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ENGLAND
On the morning of 17 August, 1942, the west coast of Scotland was sighted. The convoy shortly broke up with the Uruguay continuing south through the Irish Sea. Early the following morning she docked at Swansea, Wales.
The evening of 18 August, the Battalion disembarked, boarded an English train, and started across the country. About the middle of the next morning they got off the train at Raydon Wood [Army Air Field Station 157], some twelve miles west of Ipswich, Suffolk, England, and went into camp.
Personnel of the 819th Engineer Aviation Battalion, who had arrived in England some six weeks previous, were waiting for them with breakfast: oatmeal with a tablespoon of milk but no sugar, two slices of wholewheat bread, and some butter and jam—a ruddy dish, to say the least, but slicked up by everyone without a whimper.
Tent camps were soon set up for each company; and, since construction equipment had not arrived, passes were issued right away and the boys started out to see “merry, ol’ England.” On all sides they were beset by gangs of kids bawling, “Have you got any American coins, Mister?”
They soon learned that in England many things went by different names than in the United States: a truck was a “lorry;” a railroad freight car was a “wagon;” and gasoline was “petrol.” If they had occasion to go to the fourth floor of a building, they used the “lift” instead of an elevator. When they went to the movies they might sit in the “dress circle” instead of a balcony. A telephone line was “engaged,” not busy; and they didn't call someone up but would “ring them up.” “Sweets”—not candy—were sold at the corner “sweets shop.” A drugstore was a “chemist’s shop.” and a newsstand was a “bookstall.”
And when they asked some Englishman directions to a particular place, he would likely tell them: “Take the second turning to the left beyond the White Horse, bear right at the first intersection, and keep straight ahead. You cawn’t miss it.” But miss it they did!
Unfortunately, the unit had to live on what could be gathered up here and there or procured from the British; as a result, eating during that early period turned out to be mostly simulating. A typical menu for a day ran as follows: for breakfast a slice of bread with a little sweetened water on it, three stewed prunes, and a cup of cocoa; for lunch a cup of tea and a slice of bread with a chunk of moldy cheese; and for supper the cooks succeeded in burning a batch of creamed liver.
A welcome supplement to the meager food rations was unexpectedly found when on the evening of 25 August, an English YMCA tea car drove into the camp with assorted cookies, tea, and a few toilet articles for sale. Thereafter for some time its arrival was eagerly awaited. However, the food situation improved somewhat; and during the ensuing year the unit succeeded in eating about fifty million cases of spam and corn-willy together with three or four boat loads of rice and powdered eggs, the entire English production of mutton and brussel sprouts.
On arrival in England the Battalion was assigned to the Eastern Base Section, Services of Supply, European Theater of Operations, to operate as a separate battalion. The mission of the organization was the construction of a complete heavy bomber base at Raydon.
Construction was begun with considerable optimism; and, apparently with little thought of the problems lying ahead, the completion date for the entire project was gingerly set at 1 January, 1943. It was common knowledge among the less careful observers that the entire Battalion would “certainly be home by Christmas.”
By the latter part of September, 1942, Nissen hut living sites had been partially completed for each company and labelled with such names as “Greenwich Village,” “Youngstown,” “Dodge City,” and “Powder River.” The entire airdrome was christened “Camp Chicago.” When personnel had been moved inside out of the rain, attention was turned to the job at hand; and during the ensuing fourteen months the Battalion labored—yes, I said labored—twenty-four hours a day (three eight-hour shifts) through hot or cold, rain or shine, winter or summer, on the construction of Raydon Airdrome.
Construction equipment arrived in but a trickle from the States; and British substitutes were at first employed. Supply and maintenance long remained critical problems. Inexperience was overcome only as time passed. As winter set in the entire project bogged down in a quagmire of good ol’ Limey mud; and it was only through strict mud control that operations were able to continue.
In an effort to circumvent this problem, Company A constructed and operated for three months their “secret weapon,” the famous “Beeler, Benson, and Blue” railroad, a half mile of narrow gauge track with a diesel engine and cars for hauling concrete.
As problems arose on all sides, the completion date faded into the distance; and, with a more practical outlook, it was announced in December, 1942, that an attempt would be made to complete the first runway, “Pulaski Skyway,” by 1 February, 1943.
