Ellis, That reply was very helpful. After the 1331-9 is the entry Plat Comdr....................1261st EngrC Bn...67-1 4113- 9 Mess,transport, supply O..1261st Engr C Bn..67-1 2110 Adjutant...........................1261st Engr C Bn..67-1 8104 Info Control O (Radio Engr)....6870 Discc Germany..67-1 8104 Info Control O ( Radio Engr) ...3rd NG Regt.....67-1 8104 info Control O (Radio Engr) ....2d NG Bn...67-1 8104 Info Control O (Radio Engr).... ODIC(OMGUSREAR)...67-1 That 67-1 is under type of report submitted.....what type of report was that? and is there any way to obtain copies? Thank you very much for your help. Jessie

Jessie, the following may help you: 1331 = Combat Engineer Unit Commander. I do not know what -9 means 4113 = Mess, Supply, & Transportation Officer. I do not know what -9 means 2110 = Adjutant or Adjutant General 8104 = Civil Affairs Officer Ellis Hosbach Bethel Park, PA

Could someone please explain what the following MOS entries mean: 1331-9 4113-9 2110 8104 Thanks for any help. Jessie, Calif

Can anyone please tell me what the upper age limits were for enlistment in the above in 1940. My mother enlisted in the ATS giving a false age, I understand that she advised the enlistment officer that the WRNS had a higher limit! Thanks Ian

Thanks to some very kind people on this list, I have the following timeline for my uncle. He mentions two people in his letters - one named Floyd and another named Smoky. It would be fantastic if someone could tell me who they were. On scoll Nov 3, 1943 trained North Carolina Battery C 8th Battalion 44th FA BN was on return address 44th FA BN was in the 4th Infantry Division. 44th Field Artillery Battalion Tractor Drawn 105mm Howitzers Jan 18, '44 Embarked from New York Jan 29, '44 Arrived in England July 10, 1944 Landed in France on D-Day Wonder how Berlin will look (he is in France) October 1944 Somewhere in Germany Will try to write Been in combat since 6 June. Have seen 5 foreign countries Saw London, Paris, Belgium, Luxembourg. Now in hilly country Mentioned Smoky November 1944 Somewhere in Germany in combat Mentioned Smoky and Floyd Served in the Normandy, Northern France, Rhineland, Ardennes-Alsace (Battle of the Bulge), and Central Europe Campaigns. truck ran over a mine and the explosion injured his ankle. Returned to New York on July 10, 1945. (this is when the unit returned but he may have returned sooner) Was in Camp Atterbury hospital in Indiana (probably discharged from there) March 28, 1946 killed in motorcycle accident service number in the National Archives records of enlistment: http://aad.archives.gov/aad/fielded-search.jsp?dt=893&tf=F&cat=GP23&bc=sl ARMY SERIAL NUMBER 35932589 NAME HART#ODA#M HART#ODA#M RESIDENCE: STATE #2 Undefined Code RESIDENCE: COUNTY 235 Undefined Code PLACE OF ENLISTMENT 5124 FT BENJAMIN HARRISON INDIANA DATE OF ENLISTMENT DAY 31 31 DATE OF ENLISTMENT MONTH 08 08 DATE OF ENLISTMENT YEAR 43 43 GRADE: CODE 8 Private TERM OF ENLISTMENT 5 Enlistment for the duration of the War or other emergency, plus six months, subject to the discretion of the President or otherwise according to law SOURCE OF ARMY PERSONNEL 0 Civil Life NATIVITY 52 KENTUCKY YEAR OF BIRTH 22 22 RACE AND CITIZENSHIP 1 White, citizen EDUCATION 2 2 years of high school CIVILIAN OCCUPATION 723 CONCRETE-MIXER OPERATOR* or EARTH-BORING MACHINE OPERATOR or HIGHWAY CONCTRUCTION MACHINE OPERATOR MARITAL STATUS 3 Separated, with dependents COMPONENT OF THE ARMY 7 Selectees (Enlisted Men)

