I Need Scans of you Miltary Railway Service items!
What articles, document and photos about these great military rail unit do you have in a old box some where ?
Get them out, get them scanned and get them to me and let's share them on this blog !
Hundreds of folks a week come to this blog and enjoy and learn about these great units! I also frequently hear from family memebers of the soldiers, as well as from researchers who use this blog.
Lets make sure these guys and units get remembered !!
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729th Normandy - The Technical Services - Transportation Corps
On February 21st 1941, the 591st Engineer Battalion Railway was renumbered the 729th Engineer Battalion. On April 1st 1942, it was redesignated as the 729th Engineer Railway Operating Battalion. On November 16th 1942, the 729th was transferred from the Corps of Engineers to the Transportation Corps and again redesignated the 729th Railway Operating Battalion. The unit was then affiliated with the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad based in New Haven, CT. The unit would meet at the New Haven Y.M.C.A.
On December 2nd 1942, the officers of the 729th reported to active duty at Fort Slocun, New York for training. At the time the Unit's Commanding Officer was still William S., Carr. Ten of the units officers at this time were from the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad. The rest of the officers came from the Reading, Missouri Pacific, Baltimore and Ohio, Santa Fe, Boston and Maine, Chicago and Northwester, Lehigh and New England, and the Delaware and Hudson Railroads.
Almost six weeks later on January 11th 1943, the 729th Railway Operating Battalion was ordered to active duty at the New Orleans, Louisiana Staging Area. At this time the unit had 150 men. The 729th eventually had men from 92 different railroads.
During World War II the 729th participated in campaigns in Normandy, Northern France, the Rhineland, and Central Europe. Although the unit did not receive any awards it did have to it's credit many accomplishments, and many of it's members were decorated.
Among it's accomplishments are:
First complete unit of its kind to be stationed in England.
Assembled the first American Refrigerator, Tank, Box, War Flats and Gondola cars in Europe.
Pioneered in setting up assembly lines in the United Kingdom
First Railway Operating Battalion to land in France 10 days after "D" Day on Omaha and Utah Beaches.
Ran the first passenger train in France.
Ran the first troop train in France.
Ran the first freight train in France.
Ran the first hospital train in France.
Had a part in the construction of the 1800 foot steel girder Rhine River Bridge in 10 days.
Ran the first train over the Weser River Bridge.
Ran the huge Antwerp Freight Terminal.
Operated rail lines in support of the First and Ninth Armies into Germany.
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Get great military apps for your smart phone or ipad
Get great military apps for your smart phone or ipad
1. Memorial Day ($0.99) This app features information about Memorial Day, including history, trivia facts, and a list of Memorial Day parades happening throughout the country.
2. The Civil War Today ($7.99) This app is a daily updated app that brings the history of the Civil War to your iPad, one day at a time over a four year period. Each daily entry includes newspaper clippings from that day in history, personal letters and diary entries, photo of the day, maps, quizzes and much more.
3. World War I: A Brief History ($2.99) This app is an educational app that serves as a reference to World War I’s most significant events and figures. Stunning photos are included to help enhance the storytelling.
4. War Letters of a Public-School Boy HD ($1.99) This digital book is a collection of letters written by Lieutenant Henry Paul Mainwaring Jones, who was killed in action during World War I. It includes narrative information about his life as well as photograph.
5. The Inside Story of the Peace Conference 1919 HD ($1.99) This reference app is a personal account of the events of the Paris Peace Conference at the end of World War I as written by Journalist Emile Joseph Dillon. What it lacks in visual, it makes up for in content.
6. War in the Pacific ($4.99) This revolutionary interactive digital book is filled with photos, videos, interviews, and maps about the World War II battles on the islands of Guadalcanal, in the Philippines and on the Pacific Ocean.
7. D-Day 1944 ($2.99) This app is a historical account of the events that took place on June 6, 1944, including an animated map showing a step-by-step reenactment of the key phases of the battle.
8. USO On Patrol Magazine HD (Free) This digital magazine, published quarterly, iss the official magazine of the United Service Organizations (USO), founded in 1941. They are a private, nonprofit organization whose mission it is to support the U.S. Armed Forces and their families by providing morale, welfare, and services while deployed and at home.
9. Military 24/7 (Free) is a military news app that gives up-to-date information directly from deployed service members from each branch of the U.S. Military. You can read top news story of the day from the Army, Coast Guard, Marines, Navy, Air Force and Reserves.
