Under Construction
GERMANY
The Battalion had been assigned construction of
Airfield Y-79, a two-group advance landing ground
at Sandhofen, north of Mannheim, on 31 March
Company A moved to that site and began work. By
2000 hours, 2 April, a strip 3,600 feet long was op-
erational; while three days later a 5,000-foot run-
way with over-runs and airfield markings as well as
the east side of the taxiway loop and an access
road loop were operational; and transports began
to land supplies. All work was completed with the
exception of erection of two gasoline storage tanks
which were finished on 10 April. SMT was then laid
adjacent for a second runway, completion of which
was delayed until 20April through lack of materials.
Two additional 250-barrel gasoline storage tanks
were also erected. Taxiways, aprons, and marshal-
ling areas were repaired together with one hangar.
The sandy soil rutted rapidly so that constant
sprinklingand rolling were required. Routine main-
tenance was performed until the unit was relieved
on 11 July.
This field was probably the second operational
fighter strip east of the Rhine which stayed opera-
tional; and it was important in military operations
in Germany.
The Battalion had been assigned repair of Air-
field Y-88 at Wertheim, near Wuerzburg, for a Sup-
ply and Evacuation Strip, on 4 April a platoon of
Company C moved to the field and had it opera-
tional by 1200 hours the following day. The field
was straffed several times while repairs were going
on; but no casualties were incurred. Maintenance
continued until the unit was relieved on 19 April.
Y-88 was very important during the later phase
of the fighting in Germany; to it C-47s flew great
quantities of gasoline and oil.
On 8 April the Battalion was relieved from all
previous attachments and was attached for admin-
istration to Engineer Command (provisional),
USSTAF, and to IX Engr Comd, 2nd Engr Avn Bri-
gade (prov), and to the 926th E A R for operations.
Airfield Y-76 at Darmstadt, assigned to Company
C for repair and maintenance on 18 April, was in
good condition and required very little work. On
21 April the Evacuation Hospital departed and the
field was used by only one plane from an Air Dis-
armament Group.The unit was relieved on 29 April.
At the same time Company C was assigned the
maintenance of Airfield Y-72 at Braunschardt. This
field was also in good condition and required only
routine maintenance until the unit was relieved on
28 April by the 826th Engineers. Work involved
mainly staking down the PAP which had been used
to lengthen the soil-cement runway.
On 20 April the Battalion relieved the 831st En-
gineers of maintenance of Airfield Y-89 at Mann-
heim. Craters were filled and surfaced, obstacles
were removed from approaches to the field, and
markers were repaired and repainted by Company
A. Civilians were engaged to grade a new taxiway,
to haul sand and rock, and to carry on construction;
little progress was made due to lack of labor
and equipment. The field was used by CONAD and
received a medium to heavy amount of traffic. On
19 July the unit was relieved of its mission.
On 21 April Company B assumed responsibility
for completing the access roads and a SMT exten-
sion to the sod runway of fighter-bomber Airfield
Y-78 at Biblis which had been started by the 850th
Engineers. The runway was completed at 0300
hours, 24 April; while the access roads and airfield
markers were finished the following day. Company
A took over the field on 26 April and maintained it
until relieved on 29 April.
On 22 April the Battalion was relieved from at
tachment to the 926th Engr Avn Regiment and was
attached to the 925th Engr Avn Regt.
Having been assigned the mission of construct-
ing S & E Strips for the Seventh Army, Company B
moved from Y-78, on 26 April, to Deiningen, near
Ottingen, and rapidly put six strips into operation.
The existing concrete runway at Deiningen al-
though badly bombed was repaired with quick-set-
ting cement and was operational in three days.
Y-92 at Dornberg was repaired by 29 April; and
commencing on that date they rapidly ran through
R-5 at Crailsheim, R-25 at Schweinfurt, and R-41 at
Schwabisch-Hall. On 30 April they marked off R-47
at Ottingen, but the field was abandoned the fol-
lowing day at which time the Company moved to
R-71 on their way to Holzkirchen. The latter field,
however, was taken over by another unit.
During this same period a Recce Team from the
Battalion worked for about six days filling craters,
putting up a windsock, and painting runway
markers on Airfield Y-90 at Giebelstadt. Repair of
this field was the mission of the 819th Engineers.
On 30 April one platoon of Company C took
charge of an airfield materials dump at Rheingon-
heim, near Mannheim, which they continued to op-
eration until relieved on 30 May. This was one of
the first advance dumps in Germany.
On 30 April Company C (less the platoon at
Rheingonheim) moved to Augsburg (Bayern) and
had S & E Strip R-71 at Lager-Lechfeld operational
at 1800 hours the following day. On 2 May the
Companywas assigned the mission of constructing
a two-group ALG at R-71. A concrete mixing plant
wasset upand repairof craters in the runways, taxi-
ways, and aprons commenced.
