U.S. Army Railway Units of the Past: Dec 28, 2011

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

723rd Railway Operating Battalion soldiers and mail

723rd Railway Operating Battalion

Raymond C. Jensen -Raymond was a Staff Sergeant with Company A, 723rd Railway Operating Battalion during World War II.

Wilbur A. Hunt-Wilbur was a Tech 5 with the Headquarters Company of the 723rd Railway Operating Battalion.

Guilford H. Howe - Corporal

721st Raliway Operating Battalion Company C History

If anyone has a copy of this -please contact me

Thanks, Nancy cunningb2@gmail.com

Railway Advertisement " Tourists"

759th Railway Operating Battalion Arkansas Railroader Vol.16 No .6 June 1985

743rd Railway Operating Battalion Major H.A. Rust article

743rd Rust

Railroad Sponsor units article (715th, 725th, 737th, 743rd, 750th, 759th ROB

743rd and Others Railroad S... by Nancy Cunningham

732nd R.O.B. photo Major T.J. BRENNAN

Below is a photo of Major Thomas J. Brennan, the commanding officer of the battalion throughout the war. He died in September of 1973.

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PHOTO from collection of Ernest Everett Pittman (PITTMAN Ernest Everett b 3 Nov 1908 IL d 20 June 1968 Mt.Vernon, IL , pre-war boxcar builder at Mt. Vernon Car Manufacturing Company)
Inscription on reverse of photo: "Major T.J. BRENNAN 732nd R.O.B." (handwritten)
This particular copy was printed on wartime Actien-Gesellschaft für Anilin-Fabrikation German paper (Agfa-Lupex paper), which would have been readily available at camera shops in Northern France.

In this photo, Maj. Brennan is holding a copy of the December 7, 1944, Stars and Stripes army newspaper, printed from its Paris press. (Vol. 1, No. 134 of that publication.)
The headline reads "Saar Crossed at 6 Points /// 3rd Forces Four New Bridgeheads on 50-Mile Front"
There are two boxes of "Kleenex Tissues" and a pack of smokes behind him.

It is speculated that this photo was taken within one week of the publication date of the newspaper pictured (07-DEC-1944), because one week later on 16 December the Germans sought to break through in the Ardennes forest, starting the Battle of the Bulge in which 19,000 American soldiers died.
[The full front page of the newspaper can be seen at http://www.wartimepress.com/WWII-Archives/images/717/Paris%201944%2012%2007.jpg ]

[ Photo: Major_Thomas_J_Brennan_DEC_1944.jpg ]

What makes a Railway Operating Battalion, Railway Shop Battalion or Railway Grand Division ?

Railway Grand Division: Administrative unit which oversaw 4-5 Railway Operating Battalions (ROB) and 1-2 Railway Shop Battalions (RSB)

Railway Operating Battalion: TO&E consisted of four (4) companies:

A: Two (2) track platoons and one bridge platoon to handle construction
B: Shop company: Two platoons responsible for equipment maintenance, one platoon shopped the rolling stock
C: Operating & Supply company: provided engineers, conductors, and operations personnel
H & S: Supplied the dispatchers, telegraphers, MPs, and other support personnel

Railway Shop Battalion: Performed major/minor overhauls, electrical repair, blacksmithing

A: Responsible for lathes, milling machines, locomotive repair
B: Boiler repair, firebox rebuilds, blacksmithing
C: Foundry operation
H & S: Administrative duties, supply and maintenance of shop power and equipment