Private First Class, Harold Lloyd Andrews was born on 3 Jun 1926 in Gruver, Emmett County, Iowa. His parents were Arthur Charles Andrews (1884-1956) and Leila Louise (Fuller) Andrews (1888-1974). His father, Arthur, was born in Iowa and was the owner of his own butcher shop. His mother, Leila, was also born in Iowa and was a homemaker. The couple married on 22 Aug 1917 in Polk County, Iowa. Harold had four siblings:

Robert Arthur Andrews (1917-1971)

Richard C Andrews (1918-1944) 1st Lieutenant in WWII, KIA

Howard Fuller Andrews (1923-1947)

Eldon Paul Andrews (1924-1976)

The family resided in Emmett County, Iowa. Harold attended Gruver High School graduating in June 1944. At the time of enlistment, Harold was employed at his father’s butcher shop. Harold was not married and had no dependents.

Private Harold L Andrews registered for the Army on 3 Jun 1944 in Orchard, Mitchell County, Iowa. His enlistment date was 15 Aug 1944 at Fort Snelling, Minnesota. He was assigned to the 180th Infantry Regiment, 45th Infantry Division.

Private Andrews was stationed at Fort McClellan, Alabama in July 1944 for his initial training. In December 1944 he was stationed at Camp Meade, Maryland and was sent overseas in January 1945. He was first stationed in France and then to Germany. On 16 Jan 1945 Private Andrews was killed in action in Remagen, Germany. He was buried in Belgium. Harold’s brother Richard C Andrews was also in the service. He was a 1st Lieutenant in the Army and was also killed in action.

The 45th Infantry Division participated in its fourth amphibious assault landing during Operation Dragoon on 15 August 1944, at St. Maxime, in Southern France.[41] The 45th Infantry Division landed its 157th and 180th regimental combat teams and captured the heights of the Chaines de Mar before meeting with the 1st Special Service Force.[53] The German Army, reeling from the Battle of Normandy, in which it had suffered a major defeat, pulled back after a short fight, part of an overall German withdrawal to the east following the landings.[54][55] Soldiers of the 45th Infantry Division engaged the dispersed forces of German Army Group G, suffering very few casualties.[50] The U.S. Seventh Army, along with Free French forces, were able to advance north quickly. By 12 September, the Seventh Army linked up with Lieutenant General George S. Patton's U.S. Third Army, advancing from Normandy, joining the two forces at Dijon.[52] Against slight opposition, it spearheaded the drive for the Belfort Gap. The 45th Infantry Division took the strongly defended city of Epinal on 24 September.[41] The division was then reassigned to V Corps, under the command of Major General Leonard T. Gerow, for its next advance.[51] On 30 September the division crossed the Moselle River and entered the western foothills of the Vosges, taking Rambervillers.[41] It would remain in the area for a month waiting for other units to catch up before crossing the Mortagne River on 23 October.[41] The division remained on the line with the U.S. 6th Army Group the southernmost of three army groups advancing through France.[56]

After the crossing was complete, the division was relieved from V Corps and assigned to Major General Wade H. Haislip's XV Corps.[51] The division was allowed a one-month rest, resuming its advance on 25 November, attacking the forts north of Mutzig. These forts had been designed by Kaiser Wilhelm II in 1893 to block access to the plain of Alsace. The 45th Division next crossed the Zintzel River before pushing through the Maginot Line defenses.[41] During this time much of the division's artillery assets were attached to the 44th Infantry Division to provide additional support.[57] The 45th Infantry Division, now commanded by Major General Robert T. Frederick, who had previously commanded the 1st Special Service Force, was reassigned to VI Corps on New Year's Day.[51] From 2 January 1945, the division fought defensively along the German border, withdrawing to the Moder River.[41] It sent half of its artillery to support the 70th Infantry Division.[57] On 17 February the division was pulled off the line for rest and training. Once this rest period was complete, the division was assigned to XV Corps for the final push into German territory.[51] The 45th moved north to the Sarreguemines area and smashed through the Siegfried Line, on 17 March taking Homburg on the 21st and crossing the Rhine between Worms and Hamm on the 26th.[41] The advance continued, with Aschaffenburg falling on 3 April, and Nuremberg on the 20th.[41] The division crossed the Danube River on 27 April, and liberated 32,000 captives of the Dachau concentration camp on 29 April 1945.[41] The division captured Munich during the next two days, occupying the city until V-E Day and the surrender of Germany.[58] During the next month, the division remained in Munich and set up collection points and camps for the massive numbers of surrendering troops of the German armies. The number of POWs taken by the 45th Division during its almost two years of fighting totalled 124,840 men.[41] The division was then slated to move to the Pacific theater of operations to participate in the invasion of mainland Japan on the island of Honshu, but these plans were scrubbed before the division could depart after the surrender of Japan,

World War II Casualties

· Total battle casualties: 20,993[60]

· Killed in action: 3,547[60]

· Wounded in action: 14,441[60]

· Missing in action: 478[60]

· Prisoner of war: 2,527[60]

Private First Class, Harold Lloyd Andrews was killed in action on 16 Mar 1945 in Remagen, Germany. He is buried at the Ardennes American Cemetery & Memorial, Liege, Belgium. There is also a memorial marker at the East Side Cemetery, Estherville, Emmett County, Iowa.

Private Andrews received the following commendations:

Gold Star Veteran

Bronze Star

Purple Heart Medal

Combat Infantryman Badge

Marksmanship Badge

World War II Victory Medal

American Campaign Medal

Army Presidential Unit Citation

Army Good Conduct Medal

European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal

Sources: Fold3.com, Findagrave.com, Ancestry.com, Newspapers.com, Google.com

This story is part of the Stories Behind the Stars project (see http://www.storiesbehindthestars.org). This is a national effort of volunteers to write the stories of all 421,000+ of the US WWII fallen saved on Together We Served and Fold3. Can you help write these stories? These stories will be accessible via smartphone app at any war memorial or cemetery.

If you noticed anything erroneous in this profile or have additional information to contribute to it, please contact me at Kmorrow1073@hotmail.com

SBTSProject: Iowa/Emmett