It was decided, however, by higher headquarters
to make a heavy bomber base out of the field for
the OAF. This involved erection of a mixing plant
with five mixersto pour 25,000 cubic yards of con
crete on runways, taxiways, aprons, access roads,
and 40 new hardstandings; stripping, grading, roll-
ing, and surfacing of a 4,800-foot taxiway and 36
additional hardstandings and laying of 2,000 tons
of PSP on same; erection of facilities for storage of
about 180,000 gallonsof gasoline; rehabilitation of
control tower, hangars, barracks, heating plants,
water system, sewage system, and power system.
Materials at the rate of 100 tons of cement, 75 to
155 cubic yards of sand, and 175 to 240 cubic yards
of gravel were received and unloaded daily. The
3517th Quartermaster Trucking Company was enbut
gaged in hauling Class IV materials for the project;
and Company B, 825th Engineers assisted for
some time with the construction. At the same time
some 600 German civilians and about 400 German
prisoners of war (later 200 SS troopers) were also
engaged on the project.
After 1 July it was decided that only one group
would occupy the field; and the advance party of
the 94th Bomb Group arrived on the field on
23 July.
The runway was exceptionally good, being 271
by 6,450 feet. The field was badly bombed, particularly
the buildings and facilities; but construction
was on schedule up to the end of August.
On 1 May Company B was assigned repair of S &
E Strip R-77 at Gablingen, north of Augsburg. The
field was put in shape in a short time and was maintained
until the unit was relieved on 6 May by the
825th Engineers.
Company A was assigned the mission of constructing
S & E Strip R-78 at Landsberg (Bayern)
on 2 May. Filling and rolling of furrows on the sod
strip were accomplished; and repairs were just beginning
on the concrete runway when the unit was
relieved on 12 May.
At 1800 hours, 4 May, the S & E Strip known as
"Landsberg-East'' had been marked off by Company
A and was declared operational. It was a sod
runway near R-78 and was later used by a B-26
Group while the concrete runway at the latter field
was being repaired by the 843rd Engineers. The
Battalion discontinued maintenance of the strip
after a few days.
At 1600 hours, 3 May, S & E Strip R-84 at Augsburg
was made operational by personnel from Battallion
Headquarters and Headquarters Company.
It consisted of one sod runway 120 by 3,000 feet.
Thereafter it was maintained by a squad from Company
B and German civilians under their direction
who were employed to assist in repairing roads,
filling and surfacing craters on the field, and cleaning
out hangars. General maintenance continued
up to the end of August. When Company B moved
to Vienna maintenance was taken over by Company
C. The field was used mainly by the Seventh
Army and the Air Transport Command.
On 3 May a surveying crew from Headquarters
Company marked off S & E Strip R-81 at Oberpfaffenhofen
(Bayern) which was operational at 1800
hours, 5 May. It consisted of one sod and concrete
runway 240 by 4,200 feet and hardstandings for
76 aircraft. Two days later it was taken over by the
840th Engineers.
V-E DAY, 8 May, 1945, found 833rd headquarters
set up in the marble-halled, walnut-paneled, rubber-
planted Messerschmitt offices just south of
Augsburg; nine airfields on their hands, men and
equipment scattered from Mannheim to Munich.
It was just another day for us.
But the war in Europe was over.
On 10 May Bronze Star Medals were awarded to
Sgt Knapp, Tec 5 Faulkner, and Pvt Jennings of
Company B for "meritorious service rendered the
Technical Service of the United States Army"
when they dismantled and secured for the Army an
undamaged V1 Flying Bomb from a cave near St.
Leu d'Esserant, northwest of Paris, France, on 29
September, 1944. For this service Sgt Knapp was
at the same time awarded the Croix de Guerre by
the French Government.
Bronze Star Medals were awarded to Colonel
Galt on 3 June and to Major Loebs on 20 July for I
the excellent work they had performed since the
first part of the year.
On 23 July M Sgt Edmunds of Headquarters
Company was awarded a Certificate of Merit by IX
Engineer Command for his work as construction
foreman of the Battalion.
Good Conduct Medals were awarded to two men
of the Medical Detachment on 12 June, to nine
men of Company A on 19 June, and to ten men of
Headquarters Company on 19 July.
On 22 May the Battalion got official word that
the blackout restrictions had ended.
On 29 May the first marriage between a member
(Felshaw) of the Battalion and a French subject
occurred.
GENERAL H. H. ARNOLD,
Commanding General, Army Air Forces,
4 June, 1945:
"Five years ago today, the Aviation Engineers
were organized as an integral part of the Army Air
Forces. Their mission, reduced to its bare essentials,
was to provide the Army Air Forces with adequate
base facilities not only in the United States
but in combat areas in all theatres of operation.
The complexities and hardships of this immense
task can hardly be over-stated. Enormous bases
had to be constructed to accommodate thousands
of our heavy bombers. Forward fighter strips had
to be constructed with the lightest of engineering
equipment, frequently under fire. Often as not, our
men slept in slit trenches, lived off field rations,
and worked in shifts that shattered all preconceived
notions of human endurance. Bases sprang into
being overnight.
