Hello My dad, PFC 1st class Billy L. Hoyle. His discharge papers state that he was in the Headquarters Battery 745th Field Artillery Battalion. He entered the service on August 23rd 1944 at Fort McPherson, Ga. I found a photo of him 4th Plat. Try. D &th BN. 3rd TRG Regt. F. A. RTC Fort Bragg, NC. 1-23-45. He arrived in Europe on March 6th 1945 and returned to the USA on Jan 30th 1946. He told me that he was in Germany & Austria. He passed away on July 4th, 1997. I am looking for any information and will share any photos or information that I have of his.
Welcome to the Forums. The photos may help us divine a bit more information. The unit on his discharge papers was the unit to which he was assigned at the time of his discharge. It may or may not have been the unit he was in for the majority of his service. From the date he was sent overseas, he likely went through the Army Replacement system. Through the Replacement system, he would have been sent to a Replacement Depot on the Continent and from there to his unit assignment. The War in Europe ended about 2 months after he arrived.
That makes sense, I thought that he told me he was in the infantry, but was put into the artillery later on. Thanks for your info. The dates I got off of a copy of his WD AGO Form 53 - 55. He did say that he was in one battle and got hit by some shrapnel but didn't get a Purple Heart. He said that he had to guard some prisoners. It listed him as a "Cook". I asked him about it & he said the only cooking that he did was put cans on the motor of the truck to warm them up. I posted some photos of some of the things he brought back. This is all that I have left. Most of the items were lost or he gave away.
That is very likely. The infantry received lion's share of replacements because they incurred greater losses. He may have been transferred to the 745th either after Germany surrendered or possibly for transport back to the USA to be discharged. The medals/ribbons are (from L to R): Good Conduct Medal, WWII Victory Medal, European-African-Middle Eastern (EAME) Campaign Medal, Army of Occupation Medal. The EAME has 1 bronze battle star which matches his story. It would be interesting to try and find documentation of his being wounded.
Not everyone that got "nicked" got a purple heart. My dad got "nicked" when a mortar round exploded while he was boarding for an invasion. He'd let us kids move the pieces around when they came up under his skin on the back of his hand. Shrapnel in his buttox got him his Award.
I found a photo of my dad, Billy L. Hoyle & his Army buddy. His friend is Cpl. Dixie B. Hawks 33664172 with the 402nd F. A. Bttn. This may be a clue that my dad was also in the 402nd F.A. Bttn.