Price $12.

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Volume 36 Issue 4 • 2020
 OFFICERS
Chairman of the Board:
David Rice • rice@nwhs.org
President: Tim Hensley • hensley@nwhs.org
Vice President:
Volume 36 • Issue 4 • 2020 Stephen Warren • warren@nwhs.org
From The Editor’s Desk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Treasurer: Ron Davis • davis@nwhs.org
Secretary: Ken Miller • miller@nwhs.org
Letters from the RPO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
DIRECTORS
Sometimes coincidences happen, this email came into the Society as I
was working on laying out this issue. Tishia Boggs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . boggs@nwhs.org
Frank Bongiovanni . . . bongiovanni@nwhs.org
The Norfolk and Western and World War II . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Dr. Brent Greer . . . . . . . . . . . . . greer@nwhs.org
Bud Jeffries tells the story of the Norfolk and Western’s efforts during the Ryan Merrill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . merrill@nwhs.org
global conflict. Sam Phillips . . . . . . . . . . . . . phillips@nwhs.org
Rick Musser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . musser@nwhs.org
Michael Rhodes . . . . . . . . . . rhodes@nwhs.org
From the Editor: This, as you can tell, is a very special issue of the Arrow.
Most folks do not realize the dramatic impact the Norfolk and Western For address changes, subscription problems, or
(and Virginian!) had on the war effort. other membership information, please email:
membership@nwhs.org
or mail: PO Box 13908 Roanoke, VA 24038-3908
Coming Up In The Arrow:
The Beginnings of the Virginian continue • High Noon Continues with a look at
Roanoke Terminal at High Noon, August 1955 MANAGING EDITOR
Glade Spring Memories: Abe Burnett shares his detailed recollections of working Kenneth L. Miller
as a new brakeman on the Saltville Branch in the early 1960s
A Look at St. Paul Virginia Please send articles and all photos/illustrations
How SD-45 No. 1728 became N&W’s only low-nose SD-45 to: PO Box 13908 Roanoke, VA 24038-3908
thearrow@nwhs.org
Remember, articles are always needed, just because it might not have appeared CONTRIBUTING EDITOR
in the Arrow, does not mean it has been forgotten. It either needs some Gordon S. Hamilton Nuggets from the Archives
illustrations to carry it better, or simply space has not been available. There hamilton@nwhs.org
are a number of articles awaiting space right now, but we are committed to EDITORIAL BOARD
completing our Virginian Beginnings Series and the popular “High Noon” Bob Bowers • Ron Davis •Tim Hensley
Bud Jeffries • Jim Nichols
Ed Painter • Alex Schust
www.NWHS.org

A ll articles, photographs, and information should be submitted

to the Managing Editor at the above address. Unless otherwise
requested, all submissions will be held for future publication;
no compensation can be paid. The Arrow (ISSN 87555158) is
published by the Norfolk & Western Historical Society, Inc., a
non-profit organization. All content is © 2020 by N&WHS or the
individual writer. No material may be reproduced without prior
Cover written permission. The Norfolk & Western Historical Society,
Never underestimate the N&W’s contribution Inc. is for the preservation of history of the Norfolk & Western
and Virginian railways. It is not affiliated with, sponsored, nor
during World War II. The global conflict directly supported by the Norfolk & Western Railway or Norfolk Southern
affected the N&W as all American railroads were. Corporation. U.S. membership dues are $50 per year; sustaining
membership is $80 per year; International* is $50 per year;
The various covers of the N&W Magazines of the International* sustaining is $80* per year; all payable in U.S.
era reflect the time as well as a U.S. poster. funds. Membership applications, back issue requests, and other
society inquiries should be directed to the Roanoke, Virginia, office
N&WHS Archives Collection listed above. Be sure to visit us on the web at:

