Robert Horswood Ellis

ROBERT HORSWOOD ELLIS (1921-1995)

Robert Horswood Ellis was born 16 October 1921 in County Los Angeles, California, to Alec Ellis and Susan Perkins. At the time the Ellis’ were living with Sue’s Parents, Henry and Estelle Perkins, at 1102 Princeton Ave, Claremont. Robert’s sister Marjorie was born four years later on 29 October 1925. By 1930 the Ellis’ and Perkins’ had moved to 538 Berkeley Ave, Claremont. Robert’s father, Alec, had started working on freighters and in May 1931 got to spend a week with his mother and sisters in Melbourne, Australia, before returning to Los Angeles. They then moved out of the Perkins home and into a house of their own at 290 East 12 St, Pomona. Alec’s health deteriorated and he died from heart disease on 10 July 1933 aged only 39.

Robert was 11 years old and was given charge of milking the goat. During the summer vacation he took up playing the harmonica and managed to learn one song. The rest of the time was spent swimming, at gym, lemonade stands with a sprinkling of tedious labour such as sweeping the porch and mopping the kitchen floor. At the school pet show he proudly carried off 1st prize for the great dane and some canaries. Alec’s prized canaries were still thriving.

Between 1934 and 1936 Robert’s mother Sue married Kenneth Herbert Verrill, a former champion motorcycle racer and Robert would be taken to race meetings around California by his new step-father. This marriage appears not to have lasted and by 1938 Sue Verrill had decided to take up the offer of her invalided sister Anne Wetherell and move in with her at 146 Forest Ave, West Newton, Massachusetts. Anne and Frank Wetherell had no children and were extremely wealthy, living in a fine house with a cook and servant. It was a comfortable place for Robert and Marjorie to grow up in. Sue was a registered nurse and looked after her ailing sister. Robert and Marjorie both attended Newton High School.

The Wetherells had a large holiday home named “The Mariner” at Bar Harbour Maine, and would spend their summer holidays there. The Bar Harbour Times notes them being there in July and August 1939 and no doubt Sue, Robert and Marjorie were there also. Whilst there Robert (aged 17) was charged with taking the boat to the marina each day to pick up lobsters and in doing so started a lifelong love of boats. Later in life Robert would bring his own family to Bar Harbour on camping trips.

Robert Ellis graduated from Newton High School in June 1941 and the “Newtonian” Yearbook for 1941 revealed interesting possibilities. It revealed possible connections to Charleston High School, West Virginia and the Virginia Military Institute. It gave his nickname as “Slewfoot” and his interests were Camera Club (vice president), Motion Picture Squad, Aviation Club (Chairman) and Spanish Club (Chairman). An Aviation Club report said that two students, Charles Skinner and Robert Ellis made solo flights at Wiggins Airways, Norwood, Massachusetts.

After graduating from Newton High School it seems his uncle Granville Akers Perkins arranged a job for Robert in Charleston, West Virginia. The mentions of Charleston High School in Robert’s Year Book raises the possibility that he may have lived with his uncle Granville for a year or two before studying at Newton High School. This might explain why Robert and Marjorie graduated two years apart when there was a four year age difference. Granville Perkins was a brother of Sue Verrill and Anne Wetherell. He obtained a Degree in Chemistry and was awarded a PHD in 1915. During WW1 he worked in the Chemical Warfare Service and in the 1920’s worked in leprosy chemotherapy in the Philippines. In 1931 he became an Assistant Director for a Division of Union Carbide, Carbide and Carbon. R&D for Carbide and Carbon was conducted at the Technical Centre in South Charleston, West Virginia. Granville’s work involved the development of plastic vinylite, a copolymer of vinyl chloride and vinyl acetate which was preferred for military service. He had previously worked on synthetic rubbers.

Granville Perkins’ eldest daughter was named Barbara. When aged 18 she hosted an open house at her parent’s house at 3 Fairview Terrace, Charleston. The Charleston Gazette reported on 1 January 1942 that “Barbara Perkins will hold open house from 8 to 10 pm tomorrow in honor of her houseguest Miss Peggy Callaway of Maryville, Tennessee, at the home of her parents Mr and Mrs Granville Perkins of Fairview Terrace. Sharing honors with Miss Callaway will be Miss Peggy Wilkinson of Roanoke, Virginia, the guest of Mr and Mrs Pelzel and Mr Robert Ellis of Boston, Massachusetts, a cousin of the hostess”.

