Thanks to that great Archivist, Kevin Bailey, at the Eisenhower Library and his very thorough analysis we know that the 86th Division is not the group that was in the area where Dad was on March 21st, 1945.
Shucks, well eventually by process of elimination we will find the group and the information.
Here is what Kevin wrote:
Here is what I have been able to find regarding the activities of the 86th Infantry Division during the time period you asked about; March 15 to March 25, 1945. We have about 1500 pages of records for the division and
its component units. By sampling the historical reports and after action reports of regiments, battalions and companies the following picture emerged.
The 86th arrived in France in early March, 1945 and most of its troops moved to Camp "Old Gold" near the towns of Doudeville and Ourville, France during the first week of the month. Sampling the records of several units showed that they spent most of March there before moving out for Germany starting on the 23rd. From March 23rd through the 27th the troops left by truck convoy or by railroad for Cologne, Germany with some parts of the division going to the town of Duren. A couple of the narratives I looked at also mentioned going to Weiden, near Cologne.
What they were doing at Camp Old Gold during most of March is provided by a narrative history of the 342nd Infantry Regiment (one of the 86th's three infantry regiments; the other two were the 341st and the 343rd)
From "A Narrative History Compiled and Edited by the Information and Education Office of the 342nd Infantry" :
" . . . After lying at dock from 1 March to 4 March, we debarked. In large troop trucks, too crowded for men to sit down, we moved a full sixty miles up into Normandy, to Camp Old Gold, located near the small town of Ourville. In the following period we de-waterproofed equipment, got new vehicles from Cherbourg, Paris and Antwerp, underwent physical conditioning, made fast marches over country lanes, hedge rows, and cobblestoned village streets, and attempted to converse with French farmers (and their daughters)."
Starting on April 1st, the mission assigned to the 86th was to relieve the 8th Infantry Division and set up a line along the Rhine River and to initiate patrols on the east bank to determine the location and strength of enemy defenses. According to various after action reports the month of April is when the division first began to have direct contact with enemy forces.
I hope this will somewhat clarify the picture of what the 86th Infantry Division was up to during March of 1945.
Once again, I am so grateful for Kevin's efforts and as always to you Christoph!!! I would never be this far along without you!!!
Jean J