Replacement Battalion

I have a question about my grandfather’s military timeline and history in World War II. According to his dd214, my grandfather was a member of the 48th armored infantry battalion. On a morning report i found he joined from HQ 90th replacement battalion on April 17th, 1945, basically when the war in Europe was over. My question is if he was in the 90th replacement battalion in April, does that mean that is where he was for the entire war before that? Did they move soldiers in and out of the replacement battalions or was he basically waiting the entire war to get put into action and finally did at the end? I believe he was in Beccles England in Nov 1943 after his training on the west coast in various locations for about 7-8 months. I am wondering because it seems Nov 1943 - April 1945 is a long time to be waiting over seas to join an infantry battalion. The morning report says he was a corporal at the time he transferred. Could he have ranked from a private to a corporal without being in combat in another battalion somewhere? If you have any expertise in this area please help me. Thanks!!

 

The Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment, 90th Replacement Battalion was constituted 21 January 1944 and activated 3 February 1944 in England. So if he was in England in November 1943, it was with another unit. The 7th Armored Division and its 48th AIB arrived in June 1944, so he also could not originally have been with it. I suspect he was originally 3d AD, but was wounded, injured, or sick at some time and so ended up in the 90th Repl Bn and then the 7th AD at the end of the war. Was there any indication of wounds or such in his records?

 

Thanks for the quick response! I noticed that too. Does that place him in England in Jan 1944? Or could he have joined the replacement battalion after? Did the replacement battalion remain in England and ship guys from there to their destinations or were they mobile following behind lines waiting their turn? After reading about replacement battalions it seems like in wwii they consisted of men with no battle experience just waiting to replace wounded or killed soldiers on an individual basis. I guess the best way to tackle this is to find as much info on the HQ 90th replacement battalion.
Does anyone know where I could find morning reports and/or a more in depth history of the HQ 90th replacement battalion? Thanks!!!
RJ

 

I have no knowledge of him being wounded injured or sick in Europe. He did have spinal meningitis during basic training in the states and was inactive for a week in April or May of 1943. He also had asthma and took a hospital ship home but that wasn’t until Sept of 1946 long after the war in Europe had ended. No Purple Heart.

 

I thought you said he arrived in England in the fall of 1943? So yes, he would likely be there in January 1944. The Field Force Replacement System, ETOUSA was organized in England on 24 November 1943, but did not become operational until January 1944. It was later renamed the Ground Force Replacement System, then the Replacement System, and in December 1944 the Ground Force Reinforcement Command. The 90th Replacement Battalion as of 31 May was part of the 3d Replacement Depot at Codford Village. I do not find any units of the GFRS at Beccles.

The history and movements of the replacement system is complicated. As of 6 June, the 14th Replacement Depot was assigned to First Army for operations, with the
41st Repl Bn (att to V Corps), 53d Repl Bn (att to VIII Corps), 86th Repl Bn (att to XIX Corps), and 92d Repl Bn (att to VII Corps).

 

BTW, Beccles is a very odd place for a U.S. Army Ground Forces unit in November 1943. Britain's eastern counties were where many Army Air Forces units were, most of the Ground Forces were stationed in the Southwest, Southeast, and a few in the Midlands counties.

 

I know he was trained in in Greeley Colorado in the army air forces training command. I believe he was trained as an air controller. But at the end of the war in Europe (April 16th 1945) he joined the 48th armored infantry battalion from the HQ 90th replacement battalion. I guess I will have to look into the 90th and work backwards. Anyone know a good wwii researcher?

 

Now it makes sense. He was AAF and then likely transferred to AGF for retraining as infantry during the replacement crisis in the winter of 1944-1945. Basically all personnel deemed non-mission essential were transferred. To find which AAF unit he was in you would have to trace backwards through the morning reports of the 90th Replacement Battalion and its attached companies, which could be a bear of a job. The problem is he may have been billeted at Beccles, but Beccles (USAAF Field #132) when completed in 1943 was never a permanent base for any AAF flying unit. Instead, it was the base of the 398th Bomb Group's Maintenance Squadron and the 17th Replacement Control Depot, Air Service Command. He may have been assigned to one of those.