10. Marines Magazine (Free) is the official magazine app of the U.S. Marine Corp. In addition to the same content of the free edition, there is iPad optimized interactive content such as additional photos and videos.
11. HD U.S. Army ($0.99) is an encyclopedic compilation of information about the United States Army, including facts and photos.
12. Battleships of the U.S. Navy ($1.99) This app is a photo essay of U.S. Naval battleships. With over 260 high quality photos, this app allows you to view details and read histories of battleships from the time they were commissioned to the time they were scrapped.
13. Fighter Pilot (by Robin Olds et al.) (Unabridged Audiobook): Blackstone Audio Apps: Folium Edition ($9.99) This audiobook app is the autobiographical story of Robin Olds, a American triple ace fighter pilot and general in the U.S. Air Force.
http://www.apple.com/itunes/
US Military Railway Service Journal. Near Calcutta, 4 Jan 1944
Fireless engine at a warehouse at a jute mill near Calcutta Picture from US Military Railway Service Journal. Near Calcutta, 4 Jan 1944. By David Churchill.
The Great Northern Railway in Northwest Montana 1951
1951, 05 January: G. N. Vice President Speaker At Chamber Dinner
Tickets for the annual banquet of the Chamber of Commerce to be held Wednesday, January 10, are now on sale at $1.75 each at the office of the organization under the First National Bank and may also be purchased from A. F. Evey, chairman of the ticket sales.
Speaker of the evening will be John M. Budd, operating vice president of the Great Northern Railway and former division superintendent here. The title of Mr. Budd's address is "It Doesn't Make Sense." The dinner will be held at seven o'clock at the Moose Hall, L. E. Scott, Oscar Knutson and Roy Arnold are in charge of dinner arrangements. The program has been planned by Shirley Lincoln, newly elected president of the Chamber, and H. B. Markus.
Mr. Budd began his railroading career with Great Northern in 1930 and, except for three years in the Military Railway service during World War II, served with this company until becoming president of the Chicago & Eastern Illinois, with headquarters in Chicago.
Starting in 1930 with Great Northern as assistant to the electrical engineer, Mr. Budd became assistant trainmaster at Wilmar, Minn., in 1933 and trainmaster there in 1934.
Two years later he was appointed trainmaster on the Spokane division and in 1940 superintendent of the Klamath division in Oregon. In early 1942 he became superintendent of the Kalispell division and in late 1942 entered the army.
He went into the Military Railway Service with the 704th Railway Grand Division, made up of Great Northern personnel, and later shifted to the 727th Railway Operating Battalion. He served in the European Theater of operations and gained the rank of colonel.
In late 1945 Mr. Budd returned to Great Northern as assistant general manager of lines east of Williston, N. D.
When named president of the Chicago & Eastern Illinois on June 1, 1947, at the age of 39, he became the youngest president of a Class 1 railway in the country.
On June 1, 1949, Mr. Budd became Great Northern's operating vice president, succeeding the late Thomas F. Dixon.
William Hay --Educator, researcher, national and international railroad expert
By Professor Emeritus W. J. Hall and Assoc. Professor C. Barkan
Photograph of William HayHay graduated from Carnegie-Mellon University with a B.S. in Management Engineering in 1931. This was followed with interspersed work on the Pennsylvania Railroad and in a chemical plant, after which he took advanced coursework on railway operations at Yale University in 1932-33. Subsequently during the Depression he held a succession of positions with railroads and rapid transit lines, such as the Pennsylvania Railroad, the Long Island Railroad, the 8th Ave. subway, and the Pittsburgh & Lake Erie Railroad. He garnered priceless experience along the way.During his career at Illinois, Hay was adviser (and mentor) to more than 72 railroad engineering majors and taught railway engineering to more than 600 students. After WWII, Illinois was the only major institution providing instruction in railroad engineering. Many of the senior personnel in the railroad industry today studied under Hay; 64 of his former students are known to have (or have had) wide-ranging positions of influence and responsibility in railroad engineering and management throughout the world. Examples include: Mostafa Khalil Mostafa, who later became Prime Minister of Egypt under President Anwar Sadat, and Ian Campbell who became vice-chairman of the British Railways Board, Chairman of Transmark, and a President of the Institution of Civil Engineers of Great Britain. The list goes on.
