Received this letter today and sent back the info below to them.
My grandfather, William J. Dutton Sr., served in WWII in the USACE 147 Combat Battalion 2nd Engineer Specical Brigade. He has requested that I locate a timeline that shows his units path across Europe. He would like to know (and have help remembering) each of the places they were at. I need your assistance locating websites, publications, or government agencies that I might be able to contact to assist him with that information. I appreciate your assistance and really enjoyed your website, your father would be proud!!
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Hi:
So far everything I have found on the 2nd Engineer Special Brigade tells me they only served in the Pacific. So I believe that there has been some sort of mix up regarding terminology.
147th Engineer Combat Battalion was indeed a part of the Normandy D-Day Invasion.
Ken Stuart is looking for any information or anyone that knew his grandfather, T/5 Clarence J. Gerber, who died on D-Day at Omaha Beach near Vierville Sur-Mer. He apparently died aboard a navy landing craft.
T/4 Joseph E. Tomberlin--Co. B, 147th Engineer Combat Battalion
Joseph A. Tomberlin is seeking anyone who might have known his father, T/4 Joseph E. Tomberlin, of Co. B, 147th Engineer Combat Battalion. If you can help in any way, please email Joseph at:
You can also contact the Office of History at the Army Corps of Engineers. Please ask for Michael Broadhead and tell him that I sent you. This office has folders of data on MOST engineer units. This is where I got my BIG start over three years ago.
This should get you off to a very good start. You may also want to contact NARA in College Park, Maryland and inquire about finding all their records regarding his unit. I wrote to them, determined what they had, and then hired a private researcher to copy over 2000 pages of docs and maps for me. It was expensive, but well worth it. Take a look at this site. If you are interested, let me know and I can give you some guidelines.
Here are two photos of monuments to Engineer units in the Ardennes area.
This one is standing in Neufmoulin (Belgium, Trois-Ponts area) and is dedicated to the men of the 291st Combat Engineers.
It were these men - I believe - who the infamous SS-Colonel Peiper called "Those dammed Engineers! '". They prevented him from crossing rivers by blowing up the bridges right before his nose. They also delayed his advance considerably. Let's not forget the major roles these men played (the war was not won only by 101st AB or 82nd AB and 2nd AD ).
This monument is located in Redange (Luxembourg).
Dedicated to the 511th Engineer Light Ponton Company.
Sorry for the not so good quality of the photos but they were taken in 1990 (no digital camera).
This was sent to me by none other than our pal James Hennessey of the 87th Inf Div. He forwarded this letter to me from a gentleman named, William (Bill) Jasper. Jim put me in touch with Bill today and he informed me:
It was a bit thoughtless of me to not mention that.
Please let me know if you receive this. I am having BIG computer trouble.
All the best to you and yours.
--Bill Jasper, known in these parts as Bill on the Hill
It's great to meet yet another engineer. Always DEE-lighted to hear their stories and comments. Enjoy the letter. Oh the other gentleman he refers to (John and Jim), is John McAuliffe, also of the 87th Inf Div. Hugs, M
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John and Jim... Below is a birthday greeting from Remagne, Belgium. In early January, 1945, we (my squad of combat engineers) were in the Village of Remagne. I asked an 18-year-old girl, in French, if she had room for 13 men. She lived with her aged father. She gave us a fairly large room with a pot belly stove.
We stayed there for about a week, working mostly at nite. Her cousin would reconnoiter for us during the day and provide some excellent information, e.g. where road blocks were constructed which, of course, we would destroy. A couple of them were booby trapped, using U.S. 105 artillery shells. After the War I sent the young lady, Raymonda Simon, and her father several "care packages."
In 1963, on a trip around the world, I went back to the house and found that Raymonda got married and moved to another village. I went to see her and meet her husband (now deceased). Before leaving Remagne I found out that her brother and sister-in-law lived in the house next door. So I met them. Later those two moved to still another village, near Libramont. (Raymonda's brother also is now deceased.) Both husbands had been prisoners of the Germans for five years.
I have been back several times to visit all of the family members, eventually three generations. I held Raymonda's niece and nephew on my knees. Many years later I held their kids on my knees.
I happened to be there on my 70th birthday, and they had a nice party for me. All of us have a lot of photographic memories.
In December, 2004, I once again visited the family members. My son was with me, and he speaks fluent French. So we had an especially nice visit.
When I got home I received an e-mail message for Madam Marianne, a local school teacher in Remagne. The school adopted me, and we have had numerous communications during the last almost 2-1/2 years. At Christmas in 2005, they sent me large cardboard Christmas tree. It had a photo of the Madam and each of the children in the school. The tree hung from a series of six photos of scenes in Remagne. The photos on one side were in color, and on the other side of each photo was a black and white photo of the same scene, circa 1945. The school now has an American flag hanging in the classroom. For the record I will be 82 on June 3.
When my son and I were in Bastogne in December 2004, we met several new friends, and we continue to communicate with them via the Internet. I am sure that I will get at least three birthday cards this year from Remagne and other villages.
If you made it this far, I hope you got a kick out of this message.
One final comment. When I first met Raymonda's sister-in-law I drew an acorn on a piece of paper. She went to a drawer and pulled out a golden acorn shoulder patch. She said, "Souvenir, souvenir." She was nine years old in January, 1945.
You two have a good one. --Bill on the Hill
Be sure to look at the attachment. It is about the Sherman tank at McAuliffe Square. Hope it comes thru.
'". They prevented him from crossing rivers by blowing up the bridges right before his nose. They also delayed his advance considerably. Let's not forget the major roles these men played (the war was not won only by 101st AB or 82nd AB and 2nd AD 
).
