Railway Operating Battalion (ROB), Railway Shop Battalion (RSB), Railway Grand Division (RGD), Transportation Railway Shop Battalion (TRSB), Transportation Group (Railway), Transportation Railway Shop Battalion (TRSB), Transportation Railway Operating Battalion (TROB), Transportation Military Railway Service(TMRS), Transportation Group (Railway), Transportation Corps, U.S. Army and more
Saturday, July 20, 2024 | Labels: 705th Railway Grand Division, Burma | 0 Comments
War time editions of N.Y. Central Railroad Headlight are a goldmine and this edition includes mentions of soldiers in these units:
CH July 1945
Thursday, February 22, 2024 | Labels: 2nd Military Railway Service, 758th Railway Shop Battalion, Burma, Central Railroad Headlight, India | 0 Comments
War time editions of N.Y. Central Railroad Headlight are a goldmine and this edition includes mentions of soldiers in the units:
Thursday, February 22, 2024 | Labels: 2nd Military Railway Service, Burma, Burpee, Central Railroad Headlight, France, India, italy | 0 Comments
August 1944
Wednesday, February 21, 2024 | Labels: 721st Railway Operating Battalion, 722nd Railway Operating Battalion, Burma, Central Railroad Headlight, italy, Railroad company | 0 Comments
721st-- 725th -- 726th
Lincoln: University of Nebraska / Potomac Books, 2017. Pp. xvi, 200. Illus., maps, notes, biblio., index. $29.95. ISBN: 161234853X.
Military Railroading in Asia's Jungles and Mountains
Inspired by a box of memorabilia left by his father, a sometime staff sergeant in the 721st Railway Operating Battalion (ROB), Hantzis set out to learn more about his father’s war, and the result is this interesting history of two largely overlooked subjects, military railroading and the neglected CBI theatre, which included some of the most inhospitable terrain in the world, the jungle clad mountains of northeastern India and Burma.
After an introduction offering some family background and comment on military railroading, Hantzis covers the recruiting and organization of the ROB battalions, each of which was organized around a cadre drawn from one of the nation’s great railways, the 721st ROB was recruited from the New York Central, the 725th from the Chicago, Rock Island, and Pacific, the 726th ROB from the Wabash, and so forth. He then follows these troops on their nearly 70 day voyage aboard a converted former luxury liner from the East Coast to Bombay in India, and thence overland to the front in the northeastern part of India, altogether journey of nearly 20,000 miles. From there, the book follows these troops as the engaged in upgrading the local railroads, building new ones, and bringing up the matériel needed to support the Allied war effort in the theatre.
As he tells the story of the organization, movement, and work of these troops, Hantzis also gives us a look at the battalion’s personnel and their individual experiences coping with alien cultures and war. In the process, he also fills the reader in on a lot of information about railroading, civil and military, so, for example, we learn that one ROB could sustain operations along a 100-150 mile stretch of line. Although his primary concern is the story of the 721st ROB, Hantzis sets this within the overall picture of events in the theatre.
Rails of War will prove a profitable read for anyone interested in military railroading or the CBI.
Note: Rails of War is also available in several e-editions
https://goo.gl/PY7Dpe
Friday, December 22, 2017 | Labels: 721st Railway Operating Battalion, 725th Railway Operating Battalion, 726th Railway Operating Battalion, book, Burma, china, India | 0 Comments
If you have any materials connected to these great Army Railway units please share them here with the families of the soldiers. If you are a collector or memorabilia dealer PLEASE share copies or scans of items BEFORE you sell these priceless materials to private collectors . I will hold the copies until after they sell. It means so much to the families of the guy's that actually served in these units.
Contact me : Nancy militaryrailwayservice@gmail.