Jo Ann: In the artillery they had Batteries(company) and one gun secrion of a battery could be sent to one place while another would be sent elsewhere. My Brother Ken was in the 159th Combat Engrs. They also served as Inf. when needed. C-159 was at Bastogne while he was i n Deikirch Lux. They all saw combat in the Bulge. If you are planning a website you should check on old dairies the GIs of 397th had. Then get all the reportsthat NARA has on this unit. THere is a real story there. Paul Hinkle @aol.com wrote: Thank you so much for your reply. Yes I am trying to find out just that, but that is but a small thing that I search for. I would like to someday be able to put all the information on a website for the 397th AAA. I have some information but it is general in content. I would like more specifics. I know that they were not recognized a lot but lost a lot that day. Where I get lost is, was all the beaches part of the 1st army? was the 116th and the 16th on different beaches? How were these man picked to go that day and not later as part of the mulberrys. How come some like my dad ended up in different places. He didn't stay with the mulberrys later he was shot(and shipped home) defending airfield A-92 in Belgium New Years Day. Some of his original unit was with him, but who? Was it just done by company? you go here, you go there? Wasn't there two different armies there that day, the first and another one? Aren't there something called morning reports? Something written by the people in command ? Do you think they would have them for the day before d-day or that morning before they took that puddle jump into hell? Mr. Hosbach, I have read a lot of your answers to many question on this site and would like to thank you for helping so many of us searching for answer for your time, patience and sharing your knowledge. To any one else please feel free to contact me with regards to the 397th AAA. I do have some of the rosters and pictures. Also someone's response ended up in my spam box and it got deleted accidentally please re-send. ==== WORLDWAR2 Mailing List ==== Please do not send virus warnings to the list. If you have concerns about a virus, contact your list admin or join VIRUS-DISCUSSIONS-L@rootsweb.com subscribe in the subject line. We are an international list. Please remember to tell us what country your ancestor was from and what country you are in now if different. This helps us help you. If you give dates please help us understand the date you are referring to. For example: 4 Nov 1944 or Nov 4, 1944. ============================== Search the US Census Collection. Over 140 million records added in the last 12 months. Largest online collection in the world. Learn more: http://www.ancestry.com/s13965/rd.ashx Yahoo is my non-personal mail. For personal mail only use <pdhinkle@radiotower.net> --------------------------------- Blab-away for as little as 1¢/min. Make PC-to-Phone Calls using Yahoo! Messenger with Voice.

Thank you so much for your reply. Yes I am trying to find out just that, but that is but a small thing that I search for. I would like to someday be able to put all the information on a website for the 397th AAA. I have some information but it is general in content. I would like more specifics. I know that they were not recognized a lot but lost a lot that day. Where I get lost is, was all the beaches part of the 1st army? was the 116th and the 16th on different beaches? How were these man picked to go that day and not later as part of the mulberrys. How come some like my dad ended up in different places. He didn't stay with the mulberrys later he was shot(and shipped home) defending airfield A-92 in Belgium New Years Day. Some of his original unit was with him, but who? Was it just done by company? you go here, you go there? Wasn't there two different armies there that day, the first and another one? Aren't there something called morning reports? Something written by the people in command ? Do you think they would have them for the day before d-day or that morning before they took that puddle jump into hell? Mr. Hosbach, I have read a lot of your answers to many question on this site and would like to thank you for helping so many of us searching for answer for your time, patience and sharing your knowledge. To any one else please feel free to contact me with regards to the 397th AAA. I do have some of the rosters and pictures. Also someone's response ended up in my spam box and it got deleted accidentally please re-send.

