Interesting week. First Spence contacts me about the 472nd, then Mike contacts me about the 473rd. I have already found some info on this unit and will be posting it later today.

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I am looking for information on the unit my father in

law was in during WW II the 5th army, 473rd engineer

maint company european theater of operations. do you

know of any sites that might give me this info. thank

you for your time

mike porter

irvine, ca

p.s. hope your holidays are filled with everything

they can be filled with. again thanks

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Dear Mike:

Interesting that you should write to me this week, since I am currently

doing some research for a gentleman who's uncle was in the 472nd.

While I'm having a hell of a time finding info on the 472nd, I DO have some

info on the 473rd. I will copy what little I do have and send it to you. I

will also post it on the forum so other's may see your inquiry.

To help you in the interim, I would suggest that you read the research

guides I gave to Spence, as far as who to contact at the Army Corps of

Engineers, NARA, etc.

I look forward to hearing back from you. Hold on tight, I should have some

info for you later today...

Warm regards,

Marion J Chard

Proud Daughter of Walter (Monday) Poniedzialek

540th Combat Engineer WWII

www.6thcorpscombatengineers.com

Here is a porject that will help perserve mail from Soldiers in combat. Give it a try http://www.warletters.com/

I just wanted to post some info about a book in my library but couldn't find one just on Engineers. So, this thread is about one author.

Mark Zuehlke has written 3 books about the Italian Campaign from the viewpoint of the 1st Canadian Infantry Division. The books are (in order they were published):

1- The Liri Valley: Canada's WW2 Breakthrough to Rome

2- Ortona; Canada's Epic WW2 Battle

3- The Gothic Line: Canada's Month of Hell in WW2 Italy - the latest release

I've read Ortona and just purchased The Gothic Line on ebay for a mere $12. I don't have #1 in the list.

Ortona; Canada's Epic WW2 Battle is a detailed account of the battle for the eastern stronghold of Ortona. Ortona was the fartherst eastern end of the German defense line that ran thru Cassino. The British 8th Army plan was to punch through the line, turn west and advance on Cassino from the rear. The 1st Canadian Division was secretly moved from their position in the mountains to the far right flank to lead the attack.

The book describes the struggle to cross the Moro River to gain the main road into Ortona. Zuelke provides some great first-hand accounts of the infantry and armored attacks; both success and failures. Once the high ground was taken, the infantry had to advance thru the streets of Ortona; which the Germans were determined to hold using their paratroopers. The Germans wanted to keep the Allies from gaining the port at Pescara.

This book is an excellent read and a great reference source. I was a little leary about it as I happened to contact a veteran Canadian who served in Italy. His only comment was "Zuehlke wasn't there; how would he know what we did?" Taking this comment into consideration, I think these books are quite good.

The Gothic Line is a monster-thick book that covers the fighting in the Apennine Mountains in the fall of 1944. Again, the Canadian Division was on the far right flank, next to the Adriatic coast line. This would appear to be an easy area to advance as the land sloped gently down to the sea, however, this was crossed by river streams leading out of the mountains. The Canadians objective was to advance to Ravenna and then fan out into the Po Valley. But the Allies on both sides of the mounatins faced a set-back against the rugged mountains and the nasty weather and the German defenses at the Gothic Line. The Canadians only made it to Rimini and Hiway 9.

Appendices include the basic organization of the British 8th Army and the units within the Canadian 1st Infantry and 5th Armoured Divisions.

I have not seen The Liri Valley, much less read it. That is obviously about the Canadians struggle to penetrate the Liri Valley near Cassino. No more info available on this one.

Steve

Okay, this may be a little different for some folks, but it is cool. I have a Teenage daughter so I have to be cool and watch the VH1 and MTV.

There is a rock group called My Chemical Romance and they have a song and video called Ghost of You. The video is set at a WW2 USO dance. The rock singers are the musians. The chorus of the song goes: "I'm never coming home, never coming home".

The scene switches back and forth to amphibious assault on Omaha beach---scenes right out of Saving Private Ryan. I thought the video used clips from SPR but there in the midst of it you can see the main character(wearing glasses).

The coolest shot is a view of the dance floor from above then an ocean wave washes in and some soldiers charge thru the dancers.

I looked for technical flaws. Its not bad. One difference from SPR, is when the camera pans inside the landing craft, you don't see any other ships in the ocean.

View video at: http://www.mychemicalromance.com/

Click on Media and select Ghost of You and the resolution. It is small video format; much easier to see on TV and much more details of the battle scenes.

Ah! Here is a trick. Right Click and select Zoom In. Then using the Hand mouse pointer, move the screen to the center of the window. IT won't let you enlarge the window but you can move the video clip to the center. That makes it larger but still not good resolution.

Also, look carefully at the patches. There is one 101st Airborne guy but I don't know if he is one of the main characters or not. (If it is then he shouldn't be landing on the beach.)

Pretty cool video but I'm not condoning this group.

Steve

Ex Serviceman within the UK can now wear, with pride, a badge supplied by the MOD (Ministry of Defense), which when worn, let's everyone know that they are a Veteran.

It's a great and long overdue idea.

If there are any members from the UK who saw service in WW1, WW2 or even did National Service in Malaya, then follow the link and get what you have earned.

http://www.veteransagency.mod.uk/vets_badg.../vets_badge.htm