My father, PFC Tom Farmer, fought in battles while attached to the 81st and 101st like so many young men. From what I have been able to piece together, a glider dropped him somewhere in Holland during Operation Market Garden. I have telegrams informing my grandmother that my father was MIA, then POW, injured while forced to labor, and finally a telegram saying my father was liberated. My father died when I was a child so I never had the opportunity to talk to him about his time in the military. His military records were destroyed in the St Louis Archive fire. The Red Cross had some information about his injury, but that is all of the information I have been able to find. I have a letter a fellow soldier sent him after the end of the war. This fellow soldier’s name was Hal Johnson. The postmark on the letter Mr Johnson sent was from Anaconda, MT. I wonder if descendants of Mr Johnson follow this substack and if they have war stories to share. Thank you for what you do!
Dear Susan; thank you for your message and for sharing the story of your father. I will be on the road for a while, but I gave it (your father’s service) a quick look this morning before I left. I saw a Private First Class Tom L. Farmer (ASN 18098954) who left the U.S. around the end of June 1944. He is mentioned with Easy Co, 235th Glider Infantry (former 2nd Battalion, of the 401st Glider Infantry Regiment), which would mean the 82nd Airborne Division, in a document of 19 July 1944. That would mean he went in by glider into the Netherlands for Operation Market Garden. I don’t know at what date his company was put into action. Operation Market Garden started on 17 September 1944, but due to a lack of planes to tow the gliders, some of the units were put into action at a later date. He is mentioned in a Morning Report of 14 October from Easy Company, as Missing in Action as of 1 October 1944. That fits a Prisoner of War Record from NARA that has the same date. That NARA record says he was in Stalag 7A Moosburg, Bavaria 48-12 (Work Camps 3324-46 Krumbachstrasse 48011, Work Camp 3368 Munich 48-11) in Germany. His last report was on 5 June 1945 as a Prisoner of War. I hope this gives you some more details of your father’s service, if he was Tom L. Farmer. Regards; Jos
My father, PFC Tom Farmer, fought in battles while attached to the 81st and 101st like so many young men. From what I have been able to piece together, a glider dropped him somewhere in Holland during Operation Market Garden. I have telegrams informing my grandmother that my father was MIA, then POW, injured while forced to labor, and finally a telegram saying my father was liberated. My father died when I was a child so I never had the opportunity to talk to him about his time in the military. His military records were destroyed in the St Louis Archive fire. The Red Cross had some information about his injury, but that is all of the information I have been able to find. I have a letter a fellow soldier sent him after the end of the war. This fellow soldier’s name was Hal Johnson. The postmark on the letter Mr Johnson sent was from Anaconda, MT. I wonder if descendants of Mr Johnson follow this substack and if they have war stories to share. Thank you for what you do!
Hi Jos, that was him. Thank you!!
Dear Susan; thank you for your message and for sharing the story of your father. I will be on the road for a while, but I gave it (your father’s service) a quick look this morning before I left. I saw a Private First Class Tom L. Farmer (ASN 18098954) who left the U.S. around the end of June 1944. He is mentioned with Easy Co, 235th Glider Infantry (former 2nd Battalion, of the 401st Glider Infantry Regiment), which would mean the 82nd Airborne Division, in a document of 19 July 1944. That would mean he went in by glider into the Netherlands for Operation Market Garden. I don’t know at what date his company was put into action. Operation Market Garden started on 17 September 1944, but due to a lack of planes to tow the gliders, some of the units were put into action at a later date. He is mentioned in a Morning Report of 14 October from Easy Company, as Missing in Action as of 1 October 1944. That fits a Prisoner of War Record from NARA that has the same date. That NARA record says he was in Stalag 7A Moosburg, Bavaria 48-12 (Work Camps 3324-46 Krumbachstrasse 48011, Work Camp 3368 Munich 48-11) in Germany. His last report was on 5 June 1945 as a Prisoner of War. I hope this gives you some more details of your father’s service, if he was Tom L. Farmer. Regards; Jos