"Army Ground Forces concentrated all ASTP basic training at Fort Benning and Camp Hood (later at Fort Benning only), in order to liberate the ASTP facilities at replacement training centers for ordinary replacement training.63 " ----- Original Message ----- From: "Ellis Hosbach" <ewh@adelphia.net> To: <WORLDWAR2-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Saturday, May 06, 2006 1:25 PM Subject: Re: [WORLD WAR II] U.S. Army - Training for Engineers -Carnegie Institute of ... | | I have previously tried, to the best of my ability, to explain The Army | Specialized Training Program of WWII. As one who participated in the | Program, I feel better qualified than one who has read about it in a book or | viewed a Web Page prepared by someone who most likely also read about it in | a book. Most successful applicants had been enrolled in college prior to | entering the Service. I do not recall if this was a prerequisite. It may | have been. I was in my second semester at University of Pittsburgh when | drafted. It was a program designed to educated personnel in the fields of | Medicine, Engineering and Psychology. It was not an Officers Training | Program. That training was done at various Officer Candidate Schools (OCS) | located on Army Bases such as Fort Benning, GA and Fort Sill, OK. It did | not teach people how to defuse land mines, set charges or build bridges. | All participants were Privates and attended classes at a University, | sometimes with civilian students, and were taught mostly by civilian | instructors. It was hardly looked upon as a "dangerous assignment". | Rather, it was looked upon as a very cushy assignment. He who says | otherwise does not have actual experience. I left XV Corps Headquarters, | Desert Training Center, Indio, CA and was attached to STAR Unit 3906, | Pasadena Junior College, Pasadena, CA from 1 September 1943 until 7 October | 1943. I was then attached to (ASTU) Army Specialized Training Unit 3925, | University of San Francisco, effective 8 October 1943. Eight barracks had | been built on the Golden Gate Avenue side of the Campus as quarters for the | men of the Unit. Military formations were conducted on the Company Street | in front of the Barracks. I remained there until 5 January 1944 when I | voluntarily resigned from the Program rather than repeat classes in Physics | and Chemistry which I had failed. I was given this option because my grades | in other subjects were high enough to raise my average to an acceptable | level. (As an aside, we were permitted to do civilian work on weekends to | earn a few extra dollars. Some lucky ones were hired as Longshoremen and | earned a lot of money. I, along with a friend, worked as a stock boy at | City of Paris Department Store in downtown San Francisco. Hardly a | "dangerous assignment".) After a 15 day delay en route to visit my parents | in Linhart, PA., I reported to Headquarters 96th Infantry Division, Camp | White, OR on 20 January 1944. I served with the Division in various | capacities during the Leyte and Okinawan Campaigns and returned with it to | Camp Anza, CA where it was deactivated on 3 February 1946. | As for Delilah, who appears to have more "guts" than necessary, I wrote to | the list because I did not want anyone to be mislead by her remarks. I | quote from "The Camp White Grenade" issue of Thursday, April 13, 1944. | Headline: "ASTP Students Swell Ranks of 96th; Most Come From Midwestern | Schools". " The new 96th men traded in their books for bayonets as part of | the ASTP curtailment whereby 110,000 men fit for combat duty, where | transferred to Army ground or service units slated for overseas action. All | the new doughboys have had some basic training, and a number of them have | years of service behind them. Some held ratings before exchanging rifles | for textbooks. Virtually all the branches of service are represented. | Average age is about 20." | I do not have any casualty figures to reflect how many of the killed and | injured were ASTP Men. I doubt that a figure, any where near actual, | exists. However, I am sure that someone with a "cause" to advance has | assigned a number. The 96th had 1598 killed or missing and 5614 wounded or | injured. Since they were all good men, none of us gave a damn whether or | not they had been in the ASTP Program. The 96th Infantry Division | Association has held an annual reunion every year since 1958. The 2006 will | be held in Denver, CO July 25-30 and I'm sure there will be a number of | former ASTP Men in attendance. | Ellis Hosbach | Bethel Park, PA | | | | ==== WORLDWAR2 Mailing List ==== | http://lists.rootsweb.com/index/other/Military:_20th_Century/WORLDWAR2.html | This is the link to our archives. You may search or browse. Also, subscribe or unsubscribe and contact admin. We are an international list. Please remember to tell us what country your ancestor was from and what country you are in now if different. This helps us help you. If you give dates please help us understand the date you are referring to. For example: 4 Nov 1944 or Nov 4, 1944. | | ============================== | Search the US Census Collection. Over 140 million records added in the | last 12 months. Largest online collection in the world. Learn more: http://www.ancestry.com/s13965/rd.ashx |

SOURCE: AARP BULLETIN, May 2006 Memorial Man: Erwin "Earl" Morse, a retired Air Force captain and private pilot, came up with the idea for Honor Flight while working as a phjysician's assistant at a VA clinic near his home in Enon, Ohio. "I witnessed some of my patients pass away wanting to see their memorial," says Morse, 46, referring to the World War 11 Memorial in Washington. Now Honor Flight's volunteer pilots fly WW11vets there (136 last year, most of them in their 80's) for free; the non-profit group also organizes commercial flights for large groups. "It's wonderful," Morse says, "So many of the vets have gone from being the old guy at the checkout counter and the slow person in the car ahead of you to the heroes that they are." Author-Brad McKee

