Hi Karrie, congratulations on your getting more information from your aunt. One never knows what treasures are hidden away in relatives attics.
Some more things i`ve found:
on the webpage http://www.indianamilitary.org/106ID/SoThinkMenu/106thSTART.htm, at the bottom of the page under "Added Observations in 2004 by Ralph Wyss, 60 MM Mortar Squad Leader, 4th Platoon."
" The Company became part of the Army of Occupation as we were sent to Heidelberg. We replaced a French-Moroccan Army unit there as Germany was being divided up into different Zones of Occupation for each Allied Nation. The German civilians here were very glad to see the Americans come into their area. The French-Moroccans had been pretty tough on them.
"L" Company was in Heidelberg only a short time when it was moved to Karlsruhe for what may have been its last post as a unit. The Company did the duties assigned for several weeks when many of its members started being transferred to the "cigarette" camps for re-deployment to the States. The more fortunate ones were already in the States or on a ship on the Atlantic Ocean on August 6th, 1945 when a B-29, the Enola Gay, dropped the first atom bomb on Hiroshima, Japan.
Those that left the Company and not yet at a Port-of-Embarkation had their orders changed and were assigned to other units performing the many duties in the Army of Occupation and spent a longer time in the ETO but "the" bomb probably saved their lives and the lives of millions of other of those in the military of all nations."
Now for the Army of Occupation, the Third Army & the Seventy Army were designated as the Occupation commands. Third Army in the Eastern District & Seventh in the Western Disrict of the American Zone.
Seventh Army was placed under 12th Army Group.
During this confusing time of reorginaztions & redeployments, the 1st Armored Division with their units were moved to Germany and assigned to Seventh Army for Occupation Duty.
So the 16th Armored Engineer Bn. of 1st AD were under Seventh Army command.
Seventh Army was inactivated about the same time the 1st Armored & 16th AEB units returned to US, in April `46.