Dont quite know if this is the correct spot for this post BUT--- Need some input on where to donate a very good condition A-2 WW2 leather flight jacket. It was given to me years ago with some other things from a lifelong friend who served as a Air Force gunner on a B-24 in the 15th Air Force prior to his death. I know the damn things are worth big bucks but cant feel right in just selling it. I want it to go to some organization that would put it to good historical use. Any ideas??? Pics enclosed,. He served in Italy
as a Sgt. (B-25 gunner) and also was in on the bombing of the Ploesti Oil refineries. He
returned safely at wars end and was one of my best friends from school days tio the time he passed on.
Early in June, 1944, the 53rd was attached to the First Provisional Marine Brigade, for the assault operation on Guam, in the Marianas group. Leaving a rear echelon of two officers and 79 men, the remainder of the Battalion embarked on two ships, on june 6, 1944. En-route to the island, plans for the Battalion's part in the invasion were carefully laid and gone over almost daily. Two special beach parties, composed of volunteers, were assigned to assist in the landing operations and unloading of supplies on D-Day, June 21.
The remainder of the Battalion moved ashore on D-Plus-3, to set up their camp near Agat Village. Concurrently with the construction of quarters for themselves, the Bees were almost continuously occupied with the task of clearing debris from existing roads, clearing jungle, and constructing new roads to facilitate movement of supplies to the Marines at the front.LT. Commander Thompson's official report of the Battalion's activities on the Guam invasion is Quoted:
At Guam, Marianas, two beach parties were assigned from the 53rd NCB. One officer and 17 enlisted men, euipped with several tractors, landed on D-Day (H-Plus-5 minutes), July 21, 1944, with special mission to assist unloading a Marine Battery of Sherman Tanks from LCM's and LCT's at the edge of the reef at Agat Beach. This task was finished within an hour under heavy enemy mortar and machine gun fire. Three of the Sherman Tanks dropped into bomb craters on their way in from the reef to shore and were submerged. This party volunteered to rescue these Tanks and succeeded in getting two of the Tanks safely to the beach in two hours, under heavy fire. A second beach party of five enlisted men was assigned the task of operating a North West Crane, mounted on a pontoon barge and anchored off the reef of Agat Beach, to unload gasoline and ammunition from LCT's to LVT's in support of assault troops. The barge was under heavy mortar fire for the first four days.. The remainder of the Battalion moved ashore on D-Plus-3 and established, maintained, and constructed roads and bridges in support of the assault troops. The Battalion's beach camp was under enemy artillery fire for four hours on D-Plus-3. The 53rd NCB maintained the only Seabee Demolition Squad on the island, consisting of a Chief Petty Officer and 13 enlisted men.. This squad cleared all beaches, roads and areas ahead of construction troops over a nine months period.
While the 53rd NCB was attached to the First Provisional Brigade, during the initial landing on Guam, they were detached from the Marines on July 27, 1944, and assigned duty under the Fifth Naval Construction Brigade.
I finally found a REASONABLY priced copy of this book that I had been searching for for over 2 years. Some copies ran as high as $325.00! OUCH!!
This one was $99.95. I knew I wasn't going to find one any cheaper. Hell, they are hard enough to come across as is.
This is the 540th Combat Engineer's Regiment book, Overseas With the 540th, that was produced in Germany for the guys in 1945. It's a real treasure and I am so excited about finally getting my hands on one. YEE-HAW!!!!
While reading through the journal entries from the 540th, you start to see a trend of "antziness". I can imagine how badly they wanted to go home at that point. Here's an excerpt from July records on the period from 20 - 30 June 1945, Mannheim, Germany
"...The wait for a trip home is having its effect on the men. On the night of the 28th a group were drinking at the Enlisted Men's Club. A fight developed, and one man was severely wounded with a knife..."
Here's a file I scanned from the 540th docs regarding the official redesignation and reorganization of the 36th, 40th and 540th Combat Engineers in February of 1945. The following file is a PDF file.
