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US Army 11th Armored Division two-sided commemorative poster, owned by a unit veteran

Object | Accession Number: 1989.324.3

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    US Army 11th Armored Division two-sided commemorative poster, owned by a unit veteran
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    Overview

    Brief Narrative
    Commemorative poster for the 11th Armored Division (AD), printed in honor of the division’s 46th birthday on August 15, 1988. It features colored depictions of the badges, shields, crests, and symbols of the various units that comprised the division, and memorializes the names of those killed in action. The poster was created by division historian Raymond (Ray) S. Buch, and heraldic artist Richard M. Crossett. Both men belonged to the 56th Armored Engineer Battalion, which entered combat in December 1944, during the Battle of the Bulge. On May 5, 1945, Ray and his platoon were near Linz, Austria, when another subgroup of the 11th AD found Mauthausen concentration camp and its former subcamp, Gusen. Soon after, Ray accompanied the bulldozer operators to Mauthausen to assist with the cleanup. While in the camp, Ray was able to film and photograph the scene, documenting the overcrowded barracks, the mass burials and the emaciated prisoners who were either clothed in rags or naked. After about 30 days, the 11th AD left Mauthausen and remained on occupation duty until they were inactivated on August 31, 1945.
    Artwork Title
    11th ARMORED DIVISION
    Date
    commemoration:  1942 August 15-1945 August 31
    creation:  1985-1988
    publication/distribution:  1988
    Geography
    manufacture: Linden (N.J.)
    Credit Line
    United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Raymond S. Buch
    Markings
    front, top center, insignia, printed, black ink : 11 / 11TH ARMORED / DIVISION / THUNDERBOLT
    front, top center, below insignia, printed, black ink : Activated 15 August 1942 / at Camp Polk, Louisiana / Disbanded 31 August 1945 / in Austria / Campaigns / World War II / [three stars] / Ardennes-Alsace / Rhineland Central Europe / PRESENTED TO

    front, first column, captions, printed, black ink : 22d / Tank Battalion / 41st / Tank Battalion / 42d / Tank Battalion / 778th / Tank Battalion
    front, second column, captions, printed, black ink : 21st / Armored Infantry Battalion / 55th / Armored Infantry Battalion / 63d / Armored Infantry Battalion / 713th / Tank Battalion
    front, third column, captions, printed, black ink : Headquarters and Headquarters Company / 11th Armored Division / 151st / Armored Signal Company / Supply Battalion / 11th Armored Division / 705th / Tank Destroyer Battalion
    front, fourth column, captions, printed, black ink : Division Artillery / 11th Armored Division / Service Company / 11th Armored Division / 995th / Engineer Treadway Bridge Company / 575th / Antiaircraft Artillery Battalion
    front, fifth column, captions, printed, black ink : 490th / Armored Field Artillery Battalion / 491st / Armored Field Artillery Battalion / 492d / Armored Field Artillery Battalion / 277th / Engineer Combat Battalion
    front, sixth column, captions, printed, black ink : 41st / Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron, (Mechanized) / 56th / Armored Engineer Battalion / 133d / Armored Ordnance Maintenance Battalion / 81st / Armored Medical Battalion
    front, bottom right margin, printed, black ink : Heraldic Art by Richard M. Crossett, 56th Armored Engineer Battalion, 1985.

    back, top center, printed, black ink : 11th ARMORED / DIVISION

    back, second column, bottom, printed, black ink : THIS POSTER HAS BEEN THE BRAIN- / CHILD OF RICHARD M. CROSSETT, / ARTIST & HERALDIST, AND RAYMOND / S. BUCH, HISTORIAN. IT WAS PRIN- / TED BY WILLIAM DRUCKER PRINTING / COMPANY, LINDEN, NJ

    back, bottom right corner, printed, black ink : THE FOLLOWING MEMBERS & FAMILIES / TO HELP IN PRESERVING THE NAMES / OF THE KILLED IN ACTION WHO ARE / LISTED ON THE POSTERS, HAVE CON- / TRIBUTED AT LEAST $100 OR MORE TO / FACILITATE PRINTING OF THE POS- / TERS TO AUG. 15, 1988, OUR 46th / BIRTHDAY. 9,000 POSTERS WILL BE DISTRIBUTED.
    Contributor
    Subject: Raymond S. Buch
    Producer: Raymond S. Buch
    Artist: Richard M. Crossett
    Printer: William Drucker Printing Company
    Biography
    Raymond (Ray) Buch (1920-2010) was born in New York City to Ukrainian immigrants, Ludwig (1893-1962) and Mary (nee Straub, 1896-1939) Buch, and was raised on a farm in New Jersey. Ray had four siblings: June (1925-c. 2005), Mary (b.1930), Gloria (1932-2002), and Francis (1934-2011). After completing high school, Ray worked as a construction carpenter until he was drafted into the United States Army in 1942. Ray’s construction background led to his assignment in the 11th Armored Division’s (AD) 56th Armored Engineer Battalion. He went through training in Louisiana and Texas before being deployed to Great Britain in September 1944. His unit arrived in France on December 16, 1944, and went into combat in Belgium during the Battle of the Bulge. Ray was injured during this campaign, and was awarded the Purple Heart. The division continued across Europe to the Siegfried Line, the defensive line on the western border of Germany. The engineers were responsible for a variety of tasks to facilitate movement of the troops, including preparing roads, removing obstacles, building bridges, and clearing mines. Within the 2nd Platoon of Company A, Ray was one of the men who operated the mine detector equipment.

