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Frederick P. Graham

War Correspondent, New York Times
XX Corps (Honorary Member)

     Frederick Poe Graham was born on June 11, 1907 to his father, Frederick Sr. and mother Sarah in the small town of Grafton, WV. His father worked hard in the railroad industry while his mother took care of Fred Jr. and his older sister. His father’s job soon took the family to Baltimore, MA while Frederick was still a child, where the family welcomed a new daughter and son. As Frederick got a good education, he found a passion for writing and developed a particular fascination with aviation. Upon graduating, he found work as a writer and correspondent for the Baltimore Sun, where he reported on farming, agriculture, politics, and other general news. Many of his articles tended to report from his home state of West Virginia, which he traveled to frequently for stories. 

     In 1937, however, Frederick found a job offer he couldn’t refuse. Combining both his passion for writing and flight, he accepted a job as an aviation reporter for the New York Times the following year. He moved to New York with his wife, Anne, and began to fully immerse himself in the world of aviation. He joined the Aviation Writers Association in 1940, and co-wrote the 1940-1946 editions of Young America’s Aviation Annual in the process–a yearly book about developments and the state of aviation. He also submitted a piece of writing and photography to a journalism contest for Transcontinental and Western Air Inc. in 1941, which he won first prize for. When the US entered the war in December, Graham realized that the world of aviation was also headed for a full fledged war, and he wanted to be there to report on it. He traveled to AAF training posts to fully embed himself in the shoes of the new American Aviator, and co-wrote the book He’s in the Air Corps Now, an informative look for the public to see what the process was like for their new recruits in the sky. 


     Still wanting to be closer to the action, Graham applied to be a war correspondent for the New York Times, and was sent overseas in July of 1943. Initially stationed in London, he traveled around to find stories that gave people on the homefront a clearer picture of life in the AAF overseas. One of his first involved a look into “flak houses” where airmen were sent to rest, and the incredible effect it had on the morale of airmen. He soon found that one of the best ways to get stories was traveling to various AAF bases himself, and gathering first hand accounts by interviewing those stationed there. Throughout the rest of 1943 Frederick visited various bomb groups of the 8th AF, including the 385th BG at Great Ashfield, 384th BG at Grafton Underwood after the disastrous missions over Bremen and Münster, and the 95th BG at Horham after they took down 138 Luftwaffe fighters on a mission over Emden.

     In the new year of 1944, Graham continued with the same process. Notably, in January, Frederick took a trip to visit the 354th FG. Here he met with and interviewed Medal of Honor recipient James H. Howard, a fighter ace in both the Pacific and European theaters who single-handedly fought off 30 Luftwaffe fighters the week before. The next month, Graham wrote a spotlight article on the unsung ground crews and their role in various bomb groups, and in March he visited the 379th BG during a raid over Berlin. At one point, he reported, Graham was in the control tower as a damaged bomber came back from a raid on Leipzig and began to land. He stood in shock as he heard the plane’s engineer say that he was flying the plane with their co-pilot dead and pilot badly injured. After attempting to guide the plane for nearly two hours, the men in the control tower agreed the best course of action was to fly over water and have the remaining crew bail out. Refusing to leave the wounded men to crash, the engineer waited for the others to bail out then attempted to land anyways, but unfortunately did not make it. As the Allies geared up for the invasion of mainland Europe, Frederick focused on a unique unit with a very similar job as him. In April, he met with members of the 4th Combat Camera Unit–an AAF unit that embedded photographers and cameramen with bomber crews to record what aerial combat was like for people back home. His article mainly focused on how they operated and their training as they prepared for the invasion.


     When invasion day finally came on June 6th, Graham went to a 9th AF Troop Carrier Group and watched as the brave American paratroopers first embarked on the daunting task to take on Hitler’s “Atlantic Wall.” Frederick described a “formation [that] stretched nearly 230 miles from end to end,” and waited eagerly alongside the ground crew for its return. As planes began to come back into view on the horizon, he immediately began interviewing men as they got back on the ground. Although the crews described some casualties, the historic invasion began to take shape as a success for the Allies, allowing troops to flow into mainland Europe. Graham continued interviewing C47 pilots and bomber crews in the days following D-Day, until he too soon found himself in Normandy.

     Trying to get closer than ever to the action, Graham joined the 371st FG at their newly established base in Beuzeville, France. He wrote a few articles about engineers establishing the airfield, and also wrote about the vital ground support that fighters provided for infantry on the frontlines. In July, however, he came face to face with the grim reality of the war. He went out with a patrol and discovered the body of a young German rifleman that was killed in an artillery strike. In his somber article, he describes the state of the body and the personal effects that the troops found as they searched for intelligence: a photo of a young woman, postcards, and a letter–written shortly before he was killed. The letter bore the writings of a young man beginning to lose faith in his country, with Graham quoting excerpts such as “we begin to doubt in God. What must human beings suffer?” and “it is no longer a decent war, it is wholesale murder and butchering of men, a disgrace to the twentieth century. And what for?” Clearly leaving an impression on him, Graham was no longer just reporting on those fighting in the war, but experiencing it himself.