In France, despite the astonishing speed of our
ground advances, airstrips were always within a
hundred miles of our front lines, often within five
miles of a fluid front, and, on occasion, ahead of
the infantry. The engineer battalion which went
ashoreon the morning of D-Day was at the Maginot
Line on D-plus-120, having built seven airfields enroute.
Jungle clearings in New Guinea, inaccessible
by land, were put into operating condition in a
matter of days through use of airborne equipment.
All this was achieved without fanfare without the
immediate recognition that accompanies more
spectacular operations. Yet the record of the Aviation
Engineers compares with that of any combat
outfit in our armed forces. It is a record that cannot
be enhanced by any commendation, however
glowing. It is a proud record; new and brilliant
achievements are being added to it daily in the
Pacific; it is a record that speaks eloquently
for itself:'
On 11 June the Battalion reverted back from
Engr Comd (Prov), USSTAF, which was disbanded
on 12 June, to the control of IX Engr Comd. On 12
June the Battalion was reassigned to the Ninth Air
Force and to IX Engr Comd.
By 27 June the Battalion had been officially
awarded battle participation credit for four campaigns
in Europe: The "Normandy" campaign, the
"Northern France" campaign, the "Rhineland"
campaign, and the "Central Europe" campaign.
It was the opinion of all members of the Battalion
that they should also have been awarded battle
participation credit forthe campaign "Air Offensive
-Europe:' While the unit had not performed combat
missions over Germany, it had arrived in England
over twenty-one months before the termination
of that campaign; during that time it had
worked on numerous bases which were used to
carry on the campaign-for twenty-four hours a
day, through hot or cold, rain or shine, with a minimum
of privileges. Although during the first part of
that period it had been attached to the Services of
Supply, it was assigned to both the Ninth Air Force
and to the United States Strategic Air Forces in
Europe long before the invasion began. After having
played a major, though unappreciated role in
the strategic bombing of Germany and in preparations
for the assault on the Continent-the 833rd
Engineers, along with the rest of the Engineer
Aviation Battalions, was denied battle participation
for the campaign.
On 5 July the Battalion was relieved from attachment
to the 925th EngineerAviation Regiment and
was attached to the 922nd Engineer Aviation Regiment;
however, as the latter Regiment was about
to move out for redeployment, the Battalion was
re-attached to the 925th Engineers on 20 July.
On 11 August Company B moved from R-71 to
Austria to assist the 818th Engineers on construction
of Airfield R-92 near Vienna which was used
by Fifteenth Army Group Headquarters. Work consisted
mainly of repair to mess halls and hangars.
By September 25, practically all officers and men
of the original 833 EAB had been redeployed to
the Zone of Interior.
THE LAST SWEAT
June, 1945: the war in Europe was over. The
833rd Engineers, all four companies of them, were
on their last job together, putting a German airfield
at Lechfeld (R-71, see page 17) in shape for
heavies of the OAF.
It was the biggest job since Raydon, but now we
had a new source of labor: the German Army was
through fighting-it could work.
There were the usual rush deadlines; they were
met, and gradually the pressure dropped. We
learned again how it felt to have Sundays off; when
Saturday afternoons were added it was almost too
much to handle.
But the trout were running thick in the streams,
we found, and there were deer and rabbit in the
woods along with the wrecked and abandoned
planes of the Luftwaffe. And as things got organized
in the ways of peace, local beer rose from
three to twelve percent. We'd had it worse.
We fixed up a rest home on a big lake near Munich.
Therewere leavesand furloughs to the Riviera,
and Mont Blanc in the French Alps, and to Paris.
Some of us flew back to England on the Forts.
Raydon airdrome was empty.
One day General Eisenhower said it would be
okay if we wanted to talk to the frauleins-in public
places. Some of us did.
We got used to our spare time, and there was almost
enough doing to make us forget that we were
sweating out the Pacific, the Point System, and
home. But not quite.
19
Then the news broke (well, men, this is it): the
833rd was scheduled for demobilization in the
States. We wouldn't see the Pacific. Engineer
Command came out with a lovely flow chart in five
colors; we would go home in November! That was
our V-E Day.
Well-that wouldn't be so long, November. Here
it was almost August. So we fished some more, we
hunted some more, we drank our beer and a little
green champagne. We taxied German jet planes
around the field, wrapped a F-W 190 around a haystack,
built weird automobiles from the assorted
scrap. We traded souvenirs and chocolate. We
talked some more with the frauleins. And the work
was done, too-on schedule. November seemed
too far away.
When they dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima,
it broke the 833rd loose, too. No more flow
charts, no more November, just: how many points
you got, mate?
By twos and threes. By truckloads. By train and
airplane. Headed home.
In August, 1942 we were starting on our first airfield
at Raydon, England. By the end of August,
1945, three years, seventy-odd fields later, the old
core of the 833rd had left Germany for the States.
The rest of us would go soon.
No one said: "Well men, this is it:'
But it was.