Jo Ann, LCVP = Landing Craft Vehicle Personnel, LCA = Landing Craft Assault, LCM = Landing Craft Mechanized. As used in your information, it means that Co K 16th Inf Hq & Hq Company 3rd Battalion Provisional 397th AAA went in to Fox Green Beach on 6 LCA's and 7 LCVP's and Co G Hq & Hq 2nd Battalion Prov 397th AAA went in to Easy Red Beach on 13 LCVP's. A Combat Team is just that. Its composition would depend on the mission. Usually, there are units of Infantry, supporting Artillery plus a Medical Detachment, Engineer and Headquarters. In your case it appears that it also contained a AAA Automatic Weapons Unit (397th). It also appears that the 397th was an assigned unit of 1st Army. I doubt that you will ever find out which boat your father was on if that is what you are searching. Ellis Hosbach Bethel Park, PA

Hello Barbara Firstly, let me just say that my interest in this matter is purely an attempt to understand what the war was about. My personal feelings are that so many died and so many lives were affected that the least I can do for all those brave people, whether relatives or not, is to try to understand a little of what they went through. I am able to live freely because of the sacrifices all of them made and for that I am truly grateful. Although some of my ancestors were involved in the war I am yet to establish exactly in what capacity as the information seems to be very sparse. I thought I would send a mail to say that there was a mini-series, it is now on DVD, called Band of Brothers. It focuses primarily on Easy Company, 506th Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division and was produced and directed by Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg. At the beginning of each episode there are interviews with some of those who served with Easy Company. One of the online accounts of the mini series is as follows: "Brothers tracks a group of real Army soldiers from boot camp all the way to their casualty-laden D-Day air drop with the mission objective of actually trying to capture Adolph Hitler at his Berchtesgaden "Eagle's Nest." The mini-series was based on a book written by Stephen E Ambrose and you can see a write-up on it at Amazon. Incidentally, Soble is quite heavily represented in the series though whether it is accurate is another matter. I am sure that there are many people that would criticise this series but for me, having no military experience, it gave a good representation of the horrors of war. Regards Angie (Living in Switzerland, though from London, England) -----Original Message----- From: Barbara Phillips [mailto:bphil1@earthlink.net] Sent: 10 May 2006 00:38 To: WORLDWAR2-L@rootsweb.com Subject: [WORLD WAR II] Airborne Good Afternoon, I am wondering if there is anyone out there who knows anything about or anyone from the 101st Airborne, Army Aircorp. My Father was a veteran and served with that unit. He spoke fondley of a couple of buddies, one in particular a man I only know by the last name of Soble. Other than that he didn't speak much about the war. If there is anybody who knows anything or has any information I would appreciate it. My Father passed away in 1992. His name: Llewelyn Pierce Phillips Jr. nick names, Llew, Phill or Phillips Thank you, Barbara Ann Phillips bphil1@earthlink.net ==== WORLDWAR2 Mailing List ==== http://lists.rootsweb.com/index/other/Military:_20th_Century/WORLDWAR2.html This is the link to our archives. You may search or browse. Also, subscribe or unsubscribe and contact admin. We are an international list. Please remember to tell us what country your ancestor was from and what country you are in now if different. This helps us help you. If you give dates please help us understand the date you are referring to. For example: 4 Nov 1944 or Nov 4, 1944. ============================== Census images 1901, 1891, 1881 and 1871, plus so much more. Ancestry.com's United Kingdom & Ireland Collection. Learn more: http://www.ancestry.com/s13968/rd.ashx

I just received the WW2 military records of the above relative who was killed in Europe in Feb, 1945 serving with the Can. Scottish Reg. In these records someone, a non-relative, applied under the "Freedom of Info Act" to access his records. The phone number from this 1996 application is no longer in service. Is anyone familiar with a gent , possibly a military historian, by the name of Paul Ferguson of Victoria? He gave a PO Box to which I have dropped a note . Robert Vanidour London Ontario

Looking for help on the 397th Anit Aircraft Artillery from WWII. I have a book of the men that returned but I am trying to find out exactly what LCT or LST they came in on at H+30 on D-Day. I have some info. but don't understand. It reads the following: Fox Green 6 LCA - 7LCVP Co K 16th Inf. Hq & Hq CO 3rd Bn Prov. 397th AAA Easy Red 13 LCVP Co G Hq & Hq Co 2nd Bn Prov 397th AAA 16th Regimental Combat Team---what is this? It show the patch for the 1st army. Then I have : 5LCVP H Co. 116 Inf. Easy Green 8 LCVP Hq Co 2nd Bn. Dog Red 5 LCVP Hq Co 116 Inf 8 LCM - 1 LCVP B Co 116 Inf. I know that these are beaches and infantries but I'm confused on what army they actually were with? All these men that landed were attached to someone else. Trying to find out who was choosen for H+30 on D-day. Any help greatly appreciated. Sincerely, Jo Ann Daughter of one of the 397th AAA Please contact me.

