Eiland Eland Anthony, Jr., 1st Lt. U.S. Army, WW II, Silver Star
Author: John Vick
Eland Anthony’s Company was the second Allied unit to enter Dachau. He remembered, “I’ll never forget it as long as I live. The smell of burning human flesh was unbelievable.” As an American infantry unit approached the concentration camp the previous day, Nazi guards had nailed boards over the windows and doors, soaked the buildings in gasoline and set them on fire. The stench still lingered, permeating the air on what should have been a day of celebration. The survivors were little more than human skeletons. They were still confused and wandering around aimlessly. Anthony said, “They had their freedom but didn’t know what to do. They wore rags for clothes and they had rags bound on their feet, since they had no shoes.” Anthony’s unit only stayed in Dachau for an hour or so but they left all their food and K-rations with the survivors.
Eiland Eland Anthony, Jr. was born in Alexandria, Virginia on July 14, 1923 to Ruby and Eiland E. Anthony, Sr. The family moved to Troy, Alabama where Eland [as he was known] attended Troy schools and graduated from Troy High School in 1941.
He enrolled at Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, Virginia to study engineering. After his sophomore year, he was drafted and sent to Camp McCoy in Wisconsin for basic training.
While there, his application for Officer Candidate School was approved and he was sent to Fort
Benning, Georgia, for Officer Candidate School. After graduation, he was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant and he and Jane Henderson were married.
After completing Infantry Officers School at Ft. Benning, he was sent to Camp Buckner, South Carolina for further training. From there he was sent to Fort McClellan, Alabama, for two months before he received orders to deploy to Europe.
He shipped out from Boston on the Ile de France with 15,000 men and landed in northern
France. They were sent by truck to Bastogne, Belgium within days of the start of the
German offensive that came to be called the Battle of the Bulge. When his Company arrived at Bastogne, he saw a sight he said he’d never forget, “Dead GIs from the battle had been stacked up like so much firewood.” The weather was way below freezing and Anthony said to himself, “That may be us in a few days”.
When they left Bastogne, his company fought their way into Germany. During this time, Anthony was involved in an action that resulted in his being awarded the Silver Star, our nation’s 3rd highest award behind the Congressional Medal of Honor and the Distinguished Service Cross.
Anthony’s company had been assigned the job of securing and holding Belsdorf, Germany. As they approached the town, his company was pinned down. There was a 300 yard area of open terrain between them and a German machine gun nest. Colonel Golden, his Regimental Commander, turned to Anthony and said, “Lieutenant, take your platoon and see what’s holding us up.” Anthony moved his platoon forward, on their bellies, until several of his
men were shot. At that point he told his men to stay where they were while he attempted
to find the machine gun. He sprinted across the open field to a building for cover. From there he maneuvered to a spot, giving him a full view of the machine gun nest. He then proceeded
to unload his weapon, killing at least one German while the remainder ran away. His platoon was then able to continue toward Belsdorf. For his courageous actions under fire, Eland Anthony was recommended for the Silver Star by his Regimental Commander, Colonel Golden.
As his company continued their march into Germany, there were two more incidents that left an indelible mark on Anthony’s memory. The first incident happened right after they left Dachau. Anthony and his platoon had just emerged from the woods into an open field when they spotted what appeared to be bodies lying in the open field. He and his Sergeant went to check out the bodies. Anthony said that there were about 12 men, still clad in concentration camp clothing. They had been bound, hand and feet, blindfolded and shot in the back of the head. The blood still flowed from their wounds, indicating that they had been shot recently.
When he finally comprehended what had happened, Anthony realized just how close the German soldiers had been. The field where the men had been executed was only about two miles from Dachau.
The second incident happened when his Company, along with others in the 4th Infantry
Regiment were poised to attack the town of Rothenberg. Just before they were to attack, they received orders to “stand down.”.
The Mayor of the city had sent a message to the Americans that he would have all the German soldiers leave and would surrender the town if the US forces would hold their fire.
Anthony and his regiment were thankful that another deadly battle had been avoided through
the brave actions of the town’s Mayor. Not long after that, the war ended
Anthony was discharged in June 1945 and he and Jane moved
to Andalusia, Alabama where his parents had moved. His first job was selling lumber. Not long after that, he, Jane and his father bought the Commercial Bank. Eland Anthony’s banking career lasted many years. He served the city in many capacities including Chairman of the Commercial Bank and President of the Chamber of Commerce. Anthony was a Rotarian and served as President and was named a Paull Harris Fellow. He served on many boards and was President of Associated Industries of Alabama. He and Janes were lifelong Methodists.
Jane died in 2013. They had been married for 68 years.
Eland died in October, 2018, at the age of 95. He was buried at Andalusia Memorial Cemetery.
He was survived by sons Richard [Ginny]; David [Angela]; Bill [Happy] and daughters Katherine Dubose [Terry] and Elizabeth “Liz” Starr [Sam]; 13 grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren.
[The author thanks Liz Anthony Starr for helping set up interviews with her Dad and provide access to his scrapbooks which were filled with her Dad’s WW II memories. The author was friends with Eland Anthony for more than 50 years they but only discussed his WW II service in his later years. He was a quiet, modest veteran who remembered his war years with a keen detail and was proud to have been an Army platoon leader].
Comments