The Prétot Stele to the 90th Infantry Division

A celebration of American freedom leads to a friendly-fire incident in the wake of French liberation. Decades later, French and American descendants come together to commemorate both the liberation and the loss.

Cruel irony can be exemplified by no event better than the crash of an observation plane on July 4th, 1944. As the 90th Infantry Division completed its push for the capture of Hill 122, a celebration of the Fourth of July led to friendly fire downing and ending the lives of pilot Alfred Howard and observer William Windeler. Though such an incident is rarely expected to contain a silver lining, as a result, collaboration between French and American legacies blossomed, the courage of even more liberating forces was honored, and a measure of healing was found.

Independence Day of 1944 must have been a red-letter day for the men of the 90th Division. On the 3rd of July, the 3rd Battalion of the 90th’s 359th Regiment liberated the village of Prétot. They fought as part of a general US Army push farther south of the Cotentin Peninsula, following the capture of Cherbourg on June 27th . Morale must have been at a rare high, between the turning tides in battle and the celebratory spirit of the holiday. Reportedly, Army headquarters gave permission “to every carbine, rifle, machine gun, or artillery gun” to fire at the sky in celebration (Levaufre). Sometime that day, pilot Captain Alfred Howard, and his observer, 2nd Lieutenant William Windeler, took off from an airfield near the Chateau de Franquetot in a Piper L4 “Grasshopper”.

William George Windeler, a resident of Oakland, California, was twenty-four in July of 1944. He attended Piedmont High, in Piedmont, California, then the University of California, where he earned his undergraduate degree. During his high-school and college years, he was well-known locally for his athletic prowess, as well as his community involvement as a Sea Scout leader. He enlisted in the Army immediately following his graduation from the University of California, and was sent overseas in April of 1943.

Thirty-one-year-old Alfred Ryland Howard, known to friends and family as Ryland, hailed from Houston, Texas. He was an accomplished young man, having graduated from Rice Institute, the University of Texas law school, and Stanford Military academy, and having served the city of Houston as assistant city attorney. He enlisted in the 36th Infantry Division’s field artillery Battalion in 1940. When he was sent overseas in March of 1944, he left behind his new bride, Edith Anson, whom he married in August of 1943. At that time, they were expecting their first child.

By the time Howard and Windeler took off on that fated Independence Day, their 344th Field Artillery Battalion had been temporarily separated from the 36th Infantry Division, and attached to the 90th Infantry Division to support the liberation of the Cotentin Peninsula. That day, they were intended to assist in directing the artillery firing on infamous Hill 122.

They were never able to land. Their Piper L4 was hit, and crash-landed in a farmer’s field near Prétot, tragically ending the lives of both servicemen. Howard was survived by his young widow, Edith, and his parents, Dr. and Mrs. A. Philo Howard. Windeler was survived by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Robert Windeler.

While no definite cause for the crash is listed in the official records, servicemen present in the area on July 4th testified that the shell which took down Howard and Windeler’s aircraft came from an American gun– likely a 155mm Howitzer. With so many shells in the air, both celebratory and offensive, it was more than likely that an accident would occur. Still, no units claimed responsibility for a friendly fire incident. The wreck remained where it fell, abandoned, for decades, and eventually disappeared, along with the memory of Howard and Windeler. Almost.

That is, until the owner of the field where the Grasshopper crashed met with the French historian of the 90th Infantry Division, Henri Levaufre, to share the story. “I remember one day meeting with a local farmer in a village named Prétot not too far from Hill 122 who told us about the wreck of a US observation plane,” remembers Christian Levaufre, chairman of the Normandy 44-90th Infantry Division Association, and Henri’s son. “He had even kept a piece of the aircraft spar that he gave to us” (2024). The piece of the Grasshopper remained in the senior Levaufre’s possession until his passing in 2019.

