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Other Clay: A Remembrance of the World War II Infantry

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Cawthon's Other Clay is one of the finest memoirs of World War II that I have read. The tone is serious without being pompous, the language precise but poetic, the organization exactly as events transpired. Anyone who wants to know how confusing events were sorted out by individual soldiers on D-Day, and how brave and inventive American soldiers were after the landing, should read Cawthon's description of his experience, finding his way back into action after everything transpired unlike it was planned.
This memoir inspired the writing of my own Unsung Valor: A GI's Story of World War II. I only wish my own book matched its elegance in every respect.

I first became aware of this book when reading American Heritage's D-Day issue. They believed this work was one of the finest World War II memoirs. I found a beat up paperback and I have to agree.

Cawthon served with the 116th Regiment ("The Stonewall Brigade") of the 29th Division and was in the second wave on Omaha Beach. That he survived that maelstrom is amazing as well as the siege of Brest and the Autumn fighting on the German border.

His book is not even 200 pages long, but it's quiet, modest tone is wonderful and a welcome antidote to all "I did this," style memoir by most officers.

His articles for American Heritage, especially the D-Day commemorative (June 1994) are worth looking for. His was a gentleman soldier and a gifted observer and a fine writer.
If you add this book to Balkoski's "Beyond the Beachhead," and Glover Johns' "The Clay Pigeons of St. Lo," and you will have a superb trilogy on the Blue Gray Division in World War II.

Charles Cawthon's record of his experience in "Other Clay" provides a look at the ETO through nearly the entire length of combat during the fatal year of June 44-May 45. Cawthon did not participate in the winter campaign due to wounds, but is one of the few soldiers who landed at Omaha and made it through to the border of Germany. He served in the 116th regiment (2nd battalion) of the 29th Infantry Division. His regiment had the distinction of being the descendant of the famous Stonewall Brigade of the Confederate Army during the Civil War. This link forms the basis for many of Cawthon's ideas as he writes his recollections of war. There was always present in his mind the importance of what he was doing in an historical sense. Throughout the book there are constant references and comparisons to the original brigade and the Army of Northern Virginia, and how he and the 116th attempted to live up to the impressive achievements of the original unit. He begins chapters with quotations from poets and soldiers, most notably those of Henry Kyd Douglas whose memoirs from the Stonewall brigade were certainly a model for "Other Clay."

Though Cawthon's writing is somewhat somber and unemotional, there is poetry in his prose; his construction of language is very unique and harkens back to Victorian notions of honor and service. Cawthon does not dwell upon acts of bravery in the face of death and romantic notions of honor, but within his story there is a sense of patriotism predating the awful age of modern war fare that he finds himself in. This contradiction within him is one of the more fascinating aspects of the book as he comes to grips with the brutal reality of modern industrialized warfare which is both inhuman and depersonalized. I think his attempts to hold on to a fragment of history were a crutch of sorts, albeit an honorable one in that he needed to feel that sense of duty, camaraderie and honor which was all so prevalent during pre-modern wars. The "great crusade" in Europe proved that these notions were still alive, but certainly at the end of their time. After the discovery of the death camps the moral imperative of restoring freedom and justice really did ring true, but this did little to mitigate the awful horrors that the soldier must endure. Cawthon describes the mentality of the soldier as being a "self-induced schizophrenia" which separates the rational, feeling part of a human from the part which must perform his deadly duty. His recognition of war's insanity is a notion more akin to Hemingway, who noted war's destruction with cold, detached observation. So in a sense, Cawthon's work is really quite a literary achievement as well as a record of a decorated Major who commanded an infantry battalion, as he writes in a Victorian prose in with the recognition of a modern soldier.

