12-09-2018, 03:36 PM
My grandfather, Robert Silverman was a dentist in the 32nd Station Hospital in the MTO. The one story he told his sons was about a close call he had when dud bombs fell on the hospital during a German air raid. While researching the story, I discovered the raid happened on April 24, 1944 at the compound in Caserta, Italy. At that time, the 32nd was assigned to the Peninsular Base Section. I was able to find photographs from the incident at the Pritzker Military Museum. When I showed the photos to a retired U.S. Army E.O.D. expert who also is a historian for bomb disposal units in WWII, he pointed out some oddities in procedure and unit markings. The disposal unit's 2 1/2 ton truck doesn't have any bomb disposal markings, for instance. In fact, the only markings on the bumperettes are "PBS" on the left and what looks like "20" or "23" on the right.
A couple of people suggested that it's possible that an Engineers unit might have done the disposal in this case. There were only two Ordnance bomb disposal companies and a few independent squads in all of Italy at the time and it seems that when they were spread thin, Engineers might have been called on. I was hoping to find out which Engineer units might have been assigned to the Peninsular Base Section in the Caserta or Naples area in April 1944, or at least what sort of Engineer unit would have been called upon to perform this duty if a BD squad was not available.
With that information I was hoping to have a productive visit (when I can squeeze in time off toddler duty) to the National Archives to see if I can find confirmation. My research so far, including the photographs, can be viewed here: https://32ndstationhospital.wordpress.com/2018/12/04/the-32nd-station-hospitals-close-call-during-a-german-air-raid/ Thanks.