On 16 February 1942 Robert Ellis registered for the draft. He lists his employer as Carbide and Carbon and his address as 602 Fairview Terrace, Charleston - the same street as his uncle Granville. He was 6 foot tall and weighed 175 lbs, had hazel eyes, black hair and a dark complexion.

On 6 June 1942 he enlisted in the US Army in Kentucky and joined the 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment. They were known as the “Red Devils” and were a part of the 82nd Airborne Division. He had the rank of Corporal and was in the HQHQ Company.

His cousin Barbara Perkins spent two months at 146 Forest Ave, West Newton with Anne and Frank Wetherell and returned to Charleston around 20 August 1942. Later, she too would join the Army as a physical therapist.

The 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment was activated on 20 October 1942 at Camp Blanding in Florida and reached its full strength by mid December. In February they attended Parachute School at Fort Benning, Georgia and having qualified in early March moved to Camp Mackall, North Carolina and continued training until December. In November 1943 Robert Ellis was admitted to hospital at Camp Mackall suffering Cholangitis (an inflammation of the bile duct) but was discharged before they left for England. On 28 December 1943 they boarded the US Army Transport “James Parker” and joined a large Atlantic convoy. 12 days later, on 9 January 1944 they docked at Belfast, Ireland. From Belfast they moved to Glasgow and then travelled by train to their Base at Woolaton Park, Nottingham in England. At the end of April the 82nd Airborne Division had a practice jump at night to prepare for the Normandy Invasion. It did not go smoothly and foreshadowed the problems they would have on D-Day.

The 508th Parachute infantry Regiment consisted of 3 battalions and a Regimental Headquarters Company (HQ HQ). The Headquarters Company, headed by Captain Robert Abraham, had typically a strength of 80-110 personnel who were divided into a number of Sections. S-1 (Personnel), S-2 (Intelligence), S-3 (Operations), S-4 (Logistics), S-5 (Planning) and S-6 (Communications). Robert Ellis was a member of the S-2 Section. The S-2 Commanding Officer was Captain Kenneth Johnson and the NCO in charge of S-2 was Staff Sergeant Worster Morgan. Robert Ellis was one of two Corporals below Sergeant Morgan. The S-2 Section probably had about 12 men. The purpose of S-2 was to patrol behind the German lines at night time to gather information on enemy strength and positioning of armour, tanks and strongpoints. They also had to take enemy prisoners and get them back through the German and American lines for interrogation.

THE D-DAY LANDINGS - NORMANDY 6 JUNE 1944

The 82nd Airborne Division took part in the airborne phase of the D-Day landings known as “Operation Neptune”. Their mission was to destroy vital German supply bridges and capture causeways leading inland behind the Normandy beaches.

The airborne operation of D-Day was an assault of around 10 000 paratroopers from the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions. The 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment was transported in 117 C-47 aircraft, each carrying about 18 paratroopers. A group of paratroopers from one plane is referred to as a “stick”. A total of 2056 troops jumped. Some of them left from Folkingham Airfield, Lincolnshire and the others from Saltby, Leicestershire. A week before D-Day the paratroopers left their base in Nottingham and proceeded to their respective airfield where there was strict security. The S-2 Section were at the Saltby Airfield and were all on the same aircraft together with some HQ personnel and a photographer from the 165th Signal Photographic Company. The probable names of the people in this stick are as follows:

Captain Robert Abraham

Captain Kenneth Johnson

Staff Sergeant Worster Morgan

Corporal Robert Ellis

Corporal Fred Robbins

Private Mayo Heath

Private Robert Peterson

Private James Rankin

Private Larry Grieshammer

Private Leon Israel

Private Harry Kennedy

Private James Kulmer

Private Jody Lander

Private John McCall

Private Luther Tillery

T4 Clifford Campbell

T5 Donald Macleod

T4 Reuben Weiner (Photographer)