Cawthon's tale begins as he leaves his job as print journalist in Virginia to enlist in the National guard in 1940. After completing OCS he is promoted to Captain and takes over H company of the 116th, only to be transferred to HQ company staff before the invasion of France. His recollections from Omaha provide a very unique and rare perspective as, so few soldiers hit the beaches under fire and survived. Though his account of the landing is fraught with death and chaos, it comes as across as somewhat vague and blurred, which is understandable given the conditions. His accounts of the St. Lo campaign in June and July of 44 are more of a battalion history as he was a staff officer, not a field commander. It is not until he takes over 2nd battalion upon the breakout from Normandy and the drive across France that the story becomes personally engaging. His memories during this time from Vire and Brest in France are excellent perspectives of a high-ranking field officer, as is his short but dangerous stint on the Siegfried line near Aachen, Germany. During his first week back on the lines in October, he is wounded by a mortar fragment, and did not return to his unit until the following April. By that time the war is all but over, and Cawthon witnesses the devastation throughout Germany as part of the occupying force.

The author was with the 2nd Battalion, 116th Infantry Regt of the 29th Division. He landed on Omaha in the third wave, fought in the hedgerows before St. Lo and in the siege of Brest before finally being wounded at Aachen. Both before and after the war the author was a journalist and it shows - this is a beautifully written book. His style is precise, lyrical, almost classical in tone. There are many references to other wars and times (the title is from a poem about Waterloo), in particular to his unit's heritage as Stonewalls Brigade in the Civil War. None of this is done in a pretentious way, the author is very aware of history and he recognises that he has a role in part of it. These references enhance the text and reveal a lot about the authors thoughts.

As for combat, the casualties start in training, something we usually read little about. Omaha Beach is revealed, though almost as a blur, with few of the graphic details we know from `Saving Private Ryan'. Cawthorn's beach is a place of death but also at times, strangely calm. He was there for hours trying to sort men out and funnel them to where the breakthrough has been made. He was wounded and even became famous following Ernie Pyle's misreading of the circumstances. His combat revelations continue in the same vein for the rest of his war. There is detail but it is more impressions rather than blow by blow action. Deaths occur near him but he has little time in the foxholes and never reveals if he had to fire his own weapon. Primarily this is because he is HQ company commander and later battalion commander so his exposure was different to that of a rifleman. He writes a little of his opponents, but given who some of these were (Ramcke's 2nd Para for instance), I wanted to read more.

Cawthorn is at once an intimate participant in all he sees but also somewhat removed. This does not detract from the book, it is after all titled a `remembrance' and is very well composed. He is reflective, sometimes amused at the ironies of war and utterly aware of his own fears. Even so, it's probably not for those who like to read about graphic combat. It's not that kind of book, it is more about the impressions that were left than of the blow being delivered. I didn't get the feeling for instance that I was there beside him which some of the others listed above do manage. (I was left in no doubt though that this was a blessing!) It is however a beautiful read - it really resonates, appealing to both the English and the History student in me. This said, Other Clay ranks modestly in terms of the clarity of the authors combat experiences. However, in terms of being generally engaging it goes much higher. Indeed, when considered in terms of its level of literate skill, it is in the top rank of WW2 memoirs.

I can see why some folks did not like this story. It wasn't full of tables of organization, it didn't have many maps, it didn't make you feel as if you've been living in combat fatigues for weeks or crawling under tracer rounds. No...

It was much better than that. It was a tale of what happens to people when immersed in the atmosphere of warfare. And, just as there are many different people, you get to see in this story an equally diverse array of reactions. I can relate to this man's observations and commentary. They are genuine and they are very human, ranging at any time somewhere between scoundrel and heroic. I suppose it was the unvarnished truth, written in beautiful prose, that I found most appealing. If you desire to understand a little more of the "human condition", particularly when it is stressed to the extreme as will happen during armed conflict, then I highly recommend this tale. It is informative and it is reassuring. It is enlightening in a way to which few other memoirs aspire.

This is an interesting book. Perhaps not as good as I'd initially thought, and hoped, but good nonetheless. From what I can tell the book wasn't written till the late-80's early 90's, although it is based in part on a trio of articles written in the 70s and early 80s. I think it suffers - as a memoir - from having been written so long after the event. Notably, there is an almost complete absence of spoken word interactions, and in a way it almost seems like Cawthon is writing about someone else.

