115th Field Artillery

I am trying to find info on my great uncle. His name was Lucien James Burke. So far I have he was in B Battery, 115th Field Artillery Battalion, 3rd Army. I am fairly certain it was an AAA unit. I remember him telling me he manned a .50 cal. Not sure if it was one of the quad 50's. He was stationed near London for a while, he served in Europe ,I remember saying they landed after the D-Day Invasion. My Dad has a wooden plaque that was painted by a German POW and given to my uncle at some point in his service. It depicts the 3rd Army emblem, a rendering of an anti-aircraft cannon and the description I gave at the beginning of this topic. He also went to Iceland, not sure if it was before or after he was in Europe. He served from 1940-1945.

 

I found a great website for the 115th AAA Gun Battalion. The website has a lot of information including the full history of Battery B, Symphony in B-Flak. (I love a good pun.) The book has a roster, but I did not find his name on it. Rosters, even in unit histories, can be incomplete or wrong. You could try contacting the website owner. There is an email address in the bottom right corner. Even if it wasn't your great uncle's unit, it is a great website.


I had a hard time finding anything on on the 115th FA Battalion in WWII. Then I found some information on a Korean War website:

 

I joined B battery on Easter day of 1945 after they had been overseas for 30 months, first in Iceland for a long time and then in England long enough for several of them to have married English girls. The 50-cal MG was NOT a quad. We had no such. Our 50-cals were mounted on top of the truck cabs on the rider's side. I was in the 5th (ammunition) section. The war was over before I got to know many people. They were a national-guard outfit.

We had 4 105 howitzers pulled by 2-1/2-ton short-wheelbase trucks.

About 90 of the 99 men in the Battery went home just a few weeks after the end of the war in Germany since they had over a hundred 'points.' I and about five others were left to be part of the newly staffed battery. Your Uncle would have been one of those who went home.

When I joined the battery, they were stationed near the French coast to contain the pockets of Germans in and around Saint Nazaire and L'Orient who didn't surrender until the end of the war. They shot at us, but, because they didn't have air observation, couldn't see us. A 'very peaceful' situation.

 

I know this is late, but that website is quite wrong. The 115th FA Bn did not land in France until 23 September 1944. The 66th ID did not clear the Falaise Pocket, it did not land in France until 26 December 1944. The 115th FA Bn was attached to the 66th ID, but that was from 31 March-12 May 1945.

From its arrival on the Continent on 23 September until 20 December, the 115th FA Bn was attached to COMZ, ETOUSA as rear area security forces guarding the LOC from "sabotage", which actually meant hijackings by black market gangs and desperate French civilians. I can only locate them in early November when they were near Fontainebleau. During the Battle of the Bulge on 20 December, the 115th FA Bn and other COMZ elements, were attached to VIII Corps. On 22 December it was assigned as part of the Southern Meuse Defense Sector, along with the 1107th Engr C Grp, 366th Engr GS Regt, and the 1308th Engr GS Regt. Again, after that they disappear for a while, but I believe they were attached to the 80th ID, possibly up to their attachment to the 66th ID.

 

I have been trying for a very long time to learn whatever I could about my grandfather's WW2 service. The only snippets of information I have about him are the discharging unit on his DD214 - HQ of the 273rd FA Battalion AND the unit with which he earned his medals...the 115th FA Battalion. I have also found an old hat from a reunion that references the same (115th) unit.

I was only ever able to learn that he spent some time in Iceland, Bastogne, and that he went up occasionally in a small plane as an observer - which was apparently very nerve-wracking. Additionally, his DD214 lists the "Northern France-Rhineland" campaign - as the primary campaign in which he participated.

Corresponding to what is stated above regarding the longest-serving soldiers being discharged first - his DD214 states that he entered service in April 1941 and was discharged from Ft. Bragg in early July 1945-not even two months after VE Day.

 

Rob, did you ever find any more info. I have a lot of info on the 115th FA Battalion. They were a Tennessee National Guard unit, formerly the 1st Battalion 115th FA Regiment. The Battalion HQ & Combat Train was from Murfreesboro, A Battery from Winchester, B Battery from Memphis and C Battery from Centerville. They spent a year in Iceland then moved to England as school troops. In September 1944 they moved to France (Fontainebleau) and operated an Artillery Replacement Training Center. When the Battle of the Bulge broke out, they were one of the only FA Battalions available and close enough to respond to Bastogne. Their support to the 101st Airborne Division was legendary. Afterwards they returned to Fontainebleau but shortly after were deployed to Brittany to help clear out the German pockets along the coast. Their sister unit, 196th FA Battalion (formerly 2nd Bn 115th FA Regiment) was one of the first American units in Paris with the 2nd French Armored Division and played a big role in holding the northern shoulder of the Battle of the Bulge so it didn't collapse. They used the top secret proximity fuzes without authorization but held the Germans at bay. In the Korean War, the 196th played a key role in stopping the Chinese from overrunning the 2nd Infantry Division. Lots of great history.