976th Engineer Maintance Company-info

I have the report of seperation papers on my grandfather. Though you can never walk in another man's shoes, I would like to know where he went and what battles he fought in. Maybe part of Buchenwald (sp?) liberation??? I want to go to Europe and see some of the places he saw.
Any help on where I can find this info?

14 May 1943--22 Dec. 1945

 

What unit was he in?

 

Not to sound stupid. Don't know unit? Maybe 976th Engineer Maintance Company.

 

OK,how dumb is that.

The 89th infantry division liberated Buchenwald and the 314th engineer batt was the attatched engineer unit
89th INFANTRY DIVISION

the 42nd infantry division liberated Dachau,landsberg Kaufering complex(probably the 42nd),

US forces also liberated Flossenbuerg(90th inf div),

Ohrdruf by the 89th infantry division and the 4th armoured div.

Mauthausen(11th armoured div),gunskirchen(11th),

Ebensee by the 80th inf div.

Wöbbelin by 8th inf div and 82nd airborne.

I'll get back if i find anymore

 

Category:Engineer battalions of the United States Army - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Could you tell me what box 6 on his seperation form says?
The only 976th i can find is a 155mm artillery batt.

examples
http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/rldoak-certificate-of-service-01.jpg
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~utsaltla/111thInf/ReportOfSeparation_MitchellCharlesRichard.jpg

 

Thanks for the help so far. Box 6 is where I got 976th Engineer Maintance Company. Now, as far as Buchenwald, not really sure, just what my uncle told me that his father told him.
It also says he was in Ardeness and I was told growing up that he was a part of D-Day landing on a beach ??? don't know if Normady or Omaha in the 2nd or 3rd round, later in the day.
Also told that he was in Patton's 3rd Army.
Any help is GREATLY appreciated!
Thank you.

 

Under #33, Battles and campaigns it says:
Ardennes
Rhineland
Central Europe
GO 33 WD 45

Can someone help me figure this out, where he went, and what he saw?

 

Engineer maintenance companies are basically equipment parks for other units. What they do is hold a selection of construction machinery like bulldozers, graders, cranes, etc, for use by engineer battalions on an as needed basis. When the equipment is returned they make sure it is serviced and available for re-issue.

 

Same thing, smaller unit. Maintenance companies repair and service equipment for issue.

 

Its very hard to find anything below battalion level.

What can make things hard is that units can be moved around quite a lot.
My best guess is that he was attatched to 976TH field artillery who were part of 45th infantry division.
World War II unit histories & officers

according to the link below 45th inf div joined up with pattons 3rd army on sept 12th around normandy so thats probably when he got attatched to 45th div..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/45th_Infantry_Division_(United_States)#France_and_Germany
(best link,you can get locations here)

Pattons third army.
.Third United States Army - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

GO 33 WD 45=General Order 33 War department 45
Google Answers: world war tow unit citation

It all pretty much ties up with his seperation papers but you should double check everything just to make sure,

 

My name is Aaron Huberty and I live in Ankeny, Iowa. My grandfather, Herbert Huberty, served in the 976th Engineer Maintenance Company, 2nd maintenance platoon.

I've recently come across several photos from his time in Germany; mostly from when he was with US troops in Buchenwald concentration camps after Nazi's had fled the camp.

I have several photos and some list of names. I would like to learn as much as I can about his time in this platoon and any stories which I could capture for family history.

What's the best way to proceed?

 

You might post the list of names and any other information you have on them. That might lead to so new contacts and also information.

 

Hi All, My grandfather Myron Schecterman was in the 976th Engineer Maintenance Company. His discharge papers list only Rome/Arno for battles. However, I have photos of him in Vigelise or Vizelise or Vezelise; Houdreville; Lyon; Etampes, Bourg; all in France and also Germany and Belguim at some point too. From stories, we know he was in Italy too (confirming the document). Would love to learn more from anyone on the board. Thanks!

 

Finding info in smaller units and especially support units, is not easy. I could be wrong, but I have not found any indication that the 976th Eng. Maintenance Company was anywhere but Europe (i.e. France, Belgium, Germany). It that is the case, it may be that your grandfather served in more than one unit, which would explain the campaign credit for Rome/Arno. It was not unusual, especially after VE Day, for soldiers to be transferred to other units.

 

On a more general note, I came across a document on Fold3.com that referenced the 976th Engineer Maintenance Company. I thought it was interesting so figured I would post a transcription of the relevant section:

 

The Third Army report for Sep 44 shows the 976th serving at army level and was the only such unit at army level. One or two other maintenance companies were serving in the fall with different corps in the Third Army. 12th Army Group had a total of 24 maintenance companies in Apr 45, so these were fairly rare birds. The theater as a whole had 48. These companies were each authorized a strength of 191.

I would ask NARA to look for monthly histories for the 976th. The requirement for these periodic histories was met in various ways, so it might not be called a monthly history, but it doesn't cost anything to ask them to look for a history or operational report.

Histories for service units often read like travelogues, other times as a list of work completed, and occasionally note some important achievement. Maybe you'll get lucky and they compiled a campaign history as a single document and you won't have to pry a series of monthly reports out of NARA.

 

Hello TD-Tommy and firstflabn!

Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions! I'll add some info on what I've done: I went to NARA (I'm in DC at this year) and all they had was weekly reports from 1945 in Germany - not a whole lot there. That was it. The archivist told me my best bet moving forward was informal histories through other members of the company. Not sure how to attach images to the thread (it was RG 407, Box 15459).

I also was able to get two records from Kansas City, which I'm told I was fortunate in this regard as many records burned in the big fire. One is a final payment and one is injury reports (from playing baseball!). Would either one of you be willing to look at payment or the discharge record to see if there's anything I'm missing? I'm not sure if it's something I should post here for my privacy reasons (my grandfather passed long ago).

Thanks again!