I really, really liked Cawthon's modesty. Also, the changing character of the division over it's months in battle was interesting. The importance of personal relationships was brought out well, both at the peer level, and at the superior level (e.g., his good first impression with Gerhardt, which made things a little easier with this notoriously difficult man for Cawthon later). The emphasis he put on psychological casualties and the 'voluntary' nature of being a rifleman in the US Army in WWII was enlightening, and isn't something I've seen much - or any - discussion of elsewhere (although ... Bowlby and Milligan do so for the British Army, as does Mowat for the Canadian Army).

OTOH, there was strangely little information about the mechanics of running an infantry unit in battle (unlike, say, Wilson or Johns). I also tired of Cawthon's repeatedly going off on little tangents then pulling up short with "but that belongs in a later part of this story" - he did that a lot with Howie, in particular.

On a minor note; the maps were ok, but I think are the worse for having been borrowed from another context rather than having been drawn specifically for this one. OTOH, those official history maps really are nice, and it is profoundly unlikely anything similar would have been produced just for this book.

Would I recommend this book? Well, yes, but not to all and sundry. The 29th Inf Div has been blessed with a number of very good biographers (Johns "The Clay Pigeons of St. Lô", Balkoski "Beyond the Beachhead: The 29th Division in Normandy" and "Omaha Beach: D-Day, June 6, 1944", and Cawthon), and I would recommend it to anyone who's read either or both of those others, but perhaps not as a first read.

I'm glad I read it, but I think it'll be a long while before I read it again, or even refer to it.

"Other Clay" by Charles R. Cawthon.

Subtitled:" A Remembrance Of The World War II Infantry".

University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, 2004.

This is a well written personal memoir, written the way all personal memoirs should be written: less on the preliminary training, more on the actual combat experiences. The author's emphasis is on the action in the European Theater of Operations (ETO), with a fairly brief introductory section highlighting the people involved, the training involved and the feelings involved in anticipation of the D-Day landings.

Charles R. Cawthon (1912-1996) served with the 2nd Battalion, 116th Regiment, commonly known as the Stonewall Brigade of the 29th Infantry Division. Recall that the 29th Infantry Division shoulder patch was a circle made up of blue and gray, in a yang and yin arrangement, meaning the both Northern and Southern outfits in one division. Cawthon was part of the gray section; the southern group that once, years ago, had been commanded by confederate General Thomas Jackson, "Stonewall" Jackson. Cawthon's personal memoir begins with his company, "H Company", Virginia National Guard, mustering in the armory to take the oath as they entered federal service on 3 February 1941. In the next 33 pages or so, the author describes preparation for the invasion of Europe, moving quickly through an analysis of the ethnic make-up of the men in the command, to their training and their shipping overseas. The entire division went on the Queen Mary, a Cunard Line ship that was fast enough so that she could outrun German submarines. On page 22, Cawthon describes how the Queen Mary cut the cruiser, HMS Curacao in half with loss of 332 seamen, "... there was a bump and then a tremor underfoot, and a shout that we had run down one of the escorts." With this quiet and un-excited writing, the author recounts how 332 men died in oil-coated cold seas. On page 33, Charles Cawthon quietly describes how a man, in training on the beach went up to an uncovered mine, and, for some reason, tapped the top of the mine with the toe of his boot. "There was a blinding flash and a clap of sound, and he disappeared as by a magician's sleight of hand. The illusion terminated in pieces of anatomy plopping into the sand around us." This is presented in quiet, well-written prose. The landing on D-Day, 1944, the ineffectiveness of their precautions to keep weapons dry, and the casualties suffered (more than 50%by Cawthon's 2nd Battalion) are all quietly recorded in good English prose that keeps you reading and reading.

This same understatement is carried throughout the book and throughout the ETO, from the battles in the hedgerows of Normandy, to Operation Cobra, to the time in October 1944 when he is wounded in the leg. Even when describing K-rations, his prose is understated, "...the soldier ate the part least offensive to his taste...For me, the sugar cubes were the most familiar tasting, and, in the belief that they yielded energy, I consumed them heavily... " He expresses concern with the replacements, whose way to war "... was hard, crowded and dull. ... to join strangers in facing death or great injury". He describes the replacements as innocent and somehow pathetic ..."I felt an ancient among children, knowing and dreading what they were to meet". (Page 81).

