Please help me to honour these overlooked heroes

Mission: to honour the men of the 24th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron, Mechanized, 1943 - 1945

Help me to create a unique website and book, in tribute to these too-long overlooked heroes.

The inspiration for this project

On June 21st 1944 the German occupation ended in my town, St Pierre Eglise, Lower Normandy, with the arrival of the first Americans from the allied invasion force.

They were men from the 24th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron, Mechanized.

Those men came from all backgrounds, farms, factories, colleges, army training schools and enlisted to fight for the freedom that we now enjoy in Europe.

Almost one in ten of them were killed in action. Many more were wounded. Many of them received the highest possible awards for bravery. Their story is incredible.

I believe that their outsize contribution to destroying the German army in France, Belgium and Germany is unjustly overlooked. And that their heroic day-by-day story demands to be told.

What's so interesting about a relatively unknown WW2 army unit?

[Photo: a platoon from the same Troop who liberated the town where I live - Troop A]

Did you already know that a detachment of men from the 24th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron, Mechanized, were among the first seaborne allied soldiers onto occupied French soil - even before the main landings began?

Or that the first two of them swam ashore at 4am on D-Day, armed only with a knife each?

There are tales of real grit, heroism and ingenuity that I want to tell in detail.

Like when one platoon figured out that installing the machine guns from crashed P-51 Mustangs in the Ardennes gave them better fire power on their Jeeps.

Or about when an enlisted man deliberately put his head above the turret of his armoured car to draw fire away from his stricken comrades as they withdrew.

Or the officer who jumped out of the turret of another armoured car and onto the deck, the better to spray a superior enemy force with anti-aircraft fire. The same man who would later lead a bayonet charge on a securely dug-in enemy, in Germany.

These are more than reconnaissance troops.

[Photo: men of Troop B greeted by local children shortly after arriving in Valconville, Normandy, June 21 1944]

The aim of this project

With your help we will create the first website and book dedicated to their service - to honour the men of the 24th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron, Mechanized.

Don't be fooled by the name. These weren't just observers. The 24th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron, Mechanized was a full-spectrum combat unit.

They protected major allied units, fought special missions, lived always in range of the enemy and their collective and individual actions went far beyond the pre-war US military doctrine of what a reconnaissance unit was for.

Me and a small team of volunteer researchers in the US, Britain and France have been working since February 2024 on the proof of concept for a website that will serve as a living memorial to those men who lived and those who never went home.

We have been tracing original squadron field records and families of the men, who have been helping us to create profiles of their fathers, uncles and grandfathers. Some of these are already published on the project Facebook page and Patreon .

We have already provided photographs and materials for an event commemorating the 80th anniversary of St Pierre Eglise's liberation, in June 2024. That's where I now live and why this project feels personal to me.

[Radio operator Tec 5 Harry Franklin Hall, who is profiled on the project Patreon and Facebook pages]

[Lt Col Frederick Harold Gaston Jr, commanding officer of the 24th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron, mechanized, also profiled on the project Patreon and Facebook pages]

Initial fundraising goals - why and exactly what for?

Now we have two main goals that need your help.

1. to create a website mapping the squadron's daily movements and engagements, throughout the war, with profiles of all the men involved, whose families we can trace.

2. a physical book to celebrate their achievements and to honour their memory. Something that the families can cherish and military history fans will enjoy.

This work is currently unfunded and expenses are mounting, which is where you come in.

'Likes' and 'care' emojis dropped onto posts by the squadron research Facebook page don't help much and it would take a lot of distracting marketing effort to build a community around the Patreon page. I need to turbocharge the research and do the work that really counts.

This is why I'm appealing directly for funds to help initially with the following costs.

There are miscellaneous other costs to research like this, such as travel, access to additional research materials and, of course, I would prefer not to worry about every bill that comes in while I'm focused on this project.

You can read more about some of the costs mentioned above in this free post .

What do you get in return?

I will post updates each time we invest in one of the items funded by supporters, so that you know your contribution accelerated the project.

In return for your donation I will give you free membership to enjoy paywalled posts on the project Patreon page, which contains a growing number of never-before-published photographs and other material (if you want).

For a donation of $100 or more you will be listed as a founding supporter of the website and book (if you want).

Please consider supporting us and helping to immortalise the magnificent 24th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron, Mechanized.

[Sgt. William Wilford Stephens, Troop B, sitting on a bomb in Kessel, Germany. For the rest of his life, after returning home, the war was too painful for Bill to talk about - even to his wife and children.]

Families we're in touch with are sometimes surprised to learn of the heroism of their relatives who served in the 24th Cav Recon. Many of them simply returned home and quietly resumed their lives.

This project is to honour those men properly, for the first time.

Please consider supporting this work.

Mike