September 26, 1944: Co "C" attached to 297th Engr. moved to ANDENNE, BELGIUM and trained in River crossing operations on the MEUSE RIVER. EmailPhone, Research A World War II Veteran (WWII WW2). Learn more. December 28, 1944: At 0200 hours an enemy Infantry Battalion made an attack in the vicinity of the motor vehicle park and the Battalion FWD. It was Oran in North Africa. bivouac was shelled by enemy artillery for 30 minutes at 1900 hours; one shell exploding 11000 pounds of TNT in the center of the bivouac area. 17 Germans were captured and several were killed in the action. Group. They don't realize how wonderful it is to hear and I bet you'd be so happy to have yours back. Even though they were only delaying the inevitable, the Germans weren't beat, yet. Stanley Stopa enlisted at the age of 19 years in the U.S. Army. Co "B" attached to the 297th Engr. Bn. TOTAL 266. December 10, 1944: Co "C" completed the Timber Trestle Bridge at MULARTSHUTTE. was relieved by 246 Engr. VII CORPS from February 1, 1944 to April 2, 1945. They had a little too much fun and ran into some MP's who had a grudge against their unit. They were sent to Fort Devens, then assigned to the 296th Combat Engineer Battalion, and shipped to Camp Shelby, Mississippi for basic training over a period of seven months. Contribute to chinapedia/wikipedia.en development by creating an account on GitHub. Many times there is a daily record of events which shows daily combat details within the company, troop or battery to which the individual WWII veteran was assigned. Sewell, Sgt. Please tell Michael Brodhead that I sent you. Corporate Information | Privacy | Terms and Conditions | CCPA Notice at Collection, Activation of the 298th Engineer Combat Battalion March 18, 1943 and Reorganization November 3, 1944, After/After Action Reports 26 July - 1 Dec 1944, Journal of 1128th Engr Gp Sep 44 thru Aug 45, Excerpts from the U.S. Army in World War II Series, More Excerpts from the U.S. Army in World War II Series, The documents below were kindly shared by Marc Shafer (whose father was a 298th member). 135. Upon arriving to the front, the 249th was assigned to the 26th Infantry Division, already engaged and in defensive positions along the southeast corner of the Bulge. November 28, 1944: Co "A" started construction of a Timber Trestle bridge under the Bailey Bridge in VICHT. June 10, 1944: The Battalion Executive Officer and U.P. Does your father-in-law remember the hospital and was he involved in the building of the road from the port of Weymouth prior to and for D-Day? There were three 42" mobile pumps staged and two 42" and two 30" pumps were placed at the sheet pile closure. 96. August 24-25, 1944: Bn. 39. The unit was assigned to V Corps, First U.S. Army. 133. April 12, 1945: Co "B" constructed a Class #40 D/S Bailey Bridge at WIEHL, GERMANY. A defense was set up by Co's B, A, & C: the Bn. I've heard the story of the training accident many times. One of the pilots was brought into our hospital and had his legs amputated. But the highlight for every guy in the outfit was building the largest bridge in the European Theater. This was not surprising since we were constantly working with explosives. 294th Engineer Combat Battalion US Army in Memoriam (pamphlet), 1989 June 6 Scope and Contents From the Series: The Dickinson R. Debevoise World War II series documents his service as a sergeant in the 2nd Platoon of company A of the 294th Combat Engineer Battalion. December 16, 1944: The Ardenne breakthrough begins; there was much aerial activity in vicinity of STOLBURG and DUREN. Later, they were reequipped and went on with the war and a number of the men were killed in later battles, including the Hurtgen Forest and the Battle of the Bulge. 9. Joe Izzillo- 4907 Europa Drive, Naples FL 34105- (239) 262-2778. Neither of these show up on his DD-214. Part 1 of 5. moved from BRAUNFELS to WETZLAR on April 29, 1945. moved again to the vicinity of MILLEY arriving at 2330 hours. 89. October 16, 1944: At 1705 hours the chow detail enroute to Post #1 was ambushed by 8 Germans - a small fire fight took place and the Germans withdrew. Division; a heavy snow was falling at the time of the relief; the Battalion moved back to PONTHOZ, BELGIUM. Thomas W. Silva, Lt. Ray L. Whiteturkey and 42 men from H&S Co. and Co. "C". The daily location of the WWII veterans unit and any movements they made. December 30, 1944: The Battalion was relieved of the defensive position at 1800 hours by a re-enforced Co. of Infantry of the 75th Inf. Our military records specialists are on site at archival research facilities nationwide and can access a wide variety of WWII military service records of your veteran. July 21, 1944: Bn. October 10, 1944: Co "A" occupied newly established blocks No's #6 - #7 - #8 - #9, as of 1300 hours. This includes when and where the WWII veteran was promoted in rank. September 30, 1944: At 0745 hours an enemy patrol approached Post #3; between then and 1030 hours a brisk fire fight occurred in and around Post #3. Along with thousands of others, he was forced to surrender and was facing the prospect of joining what would become known as the Bataan Death March. God has been good to me and I thank Him every day for sparing me into old age. The enemy lost 14 prisoners and 6 men killed. August 12, 1944: Co "A" replaced flooring on Bailey Bridge at St. BEAUDELLA. Learn when and where a WWII veteran was wounded or killed in action (we can often show you exactly how a veteran was wounded or killed in action). 