Thanks Fred1136. It appears, from what I have been reading, that each Army Area/Service Command operated slightly different in the ASTP Program. At least we all wore that "knowledge lamp" patch. Ellis Hosbach Bethel Park, PA

This is in answer to Ellis Hosbach's queries. (the nature of his questions leads me to believe they are meant for me,and I am answering him here in case they will be of general interest). Yes,we wore the ASTP patch (it was a rather large depiction of an old fashioned oil lamp- as in the Lamp of Knowledge). There were some of us who did not like giving up our old unit's patch so they sewed the male halves of little snap fasteners on the shoulders of their uniforms,and the female halves on the backs of both their old and ASTP patches. That way they were regulation when on base and free spirits when "on the town".Our instructors were all civilian members of the regular faculty. There were about 1600 men in my ASTP unit,of which some 1200 or 1300 were studying languages(from the guys taking Arabic I learned how to say "may a thousand fleas infest your armpits").

Good Afternoon, I am wondering if there is anyone out there who knows anything about or anyone from the 101st Airborne, Army Aircorp. My Father was a veteran and served with that unit. He spoke fondley of a couple of buddies, one in particular a man I only know by the last name of Soble. Other than that he didn't speak much about the war. If there is anybody who knows anything or has any information I would appreciate it. My Father passed away in 1992. His name: Llewelyn Pierce Phillips Jr. nick names, Llew, Phill or Phillips Thank you, Barbara Ann Phillips bphil1@earthlink.net

Hi Ellis: Well, don't say there isn't a God. I just got off the phone with the archivist at Carnegie and we had a long conversation and this is what she gave me over the phone! I told her I didn't need his transcripts what I really needed was a timeline. Pete was drafted March 27, 1943. He entered Carnegie on 8-2-1943. He was there for one semester - 8-9-43 to 1-29-44 when they received a letter of separation to them from the Army. I forgot to ask her if it actually gave the name of the camp from which he was sent when he first entered Carnegie. And maybe she'll tell me what his rank (should be Pvt. & maybe Division). I'll give it a try anyway. Can't hurt. Now according to Pete after he left what we now know is Carnegie he had approximately six months of basic training and was sent to England. If indeed it was six months he would have gone to England sometime at the end of June or July. Right now the reference librarian at my library is struggling to get the microfilm from the Aurora Beacon newspaper from the Abraham Lincoln Library in Springfield. Seems the Lincoln library has someone who pulls the microfilm (and their regular person quit) and then it is sent to the other side of the library where it is boxed and mailed. I am going to call the reference librarian at the Aurora Library back to see where we are with what she was sending me and also ask her if she has a 1942 telephone book. That would give me Pete's address. Even though he was in college (local) I'm sure that the draft notice would have been sent to his parents' home and from previous conversations with him sometime betweeen the 1930 census and 1940 census his parents moved to the other side of town. At least I feel that I'm making some progress with the timeline. Thanks for posting the ASTP url address. I'd already looked through it and it's quite interesting and I read some of the messages. I'm sure that lots of other people are going to take a look through it now that you posted. All my best, Adrienne

If anyone is interested ASTP has a web page. See: http://www.astpww2.org Ellis Hosbach Bethel Park, PA

Tomorrow is a bank holiday in the Channel Islands celebrating 61 years since the Liberation of the Channel Islands from the German Occupation. The only British Soil to be occupied in WWII Regards George. George Smith <airforce@localdial.com> Home Page: http://web.localdial.com/users/airforce LRFHS Page: http://www.lrfhs.org.uk Jersey Island Page: http://www.jerseyvirtual.net Jersey Insight http://www.jerseyinsight.com Jersey Centenary Battle of Flowers: http://www.localdial.com/users/airforce/battle.html

Mr Fred1136 Thanks for the invention! I'm sure many of us boomers would not be here if it weren't for those bombs. Sherry