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Eugene A Mosley - 70th Infantry Div, 276th Infantry Regiment

Discussion in 'Military Service Records & Genealogical Research' started by CCOBX, Dec 5, 2015.

  1. CCOBX

    CCOBX New Member

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    The WWII Forums Community,
    I happened to stumble upon your community while doing research for my Mother and Father, looking for information on their fathers, both killed in WWII. I'm trying to avoid asking them questions as this ultimately relates to a Christmas gift I am trying to work on. I actually found an interesting link (http://www.ww2f.com/topic/53751-uss-mt-hood/) that referenced my Dad's Father and I will be certain to mention to him the JAG document linked in that forum post. He was killed on the USS Mindanao. It was that forum post that lead me to this great site. But now I am looking for information on where my Monther's Father might have been wounded in action. Eugene A Mosley of Corinna, ME was part of the 276th Infantry Regiment, 70th Infantry Division in WWII. There seems to be limited records online and I am working with my Aunt in Maine to find more. But in the meantime, I know he was deployed overseas on Dec 10, 1944, which all the sites seem to validate, but I only know he was wounded in Germany and later died in France on March 1, 1945. My ultimate goal is to try to find what battle he was wounded in while in Germany. So I know the battle in Germany must have taken place from December 10, 1944 - Late February, 1945. And I have verified he was in the 276th, so that is accurate (http://www.trailblazersww2.org/casualties_M_O.htm). I have also found this PDF, but he isn't referenced in the list of casualties (http://www.trailblazersww2.org/Docs/CoA276Infantry.pdf)?

    I have found this interesting G.I. Stories of the Ground: (http://www.lonesentry.com/gi_stories_booklets/70thinfantry/) . I am still working my way through the details of this account.

    Ultimately, I am hoping someone has a more complete understanding or records history than I can find online and help me identify where exactly my Mother's Father was wounded in action.

    Any help you can provide would be greatly appreciated and I thank all of you in advance. Any help you can provide would be invaluable.

    Thank you.

    Michael Fox
     
  2. TD-Tommy776

    TD-Tommy776 Man of Constant Sorrow

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    Well, according to the casualty list you mentioned (www.trailblazersww2.org/casualties_M_O.htm), your maternal grandfather was in 3rd Battalion, L Company, 276th Infantry. The PDF you mentioned is a history of A Company, so that would explain why he wasn't mentioned.

    The Trailblazers website actually has quite a bit of information and documents on the 276th. What you are missing is something that is very unlikely to be found online. You need the date he was wounded. What you need are the Morning Reports of Company L which will tell you the date that your grandfather was wounded and were the Company was located at the time. You can then take that information and read up on the 276th to find out what action(s) took place on that date. There are two ways to get the MRs. 1) go to the NARA in St. Louis and try to find them yourself or 2) hire a researcher to get them for you. My suggestion is that, unless you live very close to St. Louis and are familiar with WWII archival research, you will want to use option #2. Several of us here have used Golden Arrow Research. Other members have used other researchers, too. The NARA also has a listing of researchers specializing in military records. If you decided to pick a researcher from the list, keep in mind that they do not all specialize in WWII Army records, and many that do may not specialize in researching individual soldiers. You will need to research the researchers, so to speak. ;)

    Please keep us posted on what your research turns up.
     
  3. CCOBX

    CCOBX New Member

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    TD-Tommy776,
    Thank you so much for your input and advice on my original post. It is good to know where to start. I am hoping that my Aunt has some information, so I will continue to pursue that track as well. Unfortunately, I do not live near St. Louis so I would have to use option 2. And in the process I am learning new things. As you pointed out, he was in the 3rd Battalion, L Company, which I did not pick up on my first pass through the links. Thank you for that.

    I will certainly keep you posted. I am thankful this site exists and that dedicated individuals like yourself respond with such detail to make searches for information like this a little easier. I can't thank you enough.

    If anyone else has information please don't hesitate to reply to the post.

    Thank you again.

    Mike
     
  4. CCOBX

    CCOBX New Member

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    TD-Tommy776,
    Knowing you have a vast understanding of the documentation listed on the links page of the 276th that you added to your reply, can you explain why Eugene Mosley was not listed in the following document under L Company? Does it mean he was later added to the Company? His grave site stone specifically says 276 INF, 70 DIV.

    http://www.trailblazersww2.org/pdf/276_AAR_Nov44_Jan45.pdf

    Thank you in advance.
     
  5. Natman

    Natman Member

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    Mike - The file you linked to in post #4 only includes casualties thru the end of Jan, 45. That probably means he was wounded in February. This one (http://www.trailblazersww2.org/units_276_documents_AARFeb45.htm) indicates units of the 276th were most likely not in Germany when your grandfather was wounded. I'm just picking towns from the report and looking them up on Google Earth but I didn't investigate all of them. Are you sure he was wounded in Germany? I see Forbach, FR, mentioned at the very end of the Feburary AAR. They may not have crossed the Saar River before the end of the month.

