134th Infantry Regiment "All Hell Can't Stop Us"

Maurice J. A. Markworth

134th Infantry Regiment - Company L

Pvt. Maurice Markworth

I joined the 134th Infantry in 1942 in California as a private, after I enlisted to do my part in the war. The attack on Peal Harbor brought out my patriotism so I quit college at Iowa State College and enlisted for the duration of the war plus six months. I trained in California, walked the beaches with a rifle on my back guarding the West Coast from the Japanese expected attack (which luckily never came). We trained in Ojai, California, went to Mines Field (now Los Angeles International Airport) and guarded the airplane factories there. We went by train to Fort Rucker, Alabama in early 1943 and did more training - platoon, company, and battalion until October 1943 when we went to Tennessee on winter maneuvers. In January we went to Camp Butner, North Carolina and continued training, including mountain training at the Champe Rocks in West Virginia. In May 1944 we moved to Camp Kilmer, New Jersey and boarded the U.S.S. A. E. Anderson for shipment to England, where we continued to train and prepare for the invasion of France in June of 1944. We fought in the hedgerows going to St. Lo where our Division lost over 2,000 killed or wounded capturing the key defense of the area. My platoon was surrounded and pinned down by the Germans. When we ran out of ammunition, four of us were all that remained and were captured by the Germans. Why we weren't killed too, I will never know.

The 35th Division did an outstanding job defeating the Germans across France, the Battle of the Bulge, and crossing the Rhine into Germany.

I spent 6 ½ months in the German POW Camps and finally was liberated by the Russians at Stalag IIIC about 90 kilometers east of Berlin. The Russians made us walk back to Warsaw, Poland where we were processed and sent to Odessa to board ships to France, England, and Italy and on to America. I got into the Polish underground and was fed and cared for until the war was over and they got me and two other sergeants who were with me, through Czechoslovakia back to the American Army in Austria. We were processed and sent to France and on to America via a Kaiser Liberty ship.

After my convalescent leave, I reenlisted and remained in the service until 1970 when I retired in the grade of CWO, W-4. I had two additional tours in Germany, one in Korea, and one in Alaska during my service. Being a Warrant Officer in Personnel Management, I got to serve with Infantry units, Artillery units, the Missile Command in Colorado Springs, Signal Corps units, and the 3rd Infantry Division Headquarters, as well as Post Headquarters in Fort Richardson, Alaska and finally at Indiantown Gap Military Reservation where I retired in 1970.

CWO, W-4 Maurice Markworth - 1968

Thanks to Mr. Maurice Markworth for these photos and the account of his experiences.

While attending a 134th Infantry Regiment Association reunion on August 14, 1997, he was interviewed by Charles R. Gentile, the nephew of S/Sgt. Charles P. Gentile who was Killed in Action near Emelie, Normandy, France on July 16, 1944. The following is a video of that interview in which Sgt Markworth describes fighting in the hedgerows of Normandy during the battle for St Lo, France, his time as a POW at Stalag IIIC, and his return to American lines with help from the Polish underground.

1997 Interview with Sgt. Maurice J A Markworth

The following document includes Sgt. Markworth's POW Journal, letters, and other miscellaneous memorabilia. Thanks to Kurt Stauffer for this information.

Sgt. Maurice J A Markworth POW Journal

Sgt. Maurice J. A. Markworth passed away at the age of 97 on June 10, 2017 and is buried at South Bellegrove Cemetery, Bellgrove, PA.