In 2019, Ryland Howard, the baby whom Alfred and Edith had been expecting prior to Alfred’s death, got in touch with Henri. Henri was able to share that he was aware of the incident and knew the location, but he passed away soon afterward. Mr. Howard then got in touch with Christian directly. In order to surprise Mr. Howard upon his arrival, Christian explained that he was planning a visit to Normandy to look for the location of his late father’s crash, and requested Mr. Levaufre’s help. Mr. Levaufre agreed, withholding that he knew exactly the location of the crash, and that he even had a piece of the plane itself.

Surprised Mr. Howard was, and he was thrilled to see not only the site of the crash, but the chateau where his father spent his last night, on July 3rd, 1944. Mr. Levaufre was also able to give Mr. Howard the piece of the spar from his father’s Grasshopper, having recovered it from the depths of the senior Mr. Levaufre’s collection, and felt that Mr. Howard “was happy to bring it back to San Antonio and show it to his children,” these being Cpt. Alfred Ryland Howard’s grandchildren (2024).

Keeping it a secret from their father, these grandchildren soon also contacted Mr. Levaufre with the idea of setting up a memorial to their grandfather and Windeler at the site of the crash. Mr. Levaufre recommended that a place in downtown Prétot would be preferable, with space for parking and more foot-traffic, and offered to begin the process for them.

A small monument dedicated by the children of Lt. Gene Williams, a paratrooper who was killed in an early attempt to liberate Prétot, was already standing in a nice location, so Mr. Levaufre reached out to the mayor of Prétot, Mr. Thierry Renaud, for permission to place a similar memorial for Howard and Windeler nearby. Thus the creation of the monument began.

In the process, it was decided to also remember the other men of the 90th who liberated Prétot the day before Howard and Windeler were killed– those of the 3rd Battalion of the 359th regiment.

The memorial takes the final form of a rectangular marble stele, which bears a bronze plaque honoring Howard and Windeler, an aluminum silhouette of a Piper L4 like the one they flew, the 90th Infantry Division insignia, and a carved message to the men of the 359th. The combination of memorials and materials on one stone brings together the legacy of men who likely never met, yet, who fought with the same heart and the same patch for the same cause.

The inscriptions are all written in French, but translate to the following. First, for Howard and Windeler: “On July 4, 1944, a Piper L4 observation plane responsible for adjusting the fire of an artillery Battalion of the 90th Infantry Division was shot down near here, killing both crew members./ Pilot: Alfred Ryland Howard- Houston Texas/ Observer: William Windeler- Oakland California/ Never forget them, for they died for your freedom.” (Levaufre, 2024). Then, for the men of the 359th: “In memory of the men of the 90th Infantry Division who fell for the liberation of Prétôt on July 3, 1944” (Levaufre, 2024).

The entire process was kept a secret from Mr. Howard by his children, in order to surprise him once more, and the dedication was originally planned for the end of May, 2021. However, Covid-19 restrictions prevented the Howard family from traveling to France. Thus, the monument was pre-dedicated in May of 2021, and a final, official dedication occurred a year later, on May 28th, 2022, with the Howard family in attendance. Ryland Howard was shocked and delighted by the proceedings.

No descendants of William Windeler could be found, and because of this, Mr. Levaufre “brought Ryland with me to celebrate Memorial Day at the US cemetery, and we went to lay a flower on Windeler’s grave” (2024). According to the local American Battle Monument Commission Archives, the pair were the first to ever visit his grave.

The dedication shown by Mr. Howard and Mr. Levaufre is a beautiful exemplification of the silver lining to these events. The collaboration between their families demonstrates how acts of remembrance can bridge generations and cultures, from something as simple as the gift of a forgotten airplane spar, to the erection of an eternal memorial.
The stele at Prétot stands not only as a monument to Howard, Windeler, and the other men of the 90th Infantry Division, but as a physical reminder that, through connection to and respect for the past, pain and loss can be transformed from something that seems senseless and painful, to something that can touch hundreds, if not thousands, of lives. Each visitor to the stele helps preserve the legacy of the fallen, and the legacy of those who stand to remember them. This memorial is a testament to the power of simple remembrance.

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