Meanwhile, other things engaged the attention of all. On 24 August, all personnel got a preview of a miserable institution which was to be a source of irritation thereafter—an Army post exchange in a theater of operations. Each person lined up to obtain a weekly ration of two candy bars, one bar of soap (hand or laundry, but not both), six packages of cigarettes, some chewing gum, a few razor blades, tooth paste or shaving cream, and writing paper and envelopes—if a man happened to be at the end of the line, well, that was sad.
The Battalion early began to become acquainted with Adolf’s grizzly gang. On the night of 26 August, enemy airplanes dropped flares and bombs southeast of the Battalion area; and when one of the raiders flew low over the camp, men were observed to be hitting their slit trenches.
After a stretch of over three weeks, the first personal mail from the United States arrived on 28 August; and everyone was smiling once again except those who were not lucky enough to get a letter. The men began to write V-Mails; and they sent EFM cablegrams, messages composed of up to three phrases selected from a prepared list, costing “two and six.”
Under a new set-up inaugurated in September, the Battalion worked under a staggered arrangement so that construction continued without interruption while at the same time each man was off duty every eighth day. Recreational convoys were shortly running to Ipswich and Colchester each evening; as a result, the men got out on twenty-four hour passes and were soon fighting “the battle of Ipswich,” and travelling to London, not “to see the Queen,” but to see the “Piccadilly Commandos.” And the monotony of life at Raydon was broken by a visit from Kay Francis, Martha Raye, and Mitzi Mayfair.
On 9 November, in accordance with instructions from higher headquarters, a unit training program was launched which provided that:
Ten hours per day during the period (9 Nov–31 Dec 1942) will be allocated to construction and training. One full ten hour day of each ten days will be devoted entirely to military training. The full ten hours of the remaining nine days will be devoted entirely to construction. In addition the prescribed retreat formations, marchings and inspections will be carried out daily. Work or training will be continuous seven days per week. Leaves and Passes will be so arranged (that) each man receives one day in seven off without cessation of work, except that no leaves or passes will be granted authorizing absence from the military training days.
This training was calculated to…develop the highest order of discipline, military courtesy, bearing, and carriage of soldiers, neatness in clothing and appearance, to develop the proficient use of weapons by individuals and by Units to the end that each may instantly meet a surprise attack by air or ground forces, to be prepared to function as a fighting unit, to develop the necessary skilled technicians and specialists for effective performance of appropriate construction, to develop adequate leadership, to train replacements for key positions, and to carry out the assigned construction program.
With some variations from the above schedule there then followed a hodge-podge of training which ran the entire gamit from close order drill to “Leftenant” Furness and the Soffolk Home Guard. On paper the program theoretically was sufficient to keep all brushed up on a variety of military topics including basic, combat, and Engineer construction subjects and at the same time serve as a reminder to the men that first of all they were soldiers and secondly Engineers.
As the year drew to a close the Battalion spent its first Christmas in England. On the afternoon of 24 December, Company B had about eighty children from the adjacent homes to a party at which they were entertained by “GI” talent and treated to candy, peanuts, and doughnuts under the direction of Sergeant Cantrell and “Lord” Luton. Some of the men were invited to English homes for the holidays. Mr. Guy, the American Red Cross representative, secured a Christmas “ditty bag” for all members of the Battalion.
It was not a “merry” Christmas, and it was not like the ones the men were accustomed to enjoying at home; but, after all, they were not over there to eat plum pudding and sing carols—they had a mission to accomplish; and, as the Battalion Commander said, “…the war is just one year nearer to being ended than it was last Xmas. That is progress and something to be thankful for.
You have all done well. I admire so much the courage and tenacity with which you have tackled this job to date. Harder days are ahead, but so is spring and so is the enemy. Lets dig in and get this damned thing done! We get all the work and little of the glory for what we do. The way we shall be paid is in the inner satisfaction of tackling a dirty job—believe it or not, this is the most difficult type of construction under the conditions that you will probably ever encounter—doing it well and willingly and knowing that each of us has contributed far more than his share towards licking the enemy.”
On 27 December, a Battalion “Guest Night” was instituted under the arrangements of which the men could invite girls from the surrounding towns to spend the evening dancing and enjoying light refreshments at the Battalion Recreation Hut. Finally, the naive rested confidently in the knowledge that “President Roosevelt has said we’ll be home by Easter!”
