Abbott Reed Webber - A Bedford Paratrooper in France During WWII

Submitted by the Bedford Historical Society

Abbott Reed Webber, in a photograph taken by John Dodge - Courtesy image — Abbott Reed Webber, in a photograph taken in Bedford by his friend John Dodge before he went off to war – Courtesy image

Late last fall the Society received an email from Thierry Ferey in Normandy, France:

“I’m writing to you as I’m making some research about American paratroopers who were landed here on D Day, June 6, 1944. I ‘googled’ about one of these Heroes named Abbott Reed Webber and I found your website. I know, sadly, that Mr. Webber passed away several years ago but I try to be in touch with his family…

“By way of my research, I try to connect the families of these brave Heroes who gave so much to our people in 1944, their courageous feats aren’t forgotten, my country is Free since this time (1944) and I know that Freedom isn’t Free, many of Mr. Webber’s friends paid the high price by their own sacrifice …”

We immediately passed the message to Doris (Mickey) Webber, Reed’s widow, and googled Thierry Ferey-Normandy.

We found that he is a dairy farmer in Normandy, France, and over the years has researched records to reach families of men who served in the 101^st Airborne Division. He has been able to bring closure to some families by answering some of their questions about the events on D Day. After talking with Mickey, we responded to Mr. Ferey that she would be interested in any information that he might have.

In his response (sent on Veterans Day 2014) Mr. Ferey wrote:

“Several years ago I received a letter from an American veteran of the 101^st Airborne Division who was misdropped in the marshy land at St. Georges de Bohon where my family lived on D Day. He was there, completely lost and far from his objective with two other American paratroopers. One of these unfortunate men was Abbott R. Webber [who] was a medic, the other one was William Elliott … Today, we are on a special day and we remember the Big Sacrifice that made all these so Extraordinary men on D Day …”

The plight of Sgt. Robert Reynolds, Cpl. Webber and Radioman Elliott is told in D-Day with the Screaming Eagles, a video recording available through the Bedford Library, featuring the accounts of many members of the 101^st Airborne Division who landed in Normandy on D-Day. The three men avoided detection by the Germans and, after crossing ditches, canals and rivers, they finally reached friendly lines at Carentan days later.

From December 1944 through January 1945 Reed Webber’s unit was engaged at the Battle of the Bulge, where 600,000 American forces withstood a German counteroffensive, but with the loss of almost 81,000 casualties and over 10,000 dead. Mr. Webber was shot in the neck and shoulder there. He was hospitalized in England in a body cast for months and permanently lost sensation in his arm. An AP article in the Boston Globe in December reported on observances that were held in the Ardennes region and in Bastogne, Belgium to mark the 70^th anniversary of that battle.

At Mr. Ferey’s request we were able to provide him with a picture of Mr. Webber taken prior to his deployment overseas. It was taken by his friend John Dodge at his home at the corner of South Road and Crescent Ave. In closing, as many of you know, John has his own WW2 story. Posted on guard duty in the closing days of the war, he shot at but missed a rabbit for his dinner, only to have a German unit come out of the woods and surrender to him! (German soldiers were very anxious to surrender to US rather than to Russian forces.)