Initially they all boarded their aircraft on June 4 1944 and were awaiting to leave when news came through that D-Day had been put back a day. The following day, June 5, they finally took off around 10 pm and spent the next few hours getting into formation before setting off for Normandy. Their flight plan took them north of the islands of Guernsey and Jersey then across the Cotenin peninsula. The 508th were to be dropped at Drop Zone N which was north east of Pont L’Abbe, however, as they crossed the coast they encountered heavy flak and tracer fire and had to maneuver to avoid the worst of it with the result that they were dropped far from their drop zone. Johnson’s stick found themselves near the town of Saint Macouf, about 6 miles north east of their drop zone. They jumped about 2.15 am in the morning of D-Day and spent the next few hours trying to locate the other members from their stick. By morning they had a group of about 15. Two had been captured and one caught in a hedgerow. They then started walking down a road to try and find a landmark so they knew where they were. Finally they arrived at a village called Saint Macouf. Now the photographer who was embedded with the S-2 Section, Rueben Weiner, was one of 4 photographers who jumped with the paratroopers that day but all the others lost their equipment in the jump. Reuben Weiner was the only one to get film of the paratroopers on D-Day and it was of the S-2 Section.

Once they knew where they were they knew the direction of their drop zone. They rested in Saint Macouf and then continued towards Ravenoville. They then encountered an artillery barrage from the big guns of the naval ships targeting German gun emplacements in the vicinity. They took cover in a ditch until the fire stopped and then continued to Ravenoville. They then came across a French family killed by the artillery, treated the surviving old man then continued on their way. They arrived at a farm known as Marmion Farm at Ravenoville which was a German Command Post but had just been taken by a group of stragglers from the 101st Division under the command of Major John Stopka. The S-2 group joined the Stopka group and spent the night of D-Day there, however the Germans launched repeated counter attacks during the night. One of the S-2 group, Jody Lander, recalls that when a German hand grenade lobbed amongst them Robert Ellis threw it back to the Germans. They knew the German grenades had a 7 second fuse. By morning they were almost out of ammunition but the Americans from Utah beach were just starting to arrive and the Germans retreated. The Stopka group moved on and the S-2 group walked back to Utah Beach for D-Day+1. They stayed overnight and then on D-Day+2 they got a lift with a truck driver who took them to the 508th Regimental HQ which was near Saint Mere-Eglise. They then moved to Hill 30 and by 1800 hours on 10 June had finally assembled as a Regiment.

From this point on the S-2 Section would have been conducting night time patrols behind the German lines. Robert Ellis won his bronze star for swimming a river and gathering intelligence on the Germans and it was possibly around 11 or 12 of June. A few of the people involved wrote down their memoirs of events in Normandy, notably Harry Kennedy and the Staff Sergent Worster Morgan and Jody Lander recorded a podcast about his experience in 2019. Other anecdotes appear in books but there is great variations in the telling of certain events as memories falter. Harry Kennedy was a German Jew and was named Hans Kahn when he escaped Germany and made it to America via Switzerland and Italy. He gained citizenship and joined the Army and found himself in the S-2 Section because his fluent German would come in handy. Just in case he was ever captured he changed his name to Harry Kennedy. Many a time on patrol they were challenged by German sentries but Harry talked their way through.

Towards the end of June the Americans were preparing for an attack on a strategic position known as Hill 131. The Regimental command asked for volunteers for a dangerous patrol mission to get intelligence on the German positions on Hill 131. Robert Ellis, Harry Kennedy and Jody Lander volunteered, with Robert in command. The patrols happened between 25-29 June. Now this is where things start to differ. Harry Kennedy recalled it was three patrols on consecutive nights, Jody Lander recalled they spent two days on the first patrol and then went back the following night. Harry Kennedy only mentioned Robert on the patrol and not Jody. Irrespectively they managed to find a young Frenchman who gave them valuable intelligence on the German positions and strength. Then there is the question of how many German prisoners they brought back. Harry thought one, Jody thought two and the 1946 Boston Globe article about Robert mentioned 3 prisoners. The Boston Globe account would be more reliable because it was closer to the actual event and was probably based on the Silver Star citation for Robert Ellis. Anyway, the intelligence was good and the successful attack on Hill 131 commenced on 3 July. Robert was awarded the Silver Star and Harry and Jody were awarded the Bronze Star.

After 33 days in Normandy the 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment was relieved and on 13 July 1944 they boarded two LST’s and returned to England and their base at Nottingham to prepare for their next jump into Holland.

OPERATION “MARKET GARDEN” - NIJMEGEN, HOLLAND 17 SEPTEMBER 1944

This operation was to secure a bridgehead across the Rhine by an airborne assault behind German lines to seize and hold key bridges and roads and await the arrival of the British Armoured Division. This action was featured in the film “A Bridge Too Far”.