In spite of rain, snow, cold, and a sea of mud, with dogged determination the Battalion surmounted countless obstacles and drove relentlessly forward toward its first goal, the completion of “Pulaski Skyway” by 1 February, 1943. As the unit began to get the feel of the work, operations proceeded smoother and more rapidly.
On 17 January, 1943, to quote The Mud City Gazette, the men of Company B “took the bit in their teeth, and went ‘all out’” to pour nine hundred sixty-one lineal feet of twenty-foot concrete slab in one day. Actually the boys were just beginning to feel their oats, for about three weeks later they put down one thousand seventy-five feet. With favorable weather and the advantage of experience which the Battalion had gained during the past months, on 1 May, Company A smashed all previous records by pouring out a cool one thousand two hundred twenty-eight feet in one day!
Meantime, other records were also being broken. On 17 February, a crew from Headquarters and Service Company ran off one hundred sixteen batches of concrete at the Boot Hill mixer to almost double the previous record; on 13 March, they turned out one hundred sixty-one batches; and on 7 May, all previous records for batches turned out anywhere on the job were shattered when Company A ground out four hundred fifty-three batches at Devil’s Kitchen!
Such work produced results. The first goal was reached; and Major Beeler was writing in The Mud City Gazette:
We did it! It wasn’t easy, but there lies one full runway, 720 ft. longer than one mile, and any day a B-17 or a 8-24 wants to land, all we have to do is clear the runway, and wave him in. What is more important—we did it on schedule—with exactly thirty minutes to spare. I want to express my appreciation to every man in the outfit for that accomplishment.
Particular credit for the closing hours must go to personnel of Co B, and Hq Co who kept that paver going 24 hours per day, under seemingly impossible conditions, and to the loading details furnished by A and C Co’s, working under like conditions. It is that spirit and determination that will win this war for us.
I was the proudest man in the world at the review on the 2nd. It was perfect! Not in a strictly military sense, but in it’s accomplishment. Col. J. E. Vollmer, The Engineer of Eastern Base Section, our next higher Commanding Officer was the reviewing officer. To put it mildly, the Colonel was “tickled pink.” He loved it. With the Col. were Major’s Moore and Salley, from the District Engineers Office. I want to compliment every officer and man for the show he put on. Particular credit must go to the Medics — for it took courage for Doc and his men to step out there and put across the music. How did you like their rendition of the “Stars and Stripes Forever”? I want to compliment too, Lt. Kittle, the new Commanding Officer of Headquarters Company. That was his first formal ceremony, and I mean first. Never before had he been in a review or parade. He did a marvelous job — I salute him. There were a number of other firsts, too. Many of you men had never paraded with us before, having joined us at Dix — Lts. Shuttleworth, Taylor, Cook, Dulin, and Thomas were all new to the 833rds brand of ceremonies. You new men look out — when the 833rd gets going it is the finest marching outfit you have ever seen.
At the same time the Major outlined the work ahead:
Now that the first mile-post has been reached, we are starting on a long, hard push ahead. We have another goal to reach-a certain amount of work to be accomplished by each company by 1st August, 1943. We must beat that schedule, as there is much work to be done. Your Company Commanders will tell you of your part in this show-it will be a big part. For the time being, it means that, roughly speaking, Co A must complete, and that means complete, three huts per day; and Co B must pave 600 ft. per day average, as well as dry-mix the sub-grade on new pours; Co C must lay 670 ft. of some kind of pipe in a trench every day; and Hq Co must keep every last piece of equipment operating at maximum efficiency. Too, there are many other assignments to be fulfilled by each outfit It will mean that each man must put out at least ten full hours of effort each day. At 11.59 on 31st July -the assigned work must be completed-and knowing the Army and the enemy-probably lots more-LET'S GO!
Major General John C. H. Lee, commanding the Services of Supply, European Theater of Operations, paid frequent visits to the Airdrome; for the most part the Battalion passed these inspections In good style so that the Battalion Commander wrote to the men: "You have done superbly, and I am very proud to be able to say to the General: 'Sir, Major Beeler, Commanding the 833rd Engrs: "
On 2 January, 1943, Companies A and B began contributing to a fund to sponsor English children who had been bombed out during the "Blitz:' When the necessary amount had been raised, each company sponsored a little girl both of whom visited them on Easter Sunday, 25 April, 1943, at which time they were entertained in fine style.
