730th Railway Operating Battalion

• Costa, Jack H. — Company A, 730th Railway Operating Battalion
• Broadle, John Joseph — Headquarters Company, 730th Railway Operating Battalion

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732nd Railway Operating Battalion

• Duran, Roberto — 732nd Railway Operating Battalion
• Hodge, Arnold — Company A, 732nd Railway Operating Battalion
• Sutliff, Nelson Harvey — Headquarters Company, 732nd Railway Operating Battalion
• Walker, Harold — Company B, 732nd Railway Operating Battalion

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733rd Railway Operating Battalion

• Coops, Samuel — Company C, 733rd Railway Operating Battalion
• Coker, Young Dempsey — Company C, 733rd Railway Shop Battalion
• Healy, Ross Edward — Company C, 733rd Railway Operating Battalion
• Kirby, Charles Alfred — 733rd Railway Operating Battalion (Attached Unassigned Detachment Patients, Station Hospital)
• Walding, Orville J. — Company A, 733rd Railway Operating Battalion

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734th Railway Operating Battalion

• Batchelder, Bertice H. — Headquarters Company, 734th Railway Operating Battalion
• Bing, Howard — Company C, 734th Railway Operating Battalion
• Dutra, Joseph Thomas — 734th Railway Operating Battalion
• Black, James D. — Company B, 734th Railway Shop Battalion
  • (Form corrected in red annotation to Company B, 734th Railway Shop Battalion)

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735th Railway Operating Battalion

• Gross, Orville C. — Engineers, 735th Railway Operating Battalion

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737th Railway Operating Battalion

• Hargis, Leo Porter — Company A, 737th Railway Operating Battalion

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740th Railway Operating Battalion

• Burkett, George R. — 740th Railway Operating Battalion
• Johnson, Walter Alfred — Company A, 740th Railway Operating Battalion
• Petersen, Orville Chris — Company B, 740th Railway Operating Battalion

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Railway Shop Battalions

733rd Railway Shop Battalion

• Coker, Young Dempsey — Company C, 733rd Railway Shop Battalion

734th Railway Shop Battalion

• Black, James D. — Company B, 734th Railway Shop Battalion 

See the application cards for this group here  

 

Thanks to Fetty's daughter Maydean for these great photos and documents. 

This photo is my dad, Ralph Glenn Fetty on left and his life longfriend Annas W. Klingensmith at Fort Sam Houston, Texas where they met and trained together

 Piker, Elmer G. Co. A

Special photo caption sent to Luke Harnish 5/28/24 Document saved as: Luke Harnish email Special photo May 28, 2024 

 Two Whitcomb 65-Diessel-Electric 19A locomotives built by the Whitcomb Locomotive Company in Rochelle, Illinois operated by the 732nd Railway Operating Battalion are pulling a train over the Saar River at Konz-Karthaus, Germany, 5 miles south of Trier, Germany’s oldest city. From the fresh look of a just completed construction project, with lumber scattered around and two men seen actively engaged in work, it appears that perhaps this photo was taken to celebrate the crossing of the first train across this just completed bridge. The original photo caption only gave the date as March 1945. Other photographs within the collection from which this one was acquired are dated March 17, 1945. A question on the March 17 date may be in conflict with the content of a newspaper article that appeared in the June 18, 1945, issue of The Gettysburg Times newspaper from Gettysburg Pennsylvania. That article highlighted the actions of Sgt. John H. Keller, a wartime resident of McKnightstown, Adams County Pennsylvania. Sgt. Keller served with the 347th Engineer General Service Regiment. 

In the article, Sgt. Keller stated that from March 14 to 25, 1945 he was in charge of a group of 40 enlisted men who set spans of steel and rail in constructing a railroad bridge across the Saar River. It appears that March 25 may possibly be the completion of the new bridge. If such is the case then a train crossing on March 17 may not have been possible. An alternative possibility is that the bridge was ready for train traffic on March 17, and the 347th Engineer’s remained on site attending to finishing-up their full project on March 25. Clarification on the questions on these dates may be found in the pages of a WWII memoir written by Arthur T. Harnish a welder in the 347th Engineer General Service Regiment. With the cooperation of the Harnish family a copy of Arthur’s memoir, My life during WWII: Headquarter & Service Company, 347th Engineers, General Service Regiment, Army of the United States could be in the hands of Duayne Forsberg to prepare a more accurate history. 

Two men can be seen at the first bridge pier, could one of them be Arthur Harnish, there is really no way to tell, but it’s a great thought to have. Orientation: This train is heading west, approaching the community of Konzerbruck on the west bank of the Saar River. The town of Konz, Germany on the east side of the Saar River, is visible in the upper left background. The row of buildings were severely damaged during the war and no longer exist. To the right is the wreckage of original bridge on the upstream side of the new bridge. Debris of the old bridge eventually was removed to prevent damage to the replacement bridge during periods of high water.

Elmer G. Piker Mar 1945 38233465 Co A 732d Railway Operating Battalion

Walter L. Poole Jul 1945 34888800 Co C 724 Railway Operating Battalion John E. Frazier Aug 1945 35768924 735th Railway Operating Battalion

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

 Check out the web page dedicated to his service created by his grandson here : 

https://www.angelfire.com/va2/worldwar2family/raoul.html 

 

The website acts weird now - here is text and photos from the site

Thanks to Andrew and THE GREAT NORTHERN GOAT www.gnrhs.org for sharing their great article!

Another great items from Richard Stone - Thanks

Transportation Corps pass

732.pdf by Nancy

thanks tim

732 Isgrig Reports #2.pdf by Nancy

Veterans History Project by Nancy

732nd ROBactivity Report 1945 by Nancy

732nd WWII Railroad Operators Battalion Honored by Nancy

Names 


Names on photos:

#1. Jefferson Barracks, 1944
From left, first row, first soldier, Robert Howard, third soldier, Paul Elwell. From left, standing, first soldier, Frank Pitelli.

#2. Jefferson Barracks, 1944.

#3. Back of photo #2.

#4. France, 1944-1945. From left, first row, second soldier, Robert Howard. From left, standing, first soldier, Harold Frost.

#5 and #6. Could be Company A at award ceremony.

My dad was Robert Howard, Company A, 732nd ROB.

Thanks again to Phyllis

732 Unit Reports by Nancy

Fascinating ! Thanks so much to Phyllis whose Dad service in the unit

Argiriou, Paul William -- Sergeant, Army Veteran 727TH ROB World War II, 1939-1945 - European Theater

Bellings, Irving -- Technical Sergeant, Army Veteran  732nd ROB World War II, 1939-1945 - Fort Dix, New Jersey; France; Central Europe; Germany

Bishop, Ralph -- Staff Sergeant, Army Veteran  766th ROB World War II, 1939-1945 - Bischeim, France; Frankfurt, Germany

Bottoms, John Norman -- E-4, Army Veteran  717th ROB Other - Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri

Brose, Robert W. -- Corporal, Army Veteran  724th World War II, 1939-1945, Korean War, 1950-1953 - Japan; Pusan, Korea Veterans History Project Rail vets http://lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/vhp/search?query=%2Brailway&start=0