107. Click below to see how you can help us expand our mission. and was given the mission of defending two roadblocks. This bridge remained in use until 1955. In 1994, the battalion was reactivated and designated as the 249th Engineer Battalion (Prime Power), stationed at Fort Belvoir, VA. They learned how to dismantle and remove land mines, repair and build bridges and construct camps for their comrades in other units. The Battalion was the first American Unit to arrive in Berlin on July 3, 1945. Date 1944-09-29. It was many years after the war that a local reporter, using the Freedom of Information Act, wrote the true story. 128. England was taking in thousands of Jewish children and she got her papers in order and left. Bn. The truck accidentally back up over some mines and about 90 mines exploded. Formatting (inconsistent in original) such as capitalization, underlining, punctuation, use of quotes, etc. As a professional researcher and World War II historian, Bill Beigel provides research services to genealogists, historians, authors, and civilians who are looking for information found in WW2 military unit records. After this bridge site was secure, the 249th was detached from the 1137th Engineer Group and was given the mission to secure and maintain the bridges on the Rhine River. United States Army Center of Military History. This article incorporates public domain material from .mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit;word-wrap:break-word}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"\"""\"""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation:target{background-color:rgba(0,127,255,0.133)}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-free a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/Lock-green.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg")right 0.1em center/12px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:none;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;color:#d33}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{color:#d33}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#3a3;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right{padding-right:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .citation .mw-selflink{font-weight:inherit}249th Engineer Battalion lineage and honors information as of 1 March 2004. They lost all of their equipment. It was horrendous. 11. His training continued on board ship in the Pacific. I have also visited with Jean Treasure in her home. His very first mission turned out to be a memorable one. April 3, 1945: Liaison was established with the XVIII Airborne Corps and the 78th Infantry Division. The waterproofing worked great and Bob Darino powered his jeep through the surf and up the hill at Normandy. They weren't sleeping. Heat, insects, and mud were constant companions during basic training. Their job was to prepare housing for the advancing units. How should we contact you? The other officers that were supplied to the unit were second lieutenants from the 1943 class of West Point. Hide map. After Pearl Harbor, he was drafted and became a citizen in the Army before he shipped out to Europe. Frank learned English and worked in the restaurant with his father. The kamikaze had destroyed the starboard gun mounts and there were many dead and wounded. 7. (Error Code: 100013) 3:33 | At the end of the war, combat engineer Bob Darino went from sampling delicious cherry pies in German farm country to experiencing the horrifying spectacle of concentration camps. moved to WISSEN. This incident was also kept secret until many years after the war when a local resident told of seeing hundreds of bodies being buried on the beach. Any contribution above basic membership is tax deductible, and is most appreciated. Prisoner of war enclosures of barbed wire were also constructed. 139. I have been back to Sherborne on four occasions. Rufus Dalton was at the Maginot Line bouncing mortar shells off an old citadel. to continue movement to the vicinity of MAYENNE. Holtum. This bridge was very important as it was the first bridge across the river in the 9th Inf. At 0100 hours on August 7, 1944 Capt. 126. They made a desperate run for Brussels, which had been liberated. November 10, 1944: The Battalion was relieved of attachment to the 3rd Armored Division and attached to the 4th Infantry Division. Considerable confusion resulted. Copyright 2023 Witness To War. It receives no town or state funding. December 24, 1944: Given the mission of providing direct support to the 75th Infantry Division Co "B" prepared several bridges across the L'OURTHE RIVER for demolition. I have gone back to the Digby property several times and I have found the remnants of the 228th Hospital, and this past October, I found the site of the explosion and I placed American Flags in memory of those who were killed and prayed for their souls.