About this time ~t began to appear as though the boys were not getting sufficient exercise throwing around hundred pound sacks of cement all day; so, in order to keep their joints loosened up, higher headquarters instituted a fifteen minute period of calisthenics at 0615 hours every morning. At that time of night it was too dark to see; so floodlights were set up in front of the company orderly rooms so that it could be ascertained if the exercises were being done in cadence.
The fact that said lights could probably be seen half way to Ipswich made little difference even when it was recalled how the men had been continually harangued on the subject of blackouts.
Certain other practices appeared equally peculiar. "Don't assemble in groups out in the open:' the men were admonished time and time again; then the entire Battalion was formed up and paraded up and down Pulaski Skyway where one enemy plane could have wiped out the entire outfit!
"Watch your conversation on the telephone:' the men were cautioned; then a high ranking officer of the unit gets on the line and lets the enemy know that "on such-and-such a day at exactly umpteen o'clock the 833rd Engrs will parade on Pulaski Skyway at Raydon, Suffolk, England!"
On 12 February, 1943, Major Beeler left the unit and was shortly transferred to the G-4 Section, Headquarters, Services of Supply, European Theater of Operations. Captain Einar T. Benson became Battalion Commander.
When the first runway was completed the policy regarding passes was relaxed so that two percent of the men were allowed out at a time on three-day passes. And to top matters off, in March, 1943, for the first time in the history of the 833rd Engineer Aviation Battalion, pay day came on the last day of the month!
With the coming of summer construction proceeded apace; and the area soon began to look like an airdrome. However, time was running short and there was much work left to be completed. By 1 April, 1943, the entire project was 27.4 percent complete; whereas the construction schedule mapped out required that it be 48 percent complete. A1 and A2 priority construction, which made up 83.3 percent of the total airdrome, were only 31.7 percent complete. It was evident that the airdrome would not be completed by 1 August, 1943, unless additional troops were put on the job.
Accordingly, on 2 April, the Engineer, Eastern Base Section, was informed of the situation. It was pointed out that A1 and A2 priorities called for expending a total of 1,250,800 man hours of labor; and that 396,500 man hours had been expended to date, leaving 854,300 man hours to be completed. The Battalion had a total of 682 men present for duty, sixty percent of which were available for airdrome construction. Figuring on the basis of a fifty-hour work week and seventeen weeks remaining until 1 August, it was evident that the unit would be able to complete only 347,820 man hours.
An earlier request for assignment of additional troops to the job was reiterated; and it was pointed out that "It is also a safe estimation that if sufficient men are not furnished by May 1, 1943, A, and A2 priorities cannot possibly be completed by August 1, 1943 regardless of the number of men placed on the station:'
Additional troops were not forthcoming until 2 June, 1943, when the 862nd Engineer Aviation Battalion, newly arrived from the United States, moved into the area. Needless to say, the completion date was not met; in fact, the completion date for the entire project had already been moved to 1 December, 1943. Consequently, 1 August, 1943, found the project 54.5 percent complete. A1 and A2 priorities were only 60 percent complete.
A contributory factor in the failure to meet the completion date was the fact that the Battalion had been called upon to do considerable additional construction at other sites. During two weeks in January, 1943, two shooting-in-butts were constructed at Hardwick and Shipdham in Norfolk. Concerning these Major Beeler wrote:
"It gave me great pleasure to inform the Engineer, EBS, that the first "Shooting-in-Butt" built for the U.S. Air Forces in the United Kingdom was completed by a detachment of the 833rd, consisting of Co. "C" and Hq. Co. men under the command of Lt. Peterson at 1600 hours on the 28th of January. Incidentally, the second one will be completed soon, and well ahead of schedule, by a detachment composed of Co. "A" and Hq. Co. troops under the command of Lt. Randell.
... Not only the completion of urgent work in such record time gives me pleasure, but the fact that this outfit took over construction of these sites from an Engr. Gen. Serv. Regt. after they had worked on them a week, and then we took two days to undo all that had been done, changed the methods and built the entire project in about one-quarter the time and with less than half as many men. I congratulate the men involved for doing a superior job:'
During one week in February, 1943, Company A built Nissen huts and walks at Birch Airdrome, Essex.
