Alpharetta Historic Preservation Commission. You can email him at bobmey@bellsouth.net. Bob welcomes suggestions for future columns.