Gustav Bismark Guenther was born on April 21, 1896 in Chilton, WI (near Appleton, in Calumet County). He was a former Cavalry man, who rose to become a colonel and chief of public relations in the US Army psychological warfare branch in Europe. He died while attending Sunday church services on June 18, 1944, at the Guards’ Chapel in London.

Early Life

Gustav (Jr.) was the middle child of 5 children known to be born to Gustave (Sr.) and Emma Guenther. He was baptized and confirmed in Ebenezer Evangelical and Reformed Church in Chilton. His father was born in Germany, emigrating in his early 20s. His mother was born in Wisconsin. They made their home in Chilton, WI. Gustav joined two older sisters Emma and Lydia. In the 1900 census, he was four years old. Brother Erich would join them soon after. (The youngest, Richard, arrived a dozen years later, 1912.) In 1900, the father was a day laborer, moving to grain buyer by 1905, to a clerk in a seed store, on his own account in 1910. Upon his sudden death from a heart attack in 1925, throngs turned out for his funeral. Gustave Sr. was highly regarded by the community. He was elected mayor of the city of Chilton, during Gustav Jr.’s senior year in high school, 1912-1913. He had become the foreman for Knauf & Tesch Co., and business superintendent of the Union Elevator. The newspaper noted fellow workers “held every respect for Mr. Guenther who was courteous and friendly at all times.” He was also a founder and officer in the German Veterans’ Society, having served seven years in the German army and achieved the rank of Sergeant in the German Cavalry.

Gustav Jr. went on to St. John’s military academy in Delafield, Wi, graduating in 1915. He received an appointment to West Point and was listed as a cadet between June 1916 and January 1917. Perhaps following in his father’s footsteps, Gustav went into the US Cavalry.

Military

When Gustav registered for the WWI draft, in June 1917, he was employed at Fort Sheridan, IL, noting he had been a cadet at the US Military Academy at West Point for ½ year, and that he was a candidate for commission as an officer. He stood 6’, was of medium build, had blue eyes and brown hair. What the card didn’t say is that he looked a lot like his father.

In 1917-1918, he served at Fort D.A. Russell, a large cavalry base in Cheyenne, Wyoming. By June 1918, he was promoted to Captain. He may also have been at Camp Jones near Douglas, AZ. His service number was O-6741.

Just as his military career was taking off, Gustav married Helena Kott from Texas, on March 4, 1919. Their lives got busier with work abroad, relocations and children. In January 1920, Capt. Guenther departed San Francisco for Manila. He spent at least two years in the Philippine Islands at Camp Stotsenburg, with the 9th Cavalry. His bride Helena was there for at least part of that time. By October 1922 he was in Monterey CA, then sent to Fort Riley, Kansas where he served an estimated four years. He graduated from the Training Officers’ Course in 1924. Both of his children were born there (1923 and 1926). He was there when his father died in 1925. Aside from the training, he appreciated his time with the horses – placing 2nd in a Troop Officers’ Outdoor Jumping championship, riding Touraine; and celebrating the end of the season with “much beer and many watermelons” along with band music. During the 1926 KS National Livestock show, the Ft. Riley cavalry team gave nightly horse shows. By June 1927 he was ordered to the Cavalry School in Saumur France. There he would receive “finishing instruction.” He graduated from Ecole d’Application de Cavalerie in 1928.

The training continued as the Cavalry changed with the times. After France, Capt. Guenther was sent to Camp Holibird, in Maryland for the motor transport course, which he completed in 1929. During that period, he was authorized to attend the Olympic Games in Amsterdam. The family must have joined him on that trip, as they sailed back together on the Leviathan from Cherbourg France. The kids were 5 and 2.

In Feb. 1929 he was ordered back to Fort Riley for a few years. When the Xth Olympics came to Los Angeles in 1932, Capt. Guenther served as Liaison Officer with the foreign teams in the Equestrian Sports Games. The horses were stabled at the Riviera Country Club in Santa Monica.

For the next three years he graduated from a two-year course at the Command and General Staff School in Fort Leavenworth, KS, then stayed on as Assistant Librarian. In 1935 he was stationed for a few months at Ft. Knox, KY with the First Cavalry, Mechanized.

The Baltics and Europe Assignments

Gustav was promoted to Major in August 1935, and promptly appointed as the US Military Attaché to Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Finland. He served in that role from Nov. 1935 to 1938. The Sheboygan Press remarked that “he has a splendid military record.” Beautiful photographs show his almost regal military bearing as he stands behind the ambassador in group photos. He cut a dashing figure. In 1938, Estonia awarded him the Order of the Cross of the Eagle, III, given for his “services rendered in the field of Estonia’s national defense.” He likely was efficient, courteous and friendly like his father.

In the spring of 1939, the Guenther family arrived in New York, from Southampton, England aboard the SS President Harding. Their address was the “War Dept.” in Washington DC. The kids were now 15 and 12. The family moved to Monterey California, where Major Guenther commanded the 11th Cavalry. He was promoted to Lt. Col on 9 Aug. 1940 and sent to The Cavalry School at Fort Riley, HQ post for about six months. He was set to go to Ft. Benning to join the 2nd Armored Division, when his orders were changed. Instead, he was brought to Washington DC to join the office of chief of staff in the War Department.

War was fast approaching. Sept. of 1941, found him in London, participating as a military observer in the office of Military Attaché. He may have been in Europe for some time, as he flew from Lisbon to New York in November 1941, with 5 bags of luggage. His address was the “War Dept.”

