Chanor Base Section

I'd asked about this in my other thread, Understanding Dad's Information, but it might have gotten overlooked over there, so I'll reask here if no one minds.

What was Chanor Base Section?

On October 16, 1945, well after the war was over but while my dad was still in Europe (he wouldn't return for three more months), he was transferred from the dwindling 549th AAA Battalion to "Hq Det[achment] Hq Chanor Base Section APO 562."

Chanor seems to be similar to the Communication Zone. Each had Base and Advance Sections but they sound more like geographic locations than organizations. I understand that the Communication Zone was involved with supplies and support and I know that Chanor operated a series of service stations for the units withdrawing from Germany after the war. Was that their exclusive role? To confound things further, I have a picture of Dad wearing a Communication Zone Advance Section patch on his shoulder. Was Chanor subordinate to the Communication Zone? Might Chanor Base Section be one of several Base Sections of the Communication Zone (although Dad's patch indicates he had a role in an Advance Section)?

Where can I find more about the structure of what was Chanor Base Section? There must be some organizational hierarchy. I've made a couple of trips to NARA St. Louis which is how I discovered Dad's transfer to Chanor Base Section. I'll be there again next week and I'd like to find the group he went to and read their morning reports.

Do any of you know anything about these organizations?

As always, thanks for your help.

 

Found this article which contains the following:

I hope that helps a bit.

 

I also found a PDF document on CARL that you can download. It has a section in which it discusses Chanor Base Section.

 

Thanks, guys. That adds some perspective. I was expecting to learn that Chanor Base Section was made up of a number of regiments or battalions or campanies, but it still sounds like Chanor Base Section was just one big group with multiple responsibilities. I'll have to see what I can find in the morning report indices at NARA.

 

Hello

I just found this brochure about a football game organized by the USRRA (United States Riviera Recreational Area) between the Chanor Base and th 4the Armored Division in Nice (France) on November 5, 1945.

 

I am fairly new here, but not new to the study of the Services of Supply, ETO, renamed on D-Day the Communications Zone (Com-Z), ETO, and later still renamed the Theater Service Forces, ET as of V-E Day. The patches on my home page are of the SOS worldwide, and the Com-Z patch, combining the ETO & SOS patch when Eisenhower consolidated the ETO & SOS-ETO HQs on his return to Britain in Jan. 1944. Chanor Base was one of the geographic sections of the Com-Z. There were others - not a parallel organization.

Here is an image of the unit history of the Com-Z, "American Enterprise in Europe" autographed by the commanding general LTG John C. H. Lee.

The overview of the CHANOR Base Section at this point in the immediate postwar is the TSF/ET had many jobs at the cessation of hostilities, in concert with the other existing Base Sections; Oise, Loire, UK, Brittany, Delta (southern France), and Bremen Port and Assembly Area (Antwerp) Command. They continued in all the 18 administrative functions that had begun in England in May 1942, with the additional responsibility of sorting out the 3,065,000 soldiers in-theater on V-E Day. Many were transported to Marseille for reassignment on ships to the PTO, though many had sufficient points to go home. That was the primary duty of Chanor's Depots and Areas: to tent-city-house the men and women until their turn to ship out to the ZI from the various French ports.

I have many graphics, images, and links about ETO logistics. Happy to answer any questions. Thank you to TD-Tommy776 for the link to the QM article - great stuff. And, the Com-Z patch as seen in my thumbnail was for the entire 930,000 soldiers in the Com-Z on V-E Day. MANY people call it the "Advance Section / ADSEC" patch. ADSEC was one of 10 geographic sections of the Com-Z - not the other way around as I have heard from many, especially at militaria shows.