Galle, Americo S.

Galle, Americo S, born 26-12-1923 in Westchester County, New York , in all likelihood, the ancestor of Americo S Galle originally came from Germany. He was the son of Vincent P Galle and Margaret Iorio Galle. They may have immigrated to America during the crisis years of the early 20th century. Americo S Galle lived in early 1944 in New York. Americo enlisted in the United States Army Air Forces. Galle had the rank of Second Lieutenant. His military occupation or specialty was Co-Pilot. Service number assignment was O-886490. Attached to 493rd Bomber Group, Heavy, 861st Bomber Squadron. Americo Galle standing 2nd from left.

Death and burial ground of Galle Americo S.

He was on the crew of the B-17G #43-38107 “Silver Symphony” under command of the 20 years old 1st Lieutenant LLewellyn Hunter Baxter during a mission to bomb the synthetic oil plant at Merseberg, Germany. Their aircraft was damaged by flak while passing over Zwolle. It slid out of formation about five minutes after it was hit and dropped their bombs. The bail out order was given and all men left the crippled plane near the estate Hoge Boekel near Enschede, Holland before it crashed. Eight of the nine men were captured. Witnesses stated afterwards that the captain Llewellyn Hunter Baxter was able to get himself to safety with his parachute. However, there were also witnesses who believed that he had been killed by gunfire during his descent with his parachute. All other crew members were immediately captured and imprisoned as prisoners of war in Germany for the duration of the war. These POWs have not seen the co-pilot Americo S Galle again. Lieutenant Americo Galle, who was apparently unhurt, was taken to the cellar of the villa that was serving as SS headquarters.

At the end of 1944, a command of the Sicherheidtsdienst settled in the Hoge Boekel country house. In the vicinity of Hoge Boekel, SD men were also billeted with private individuals; also a number of men from the Flak, an anti-aircraft battery that was deployed on the es on the Noord Esmarkerondweg.In November 1944 Friedrich Beeck (former SS Sturmfuhrer) was commander of the Hoge Boekel villa. Erich Lebing a former SS man and Frits Bohm Scharfuher a paramilitary job title of the NSDAP.

Friedrich Beeck was commander of the Villa Hoge Boekel where a detachment of the S.D. was stationed. SS Brigadeführer  dr. Eberhard Karl Georg Eberhard Schöngarth   was the chief of the security police. Villa Hoge Boekel was also called villa Schöngarth. From the beginning of July 1944 until the end of the war, Schöngarth was the Senior Commander of the Sipo and SD in The Hague, Holland. After Hans-Albin Rauter was injured, ambushed by Dutch resistance, Schöngarth served as senior SS and police chief in March and April 1945.The ultimate fate of Schöngarth was sealed when Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler issued his directive regarding the treatment of captured British and American airmen. After the co-pilot Americo S Galle landed about 150 meters from the Villa Hoge Boekel, he was arrested by an SS man named Blankennagel. Americo S Galle was transferred to the villa locked in the basement and was presented to Friedrich Beeck the commander. The Hoge Boekel villa turned out to be the headquarters of the German SS / S.D. to be security. He was kept in jail while arrangements were made for his removal. These arrangements consisted of the removal of his flight package and the replacement of a civilian light-colored shirt, dark trousers and a pair of socks. He was previously believed to be British or American, most likely American (which was indeed the case) because the pants he was wearing were a dark shade of khaki and the fact that when he, accompanied by Frits Bohm a former SS Oberscharfuher, Erich Lebing also a former SS-Scharfuher and Erwin Knop a former criminal commissioner, was informed in the car, in English, that he was to be executed, he gave an indistinct answer that included the word “America”. His hands handcuffed behind his back, and taken, some distance in the grounds of the SS HQ to a spot within the compound where a grave had already been prepared. The airman was marched from the car by an escort of two SS men, one of whom dropped back and shot the Lieutenant Galle in the back of the neck. He was buried and the grave was carefully camouflaged. The execution was carried out by SS-Unterscharf Herbert Gernoth, who was later sentenced to death by the Allied Military Court at Burgsteinfurt on 11-02-1946. The statement that was drafted reads: “Killed in action as a prisoner of war”. He was buried and the grave was carefully camouflaged. The fate of Americo S Galle was unclear until the military court in Burg Steinfort announced on February 7 and 8, 1946 that seven German citizens had murdered an unknown Allied aviator on 21-11-1944, in violation of the Geneva treaty.

GENEVA TREATY AS APPLICABLE TO 1939 – 1945 (Part 1 Article 2). Prisoners of war are under the control of the hostile government, but not of the individuals or formations that have captured them. They will be treated humanely and protected at all times, especially from acts of violence, from insults and from public curiosity. Retaliation against them is prohibited.

Schöngarth and Beeck, Knop, Hadler and Gernoth were sentenced to death by hanging on 16-05-1946 for the murder of aunknown kite. The sentence was confirmed by the British Criminal Court in Hameln, where they were executed by Albert Pierrepont on 15-05-1946. Lebing and Bohm were sentenced to 15 and 10 years’ imprisonment respectively.

After the end of hostilities, excavations were carried out on the grounds of the Hoge Boekel villa and four graves were found in the period from 25-27 July 1944. At the time of the trial, the identities of the remains of the four bodies were unknown. However, there was ample evidence to show that the remains in one of the graves belonged to the Allied aviator and that he had been shot in the back of the head.

Americo S Galle is buried or memorialized at Plot B Row 38 Grave 34, Ardennes American Cemetery, Neupre, Belgium. This is an American Battle Monuments Commission location.

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