He received another promotion, to Colonel, on 1 Jan. 1942, just after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. The next two years brought more work overseas. By June 30 he was serving as the head of Special Operations in the European Theatre. He often flew out of Lisbon on Pan American. Three weeks prior to the North Africa invasion on Nov. 8, 1942, Col. Guenther was at a very high-level meeting in Gibraltar, where he was the OSS (Office of Strategic Services) representative. The meeting of top military and intelligence officials was the last stop before a clandestine meeting with French officials that “was to take place on a private, secluded and isolated residence back of a rapidly shelving beach about 20 yards wide to which a close approach [by attendees] could be made by sea.” General Mark W. Clark, Eisenhower’s Deputy Commander in Chief for Operation Torch, was in attendance. “A brief conference was held at Government house during which arrangements for the proposed landings on the Algerian coast were discussed….It was decided to proceed with the operation without delay.” Four and ½ hours later, the party was in a British sub enroute to meet the French.

In 1943 Gustav became the Strategic Services Officer in charge of OSS activities in Cairo. Toward the end of that year, the Theatre Commander at Cairo recommended him for promotion to Brigadier General.

In January 1944, he was assigned to the Army’s public relations subsection of the psychological warfare section in London. This position was anticipated to advance his career. The Army was eager to add “competent men of linguistic ability and political knowledge of Europe.” Further, the position “required tact and judgment between intelligence teams and military government detachments.” Col. Guenther would fit the bill.

Death and Burial

On June 18, 1944, Col. Guenther attended Sunday morning church services at the Guards’ Chapel at Wellington Barracks in London. It was located quite close to Buckingham Palace. Seemingly from nowhere, an “enemy robot bomb,” also called a “pilotless plane” or “robot shell,” hit the Chapel filled with both civilians and military personnel. The roof, walls, pillars and rubble all collapsed onto the parishioners, choir and chaplain. It took 48 hours to get all of them out. The loss was great – 121 soldiers and civilians killed; another 141 seriously injured.

Col. Gustav B. Guenther was among those killed, as were other senior British Army officers, and the officiating Chaplain. The blast was caused by Germany’s new “V1 flying bomb”.

Gustav Guenther was temporarily laid to rest in Brookwood Cemetery, southwest of London. The following year, June 17, 1945, special memorial services were held at the Ebenezer Evangelical and Reformed church in Chilton, WI. Col. Guenther was reburied in Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia, Section 12, Site 713.

The Brits rebuilt the chapel in the early 1960s, and services continue today. Gustav’s name is likely in the book of remembrance at the chapel. There is also a one-paragraph writeup at a British website naming the “victims of the bombing.”

Colonel Gustav B. Guenther was awarded the Legion of Merit, posthumous, by direction of the President, for “exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services from 13 January 1944 to 18 June 1944.” He was survived by his wife, daughter Patricia Ann, age 20, and son Berkeley Rhodes age 17. Further survived by his mother, two older sisters and two younger brothers.

Major Sources:

1. US Federal Censuses for 1900 and 1910 (Chilton, Calumet County, WI)

2. US Federal Census for 1920 for Military and Naval Population Abroad (Camp Stotsenburg, Philippine Islands)

3. US Federal Census for 1930 (Fort Riley, KS)

4. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/49194523/gustav-b-guenther

5. Army Officer Registers 1919-1944 available at Fold3.com

6. New York Passenger and Crew Lists available at Fold3.com

7. WWI Draft Registration Cards at Fold3.com

8. WWII Diaries (1942 Gibraltar story), available at Fold3.com

9. Evening Star, Washington DC, available at newspapers.com

10. Wisconsin Newspapers: Chilton Times, Jun. 14, 1945; Sheboygan Press, Apr. 23, 1925, Oct. 16, 1935 (note, there is another family headed by a different Gustav Guenther in Sheboygan) available at newspapers.com. FamilySearch.org has an unsourced obituary for the father in its user contributions.

11. OSS Records at CIA.gov, 1943

12. Psychological Warfare in the European Theater Operation, Study 131, (est. 1945-46) online.

13. https://washington.mfa.ee/100-years-of-diplomatic-relations-between-estonia-and-the-united-states-of-america/ (Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Embassy of Estonia)

14. https://ee.usembassy.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/207/Diplomatic-Representatives.pdf

15. https://www.householddivision.org.uk/guards-chapel-commemoration-service

16. http://www.westendatwar.org.uk/page_id__151_path__0p2p.aspx

17. “Victims of the Bombing” – biographies: http://www.ystradgynlais-wargraves.co.uk/guards-chapel-biographies.html#ggg

18. For photos, see the Gallery tab at the Fold3.com Memorial for Col. Guenther https://www.fold3.com/memorial/638795293/gustav-b-guenther/gallery

Written by dahlengret1952, April 30, 2023. Last updated May 9, 2023. Please contact me with any corrections or additions.

SBTS/WI/Calumet County/Chilton

SBTS/England/London

This story is part of the Stories Behind the Stars project (see https://www.storiesbehindthestars.org ). This is a national effort of volunteers to write the stories of all 421,000+ of the US WWII fallen on Together We Served and Fold3. Can you help write these stories? Together We Served and Fold3/Find A Grave have smartphone apps that will allow people to visit any war memorial or cemetery and read these stories of the WWII fallen.

Gustav B Guenther