War time editions of N.Y. Central Railroad Headlight are a goldmine and this edition includes mentions of soldiers in the units: 

CH December 1945 

• 718th ROB Ross 
• 759th ROB Champagne 

 

War time editions of N.Y. Central Railroad Headlight are a goldmine and this edition includes mentions of soldiers in the units: 

CH September 1945

• 718^th, 721^st, 736^th, 737^th ROB
• 753^rd RSB
• 701^st RGD
• All NYC Battalions go to reserves Post War.
• 718^th ROB – first train across Rhine Guilfoil
• 2^nd MRS piper cubs doing reconnaissance- telegraph line
• 748^th ROB Truden
• 724^th ROB Brearton
• MRS Ital
• MRS Burma
• MRS #years of experience
• 706^th RGD
• 713^th ROB
• 721^st ROB Voights India
• MRS operated 12 RR lines in Germany
• 718^th ROB Merit Plaque
• 726^th Padula India
• Double Turntable at Cologne in Germany
• 2^nd MRS Elmes 

 

 

War time editions of N.Y. Central Railroad Headlight are a goldmine and this edition includes mentions of soldiers in the units: 

CH Aug 1945

• 718thth ROB MRS Company B
• 714^th ROB Alaska
• 718^th ROB Luxembourg
• 701^st RGD
• 743^rd ROB Stimson
• MRS India

 

War time editions of N.Y. Central Railroad Headlight are a goldmine and this edition includes mentions of soldiers in the units:

• 2nd MRS
• 721st Railway Operating Battalion
• 718th Railway Operating Battalion
• 774th Railway Operating Battalion

 

May 1944 

• 718th Railway Operating Battalion 
• Camp Clairborne 
• Camp Polk RR Vigars 
• MRS India - Harvey, M.M. Emmanuel 
• 733rd Railway Operating Battalion 

Schoppes, Smith, Wright, Guest, Garey, Gander, Adis, Griffin, Baird, Griswold, Jorgenson, Bort, Yocum, Handler, Terpoilli, Panto, Seiglo, Anderson, Fulton, Guinano, Flam, Balsiger, Little 

April 1944 

• MRS Italy Kossuth 
• MRS Iran 
• 718th Railway Operating Battalion 
• Camp Clairborne

 

January 1944

• 718th Railway Operating Battalion 
• 710th HQ Railway Operating Battalion 
• 723rd Railway Operating Battalion 
• 722nd Railway Operating Battalion 
• 743rd Railway Operating Battalion 
• MRS Africa 
• MRS ROB Alaska Clark

 

Thanks so much to author, Michael Heinzel for providing to the blog an English translation of a chapter pertaining to MRS units from his new book, Buch Eisenbahn in Ostbelgien nach dem 2. Weltkrieg: Besetzung - Befreiung - Wiederaufbau (Railway in East Belgium after World War II: Occupation - Liberation - Reconstruction) 

Reports from a German, American and Belgian perspective The railways in the Belgian-German border area served as deployment lines for the German invasion of Belgium in the First and Second World Wars. 

During the First World War they were only slightly destroyed, but then mostly ceded to the kingdom. During the Second World War, the destruction was serious. The local events of the years 1940-59 can be reconstructed using original documents from the Federal Archives, diary reports by American railway pioneers and official SNCB files from the Belgian train station Weywertz, and interesting insights into the political upheavals of that time can be gained. 

You can purchase in German here you can purchase in German here: Softcover 14.7 x 21cm 103 pages : https://bityl.co/B7jj 

 

If you can't see image click here : https://drive.google.com/file/d/165mOKwCNngH8q7hrAjwgEaQJGOWIOzK9/view?usp=sharing

718th Railway Operating Battalion, Headquarters Company, Camp Claiborne, 1944

718th ROB Discussion on Flickr around the unit photo

718th ROB Discussion on Flickr Around the Unit Photo by Nancy on Scribd

718th ROB Clues Reveal Few Hints About Fate of Missing Soldier by Nancy on Scribd

Turns out this is a cigarette holder
 
 ** wiggins Thanks Guy Meysmans

718th Clues Reveal Few Hint... by on Scribd

Thanks to Barclay for sharing his grandfather's William J. Ricketson great 718th ROB photos.
Please get in touch with me if anyone can identify any of the other soldiers  or locations.
My grandfather William J. Ricketson (4th row from bottom, 2nd from right) of Cornelia, Georgia, pictured with his unit - the 718th Railway Operating Battalion, Headquarters Unit, at Camp Claiborne, Alexandria, Louisiana, 1944.
The 718th would deploy to the European Theater in July of 1944 and move from England, to France, to Luxembourg, and into Germany. The 718th Railway Operating Battalion took part in The Battle of The Bulge, moving troops and supplies back and forth to the front.

