Researching for my grandfather's service record

Hi,

I have been trying to research my Grandfather's WWII service and I am looking for any advice or help that I can find. I have his discharge papers but unfortunately all his other records were destroyed in the 1973 fire. According to his discharge papers, he served as a corporal for the 742nd Field Artillery Battalion. He entered into active service on November 13, 1942 but did not enter foreign service until December 1, 1944. He was in the Central Europe and Rhineland battles. His Separation Qualification Record state that he was a private in the "basic trg coast artillery (521)" and then he was a corporal "gun crewman heavy artillery (845)." The provided description is that he was "a member of an 8 inch crew on gun, loading and firing gun. Made minor repairs and maintenance. Served in the European theatre of war."

The thing is that through my research I have not found anything about the 742nd Field Artillery Battalion, it seems it doesn't exist. Does anyone have any information on this or know how I could obtain more information about what unit he did serve in? I have found it stated numerous times that the 153rd, 243rd, 256th, 268th and 575th Field Artillery Battalions are the only battalions in the European theater of operations that were equipped with the 8" gun. Therefore, I don't understand how my grandfather could have been a member of the 8 inch crew on gun and yet not have been a member of one of these field artillery battalions. His discharge papers do not list any other military occupation for him.

Any assistance that you could provide would be much appreciated. Thank you!

Jennifer

 

Here is a link that has 742nd Field Artillery Battalion as part of III Corps in the Battle of the Bulge.

http://www.cgsc.edu/CARL/nafziger/945AAAA.pdf

This contains a history of III Corps in WWII. It was part of Patton's Third Army from October '44.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/III_Corps_(United_States)#Europe

 

Thanks for the info. I will keep at it.

 

Just to add: Artillery of that size would only have been assigned to a Corps or an Army. According to Stanton's Order of Battle U.S. Army World War II, the 736th., 738th., 739th., 740th., 741st., 742nd., 743rd., 744th., 745th., 746th., 747th., 748th., 749th., and 750th. FA Bn's. were all equipped with the 8 in. tracked howitzer. All served in Europe except the 749th and 750th.

Greg C.

 

Thanks for the reference! I looked up Stanton's Order of Battle U.S. Army World War II and it was an invaluable resource. However, it states that the 742nd FA Bn. had no division. Therefore, I am wondering how it would be possible for me to trace the route of the battalion and to determine what battles they fought besides the 2 listed (Rhineland and Central Europe)?

 

Also, since you state your location as Washington DC, a short ride to College Park, MD off the Beltway is where the National Archives And Records Administration II (NARA) is located. If anyone can help you find records, After Action Reports etc on the 742nd FA Bn., archivists at NARA can. NARA is a 200 mile drive for me, but I try to get there two or three times a year if possible. Good luck.

Greg C.

 

Thanks for the information. I had submitted a letter to the National Archives & Records Administration requesting any relevant documents that they had on the 742nd Field Artillery Battalion and just received a letter back stating that they had approx. 300 pages. I am unable to go the Archives at this time to review the records and don't have a means of copying the records for free even if I could go, and wanted help with interpreting exactly what records were found. According to the quotation, 208 of the pages are "RG 407 Entry 427, WWII Opn Reports, 1941-48, FABN-742-0.1 (12547) Historical File 6 Apr 44-3 Aug 45", does anyone know what this "historical file" might contain? The rest of the documents are after-action reports which I know will be useful but I don't want to invest a lot for the documents if they aren't going to be that helpful. Thanks so much.

 

Thanks. As I continue my research, does anyone know how I could determine what battery of the 742nd Field Artillery Battalion my grandfather was part of? Unfortunately, this information is not provided in his discharge papers. Would there be a record of the men that served in each battery and if so, where? Thanks so much. I really appreciate all the information this forum has provided, it has been a huge help in my research.

 

Jennifer
Assuming that your grandfather's discharge record shows that he was assigned too the 742nd Artillery and he didn't arrive in the European theatre until December 1944, he most likely was assigned to the occupational forces for a number of months after the war ended. You can find the dates that he was overseas in box 36 of the discharge. The unit that your grandfather was assigned to after the war is not necessarily the unit he was in during the war. My father-in-law fought with the 313th Arty but was discharged from the 742nd.

There may be clues as to his unit in old letters or uniforms if you have access to any of that. If not, you may find his name in the battalion history at College Park.