At 1300 hours on 17 September 1944 the 508th jumped into Holland. Although initial resistance was light, heavy fighting ensued for days. They established and maintained a defensive position along the main line of resistance which measured over twelve thousand yards in length against heavy German resistance. The Regiment then seized Bridge #10 and prevented its destruction by destroying the apparatus for the demolition of the Nijegen Bridge across the Waal River. This action contributed to the successful completion of the 82nd Airborne’s mission. Meanwhile the Regiment also seized, occupied, and defended the Berg En Dalkamp Hill mass terrain which controlled the Groesbeek-Nijmegen area. They cut Highway K, preventing the movement of enemy reserves, or escape of enemy along this route. Finally, the Regiment withstood and repulsed the major enemy efforts at Wyler and Beek to penetrate the Division position and assault units to the north. This operation was to secure a bridgehead across the Rhine by an airborne assault behind German lines to seize and hold key bridges and roads and await the arrival of the British Armoured Division.

The S-2 group were again active in night patrols to gain intelligence. the Section leader Sgt Worster Morgan. He said: “My S-2 Section had little to do but we did continue probing and night patrols. One week the S-2 Section was withdrawn from the line and sent back to Nijmegen to rest and clean up. The 10 of us were housed with a very nice family – a mother, father, 2 teenage daughters and a teenage son. They moved into the basement and gave us the rest of their home. I managed to get a big bag of coffee from the regimental kitchen for our hosts. They had not had any real coffee for years so it was a treat for them. I gave the father some cigars – again a rare luxury”. Years later Robert related stories about this family saying he would swing the children around by the hands in what was called “aeroplanes”. He also recalled staying in a cheese factory where they ate pounds and pounds of munster cheese.

While accomplishing these missions, the Regiment captured 483 prisoners. The 508th suffered 139 killed in action, 479 wounded in action and 178 missing in action. On 10 November they were relieved by a British Brigade and on 14 November went to Sissone, north of Reims, France for R&R.

BATTLE OF THE BULGE - THE ARDENNES OFFENSIVE 16 DECEMBER 1944

On 16 December 1944 the Germans launched a surprise attack in the Ardennes in Belgium and broke through the American lines. This became known as the Battle of the Bulge. The 101st Airborne Division was rushed to Bastogne to try and hold the southern shoulder of the penetration and the 82nd Airborne Division was sent to Werbomout to pinch in the northern shoulder. It was a bitterly cold winter and the 508th Regiment infantry had to endure outdoors in their foxholes. The S-2 Section had it a little better and mostly got billets in farms or barns. Werner Angress, an S-2 member recalled an incident that occurred on 27 December. They found an abandoned farmhouse in Haute Bodeux and sheltered there for a few days. They were with some Regimental HQ men who specialized in interrogating prisoners. The Section leader Worster Morgan was known as “pappy” - he was only 28 years old but was the oldest in the Section. On the 27th they went to bed early with Werner Angress, Lou Baco and Pappy Morgan sleeping in the hallway upstairs and the others sleeping in a large room on the ground floor. A few hours later the farm was hit by an artillery shell and Lou Baco and another soldier were killed. Both of them were new replacements for the S-2 Section and had only been with them a couple of days. A second incident was when the Regimental HQ Company were on the march and towards dark they bivouacked in a small clearing and lit a couple of fires. Some men started frying up some bacon and the S-2 Section started playing bridge. Apparently the S-2 Section were addicted to bridge. Pappy Morgan took off his helmet and sat on it, Fred Robbins dealt, James Rankin bid and before Pappy Morgan could bid a German shell exploded next to them. Pappy Morgan received a shrapnel wound to the head because he wasn’t wearing his helmet. It wasn’t serious but he still had to spend 3 weeks in Paris recovering. He had always wanted to go to Paris but when he got back complained about the fact that he only had two 2 dollar bills with him. It is not certain which of the two corporals, Robert Ellis or Fred Robbins would have taken temporary charge of the S-2 Section in Pappy Morgan’s absence. The Regiment was withdrawn from the line and placed in reserve until 21st January when it replaced elements of the 2nd Infantry Division. On 24 January the Regiment was placed in Corp reserve, but was quickly back in action on 26 January. On 22 February they moved back to Sissonne in reserve.