Historical notes follow:
One railroad historian, Carl Gray, notes of this Christmas that "the most noteworthy action was the Battle of the Bulge, when Von Rundstedt counterattacked the Third Army. In the thick of this action the troops of the 706th R.G.D. . . . Among those operating battalions directly involved in this action were the 718, 722 and 732 R.O.B." The Yankee Boomer elaborated, saying "Assigned to the task of a railhead battalion in support of the Third Army, the 718th operated the advanced line in Patton's territory, moving as close to the front as possible." Gray writes that "During the period of the [Battle] the 718 R.O.B. accomplished a rather remarkable feat in that they moved within forty-eight hours four divisions, including supply, of the Third Army laterally across the front into the south flank of the Bulge." The Boomer agreed, asserting that "this movement was so successful that units withdrawing from the line in the south received their supplies at railheads and were returned to combat without delay. Third Army spokesmen consider this a primary factor in the repulse of the Bulge." This was not all, for, as the unit's own historian indicates, there was the additional problem "of moving the Seventh Army, which was replacing the Third Army, and this was accomplished [by the 718th] also without halt."

718.pdf by Nancy

thanks tim

718th Railway Operating Battalion - Railroad Soldiers by Joseph W Weeks, Norma Jeanne Strobel

American Battle Monuments Commission 

ABMC manages 24 overseas military cemeteries, and 25 memorials, monuments, and markers. The cemeteries and memorials honor those who served in World War I, World War II, and the Korean War. Search for names from the honor rolls. Information presented includes service information, dates of birth and death, and notes which relate to the circumstances of death, status, and awards received. http://www.fold3.com/title_853/
 
Miles R Hicks
Full Name:Miles R Hicks
Death:Buried: Buried at: Plot D Row 30 Grave 19 Ardennes American Cemetery Neupre, Belgium
Death: 1-Apr-45
Death Date: 01 Apr 1945
Memorial Cemetery: Ardennes American Cemetery
Memorial Country: Neupre, Belgium
Memorial Location: Plot D Row 30 Grave 19
Residence:State: Virginia
World War II
Rank:Private First Class, U.S. Army
Service Number:35233462
Regiment:717th Railway Operating Battalion

William C Hedin
Full Name:William C Hedin
Death:
Buried: Buried at: Plot B Row 22 Grave 31 Epinal American Cemetery Epinal, France
Death: 8-Nov-44 1
Death Date: 08 Nov 1944
Memorial Cemetery: Epinal American Cemetery
Memorial Country: Epinal, France
Memorial Location: Plot B Row 22 Grave 31
Residence:State: Minnesota
World War II
Rank:Technician Fifth Class, U.S. Army
Service Number:37582388
Regiment:718th Railway Operating Battalion

Luke O'Brien
Full Name:Luke O'Brien
Death:Buried: Buried at: Plot F Row 6 Grave 16<br />Luxembourg American Cemetery Luxembourg City, Luxembourg 1
Death: 5-Apr-45
Death Date: 05 Apr 1945
Memorial Cemetery: Luxembourg American Cemetery
Memorial Country: Luxembourg City, Luxembourg
Memorial Location: Plot F Row 6 Grave 16
Residence:State: California
World War II
Rank:Technician Fifth Class, U.S. Army
Service Number:39532958
Regiment:718th Railway Operating Battalion

Joseph M Cushman
Full Name:Joseph M Cushman
Death:Buried: Buried at: Plot I Row 10 Grave 5 Luxembourg American Cemetery Luxembourg City Luxembourg 1
Death: 10-Jan-45
Death Date: 10 Jan 1945
Memorial Cemetery: Luxembourg American Cemetery
Memorial Country: Luxembourg City, Luxembourg
Memorial Location: Plot I Row 10 Grave 5
Residence:State: Ohio
World War II
Rank:Technician Fourth Class, U.S. Army
Service Number:35877747
Awards:Legion of Merit
Regiment:718th Railway Operating Battalion

Gilbert F Stride
Full Name:Gilbert F Stride
Death:Buried: Buried at: Plot C Row 16 Grave 34 Lorraine American Cemetery St. Avold, France
Death: 31-Jul-45
Death Date: 31 Jul 1945
Memorial Cemetery: Lorraine American Cemetery
Memorial Country: St. Avold, France
Memorial Location: Plot C Row 16 Grave 34
Residence:State: Oregon
World War II
Rank:Private First Class, U.S. Army
Service Number:37355853
Regiment:718th Railway Operating Battalion

Clarence Orr
Full Name:Clarence Orr
Death:Buried: Buried at: Plot G Row 11 Grave 4 North Africa American Cemetery Carthage, Tunisia
Death: 26-Sep-43
Death Date: 26 Sep 1943
Memorial Cemetery: North Africa American Cemetery
Memorial Country: Carthage, Tunisia
Memorial Location: Plot G Row 11 Grave 4
Residence:State: New Jersey