Moyvore man among US soldiers remembered at ceremony in France
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Standing on a bridge over the Danube, near Dillingen in Germany, where the 12th Division prevented the Germans from destroying the bridge and moving forward, Eddie Somers (on right) from Moyvore with his family - from left, grandson Dylan Dwyer, daughter Edwina Somers, son seán Somers, grandson Craig Dwyer and son-in-law Peter Dwyer.Image 2 of 6
Siblings Mary Egan, who lives in Ferbane, and Eddie Somers, of Dalystown, Moyvore, at the memorial to The Hellcats in France.Image 3 of 6
Brother and sister Sean and Edwina Somers from Dalystown, Moyvore, with the mayor of Herrlisheim, Serge Schaeffer.Image 4 of 6
Edwina Somers, Peter Dwyer, Dylan Dwyer, US Army officer Lt Col Paul Revitt and Eddie Somers in Herrlisheim.Image 5 of 6
Eddie Somers being interviewed about his uncle by Sergeant Jacob Khors.Image 6 of 6
Craig Dwyer, great-grandnephew of Corporal Edward Somers at Mr Somers’ grave in Milltown.The family of a Moyvore man who fought with the US forces during WWII travelled last month to France to be part of a ceremony honouring the memory of the army division of which he was a member.
Cpl Edward Somers emigrated from Ireland prior to the war, and served with Company C, 43rd Tank Battalion of the 12th Armoured Division, known as the ‘Hellcats’. The division suffered devastating losses when fighting Nazi forces at Herrlisheim, in the north east of France.
Although he suffered an injury when grazed by a sniper’s bullet, the young Westmeath man survived the war and returned to the US. He lived there until 1971, when he came back to Ireland. He died in 1975 and his remains are buried in Milltown, just five kilometres from where he grew up.
Edward’s nephew, Eddie Somers, from Dalystown, Moyvore, and his sister, Mary Egan, from Ferbane, were accompanied on their trip to the ceremony by Eddie’s son Sean, his daughter Edwina, who lives now in Kilkenny, and her other half, Peter Dwyer, and their sons Dylan and Craig.
Col Rick Galeano of US Forces, Europe [quoted in dvidshub.net] said at the ceremony that the effort to take Herrlisheim was considered a highly difficult operation by the Allies: “Americans fought against an over-strength force, challenging weather, and terrain that slowed their tank movement,” he said. “In the end, the Allied forces succeeded in stopping enemy forces from reaching Strasbourg and Colmar despite having lost an entire tank battalion in Herrlisheim as they faced a well-planned offensive and well-equipped German military.”
Eddie and his sister Mary both remember their uncle well, since he lived in their family home on his return to Ireland. Eddie said: “He told stories from the war, especially one about a battle on a hill. The battle lasted a couple of days. He didn’t think he would survive, but he did.
“A sniper shot his tank commander, taking the top of his head off. The bullet also grazed my uncle, taking off his eyebrow and part of his skull. He didn’t lose his eye, but afterward he had a drooped eyelid as a battle scar.”
The celebrations marking the liberation of Herrlisheim were on May 7-9, though the liberation happened on February 6, 1945. Some 100 American troops lost their lives in the battle to free Herrlisheim.