I found this book to be well worth reading.

This a thoughtful book about the experiences of landing at Normandy and then following through, especially, to the battle for St. Lo in France. If you have ever been in the military, you will know this book to be truth. I say that mainly from the screw ups, especially the lack of planning for fighting through the hedgerows that were right behind the Normandy beaches--that got so many men killed. I should amend that to say absolutely no planning for the fighting through the hedgerows which makes the author and the reader on learning of it why that was so. He mentions all the training for the landing--and then the absolute lack of it for right beyond the beaches. Reading about all the confusion immediately after the landing--companies and battalions widely scattered and unorganized also makes a veteran know that what he is reading is correct and true in every respect because all of that is so typical of the military.

The scenes of combat make one wonder how anyone could standup to all the true horror and hell of exploding shells and the scenes of death and destruction that caused one man standing amidst it to say: "I don't understand it. I just don't understand what it is all about."

Not all can standup to it as evidenced by a line of men at a rear area all carrying their mess kits--when there is no kitchen or place for food. There also is the lieutenant, recently promoted to company commander, who appears at the battalion CP carrying a wounded soldier on his back. The lieutenant makes a brief, bewilderend appearance at the CP and then disappears never to be seen again. You know of the men with the mess kits because the author found himself in the area where they stood--wondering if he should be there, too, though he returns to his battatlion. You get little glimmer of the hell of the death and destruction when you learn his division, the 29th, had 7,000 casualties in the 37 days. His division, incidentally, the 29th, consisted of the "Stonewall Brigade" made famous during the Civil War--and on the side of the Rebels. He sometimes recalls that brigade and its actions during the Civil War as he tells his story.

The style of writing is well, thoughtful and I wish I could think of something else to say. I just quote him as he sees his own infantry battalion marching away from the front line. It is a passage I've read often and like to re-read again:

"I have seen the great, gray ships of the D-day armada--the largest ever assembled--stretching to the horizon in every direction; and I had often seen in England majestic fleets of Flying Fortress bombers returning from runs over Germany, tragic gaps in their formations, and, limping behind them, planes with one or two inert propellers. These were swcenes awesome in power and portent. But, for a sight to gasph and hold the heart forever, I give you a decimated infatnry battalion lurching out of battle, bowed with a mortal weariness and the weight of all it has endured. This is not a drama supported by might machines, but of ordinary men alone, who have achieved an extraordinary triump over their fears and vulnerable flesh. For me, all other sights must pale beside it."

How I do enjoy reading that. What a nice book to read!

I found this book interesting, though somewhat less than I had hoped. Still, it is a good book for anyone interested in the actions of D-Day and in particular, the 29th Divisions role in the invasion. Cawthon tells a good story but I found myself wanting to know more about certain things he talked about. Most of which I'm sure he never knew the details of, but it appears that he had probably, simply forgot most of the facts needed to flesh out the story lines.

I first became aware of this book when reading American Heritage's D-Day issue. They believed this work was one of the finest World War II memoirs. I found a beat up paperback and I have to agree.

Cawthon served with the 116th Regiment ("The Stonewall Brigade") of the 29th Division and was in the second wave on Omaha Beach. That he survived that maelstrom is amazing as well as the siege of Brest and the Autumn fighting on the German border.

His book is not even 200 pages long, but it's quiet, modest tone is wonderful and a welcome antidote to all "I did this," style memoir by most officers.

His articles for American Heritage, especially the D-Day commemorative (June 1994) are worth looking for. His was a gentleman soldier and a gifted observer and a fine writer.
If you add this book to Balkoski's "Beyond the Beachhead," and Glover Johns' "The Clay Pigeons of St. Lo," and you will have a superb trilogy on the Blue Gray Division in World War II.