Commencing in April, 1943, at Snettisham, Norfolk, Company C spent two and one half months constructing a Gunnery School for VIII Bomber Command which consisted of a 1,300 foot running deer target range with fixed and turret mounts, two trap ranges, a 1,000 inch range, Lang huts, mess and ablution facilities for 1,500 men, lighting facilities, and concrete access roads. Company C was highly commended by Brigadier General Hansell of the 1st Bombardment Wing for their "splendid work up north:' (Ltr. Hq. 1st Bombardment Wing, 9 June 1943, Construction at Provisional Gunnery School.)
During two months commencing in June, 1943, Company B carried out repairs and additional construction on walks, roads, railroad spur, and sewage disposal plant at a Quartermaster depot at Bungay, Norfolk.
For two weeks in August, 1943, at Sudbury, Suffolk, Company B built tarmac and concrete roads, housing, and lighting facilities for a Chemical Warfare Service Depot.
During two weeks in September, 1943, Company C constructed thirty-one hardcore and pierced plank hardstandings at a P-47 base at Debden, Essex.
And during four days in September, 1943, Headquarters and Service Company built a shooting-in-butt at Boxted Airdrome, Essex.
Life during 1943 was varied by the appearance on 9 April, of Yvette and her "GI" Gang which proved to be a real treat. On 25 April, the American Red Cross "Aero Club" was opened on the station with a dance and a special floor show furnished by the 4th Special Service unit dance orchestra.
On 8 May, Piper & Co. opened the Battalion Post Exchange in the Aero Club with "a complete stock of all essential and non-essential items" distributed on the principle of "first come, first served:'
American Red Cross Service Clubs were opened in lpswich and Colchester in May and answered a long felt need for men on pass. On 22 May, the boys put on an exhibition softball game at Yoxford for the "Wings for Victory" week and had "a spot of tea" with Sir Guy and Lady Hambling.
An intensive campaign was launched on maintenance of equipment which ended with all operators being "married" to their vehicles. Colonel Plank commended Company B for being a model company in the Eastern Base Section, for both "their excellent company area and their overall conduct as soldiers:'
On 5 July, the US0 show "Hollywood Time" featuring Adolph Menjou and Grace Drysdale played at the Aero Club.
On 10 August, 466 EM of the Battalion were authorized the Good Conduct Medal. General Orders No. 6, 10 August 43.
And the men at last found someone to whom they could confide their tales of woe when on the same day Chaplain Irons was assigned to the Battalion.
Meanwhile, the boys rode the English bicycle with its brakes on the handlebars instead of the pedals, commenting that they didn't mind so much when it threw them in the ditches, but that they certainly didn't like it at all when the bloody things jumped on them afterward.
On 22 September, there was solemnized the first marriage between a member (Lohmann) of the Battalion and an English subject.
On 27 August, 1943, the Battalion was attached to the 922nd Engineer Aviation Regiment, newly arrived from the States.
1 October, 1943, found the entire airdrome 71 percent complete whereas the schedule called for it to be 87 percent finished. A total of 1,175,000 man hours of labor had been expended and a total of 875,000 man hours of work accomplished. On 6 October, 1943, Major Benson was transferred to Headquarters, Eastern Base Section.
Major Richard L. Tracy of the 816th Engineer Aviation Battalion was assigned to the 833rd Engineer Aviation Battalion and assumed command the same day.
Eleven days later the Battalion command post was moved to Gosfield, about seven miles northwest of Braintree, Essex, England. Companies B and Chad already moved to the new site; Company A remained for a while at Raydon to finish work on which they were engaged.
At Gosfield the unit carried on construction work on a heavy bomber airdrome which had already been nearly completed by the 816th and 843rd Engineer Aviation Battalions. On arrival at the site, Companies B and C began work on unfinished buildings, particularly the officers and the enlisted men's messing facilities; when Company A arrived from Raydon on 18 November, 1943, they took over construction at Gosfield which also included work on the drainage system of the airfield.
When relieved at Gosfield, Company B carried on construction on the airdrome at Earls Colne, Essex, which included the addition of a larger water system involving the laying of a considerable amount of pipe and construction of a brick cistern and a twenty thousand gallon reservoir. In the adjacent Marks Hall area they also constructed Magnet huts and concrete walks and access roads.