 

Here's my Dad's history with the 742nd Field Artillery. Nelson H. Bush from Roanoke, VA, was in the 246th Coast Artillery in Virginia Beach, stationed at Fort Story, then was transferred to Camp Chaffee in Fort Smith, Arkansas, in preparation for being sent overseas in 1944.
The 742nd was activated April 13, 1944, at Camp Chaffee along with the 743rd and 744th battalions as part of the Fourth Army. They left for Europe out of Camp Kilmer, New Jersey, on Dec. 1, 1944, on Cunard's White Star Line's "M.V. Britannic." The passenger ship was used to ferry allied servicemen to the European front from 1939-47.
While on board, my dad wrote that they had two meals a day and a big Red Cross bag full of personal items. It was a very rough trip and most of the men were sick throughout. The Raleigh Co. gave them cartons of cigarettes. His roommate was named Jackson, and he also spoke of men named Davidson and Wright on the ship. He said they had a strong Naval convoy alongside and that they took care of several threatening German vessels en route. They arrived in Southampton, England, on Dec. 12.
They stayed in England briefly, attached to the 12th Army Group, then were shifted to the 15th Army on Jan. 1, 1945. A month later, they were in France as part of the U.S. First Army. The first guy in Dad's unit killed in combat was named Perry, and everyone called him "the Jap general," for some reason. He was laying wire for communications and a German plane came over and strafed him in the stomach. But, my dad wrote, "the guy in the plane will never strafe anyone else. He was shot down, the rat." The fallen soldier's mother got the Purple Heart and the Silver Star.
As part of the First Army under Gen. Courtney Hodges, they helped establish a bridgehead over the Rhine River the first week of March. According to dad's letters, they were in heavy combat throughout March -- rain, mud, foxholes. They received commendations for crossing the Rhine from John Lillikin, a major general, and Gen. Eisenhower.
The Rhineland campaign ended March 21st and the final campaign (Central Europe) began. Dad sent my mom a few souvenirs that he picked up along the way after they crossed into decimated Germany -- a Nazi flag that he took off of a German home and a propaganda leaflet dropped from a German plane that said, "Come on, Yanks! This time you surely expect to reach the Rhine. You have been told by your officers that this time it is going to be a walkover. Take it from us, buddy, we have not been asleep at the switch. Our screeching mimmies (sic) will tear the guts out of you. Our mortars and throwers, our mines and MGs and a few new things we have up our sleeve will reap a terrific harvest of blood and lives." He also brought home an S.S. police arm band and an S.S. shoulder patch.
About thie time, he also mentioned friends named Evans, Ruggiero and a Lt. Col. Brinker.
On April 1, he wrote that they were now part of the famous Third Army under George Patton. April continued to be filled with combat as they "tried to run these jerries into Berlin." His mail was censored, of course, and portions of the V-mails were blacked out. They were sleeping in bedrolls in plowed fields, abandoned hotels and, in early May, were living in a beer parlor.
On May 20, he wrote that they were staying in a castle in Henfenfeld, Germany, about 15 miles east of Nuremburg. He remarked that he was tired of guarding prisoners.
On June 1, he was sad to report that a 1st Sgt. Shearer got to go home and that he was "the best ever." He talked about how they had given souvenirs to the Polish people and that "they shout and wave to us and we throw then K-rations and cigarettes." He said the people they liberated were so pathetic, starving, etc.
His July letters were very relaxed and filled with narrative on his experiences. He saw Glen Miller's band in Nuremburg with LcPrad and Hartman, but of course Miller was off to war himself. He said they had enough German POWs to police the world. And "2,000 S.S. women, ready to stab us in the back. But don't worry, they're behind barbed wire." The large cities they went through were nothing but rubble and the small was horrible. Their truck convoy had to stop frequently to clear piles of bodies from roads.
He told about prisoners doing their laundry, shining their shoes, cutting their hair, shaving and making crates for them. The outfit was split up and some were now an army of occupation. On July 28, he write that he was now in the 61st Brigade, the last batallion in combat. He said they had been supporting the 98th Division.
They were all counting their discharge "points" and sweating being sent to the Pacific Theatre.
He arrived at Camp Lucky Strike in France in a boxcar on Oct. 3. There were 70,000 GIs there waiting to leave. He sailed from Le Harve on Oct. 16 and arrived in Camp Patrick Henry, VA, on Oct. 26, when the 742nd was inactivated. He went through the separation center at Fort Meade, MD., and returned home to Roanoke.

 

Your grandfather's return voyage to the USA in 1945 was upon the USS West Point AP-23.

Richard V. Horrell