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Stanton's Order of Battle Request

Discussion in 'Information Requests' started by JoshArterburn, Sep 9, 2010.

  1. JoshArterburn

    JoshArterburn Member

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    I recently discovered my grandfather Delbert E. Arterburn was part of the 591st AAA Battalion of the 7th Infantry Division. I have searched over and over again and have found almost nothing. The only thing I have found in reference to the 591st AAA has little information.

    591st AAA Auto-Weapons Bn (Semimobile)

    Raised 7 Feb 44
    Disbanded 26 Jan 45

    The user LRusso216 suggested the info I'm looking for may be found in Stanton's Order of Battle. If its not to much trouble I was hoping someone with a copy would do a lookup for me? Thank's in advance!

    [​IMG]
     
  2. Slipdigit

    Slipdigit Good Ol' Boy Staff Member WW2|ORG Editor

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    I have a copy of Stanton's book. I won't be able to reply until tomorrow, though. If I forget, ping me on it.
     
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  3. C.Evans

    C.Evans Expert

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    Hi Jeff, your beginning to sound a lot like me-the forgetting part ;-))
     
  4. JoshArterburn

    JoshArterburn Member

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    Alright no problem, Thanks for your help!
     
  5. Slipdigit

    Slipdigit Good Ol' Boy Staff Member WW2|ORG Editor

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    Josh, I can't promise that there will be much there, since it was a smaller unit attached to a division.
     
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  6. JoshArterburn

    JoshArterburn Member

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    Yeah I wasn't really expecting much. I've been watching WWII in HD that aired on the History channel the last few days. Its amazing how big this war really was. So I understand its not realistic for every unit to have info printed about them. That said any info at all would be great.
     
  7. Slipdigit

    Slipdigit Good Ol' Boy Staff Member WW2|ORG Editor

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    591st AAA Automatic-Weapons Battalion (Semimobile)
    7 Feb 44 Formed Attu Island from 2nd Batt/78th Coast Artillery Regiment
    8 Dec 44 Prince Rupert, British Columbia, Canada Port of Embarkation
    17 Dec 44 Ft Lawton, Washington
    26 Jan 45 Disbanded Camp Hood, Texas
    They fired 40mm guns.

    The 591st was not credited with any campaigns. I cannot see that it was attached to the US 7th Infantry Division (ID), as the 7th ID was not on Attu on Feb 7th 1944, but at sea headed toward Hawaii after completing landings at Kwajalein.

    The US Army began to break up AAA regiments in 1942, as they were too large and unwieldy for their intended purpose. I suspect this was one of the last to be broken up. Originally, as indicated above, the 591st was the 2nd Batt of the 78th Coast Artillery (CA). The 78th CA was attached to the 7th ID 15 Apr 43 and participated in the assault on Attu Island on 11 May 1943, where it remained after the 7th ID left for the South Pacific.

    The 591st was never a integral part of the 7th ID; it was attached only for the Attu campaign On 7 Feb 1944, it was broken up into seperate battalion, the 591st being one of the resulting battalions. It never wore 7th ID patches. Below is a line drawing of the distinctive unit insignia, which was worn on the lapels of the Class A uniform. The shoulder patch was probably one the commands responsible for the defense of the Aleutians, but I could only guess which one.

    The 78th CA is credited with the Aleutians Campaign. I suspect that the 591st was one of the many AAA battalions broken up to provide infantry replacements after the heavy casualties in late 1944 in Europe.
     

    Attached Files:

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  8. LRusso216

    LRusso216 Graybeard Staff Member

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    Jeff, I think you're correct about the infantry part. In Josh's original thread, we determined (I think) that his grandfather was awarded the Asiatic Pacific Medal with one battle star (Attu). My guess is that he was in the 159th Infantry Regiment, which remained on Attu when the 7th Division moved out. The 159th was replaced in the 7th Division by the 184th.
    The Hourglass Division first saw combat in WWII in the Aleutian Islands. On May 11, 1943, lead by the 17th Infantry Regiment, elements of the Division landed on Attu Island where Japanese forces were established. The 7th Infantry Division destroyed all Japanese resistance on the island by May 29th after defending against a suicidal "Bonzai" charge. Approximately 2,351 Japanese were killed, leaving only 28 to be taken prisoner. The 7th Infantry Division lost 600 soldiers killed in action. The 159th Infantry Regiment remained on Attu to secure the island and was replaced by the 184th Infantry Regiment. In August of 1943 the 7th Infantry landed on Kiska Island only to find that the Japanese forces there had secretly withdrawn. The Hourglass Division was then redeployed to the Hawaiian Islands for more training.
    .: History of the 7th Infantry Division | Bayonets :.
     
  9. JoshArterburn

    JoshArterburn Member

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    I know I say it to much But, Thank you!

    Yep the Report of Separation I got from the funeral home has the Asiatic Pacific Theater Campaign Medal listed, Along with a Good Conduct Medal and Bronze Star.

    If he did end up in the 159th Infantry Regiment wouldn't it be listed on the Separation Qualification Record?

    According to the separation report he arrived on May 11, 1943 and left on November 26, 1944
     
  10. Slipdigit

    Slipdigit Good Ol' Boy Staff Member WW2|ORG Editor

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    I looked at the attachment to your initial post of this thread. I believe that the narrative concerning his activities is incorrect. The 591st was not in existence for 20 months. I think that it should have included the 78th Coast Artillery and as it doesn't was probably a clerical error that to him was not worth getting changed.
     
