Brozyna has a great article on doing research.

Requesting US Army WWII Operations Reports


Are you researching your you father's (or grandfather's) WWII service? Well, if you're lucky he served in a famous unit like the 101st Airborne, Patton's 3rd Army, or the 90th Infantry Division. There are many trade books published on these front-line troops, so all you need to do is go to the bookstore to learn more. Some have an official unit history published by the Army. You can search for these at the US Army Military History Institute website.

If you are studying a lesser-known unit, then you'll need to do make a bit more effort. The US National Archives is a great resource. This institution holds historical data / operations reports for Army units in WWII (see my post on WWII Air Force unit records). These reports were internal documents written to educate war planners. After the war ended many were declassified, and are now made available to the public. You can visit the College Park, MD archives in person, or submit a request for photocopies.

The records for my grandfather's 519th Port Bn. included an 8 page history of the unit written in paragraph form, a 2 page time line listing where & when they were, a few issues of a unit newsletter, and about 50 pages of monthly reports from their time in Antwerp. This is all valuable primary information written at the time, or shortly after. Recently, I made another request for 1st Engineer Special Brigade documents. You can use this as an example to follow if you would like to order documents for your own research.

Step 1: Determine the unit

I was fortunate in that my grandfather told me the name of his unit, and he gave me a copy of his discharge papers. If you not sure what unit your dad served in, then you too will want to find his discharge papers. A family member might have them somewhere, sometimes veterans filed copies with the local Veterans Affairs office. You can also request copies from the National Archives website here. An Army unit will appear with the soldier's name. Sometimes a GI was transferred to a different unit other than the one he served with for most of the war. Only the most recent unit was listed on the discharge papers, so it's a good idea to try to find another document or personal account to confirm the. If a soldier died, the next of kin was sent a Individual Personal Death file, which also listed the unit.

Step 2: Email request


Email the National Archives your request for the historical data report or operations report for your chosen unit: You may also mail a written request to: National Archives and Records Administration, Textual Archives Services Division, 8601 Adelphi Rd, College Park, MD 20740-6001 USA.

Provide as much information on the unit hierarchy as possible. So, if you want info on your dad's company, also provide the parent battalion, regiment, division, etc. The Archives prefers to communicate through the US mail, so make sure to include your mailing address. Here is my email I sent on January 11, 2010:

National Archives,

I would like photocopies of the historical reports for two different Army units from WWII:

1. The 1st Engineer Special Brigade, part of the US Army Transportation Corp.

I need only their records from June to November 1944 at Utah Beach, Normandy, France.

2. The 13th Major Port Group, part of US Army Transportation Corp.

October 1944 to January 1946 at the port of Antwerp, Belgium.

Thank You,

Name

Mailing Address

Step 3: Response letter

The Archives will send you a response letter in the mail. In my case, there were numerous possible files, so they wanted me to refine my request. On February 22, 2010 they mailed me a letter which included a list of 40 different file categories corresponding to the 1st Engineer Special Brigade. There were operations plans, orders, monthly reports, histories, even a telephone directory. I was only interested in the unit's time in Normandy, so I requested that single file. The 13th Major Port had only one file. I hand-wrote these two file names/numbers on a piece of paper and mailed back a request for those photocopies on February 26th.

Step 4: Order form

On March 6, 2010 I received a second letter from the Archives. There was a reproduction order form filled out for the 1st ESB records. It explained that there were 75 pages available, it cost $0.75 per page, coming to a total of $56.25. I filled in my credit card info, and faxed it the same day.

As for the other unit the Archives wrote, "The 13th Major Port has several boxes of records. Each box contains approximately 1,000 pages of documents." Obviously, I wasn't going to pay to have them copy 1,000s and 1,000s of pages. If I lived nearby I would visit and go through these boxes myself, but I had to give up on this unit. There wasn't anything specific I needed to find out, I was just curious what the 13th papers might say about their work in Antwerp.

Step 5: Receive records

Last Friday, March 27, 2010 I received a package from UPS. It contained the stack of papers seen in the above photo. There is a list of units that served under the 1st ESB, discussions of the work on the beach, equipment used, challenges, recommendations for future amphibious landings, records of ships unloaded, maps detailing Utah Beach supply dumps, and more. I haven't read through it all yet, but I have already found lots of useful info for my book.
Conclusion

As you can see, this can be a months' long process. The reproduction fee is more than one would pay for a new history book, but the details found in these reports are really worth the price. There was no book about my grandfather's battalion (that will change soon) or the 1st ESB, so I really appreciated the information made available through the National Archives.