Robert obtained a 30 day furlough and returned to the United States where he married Claire Johnston in February 1945. She was a graduate of Kathleen Dell School and worked as a medical secretary.

As the end of the war approached the parachute divisions were making preparations for jumps to take control of POW camps but the German surrendered on 7 May 1945 and this made these jumps unnecessary. On 10 June 1945 the 508th Regiment arrived in Frankfurt where General Eisenhower set up his Headquarters in the I G Farben Company building and the 508th provided the security for his SHAEF Headquarters. The soldiers of the 508th requisitioned apartments and houses in the suburb of Heddernheim. Sue Verrill wrote a letter dated 1 July saying that Robert and five other lads occupy a real house which includes various alluring advantages such as strawberries in the garden, a vacuum cleaner and potted plants. The men were supposed to spend ½ of each day in the University. The occupation was between 10 June 1945 and 24 November 1946. The troops of the 508th were repatriated back to the USA based on a points system. In September 1945 Robert and his S-2 Section were surveying up in the mountains. They had to ride mules which Robert reclassified them as “airborne horses” to bolster his pride. In her letter of 28 September 1945 Sue mentioned that Robert had so many points that he was confident of an early discharge from the army. By the 11 June Robert was home and attending classes at Boston University. He was writing up a few of his wartime experiences for his English Class - he was struggling describing his emotions during the 11 minute trip across the Channel on D-Day.

Before leaving Germany Robert was already contemplating what career path he should follow. He contemplated law but this may have been too dull for him. Then he thought of a career as a vet but had difficulty getting admitted to a program for veterinary medicine. Then he thought of his high school interest in photography. Then he went to Boston University and completed a BSc and a masters in physics.

Following graduation Robert started work with Bell Laboratories and moved to Grand Island, New York State near Niagara Falls. They lived there until about 1953. By this stage Robert and Claire had two children, Tamison and Scott. There next two children, Meridith and Glen were born later. Under Army direction, Bell Laboratories and Western Electric commenced development of the AAFCS M33 system in 1945 and production followed in 1950 roughly when Robert joined Bell Laboratories. The AAFCS M33 was a mobile, trailer based integrated electomechanical fire control system and had the ability to direct both 90mm and 120mm artillery gun batteries. Also at this time Bell Laboratories were developing an anti aircraft guided missile system. The research and development phase was completed by April 1952 and resulted in the production of the Nike Ajax missile. Robert may have worked on either of these projects.

In 1953 Robert and family moved to Newton, Massachusetts where he bought a house at 497 Chestnut St on 28 April 1954. He started working for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Lincoln Laboratory. Robert’s work there would eventually see him working on Project Mercury which was the first human space flight program of the United States and ran from 1958 to 1963. In January 1959 study contracts were awarded to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Lincoln Laboratory for assistance in developing plans for tracking and ground instrumentation for Project Mercury. There were 4 study contracts and Lincoln Laboratory got the consultant services and proposal evaluation. Alan Shepard was launched on a sub-orbital flight in May 1961 and the project ended in May 1963. He sold the house in Chestnut St on 23 August 1962.

In 1963 the family moved to Hawaii and lived at 2075 Keeaumoku St, Honolulu. Robert was working on Kwajelain Atoll in the Marshall Islands and was involved in the development of the Nike Zeus anti-ballistic missile system. The Lincoln Laboratory filled the technical leadership role since 1962 when the first instrumentation radar, Target Resolution and Discrimination Experiment (TRADEX) became operational. Robert worked here until 1965 when they returned to Massachusetts.

Upon their return they lived at 299 Lexington Rd, Concord, Massachusetts. Robert continued working at the Lincoln Laboratory where he was working in Division 3 – Radio Physics, Communications and components. Within this division he was in Group 32 which consisted of P. Cacciola, L.F. Cianciolo, H.O. Curtis, R.H. Ellis and F.L. McNamara. This group employed advanced concepts and technologies and appears to involve the TRADEX VHF radar system used on Kwajelain Atoll. Around 1970 Robert had renovations done to the house in Concord.

It is not certain when Robert retired from the MIT Lincoln Laboratory but afterwards he and Claire moved to 251 Basin Point Rd, Harpswell, Maine. It was here that he died on 23 June 1995 aged 73. Claire lived on in Harpswell and took an active role in parish life before returning to Massachusetts towards the end of her life. She passed away 20 May 2017 at the Caldwell Home in Fitchburg, Massachusetts.