  11. Slipdigit

    Slipdigit Good Ol' Boy Staff Member WW2|ORG Editor

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    Not necessarily. The Sep record often only included the unit he happen to be attached to at the time.
     
  12. JoshArterburn

    JoshArterburn Member

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    Oh ok that sounds plausible, I don't know if it will help but while going through his pictures I found some of them labeled Camp Callan La Jolla, California. I looked it up and found it was a Antiaircraft training base, There are also some of him wearing a Fort Crook, Nebraska shirt. According to his Report of Separation that is where he entered the service. I was hoping I could get some info from the bases themselves but neither of them exist anymore

    I also found a Person who posted on the Attu website about there father in law being in the 591st AAA Bn. The problem is it's 2 years old, I sent an email anyway hopefully I get a response and he has some more info.

    Sadly his records were some of the ones lost in the 1973 fire. I got lucky and my grandma had the original Separation Qualification Record, And the funeral home that handled his funeral had a Copy of his Report of Separation, But its hard to read, I called Veteran's Services and found out they have a copy as well. But they need permission from my grandma to release a copy. So I'm gonna go talk to her on Monday, Hopefully they have a better copy.

    Also after I was Informed his records were destroyed, They sent me a form to fill out with more info so they can compile a record from other sources. When I made the initial request I did not know about the Separation Qualification Record. I added all the info from it to the form and even sent a copy. If I'm lucky they may find something that will clear this up.
     
  13. JoshArterburn

    JoshArterburn Member

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    Update:

    I got another copy of his DD214 from the local veteran affairs office but it's just like the other one really hard to read

    Also my grandmother found the pins/patches he wore on his uniform. She has 2 We sweep the sky's pin's exactly the same as the picture Slipdigit posted, 4 US pins 2 of them had the number 78 under the US, Which I assume designates he was part of the 78th Coast Artillery like Slipdigit said. There was also his Good Conduct medal and ribbon, Along with the Asiatic Pacific Theater Campaign Ribbon with a tiny star on it, She also had 2 patches, The first was the Red Clover that you guys already helped me identify as being from the 4th army. The second patch was the 7th Infantry Division Hour glass like the one posted below

    [​IMG]

    Oh I almost forgot there was another pin that had a cross and 2 little thing's hanging off of it that said Bayonet and Rifle

    like this:
    [​IMG]
     
  14. LRusso216

    LRusso216 Graybeard Staff Member

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    That pin indicates that he qualified as a Marksman on those weapons.
     
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  15. Slipdigit

    Slipdigit Good Ol' Boy Staff Member WW2|ORG Editor

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    Was the 7th ID patch actually on a uniform or look like it had been at one time? I would not be surprised if he got the 7th ID patch as a memento.
     
  16. JoshArterburn

    JoshArterburn Member

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    Oh ok,

    I think I may have found the proof that your right about him being part of the 159th Infantry Regiment After I saw the Hourglass patch I thought of your post so i re read it and found this paragraph:

    The Hourglass Division first saw combat in WWII in the Aleutian Islands. On May 11, 1943, lead by the 17th Infantry Regiment, elements of the Division landed on Attu Island where Japanese forces were established. The 7th Infantry Division destroyed all Japanese resistance on the island by May 29th after defending against a suicidal "Bonzai" charge. Approximately 2,351 Japanese were killed, leaving only 28 to be taken prisoner. The 7th Infantry Division lost 600 soldiers killed in action. The 159th Infantry Regiment remained on Attu to secure the island.

    After I saw that date May 11, 1943, I decided to check his DD214 to see if he was there at that time, And I saw the same date May 11,1943

    [​IMG]

    Again its a little hard to read, But that looks like May 11, 1943 to me.

    I also found this little snippet:

    After American forces secured the island chain, the 159th Infantry Regiment was ordered to stay on the island. The 159th Infantry Regiment would stay on the island for some time longer until returning to the United States, where it would remain until the end of the war.

    This fits cause in his Obit. it says he married my grandmother on Jan. 8 1945, But he was not discharged until Oct. 12 1945.
     
  17. JoshArterburn

    JoshArterburn Member

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    No it wasn't on a uniform, Not sure if it had been sewed on before or not. My uncle has his uniform.
     
  18. Slipdigit

    Slipdigit Good Ol' Boy Staff Member WW2|ORG Editor

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    Okay, I am lost here. Why are you thinking he was in the 159th IR, when he trained at a AAA training camp, arrived on the island in a AAA unit and left in that unit's successor unit?
     
  19. LRusso216

    LRusso216 Graybeard Staff Member

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    Jeff, is it possible his AAA unit was attached to the 159th? The reason I suggested that unit was that his grandfather only got the one battle star (Attu), while the 7th ID went on to gain more. Since he remained on Attu, it seems likely that he was connected to the 159th in some way, since they remained on the island. That's all just guesswork on my part, based on his awards.
     
  20. Slipdigit

    Slipdigit Good Ol' Boy Staff Member WW2|ORG Editor

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    The 159th was permanently detached from the 7th ID when the rest of the 7th left Attu. It became an independent regiment was the a garrison troop for the island.

    I would think that the 78th AAA CA Regiment was under the local area command, like the Alaska Defense Command or the Aleutian Island Forces and not another regiment. A regimental sized AAA unit was more than infantry regiment would need.

    I cannot imagine that the whole 78th AAA remained attached to the 7th ID much past the assault phase of the operation and probably was detached as soon as a command senior to divisional level was established. I cannot find anything to show that to be fact.
     

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