     In mid-July, Frederick witnessed a rush of dive bombers take off from the air base he was at. The bombers were called in by Major Sidney Bingham of the 1st Bn., 116th IR, 29th ID to take out some German tanks that were firing at them point blank as his men tried to advance into St. Lo. The battalion advanced too quickly, were cut off from the division, and subjected to heavy artillery fire and advancing Germans. To get a better picture of what was going on, Graham traveled by himself to St. Lo, and moved in with other elements of the division as they finally caught up to Bingham and moved into the town a few days later. Upon interviewing the Major, he discovered that the tanks were within 100 yards of the GIs, but remarkably the dive bombers never hit any of the Americans. 

     Graham stayed with various elements of 9th AF for the coming weeks, until he found four of his fellow correspondents kicked out and sent to London. He used the opportunity to criticize the public relations section of the 9th AF in an article. He stated that they continuously added unrealistic expectations and pressure on reporters, checking all of their articles sent out, and threatening to send them home if at least 50% weren’t related to the 9th AF. He also complained about not being given access to radio or wireless facilities, often requiring him to drive miles away to find some. All of this ultimately caused Graham to leave his detachment in August, and instead he found himself with two other correspondents trying to reestablish the New York Times bureau in newly-liberated Paris. Together they researched and tracked down the former French staff, then asked them to come back to the office. Many of the employees brought back vital documents they took from the office during occupation,which they attempted to hide from the Nazis. He described it as extremely moving to see the old coworkers reunited, many of whom cried and embraced after not talking to each other for years. In the end, every staff member they found was all-too-eager to get back to work.


     In September, Frederick was reassigned to follow Patton’s 3rd Army and the XX Corps. Specifically, he found himself embedded with the 5th ID as they attempted to cross the Moselle River near Metz. He quickly took note of the fierce German resistance, witnessing them throw every kind of weapon–including a 20mm anti-aircraft gun–at the troops crossing the river. German defenses built on the bank of the river proved to be deadly along with constant artillery, smokescreens, air support, and rifle fire from both sides, as they tried whatever they could to hold or capture the river. For 11 days, Graham repeatedly visited the frontlines along the Moselle, between the positions of the 5th and 90th IDs, putting himself directly in the line of fire to write a clearer picture for readers on the home front. It was this dedication that led the Commanding General of the XX Corps to declare him an honorary member, allowing him to wear their insignia on his uniform. Although US troops eventually pushed through the Moselle, the war was still far from over.

     In another scene of intense fighting, Graham followed members of K Co, 2nd IR, 5th ID into Fort Driant. He described the fierce, close-up fighting as the closest “this war had seen since Stalingrad.” After multiple days and over 700 casualties, the 5th ID withdrew back to US lines. In mid-November, he followed the 2nd Armored Division as they drove into Germany in Geilenkirchen, Gereonsweiler, Ederen, and Freialdenhoven. Graham describes heavy anti-tank and artillery fire, minefields, roadblocks, and tanks from the enemy while going through these towns; the Germans fought tooth and nail to stop any advance into their own country. 


     Frederick also carefully noted the effects of this fighting. He once again found himself with the 116th IR in Koslar, and described that “all towns are badly shot up. What the artillery did not destroy, bazooka and small arms fire has taken care of.” He wrote of German civilians watching a truckload of their defenders being taken prisoner; a mother of two children could only muster a weak smile as she watched them leave. Much of the same was true as Graham went through Kirchberg and Altdorf. When the American troops weren’t sloshing through wet, cold weather, they were fighting in brutal house-to-house combat. 


     December was much of the same, as he closely reported along the Roer River, writing about American attempts to cross. Always wanting to get a better picture for the states, Graham voluntarily accompanied multiple patrols throughout the month in an attempt to examine what really happened behind the reports that read: “no activity on this front today except action by patrols.” He quickly found that, despite how downplayed they were, these patrols were extremely dangerous and played an incredibly important role in intelligence gathering. Graham described one patrol he accompanied that captured a German sergeant–surprising him as he smoked a cigarette in the middle of the night. Interviewing various troops, he wrote a detailed description of different types of patrol missions, the average firepower of a patrol, and the men it consisted of. In doing so, civilians back home could put themselves in the shoes of their sons, brothers, husbands, fathers, friends, or colleagues in Europe.