www.nwhs.org
* International is considered as any non-US mailing address. Those
members receive the Arrow as a downloadable PDF only, for rates for a
printed magazine, please email membership@nwhs.org
Fr o m t he R a i l w a y P o st Of f ice
Wr i te t h e Ed i to r at t hearrow @ NW HS.o rg
T
his is not so much an actual letter to the editor, but
an email that came as an inquiry to our info@nwhs.
org address, of which I responded to.
This is a case of subjects close to my heart, and it touched
me as I did a response.
Good Evening
A few weeks back I adopted the grave of John M McGillis.
John served in the 755th Railway Shop Battallion during
WW2 and was killed during an air raid or a V1 rocket attack.
I am trying to find a picture of John because right now he
is just a name on a cross on a foreign cemetery (Henri Chapelle
Belgium)
If my information is right the 755th was a Norfolk and
Western sponsored unit.
So I’m kind of hoping your archives hold pictures of the
755th and in the best case of John.
I really hope you can help me out in my quest to give John
back his face.
With kind regards
Jasper van Kampen the Netherlands
This sort of letter touches me deeply, as I am a big
supporter of our World War II veterans, and the simple fact
that people in Belgium and the Netherlands adopt American
graves to this day is a strong statement on them as a people,
and the significance of the American participation in World
War II.
So, I did some quick research and responded to Jasper
with the following:
Good Evening Mr. van Kampen
First let me say thank you for your adoption of the grave
of Mr. McGillis, it gives me great pride to hear of such for
our veterans. I have been involved with our local veterans for
some time, helping them with things, taking them to events,
etc. It does my heart good to see folks say thank you for their
service, but hearing of someone specifically taking care of one
of our men so far from home, is just outstanding.
I wish I had good news for you on a photo, but
unfortunately we seem to have virtually nothing in our
Archives. One of our members did a story in our magazine
back over two issues in 2003, but unfortunately, Mr.
McGillis is not mentioned as one of the actual N&W
employees in the unit. There were apparently about a dozen
N&W employees in the unit.
The N&W Photo files did not have a lot to offer either,
as the photos that might have appeared in the N&W
Magazine would have been snapshots provided by the men
themselves as censorship would rarely allow much that could
be used by the enemy.
From my brief research, Mr McGillis appears to have
2 • The Arrow • October. November, December 2020 • 36-4
been from Duluth, Minnesota, where he was 19 in 1940, and
worked as a laborer in railroad service, which turns out to
be the Northern Pacific Railway, as his address is in Duluth,
4370 Minnesota Avenue. As he was only 19 in 1940 and still
living at home with his parents and sister, it is possible that
he did not marry prior to being in the Army, and therefore
left no one but his family. I found his sister’s obituary from
2012 who did not list any relative other than he and their
parents, her only family survivor was a cousin, who passed
away in Ottawa, Canada in 2019.
My best guess at this point would be contacting the
Minnesota Historical Society to see if they might be able
to help. The US Military records are housed in a National
Archives facility, which suffered a horrific fire in 1973 which
destroyed many military records, but not all.
If you could give me a short write up about you adopting
the grave and some background about that, I’d be glad to
publish it in our quarterly magazine which might generate
an additional lead, and if you do come up with a photo, that
would be a great followup.
First of all thank you for time and effort and of course your
quick reply. I love how most American people are willing to
make an effort if you ask about their fallen soldiers.
So, About the adoption
My father was born in 1937 so as a child he has witnessed
WW2 from close by. He developed a great interest in the war
and of course this passed on to myself. I also live very close to a
infamous WW2 area, the Arnhem bridge held and lost by the
British in Operation Market Garden (editor’s note: as in the
film “A Bridge Too Far”).
A few times a year we go on a weekend trip to the South of
the Netherlands to the Provence of Limburg. This is where the
only American Cemetery in the Netherlands is. It is also very
close to the Ardenne region so lots of WW2 battlefields to explore.
At Margraten Cemetery I learned about the Adoption
programme and became interested. However all the graves and
the names on the wall of the missing ( about 10.000 in total)
were already adopted. There is in fact a waiting list of 2000
people. This is were I turned my attention to Henri Chappelle
American Cemetery.
No waiting list there.
As an adopter they expect you visit the grave at least twice a
year. And they encourage you to find out about “ your” soldier.
So how do you pick a soldier and research his past? The easy
way is of course to pick a member of the more famous Units like
82nd and 101st airborne or the Big Red One. But I choose the
random option and got John.
First thing I noticed was his unit and to be honest I had
never heard of the Transportation Corps and what they did.
 N&WHS Archives Collection AAR Photo 3149
GI railway men share the highly-prized
American cigarettes with two Belgium
Gendarmes who assist with guarding
the supply trains in Liege, Belgium.
Naturally, no date is specified, but the
crew men are identified as Fireman T/5
Richard Hardy, Gadsden AL, Engineman
T/4 James B. Roberts, Fresno CA on the
steps, the other person in the cab is only
identified as a Belgian railroad man.

No Hollywood movie has been made

about them.
I also started to reach out to a lot
of Institutions in the US like John’s
local library as well as local Facebook
groups.
That way I got the information
that all of his family has passed
away. And that got me even more
determined to find out everything I
can about him and his Unit. Because
right now I am John’s only hope to get
his face back.
There is a webpage called fields
of honour and they try to put a face
to every name buried in Holland
Belgium and Luxembourg.
Every 2 years they have a Event where they put all the
photos found next to the graves.
So my ultimate goal is to find a picture.
So hopefully your readers are able to help.
I have also requested his IDPF which might have a picture.
So again thank you very much for your time and effort and
if you decide to run a little story about this please feel free to fix
my English and If you have any questions left feel free to ask.
With kind regards
Jasper
Jasper would love to find a photo, and I am hoping
that one of our readers might have another source or find
something that is helpful to him, anyhow feel free to get
in touch with him at sonjajasper2001@gmail.com I’d also
appreciate being copied on anything you might find, or
if you wish contact me directly, and I will put whatever
information this quest forward.
When researching photos for Bud Jeffries article, I was
excited to find the photo shown here, as it directly relates to
this story, and when I first saw it, was hoping that it might be
the missing link; unfortunately, as you see from the caption,
it was not to be.
To give some further details the situation on Mr.
McGillis death. He died on Christmas Day, 1944, the exact
details are not know. However, it appears that he was in
Liege, Belgium. For those who were not students of World
War II, Liege was an important rail center, just south and
The Arrow • October-November-December 2020 • 36-4 • 3
west of the town of Aachen. The Allies had captured the port
of Antwerp and gotten it operational in November of 1944,
much freight and war supplies was moving through Antwerp
to Liege via rail and truck. On December 16, 1944, the
German Army began what would be its last major offensive,
today known as the Battle of the Bulge. Liege, because of its
strategic importance as a transport center was the target of
multiple German V-1 flying bombs (the forerunner to today’s
cruise missile) attacks during November and December of
1944. Liege was in danger of being overrun by German
forces, being roughly 50 miles from the front.
The weather during the first part of the Battle of the
Bulge kept aircraft from operating, therefore, the V-1 attacks
were immune.
It was reported in 1945 that a lone German aircraft
attacked Liege, Belgium on December 24th and dropped
bombs on the billets of the 740th and 741st Railway
Operating Battalions, killing seven and injuring others. It is
not known whether Mr. McGillis was one of those injured in
the attack and succumbed the next day, or had been injured
in another attack earlier.
In February 1945, the Railroad Transportation Corps
honored its victims by naming locomotives after them,
Private McGillis was so honored on locomotive 2792. Sadly,
we may never really know the actual details of Mr. McGillis,
but I hope that some reader can find a photo to answer Mr.
van Kampen’s request.
•••••