Meanwhile, Company C performed work on Andrews’ Field at Great Saling, Essex, which included repair of the sewage disposal plant, erection of Ceco huts, a blitz hangar, and a free gunnery trainer in the blister hangar, pouring of concrete access roads and hardstandings, and raising of sunken portions of the taxiway with a mud-jack. With assistance from the 922nd Engineer Aviation Regiment they also erected and operated a Barber Green Asphalt Plant and put a top-coat of asphalt on the entire taxiway.
While these operations were in progress, a platoon from Company B was engaged from 15 October, to 1 December, 1943, in constructing fifty-five pierced plank hardstandings at Martlesham Heath, Suffolk.
Toward the latter part of November, 1943, the men were considerably elated when they read in The Stars and Stripes that a shipment of turkeys had just arrived "for the soldiers in England" and when also Headquarters, European Theater of Operations, announced that: "The Quartermaster will furnish 60 pounds of turkey and 20 pounds of pork per one hundred men for Thanksgiving Day meal:' It is highly possible that the Quartermaster furnished said victuals, and it is just possible that he might have eaten them while he was at it; for it was precious little the boys saw around camp on Thanksgiving Day.
As winter set in the weather became extremely damp and cold with lots of fog; and it proved a big problem for the men to keep warm even inside. If a person were to take a couple of matches and attempt to set fire to a block or concrete, he would then begin to realize the problem involved in lighting a fire in an English stove in a Nissen hut with a bucket of coke and a few wet sticks of wood. Keeping the fire going once it had been started was an equally difficult task; but trying to get any heat out of it even after the fire had been started was almost an impossibility. Without doubt the stove in the Nissen hut proved to be one of Hitler's best allies; for it kept dispensaries and hospitals filled with troops who otherwise could have been in the field.
On 7 December, 1943, the Battalion participated in the ceremonies marking the second anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and at which time the United States Army dedicated six new airfields in England. Unfortunately the unit could not attend the ceremonies at the field which they had built at Raydon; where, read the official program, their work had included the clearing of two hundred acres of land; installation of six miles of four and six inch water mains, twelve miles of French drains, seven miles of storm drainage, and five miles of foul drainage; construction of three hundred fifty buildings and a sewage disposal plant to handle a population of two thousand five hundred persons; the pouring of one hundred twenty thousand cubic yards of concrete-enough for forty-five miles of standard two-lane highway; and the expenditure of one million two hundred thousand man hours of labor.
On the night of 10 December, tragedy struck the Battalion. The following account of the incident was written at the time:
We were in the Battalion Theater where Captain Reavley had just begun to show the film "No Time for Love:' A few minutes later the air raid warning sounded. Everyone was used to hearing such warnings, consequently little notice was taken of this one; the show continued after an announcement that anyone desiring to leave could do so. A moment or so later there was a loud explosion somewhere nearby; and everyone hit the floor. It sounded as though the whole projection booth had collapsed at the back of the room. The hall was immediately evacuated.
Outside the moon was full, and it was light as day. Brilliant flares illuminated the area clearly. Curiously enough everyone was standing around as though casually waiting for something to happen. I went to my hut and put on my helmet. As I stepped out of the door at the other end of the hut, another batch of flares burst to the northeast of the area with a sharp explosion. To the south and east anti-aircraft batteries were firing rapidly. I made for a little ditch nearby.
Hardly had I hit the ditch when a bomb burst about fifty yards away in the direction of the mess hall. Then bombs began to fall on all sides; shrapnel and debris flew everywhere. I hugged the bottom of the ditch.
A big one exploding on the Red Cross Club shook the whole area. Shrapnel splattered the trees alongside me. Planes dived, scarcely above the tree tops so that their bombs did not whistle but made only a rushing sound in the air before they hit. Then the firing ceased; there were no more explosions; the searchlights blinked out, and the attack was over.
I got up from the ground, suddenly realizing that I was cold, and walked through Battalion Headquarters. A chunk of shrapnel had come through the wall directly behind Major Tracey's chair and gone out through the opposite wall.
Down in the company area I found that half the side of the Theater had been blown in. The entire end of a two-story house across the fence had been blown off. Three bombs had exploded within a distance of about twenty yards and demolished as many huts.