    In March 1945, the 11th AD entered the Rhineland campaign in Germany. In mid-April, Ray and his unit began encountering camp prisoners who were being force marched by SS guards. The guards fled, leaving behind a trail of corpses who died or were killed during the marches. Ray’s platoon was part of the 11th AD’s Combat Command A which was moving toward Linz, Austria. On May 5, they were removing dynamite from a bridge when Combat Command B liberated Mauthausen concentration camp and its former subcamp, Gusen. Ray and his platoon were still near Linz when Germany surrendered to the Allies. The war officially ended on May 9. The next day, Ray accompanied the bulldozer operators to Mauthausen to assist with the cleanup. While in the camp, Ray was able to film and photograph the scene, documenting the overcrowded barracks, the mass burials and the emaciated prisoners who were either clothed in rags or naked. The division was at Mauthausen for about 30 days before they were relieved by the 26th Infantry. Prior to their departure, the 11th began burning some of the buildings and backfilled the latrines and mass grave trenches.

    After Ray and his unit left Mauthausen, they were sent to Schwanenstadt to maintain roads and rebuild bridges. He also spent a few days guarding the prisoners in Ebensee, a former concentration camp converted to house SS prisoners, and was later sent to the former Dachau concentration camp in Germany. The division remained on occupation duty until they were inactivated on August 31, 1945

    Ray returned to New Jersey after the war and went to work as a home contractor. He married Mary Louise Stout (1928-2006) in April 1951, and the couple had two children. Ray led the New Jersey chapter of the 11th Armored Division Association, became a unit historian, and served as the association President in 1974.
    Richard McNamee Crossett (1926-2006) was born in Little Rock, Arkansas to Jesse (1893-1974) and Agnes (nee Dowden, 1899-1977) Crossett. Richard was living in Salt Lake City, Utah, when he was drafted into the United States Army in August 1944. Richard was assigned to the 56th Armored Engineer Battalion (AEB), of the 11th Armored Division. While deployed in Europe, the engineers were responsible for a variety of tasks to facilitate movement of the troops, including preparing roads, removing obstacles, building bridges, and clearing mines. The 56th AEB was deployed to Great Britain in September 1944, arrived in France on December 16, 1944, and went into combat in Belgium during the Battle of the Bulge. The division continued across Europe to the Siegfried Line, the defensive line on the western border of Germany. In March 1945, the 11th AD entered the Rhineland campaign in Germany. In mid-April, they began encountering camp prisoners who were being force marched by SS guards. The guards fled, leaving behind a trail of corpses who died or were killed during the marches. On May 5, Combat Command B, which included a group from the 56th AEB, liberated Mauthausen concentration camp and its former subcamp, Gusen. The war officially ended on May 9. The division was at Mauthausen for about 30 days before they were relieved by the 26th Infantry. Before leaving, the 11th began burning some of the buildings and backfilled the latrines and mass grave trenches. The division remained on occupation duty until they were inactivated on August 31, 1945. Richard returned to the United States in June 1946, and enrolled at the University of Arkansas to study commercial art. In 1948, he married Maurine McArthur. After completing school, they settled in Salt Lake City, where he worked as a graphic designer and later became vice president of an advertising agency. Richard also served in the army during the Korean War (1950-1953). Richard and Maurine had four children, and in 1962, moved to Louisville, Kentucky. Richard became a well-known heraldic artist, and belonged to The American College of Heraldry and The Society of Heraldic Arts.

    Physical Details

    Language
    English
    Classification
    Posters
    Genre/Form
    Posters.
    Physical Description
    Poster printed on a sheet of glossy, white, rectangular paper featuring six columns with 24 images of multi-colored coats of arms and distinctive badges. Under each is a small black caption, identifying the specific unit represented by each. The two center columns are shorter, and each has two circular distinctive badges and two coats of arms. Above the two center columns, at the top center of the poster, is the triangular division insignia, surrounded by a circular yellow ribbon printed in a larger scale. The equilateral triangle is evenly-divided into three colors: the top is yellow; bottom left, blue; bottom right, red. At the apex, within the yellow section is a numeral, over a cannon barrel within chain link tank treads. A red, jagged lightning bolt overlays the cannon, oriented diagonally leftward. Flanking the insignia are six columns of small, black text, listing the place names along the combat route of the division. Below the insignia is black title text, divided by a row of three yellow stars. Below the title is an empty rectangular box, intended to be filled with an individual’s name. The back of the poster is printed entirely in black ink, arranged in five columns. The left column consists of a description of the division statistics and seven blocks of text accompanied by a line drawing of each unit’s coat of arms. The text describes each unit’s coat of arms, the symbolism, and unit history. The second column consists of 10 descriptions. The center column contains eight descriptions above the start of a list of men labeled as killed-in-action or as prisoners-of-war, along with several columns of data. The list continues through the fourth and fifth columns. At the bottom of the fifth column is a four-columned list of financial donors.
    Dimensions
    overall: Height: 24.000 inches (60.96 cm) | Width: 18.000 inches (45.72 cm)
    Materials
    overall : paper, ink
    Inscription
    back, second column, bottom, printed, black ink : R.S. Buch

    Rights & Restrictions

    Conditions on Access
    No restrictions on access
    Conditions on Use
    No restrictions on use

    Keywords & Subjects

    Administrative Notes

    Provenance
    The poster was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1989 by Raymond S. Buch.
    Funding Note
    The cataloging of this artifact has been supported by a grant from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.
    Record last modified:
    2024-11-07 11:28:10
    This page:
    http:​/​/collections.ushmm.org​/search​/catalog​/irn521561

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