Today in Wheeling History: July 24 — Warwood twins Pvt. Claude "Tim" Nodurft, killed in action near St-Lô, France, and Pvt. Ralph "Jim" Nodurft, wounded the same day during World War II's Operation Cobra and later dying in England on August 14 (1944).
On July 24, 1944, twin brothers Pvt. Claude "Tim" Nodurft and Pvt. Ralph "Jim" Nodurft of 20 Warwood Terrace, serving together in the 120th Infantry Regiment, 30th Infantry Division ("Old Hickory"), were struck by American bombs near St-Lô, France, during the lead-up to Operation Cobra, the Allied breakout from the Normandy hedgerows. U.S. Army Air Forces bombers, tasked with carpet-bombing German positions ahead of the ground assault, mistakenly dropped short on American lines on both July 24 and 25, causing more than 100 friendly-fire casualties across the two days, including Lt. Gen. Lesley J. McNair. Tim was killed instantly in the July 24 bombing; Jim was gravely wounded and evacuated to a hospital in England, where he died three weeks later, on August 14, 1944. Born May 20, 1925, in Lyons, Kansas, the twins moved with their family to the Warwood Terrace address in 1936, soon after which their father established the Charles M. Sledd Company, now known as Team Sledd. They attended Corpus Christi Grade School and graduated together from Wheeling Central Catholic High School, enlisting together while still seniors, and entered active military service side by side on July 31, 1943. Word of their deaths reached Wheeling in stages: Tim's death was reported by the Wheeling News-Register on August 28, followed by Jim's on August 31 in the Wheeling Intelligencer. Both were reburied together at Mount Calvary Cemetery in Wheeling in 1949, and in 2025 the city's Military Banner Program honored them with banners in Warwood.
To learn more: Archiving Wheeling - High Masses of Requiem (https://tinyurl.com/2ut9p5n3), Wheeling Intelligencer - City Raises Banners to Honor Twin Brothers Killed in WWII (https://tinyurl.com/yf79659z), WTRF - ‘They’re not just names on a memorial’: Wheeling honors 19-year-old fallen twin soldiers (https://tinyurl.com/e49u3f83), Find a Grave - PVT Claude Howard “Tim” Nodurft (https://tinyurl.com/y7kyrr7j), Find a Grave - PVT Ralph Francis “Jim” Nodurft (https://tinyurl.com/4hh886wr), Bizapedia (https://tinyurl.com/5aktwt3k), Wheeling Military Banner Tribute Page (https://tinyurl.com/535a5ff2), Wheeling News Register - Pvt. Claude Nodurft Dies In France; Sing Requiem Mass Here Tuesday (https://tinyurl.com/42bvs6mc), Wheeling Intelligencer - Pvt. Ralph F. Nodurft, 19, Dies of Wounds in British Hospital (https://tinyurl.com/59vxfyrt), Wheeling Intelligencer - Military Services Saturday (https://tinyurl.com/273cwa79), Wikipedia - 120th Infantry Regiment (https://tinyurl.com/3w4vxxkm), Wikipedia - 30th Infantry Division (https://tinyurl.com/mwfddw8k)
Photo credits: Archives of the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston, Wheeling News-Register, Wheeling Intelligencer, Find a Grave, Wikimedia Commons
On July 24, 1944, twin brothers Pvt. Claude "Tim" Nodurft and Pvt. Ralph "Jim" Nodurft of 20 Warwood Terrace, serving together in the 120th Infantry Regiment, 30th Infantry Division ("Old Hickory"), were struck by American bombs near St-Lô, France, during the lead-up to Operation Cobra, the Allied breakout from the Normandy hedgerows. U.S. Army Air Forces bombers, tasked with carpet-bombing German positions ahead of the ground assault, mistakenly dropped short on American lines on both July 24 and 25, causing more than 100 friendly-fire casualties across the two days, including Lt. Gen. Lesley J. McNair. Tim was killed instantly in the July 24 bombing; Jim was gravely wounded and evacuated to a hospital in England, where he died three weeks later, on August 14, 1944. Born May 20, 1925, in Lyons, Kansas, the twins moved with their family to the Warwood Terrace address in 1936, soon after which their father established the Charles M. Sledd Company, now known as Team Sledd. They attended Corpus Christi Grade School and graduated together from Wheeling Central Catholic High School, enlisting together while still seniors, and entered active military service side by side on July 31, 1943. Word of their deaths reached Wheeling in stages: Tim's death was reported by the Wheeling News-Register on August 28, followed by Jim's on August 31 in the Wheeling Intelligencer. Both were reburied together at Mount Calvary Cemetery in Wheeling in 1949, and in 2025 the city's Military Banner Program honored them with banners in Warwood.
To learn more: Archiving Wheeling - High Masses of Requiem (https://tinyurl.com/2ut9p5n3), Wheeling Intelligencer - City Raises Banners to Honor Twin Brothers Killed in WWII (https://tinyurl.com/yf79659z), WTRF - ‘They’re not just names on a memorial’: Wheeling honors 19-year-old fallen twin soldiers (https://tinyurl.com/e49u3f83), Find a Grave - PVT Claude Howard “Tim” Nodurft (https://tinyurl.com/y7kyrr7j), Find a Grave - PVT Ralph Francis “Jim” Nodurft (https://tinyurl.com/4hh886wr), Bizapedia (https://tinyurl.com/5aktwt3k), Wheeling Military Banner Tribute Page (https://tinyurl.com/535a5ff2), Wheeling News Register - Pvt. Claude Nodurft Dies In France; Sing Requiem Mass Here Tuesday (https://tinyurl.com/42bvs6mc), Wheeling Intelligencer - Pvt. Ralph F. Nodurft, 19, Dies of Wounds in British Hospital (https://tinyurl.com/59vxfyrt), Wheeling Intelligencer - Military Services Saturday (https://tinyurl.com/273cwa79), Wikipedia - 120th Infantry Regiment (https://tinyurl.com/3w4vxxkm), Wikipedia - 30th Infantry Division (https://tinyurl.com/mwfddw8k)
Photo credits: Archives of the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston, Wheeling News-Register, Wheeling Intelligencer, Find a Grave, Wikimedia Commons
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