    There is a unit history for L Company/276th, company level histories are rare in my experience. Take the info from this link to your local library and they should be able to have a copy sent to them for you to check out: http://www.worldcat.org/title/company-l-276th-infantry-its-world-war-ii-history-and-recollections-of-surviving-members-50-years-later/oclc/36488958&referer=brief_results

    Tom (TD......776) is right on regarding getting the Morning Report that lists your grandfather being wounded. And, I have also used Golden Arrow Research with excellent results, Geoff is professional and easy to work with.

    Steve
     
  6. TD-Tommy776

    TD-Tommy776 Man of Constant Sorrow

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    First, you are giving me far too much credit for having "a vast understanding", but I will admit to having some understanding. :)

    Steve beat me to the punch, though I do have a slightly different angle. The PDF document you asked about does not actually contain a list of casualties. It contains a list of Purple Heart Medals awarded. One possibility that he is not listed is because he was awarded his Purple Heart while he was hospitalized, which was fairly common.

    Having said that, I am inclined to agree with Steve's assessment that he may have been wounded in Feb or March. Since we do know he DOW sometime in March, it is more likely that he was wounded closer to the time he died. Is it possible that he was wounded in Dec or Jan and died 2-3 months later? Sure, but I would not consider that the most likely scenario.
     
  7. CCOBX

    CCOBX New Member

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    Tom and Steve,
    Thank you again for all your input. I have found this link to his obituary: http://www.abbott-library.com/readobit.php?obitid=183 . As you both have indicated regarding some of the estimated dates, it appears his last correspondence was on February 26 and he died on March 1. So unless that letter was written after he was wounded, which I don't believe is the case, the fact it got all the way overseas to Maine in late February, plus the fact the obituary states his first battle was on Feb 17, I think I at least have a narrowed time frame. February 17 - March 1. In speaking with my Aunt, she has a document that only states he was wounded in Germany and died in France, as was indicated on the obituary. She is still searching.

    I will look through the 276th battles between Feb 17 and March 1 and try to determine a location in Germany where he might have fought.

    This was from Steve's link:

    "[SIZE=9pt]In general, the 276th was to follow this line of attack: Seize the high ground dominating the town of Oeting; move into and capture that town; take the high ground beyond the town; then pivoting on the left limiting point, to swing the direction of the attack north-northwest to take Forbach and be prepared to continue the attack northwest through the Forbach Forest to seize our section of the Division's final objective--the high ground extending from Wehrden to Krughutte looking down on the Saar River.[/SIZE]
    [SIZE=9pt]The attack was to begin 17 February at 0001 with the First Battalion on the right, Third Battalion on the left and Second Battalion in reserve in the vicinity of Kochern. Additional missions of the 276th were protection of the Division's left flank and to be prepared to assist by fire or maneuver the attack of the 274th on the right."[/SIZE]

    This goes on to give a rather solid account of the Company positions and movements, so it appears Forbach, Oetinger or Schlossberg may have been a key area for his Company. I want to read Steve's link a little closer to break down the locations.

    Thank you both again. I will touch back with the forum thread when I work through some of the dates and locations. On top of this, I have been looking to track down a newspaper from 1945 that referenced this battle he was in, so that makes the next step even more challenging. I was able to find reference to the Mount Hood explosion where my Father's Father was killed so I wanted to have a matching reference paper for my Mother.

    Thanks again guys, I really do appreciate all the help.

    Mike
     
  8. CCOBX

    CCOBX New Member

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  9. TD-Tommy776

    TD-Tommy776 Man of Constant Sorrow

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    Okay. The obit says the first battle he participated in was on 17 Feb 1945, so he would not have been wounded prior to that date. So, as you have suggested, it would have been between 17 Feb and 1 Mar 1945.
     
  10. Diane L. Kessler

    Diane L. Kessler New Member

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    Hello. I'm the Secretary-Editor for the 70th Infantry Division Asso. By now, perhaps you have your answers. But please don't hesitate to contact me. Askdiane70 at gmail dot com. You can request records. There is also a history of L/276. He was most likely wounded in the fierce combat to liberate Forbach, France. L Co was involved in the city from about 17 Feb to 5 March 1945. Look forward to hearing back from you. Codolences to your family. We are dedicating a new monument in October at Fort Benning, GA which will have engraved the names of all the division's combat dead, including Eugene, of course.
     
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  11. LRusso216

    LRusso216 Graybeard Staff Member

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    Thanks for posting here. You might consider starting your own thread so more people are aware of your organization. We appreciate your dedication to such preservation.
     

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