Four men, Stacy J. Lindsey, George E. Reilly, Norman Shotnakoff Jr., and Fred Svensson, had been killed when one of the raiders sprayed their hut with cannon fire; and fifteen others were wounded.
The following day all hands were out digging slit trenches. Shortly thereafter the wounded men were decorated with the Purple Heart Medal by Colonel Park who declared, "You are now seasoned veterans:'
On 14 January, 1944, the unit was relieved from attached to the 922nd Engineer Aviation Regiment; and the same day the Battalion command post was moved to North Witham, some ten miles south of Grantham, Lincolnshire, England, where for some two years past British civilian labor had been working on a heavy bomber base.
There the Battalion undertook a high priority job involving the construction of two 1,500 man tent camps for a tactical Advance Air Depot together with Nissen hut ablution, messing, and recreational facilities; twenty-eight Romney storage huts with hardcore floors, ten storage tents with hardcore floors, three Butler hangars with pierced steel plank floors and approaches, a pierced steel plank vehicle parking lot and apron, gasoline storage installations, and water lines. The entire project was to be completed in about forty-five days.
Construction was slowed down due to the difficulty experienced in securing construction materials. At that site the Battalion also encountered its first heavy snow in England which caused considerable trouble when it fell on large tents and Butler hangars so that they collapsed.
Life at North Witham was not comfortable; at times the wind almost blew the hair off one's head not to mention playing havoc with tents; in places the mud and water were almost a foot deep; the weather was cold, and the fuel problem was acute. But the unit took it all and made the best of a bad situation. Recreational convoys were run to Grantham and Stamford; and the boys took in the movies, drank "mi Id and bitter:' and visited Nottingham. And everyone was glad to be rid of the air raids since they would have experienced some difficulty in digging slit trenches through the pierced steel plank covering the area.
On 1 March, 1944, the Battalion was relieved from attachment to Eastern Base Section and was assigned to the United States Strategic Air Forces in Europe. On 3 March the unit was assigned to the Ninth Air Force. The Battalion was further assigned to Engineer Headquarters, Ninth Air Force, effective 3 March, and was attached to the 926th Engineer Aviation Regiment effective 1 March.
Construction having been completed at North Witham, on 10 March the Battalion command post was moved to Cokethorpe Park, near Witney, Oxfordshire, England. Before commencement of preparatory training for participation in operations on the Continent, a tent camp was set up and hardcore vehicle hardstandings and approaches were constructed.
On 20 March, a projected eight weeks' training program was launched which covered basic, combat, and construction subjects as well as automotive maintenance, waterproofing, and loading of equipment. This was supplemented by officers' schools in Engineer Reconnaissance, Security, Chemical Warfare, Military Sanitation, Waterproofing, Bomb Reconnaissance, Machine Guns, and Communications and enlisted men's schools in Waterproofing, Bridges, Machine Guns, Radio, Cryptography, and Chemical Warfare. An officer was exchanged with a British Airfield Construction Group for four days to observe organization, operation, and training. On 5April the Battalion was relieved from attachment to the 926th Engineer Aviation Regiment and was attached to the 922nd Engineer Aviation Regiment.
Commencing on 25 April a detachment of thirteen officers and two hundred twenty-seven enlisted men from the Battalion participated in a four-day, amphibious exercise, BOOMERANG, at Southampton, Hampshire, England, during which time vehicles and heavy equipment were waterproofed, loaded, and unloaded from Landing Crafts, Tank.
During the month of May, eight 37mm. anti-tank crews fired a moving-target, 1,000 yard range with very satisfactory results. All four companies fired on the range for qualification with the US Rifle, cal .30, M1, the US Carbine, cal .30, MI, and the US Pistol, cal .45. Gun crews of cal .50 anti-aircraft machine guns received special training in aircraft recognition.
Attention was also given to training in construction with the various types of runway surfacing materials. A field problem was carried out which involved the reconnaissance and construction of a Re-Fueling and Re-Arming Strip under tactical conditions. Each of the line companies spent sixteen hours during a forty-eight hour problem which involved the laying of BRC (British Reinforced Concrete Mesh) on a Re-Fueling and Re-Arming Strip. Company Reconnaissance Teams attended schools under IX Engineer Command during the course of which they reconnoitered two Re-Fueling and Re-Arming Strip sites.