     In March of 1945, the Allies were preparing for what would become the final airborne drop of the war: Operation Varsity. By dropping troops across the northern Rhine River, they hoped to secure a better pathway for troops on the ground to cross deeper into Germany. Asking to be part of the historic event, Graham was briefed on the operation by Troop Carrier Command, then assigned to accompany members of the 17th Airborne Division, and ride along in a plane from the 29th Troop Carrier Squadron, 313th Troop Carrier Group. Waking up at four in the morning, Graham skipped out on breakfast and arrived at the airstrip, where he found the paratroopers waiting. He boarded the plane, and as it took off he recalled how surprised he was that all the men were extremely calm. He mentioned how one GI said that his mother’s birthday was that day, so he wrote to her that some “big things” were happening as a celebration. Frederick watched eagerly as the plane approached the drop zone and he caught a few glimpses of assault boats crossing the Rhine below him. Clinging onto his seat, flak began to explode around the plane. He could only imagine the nerves each man was experiencing as they jumped out of the plane one by one. Before he knew it, the last man waved goodbye and said “I’ll be seeing you” to the crew as he jumped out of the side. Almost immediately the pilot hit the throttle and they began flying back to base. Along the way, Graham was in awe at the hundreds of Allied planes he saw making their way to the drop zone.


     Back on the ground less than a week later, he found himself struggling to keep up with the frontlines. He desperately attempted to follow the 3rd Armored Division as they drove into Germany. At one point he and his fellow correspondents had to make 200-mile round trips in their jeeps from where they were staying to get to the front. Along the way, however, he describes once again being impacted by the brutal reality of the war. Despite there being very few soldiers remaining in many of the passing villages, the Germans’ refusal to surrender created a path of destroyed buildings where hold-outs remained. Graham remarked: “naturally enough, burning German towns smell exactly like burning French, Dutch, and Belgian towns.” Despite the Allies having essentially won the war, Frederick continued to see the bodies of desperate Germans who fought to the death. He passed by a knocked out German tank near Duderstadt where someone had crudely scribbled “Buy More War Bonds.” Although he didn’t know it at the time, he would soon be faced with the most brutal sight of the war yet as he went deeper into the heart of Germany.

     In April of 1945 Graham found himself traveling alongside the 69th ID, a relatively new outfit that first saw combat earlier that year. Alongside the troops, he entered the city of Leipzig after a fierce last stand by the remaining Germans and Hitler Youth in the area. While here, he heard some news that a camp had been discovered in Thekla–an industrial community on the outskirts of Leipzig. Along with Andy Rooney, a reporter for the Stars and Stripes, the two were the first American correspondents allowed in the camp. Accompanied by a Polish translator, Graham wrote that the emaciated survivors acted like dogs who expected to be kicked at any moment, wary of whether a wrong move would get them punished. The two correspondents were then taken to the “slaughter pen,” which Graham described as follows:

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There, in a small barbed-wire enclosure, we saw at least 100 naked, burned bodies of men who had died in trying to escape the flames and bullets…Naked, hairless bodies that looked like wax figures lay on the ground. Some were half way under the wire. Some were draped on the wire; others were flat on their stomachs, with legs up, as boys hold them when sleigh-riding. Others were flat on their backs, knees drawn up. All showed the marks of rifle or machine-gun fire, besides the burning that had made them shrink and shrivel up…In one big heap in about the middle of what had been a building, there was a mound of human flesh that had melted into a mass–only the half dozen or more heads sticking up and a protruding arm or leg here and there to show what it was.

 

After interviewing a French political prisoner who survived the scene, described as being a “mere ghost” himself, Graham found that the indescribably gruesome sight was a result of the SS guards at the camp. As the Americans were fighting their way into Leipzig, the guards rounded up about 300 men into a wooden barracks building, coated them in buckets of flammable airplane lacquer, locked the door, and threw incendiary grenades onto the top. The prisoners clawed and trampled each other as they tried to escape, and any that made it to the fence outside were shot as they tried to find any way out of the pen.
 

    The camp that Graham witnessed was named simply the “Leipzig-Thekla concentration camp,” and was a subcamp of Buchenwald. The events he described became known as the Abtnaundorf Massacre, and the speed at which the US troops advanced prevented a similar atrocity planned by guards at a nearby women’s camp. The photos Graham took that day–if he could even bring himself to take any at all–were deemed too graphic to show to the public, and censored out of any papers back home. A common sentiment expressed amongst many correspondents and photographers during the war was that the public needed to see the truth, and by censoring photos of the horrific concentration camps, they could never truly grasp the pure evil of the atrocities committed by the Nazis. The sights Frederick saw that day likely lived with him for the rest of his life, regardless of whether they were printed or not.


    To the joy of many, the war in Europe came to an end in May of 1945. Before the official surrender, Graham wrote about how the roads in Germany became clogged with thousands of Germans who gave themselves up to the Allies. He continued to follow US troops as they advanced into Germany until the day of surrender. After the war he briefly remained in Europe to cover some stories in occupation, but was soon sent back to the states when he found fewer and fewer stories to cover. After all he had seen, he went right back to his old desk and resumed his job as an aviation editor. He continued working for the New York Times until 1954, when he and his brother bought two weekly newspaper companies back home in West Virginia. There he settled down with his wife, editing and publishing the two papers with his brother until he passed away in 1982, at the age of 74.

The War in His Own Words

Below you can find nearly every article that Frederick Graham wrote while serving as a war correspondent; they tell his experiences in detail from his time in England's air bases to Germany's concentration camps.

All articles are courtesy of the New York Times archive.

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