WWII Exhibit – Items Solved
27 January 2012
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Earl Wickman graduated from Alma High School’s class of 1940. By 1943, he was serving in the U.S. Army’s Pacific theater of WWII. His active duty in New Guinea and the Philippines left him with thrilling tales and fascinating artifacts. Earl built the model of a P-38 pictured here, from Japanese bullets! The base is the bottom of a 40mm anti-aircraft shell. Earl has also loaned the museum a Japanese hand grenade, which he took off a Jap who had just tried to kill him. In fact, a tag with Japanese writing is still attached to the grenade – could anybody out there translate what it says? If you want to see the grenade or discover the prank Wickman used it for, visit the Gratiot County Historical Museum’s display, opening at the end of May, 2012. |
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In an effort to show off some of the great memorabilia that will be displayed at the Gratiot County Historical Museum’s spring exhibit, we issued a challenge to identify the item in the accompanying picture. This sturdy canvas sack belonged to Robert Tedhams, a member of the 558 Field Army Battalian Service Battery. This was a tank unit attached to General Patton’s 3rd Army. Tedhams carried his gear in this bag as he hit Omaha Beach on D-Day. Through the following three years, as his tank unit pushed through nearly every nation in Europe and participated in the Battle of the Bulge, Robert Tedhams carried this bag. This is only one of the items Mr. Tedhams has loaned the museum for the WWII exhibit . . . and the merest fraction of his story appears here. |