At Christchurch, Hampshire, England, from 24 March to 8 April, Company A took up BRC fabric from a P-47 landing strip, filled and compacted the base, sodded the base, and re-laid the BRC fabric. They also built a shooting-in-butt and bomb storage revetments.
From 27 to 29 March, at Windrush Airdrome, Oxfordshire, a platoon from Company C laid a sample taxiway strip of BRC to determine truck and trailer capacities.
Commencing on 18 April Company C proceeded to Winkton Airdrome, Hampshire, to effect repairs on three landing strips. The work included taking up BRC fabric, improving the grade, trucking PSP to the site, and demonstrating laying procedure to a Canadian construction unit. This work also continued in May at Lymington and Christchurch.
On 23 May the Battalion was relieved from attachment to the 922nd Engineer Aviation Regiment and was attached to the 926th Engineer Aviation Regiment.
Life at Cokethorpe Park was uninteresting and unpleasant; waiting for the "invasion" of the Continent became more unbearable with each passing day; and the feeling was widespread that it would be better for a man to be in combat than to endure the unending waiting and dull existence of the Aviation Engineers.
There were no fires allowed in the tents; "Double British Summer Time" shortly crept up on them and they had to fall out in the cold an hour earlier.
Equipment operators waterproofed their vehicles, de-waterproofed them, re-waterproofed them again during the pre-invasion days.
The men went to Witney and other towns in the vicinity until higher headquarters finally suspended all passes due to approaching operations. Athletic competition among the companies was held each weekend for a while sewed as an outlet for energy and emotions. Everyone learned to eat fried chicken with the feathers still on it; and Major Spears, Battalion Executive Officer, was transferred out of the Battalion to Hq, Adv Sec. Com Z.
On 28 April the Battalion was alerted for concentration; this, however, involved no change in station since the unit had been at its point of concentration since arrival at Cokethorpe Park.
On 7 June, immediately following the first landings on the Continent, the Battalion received alert orders which required that the organization be prepared by 9 June to move to the Marshalling Area on six hours' notice.
On 20 June orders were received to move to the Marshalling Area. These orders as well as two later ones were immediately cancelled. On 25 June the final movement orders were actually received; and according to custom, the company commanders assembled their units and announced: "Well, men, this is it.. l'
At approximately 2100 hours, 26 June, the first of three motor and equipment serials moved out enroute to the Marshalling Area. At 0645 hours, 27 June, the marching serial of the unit began to move out to Witney where they entrained. Proceeding by rail through Oxford, Reading, and Basingstoke, they entered the Marshalling Area near Eastleigh, Hampshire, the afternoon of 27 June. The motor serial reached the Marshalling Area the same day.
Activities in the Marshalling Area were confined to a lecture by Captain Dubinsky on the prevalence of lice and communicable diseases on the Continent, the issuance of four Dollars in Allied "lnvasion Currency," and keeping out of the rain.
Unfortunately time in the Marshalling Area was to short to allow proper briefing of the Battalion. The Movement Control Officer said that the unit would land at "Omaha Beach"; whereas the Commanding Officer, 926th Engineer Aviation Regiment, had earlier stated that the Battalion would land at "Utah Beach:'
On the evening of 28 June the motor serial and heavy equipment left the Marshalling Area for the docks. At 1100 hours, 29 June, the marching serial, composing about seventy percent of the unit, loaded into trucks and moved to the embarkation area. Movement to the far shore was in five serials -four by LST (Landing Ship Tank) and one by troop ship.
About 1400 hours, 29 June, the marching serial began to board the British vessel Devonshire which lay in the harbor over night. That evening the company commanders were "briefed" as to the general situation.
At about 0400 hours, 30 June, the Devonshire after having to turn back once, left Southampton, passed the Isle of Wight, and put out across the English Channel with all troops glad to be away from "bloody, old England" even though they knew not what fate lay ahead.
The ships kept carefully to the lane which had been cleared of mines and was marked by flags on floating buoys. An almost unbroken line of vessels moved in either direction; while Allied aircraft patrolled the skies overhead. The voyage was uneventful. The ship's crew was made up largely of Asiatics of one variety or another, a motley collection of small, dark, scrawny men who went about their tasks chattering like a troop of monkeys.
