Sobernheim, Manfred

Description

Manfred Sobernheim was born on September 7, 1913, in Germany to Clara Nell├┐ Gitta Schiff and Moritz Christian Sobernheim. He had one sister Marianne and a brother Rudolph Sobernheim. Manfred was raised and educated in London and on the continent. In Rye his family lived at 24 Hix Ave.

In 1940 Manfred was 26 with a 24-years old, younger sister and his mother was 50. They also had a Servant named James living with them. All of the family members were born in Germany. Just 5 years earlier, Manfred was living in London, England.

The census worker recorded Manfred’s occupation as in the Export industry. In the last week of March in 1940, he worked 48 hours. In 1939, he earned $500 ($9,500 in today’s dollars) and worked 52 weeks of the year.

Manfred enlisted on January 19, 1943 and served in the U.S. Army during World War II.

Sobernheim Got Supplies To The Men Of Bastogne
A U.S. TROOP CARRIER BASE, EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS:

Pfc. Manfred Sobernheim, whose mother lives at 24 Hix Avenue, Rye, N. Y., played a vital role in the greatest air supply mission ever flown in Europe to relieve the encircled American garrison of Bastogne, during von Rundstedt’s all out counter offensive at Christmas time.

When planes of the U.

S. Troop Carrier Forces flew in through a heavy barrage of enemy flak and ground fire to drop food, ammunition, medical and other supplies, Pfc. Sobernheim was the dropmaster entrusted with the responsibility of getting the 1,000-pound load out and releasing the six pararack loads on the belly of his plane at the precise moment so they would float down accurately into waiting American hands.

Honors for the success of the mission go to both the Troop Carrier pilots who brought the aircraft in over the drop zone as planned a in spite of violent enemy fire and to the dropmasters like Pfc. Sobernheim who worked in the jump door of the plane to the vital loads away in open, time.

As a result, the Americans were able to fight their way to contact with other units, stemming the German advance in the Bastogne sector.

His meritorious conduct during similar air supply missions in the invasions of France and Holland won Pfc. Sobernheim the Air Medal recently. He has served in the European Theater of Operations for over 16 months and a brother, Cpl. Rudolph, has served in the Pacific Theater for 9 months.

He was honorably discharged on October 25, 1945 when he was 32 years old. By 1950, he had relocated to Washington , DC and was working as a translator for the Army Map Services.

The Army Map Service (AMS) was the primary military cartographic agency for the U.S. Department of Defense from 1941 to 1968. Operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, it was responsible for the compilation, publication, and distribution of topographic maps for the U.S. Armed Forces.

Manfred Sobernheim died on November 24, 2000, in Washington, District of Columbia, at the age of 87, and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia.