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Contact Info
Home Town Milwaukee, Wic.
Last Address Born in Milwaukee. Joe lived in Beaver Dam, Fox Lake, Watertown and Randolph, Wisconsin. St. Mary's Annunciation Cemetery, Fox Lake, Dodge County, Wisconsin.
Joseph was born in Milwaukee, WI on December 29, 1926, the only child of Harold and Lorraine (Weckerle) Bump. His Mother, Lorraine, died early in Joseph’s life and he was later adopted lovingly by his step-mother Estelle (Mummert) Bump. He lived in West Allis, Fox Lake, Florida, Watertown, Lake Mills and Beaver Dam where his parents owned several businesses. Joe attended Catholic school and sang on the radio in Madison, WI in his youth. At 17 he volunteered for the U.S. Navy to fight in World War II. He was a Seaman First Class in the Amphibious Forces in the Caribbean. He served on LST 664, re-fitted as a Submarine Hunter, which protected Allied shipping from German U-Boats. Joe was the Radarman for the entire Flotilla and in 1945 was in-route for the invasion of Japan when news of the Japanese surrender reached them. After WWII, Joe finished High School and obtained a Business Degree at Wayland Academy while working at Newton & Wenz Department Store in Beaver Dam.
He married Jeannette McFarland on November 15, 1947, who became his lifelong best friend. In 1951 they moved to Randolph. Joe covered Wisconsin as a toy salesman for Marcus Mercantile of Milwaukee. Jeannette was a secretary at Educator’s Progress Service of Randolph. In 1956, Joe purchased the Bohlings Department Store and renamed it The New Bohlings, Inc., which he operated for 50 years with Jeannette. Joe was known for his friendliness, humor, willingness to help others, and his stories. Joe frequented the local restaurant for coffee and always had a joke to share with others. He enjoyed reading, movies and family. Joe was an active member of the Randolph Chamber of Commerce, VFW Post 9510, St. Gabriel’s Catholic Church and served on the Church Council as Treasurer for many years.
World War II/European-African-Middle Eastern Theater
From Month/Year
December / 1941
To Month/Year
September / 1945
Description The European-Mediterranean-Middle East Theater was a major theater of operations during the Second World War (between December 7, 1941, and March 2, 1946). The vast size of Europe, Mediterranean and Middle East theatre saw interconnected naval, land, and air campaigns fought for control of the Mediterranean, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, the Middle East, and Europe. The fighting in this theatre lasted from 10 June 1940, when Italy entered the war on the side of Germany, until 2 May 1945 when all Axis forces in Italy surrendered. However, fighting would continue in Greece – where British troops had been dispatched to aid the Greek government – during the early stages of the Greek Civil War.
The British referred to this theatre as the Mediterranean and Middle East Theatre (so called due to the location of the fighting and the name of the headquarters that controlled the initial fighting: Middle East Command) while the Americans called the theatre of operations the Mediterranean Theatre of War. The German official history of the fighting is dubbed 'The Mediterranean, South-East Europe, and North Africa 1939–1942'. Regardless of the size of the theatre, the various campaigns were not seen as neatly separated areas of operations but part of one vast theatre of war.
Fascist Italy aimed to carve out a new Roman Empire, while British forces aimed initially to retain the status quo. Italy launched various attacks around the Mediterranean, which were largely unsuccessful. With the introduction of German forces, Yugoslavia and Greece were overrun. Allied and Axis forces engaged in back and forth fighting across North Africa, with Axis interference in the Middle East causing fighting to spread there. With confidence high from early gains, German forces planned elaborate attacks to be launched to capture the Middle East and then to possibly attack the southern border of the Soviet Union. However, following three years of fighting, Axis forces were defeated in North Africa and their interference in the Middle East was halted. Allied forces then commenced an invasion of Southern Europe, resulting in the Italians switching sides and deposing Mussolini. A prolonged battle for Italy took place, and as the strategic situation changed in southeast Europe, British troops returned to Greece.
The theatre of war, the longest during the Second World War, resulted in the destruction of the Italian Empire and altered the strategic position of Germany resulting in numerous German divisions being deployed to Africa and Italy and total losses (including those captured upon final surrender) being over half a million. Italian losses, in the theatre, amount to around to 177,000 men with a further several hundred thousand captured during the process of the various campaigns. British losses amount to over 300,000 men killed, wounded, or captured, and total American losses in the region amounted to 130,000.
My Participation in This Battle or Operation
From Month/Year
January / 1944
To Month/Year
September / 1945
Last Updated: Mar 16, 2020
Personal Memories
Memories
Europe-Africa-Middle East Campaign
Campaign and Dates
Invasion of southern France, 15 August to 25 September 1944