Hi, i'm looking for information on k company 23rd infantry 2nd division, my father enlisted in September 1944, does anyone know where his training might of been, he said he was shipped out jan. 18 1945 for Europe does anyone know where he might of sailed from, he said he remembers being on the ship ile de france. any info would be great. thanks
I tried to find where Ile de France went after Scotland. It's possible she went on to North Africa afterwards or he transshipped. Another possibility is she was one of the ships in the convoy and he was on another. There are some pages that go into more detail on the convoys and in particular troop ship movements but I'm having issues getting to them right now.
ok thanks, I think I was reading something on that also, what I read it didn't really say where she went after Scotland but ended up in Africa.
One of the sites I've found in the past and for some reason can't get to right now had more details on troop ship sailings including units and such. I'm not sure if a ship bound for the Med would make a stop in Britain or not. If it was in support of either the Italian Campaign or Southern France perhaps. Transshipping is also a possibility. I'm far from an expert at this sort of thing.
ok thanks, another question and i'm not sure if this is the right forum for this but if the army 2nd division crossed the rhine river around mar.23 1945 would I be right in assuming that the 23rd infantry k company which is part of the 2nd division would be there. thanks again
This works for that but you'll likely get a faster response on the Information request sub forum. In general your assumption is correct I believe but there are exceptions. The divisional history might have the details at least down to battalion level. 2d INFANTRY DIVISION - Order of Battle of the United States Army - WWII - ETO | U.S. Army Center of Military History Doesn't show that the 23rd was detached at that time so that strengthens your case.
If he shipped out for Europe 18 Jan 1945, he likely went through the Army Replacement system. He would have gone through boot camp in the USA and then was shipped overseas to a Replacement Depot (aka Repple Depple). From there he would have been assigned as a replacement to his permanent unit, presumably K/23rd. The North Africa part seems odd, though not impossible. The war in North Africa was long over, but I believe there was a Replacement Depot in North Africa. My recommendation is to have a researcher track his service through the Company Morning Reports. If you are positive that he served with K/23rd, that should be relatively easy. Also, since he entered the War rather late, the cost should not be prohibitive. The advantage to doing this is that you will know where he was and when, in particular, when he was assigned to K/23rd and from what unit. Having that info will help you focus your search and, hopefully, spark your father's memory.
thanks for the info, yeah i'm positive he was with k/23rd, where would I find a researcher if I was to go that route. thanks again
Several members here have used Geoff of Golden Arrow Research and have been very happy with him. I have found him to be very fair and honest. He should have no problem tracking your father from K/23rd to his discharge and, as I said, the unit just prior to that. However, I am not aware of any records that track personnel through the Replacement System, so going back further than that may be tough.
I agree with Tommy. I had very good luck with Geoff. He'll give you a quote for the work to be done, then it's up to you to decide whether to proceed.
No problem. By the way, the Golden Arrow Research website has a lot of helpful info. There are sample files you can download that will give you an idea of what to expect from the various records they may be able to obtain.