Military Service Records and Unit histories: A Guide to Locating Sources

Thanks to Ken DeMarsh

This blog is a good as we make it and I sure thinik the guys deserve to be remembered !

If you have an Army Railroader in your life ( husband, father, grandfather) and you have any momentos, documents or photos from his service you'd be willing to share -please email me:  Nancy cunningb@flash.net

Thanks so much to everyone who has sent such great stuff! Keep it comin'

Railway Grand Divisions

Railroads WWII ETO by Nancy Cunningham

743rd First Reunion by cunningb

765th Rugged Railroaders by cunningb

Alfred Eugene `Ole Man Rags' Ragland of Collierville

Rags

Thanks To John's son for sharing this with us.
Ken writes......My father was Sgt. John Lewis DeMarsh and he served in the 752 as a boilermaker. He came home on a hospital ship with 2 broken legs and a crushed knee cap. He was sent to Nichols Army Hospital in Louisville, Kentucky. It was close to the family home and actually saw my older brother from his ambulance window and they wouldn't stop for him

 

727th RAILWAY OPERATING BATTALION "HALL OF FAME" INDUCTION CITATION

Originally established by the War Department as the 594th Engineer Battalion (Railway Operating) on January 29, 1923, the 727th Railway Operating Battalion (ROB) was affiliated with the Southern Railway System.  Based on the National Defense Act of 1916, individual railroads were encouraged to sponsor Organized Reserve Units as a means of providing a cadre of trained rail management and operating personnel to meet military requirements.  Typically the sponsoring railroad not only provided personnel, but also served as the unit training area.  On February 21, 1941, the 594th was redesignated as the 727th Engineer Battalion (Railway Operating).  With the United States' entry into WWII, the 727th became the first Reserve ROB to be activated on March 15, 1942.  The designation as the 727th Railway Operating Battalion, Transportation Corps, became effective on November 16, 1942, with a total authorized strength of 31 officers and 759 enlisted Soldiers.

The 727th ROB's mobilization station was Camp Shelby, MS.  Company "B" conducted their rail technical training at the Southern Railway System's roundhouse and car shops in Meridian, MS.  After staging at Fort Dix, the unit departed for the New York POE (Brooklyn) on December 11. 1942, to board vessels bound for North Africa.  Arriving at Mers El Kebir (Oran), Algeria, on December 26, 1942, they established their headquarters at Tebessa, Algeria, where the battalion assumed responsibility for operating 350 miles of meter-gauge lines in eastern Algeria and Tunisia.

The 727th ROB's operations in North Africa were conducted using motive power, rolling stock, and maintenance equipment found in place.  Most of the equipment was in poor condition and required repairs to keep it in operating condition.  On June 21, 1943, the battalion retired to Tabarka to prepare for operations being planned in Sicily.  In Sicily, the 727th ROB operated within earshot of artillery firing ammunition they had just brought forward.  The unit's bravery and accomplishments in Sicily were recognized by General George Patton and the Seventh Army in a commendation ceremony on September 12, 1943.

The 727th ROB arrived in Naples, Italy, on October 13, 1943.  The unit's first Italian operating mission was to provide support to the U.S. Fifth Army and part of the British Eighth Army with over 300 plus miles of rail line from the Salerno Beaches and the Naples Port.  Turning the Naples area of operations over to Italian civilians, in June 1944, the 727th moved north to Rome, where by the end of the month they were operating lines from the vicinity of Anzio through Rome, 150 miles north, to Grosseto.  On September 27, 1944, the 727th departed for Marseille, France.  By October 2, 1944, the 727th began operating rail lines from Valence, in the south, to Epinal, in the north, in support of the Seventh Army.  At its peak responsibility, they operated or supervised over 600 miles of rail line  On April 18, 1945, the 727th headed for its new headquarters across the Rhine River from Mannheim to Ludwigshafen, GE, where they were ultimatrly responsible for 225 miles of railroad ranging from Frankfurt, on the north, through Stuttgart, to Esslingen, on the south.  The 727th was deactivated under orders on October 6, 1945.

In the nearly three years in WWII, the 727th ROB operated or was responsible for over 2,400 miles of railroad in five theaters.  Members of the 727th took their civilian rail skills and adapted them to support military operations.  This was not only an individual and Army effort, but also included the involvement of a major industry.  The 727th ROB's contribution to military operations was tabulated in tons moved, and they were recognized and commended by the commands they supported.