US army, 368th engineers

Discussion in 'US Units' started by Martin Pritchard, May 1, 2022.

  1. I have just purchased 2 photos of the above unit when they were based in Portmadoc,North Wales in 1944.i knew that tiwere in Portmadoc in 1943 /44 at Black Rock sands in Morfa Bychan,it was said that they were training for the Normandy landings. Even thtthere are a few of their offspring still surviving in the area,sadly there nothing is known locally or in my local archives. Just a shot in the dark but does anyone know anything about them,it would be nice to halearn about their activities here during WW2. Thanks in advance
     
  2. davidbfpo

    davidbfpo Patron Patron

    Like so many rear echelon units in the US Army there appears to be little online.
    Their full title is:
    From a listing of units serving in Normandy via Scibble, a site not to be named here.

    Another search found references they were the 368th Combat Engineers Battalion in WW2 and the unit is still in existence as an Army Reserve unit in New Hampshire, so deployed to Iraq for example. Also search minus the plural engineers!

    There is a pointer to an information source, on a strange chatroom site, with a Russian sidebar:
    Back to Wales now. Try using "Black Rock sands" + "US Army", plus "Morfa Bychan" + "US army" and check the results.
     
  3. Temujin

    Temujin Member

    One document I’ve found who mention them…….still looking and will post what I find


    [​IMG]
     
  4. Temujin

    Temujin Member

    Found another, showing where the entire unit was located (each Company etc), dated 23 Feb 1945. You can see by this document, they seem to involved in POL construction and maintenance. POL is “Petrol, Oil, & Lubricants”……supply of gas, desiel, oil, grease etc for vehicles…..could be pipelines, or fuel tank farms or POL dumps etc etc


    [​IMG]
     
    dbf likes this.
  5. Temujin

    Temujin Member

    This may be a source:

    Society of American Military Engineers
    Colonel Gordon Bratz, U. S. Army (Retired)
    607 Prince Street
    Alexandria, VA 22314-3177

    The Society publishes “The Military Engineer” journal of the Army Corps of Engineers. You can inquire as to what - if any - info they may have on the regiment in their files.
    Contact number listed is (703)549-3800, Extension40.

    368th Engineers Association
    Mr. Harold Wegner
    6607 Vista Avenue
    Wauwatosa, WI 53213-2978
    (414)258-2248

    368th Engineer (General Servic - Genealogy.com
     
  6. Temujin

    Temujin Member

    I just noticed (as I was looking thru other records) the 368th had TWO Battalions, this record that i previously posted shows both the 1st and 2nd Battalion of the Regiment………other records I have spotted show only the 2nd Battalion remaining for POL work, so the 1st Battalion must have moved on
     
  7. Temujin

    Temujin Member

    Found these records


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    [​IMG]
     
  8. Great thanks to you all!
    It does prove that the local knowledge that I had staed that they were training to go to France,.
    Its a great shame that this information of their time in my area had gone and forgoten, we also had Dutch Commandos in town, that is well documented as one of the families of the commandos still live in town..
     
  9. Byoos

    Byoos Member

    My grandfather's release papers say 368th Engineers Regiment. From what I can find the only group that can be is the General Service Unit. The Reserve 368th Unit that exists today was the 203rd in WW2. This appear to have been their Unit logo[​IMG]
     
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  10. Byoos

    Byoos Member

    Does anyone have any idea what army division they were in
     
  11. Slipdigit

    Slipdigit Old Hickory Recon

    386th Engineer Combat Battalion was an independent unit, either under II, VI Corps or 5th Army, or a combination of the three organizations.
     
  12. It seems that the person who took the photo ( who is not known) has written some names on the back of the photos ( there is s a series of them) they are
    Some of the names of men in his unit identified on backs when in ETO:
    Lt. Cowan, Capt. Lenander, Capt. Max Schnieder, Wirtz, Horsting, De Maio, Jesel, Cavis Coaltrain, Newman, Scriff, Moore, Portella, Giorgio, Bassel, Grove, Adams,Cabanski, Zullo, Lombardo, Koper, Bell, Frazier,



    As mentioned previously I would like to find what their task was when they were here in North Wales during 1944.
    I have written to the national archives at college park in the USA,they replied that they have files there which is 40 pages ! they suggested a resercher to do this for me as i am in the UK , has anybody a good suggestion of a researcher who would do it at a reasonable price?
     
  13. Osborne2

    Osborne2 Well-Known Member

    368th Engineers General Service Regiment. A regiment had two battalions, each of 33 officers and 774 enlisted men. Usually companies around 180 strong. From what I can tell, similar to a Royal Engineers General Construction Company, later I think renamed Artisan Company. EGSR's were trained and equipped to undertake basic building and civil engineering projects and issued with equipment to undertake the typical tasks of the company. Amongst the men were blacksmiths, carpenters, demolition teams, draughtsmen, pioneers or building labourers and sign writers. They had at their disposal trailers, a bulldozer, motorised air compressor, chain saw, drawing boards, knives, compasses, steel rule tape, template maps, and a reference library. The company also possessed motor transport, chemical warfare protective equipment, medical, quartermaster and signal equipment, and personal weapons.Typical tasks I know of were airfield construction, minor civils, hut building, not run and taxiways, those were Engineering Aviation Battalions. May have done minor roads, certainly laid railway lines, constructed unsurfaced roadways and parking lots, built warehouses etc at major stores depots. Probably helped build trestle rail bridges in France.
     
  14. Byoos

    Byoos Member

    Those groups served in Africa, Italy, Tunisia mostly the 368th was in England. France, Germany, Belgium etc. I've also reviewed a list of units assigned to tge 5th and 9th army and they aren't there. The patch on my grandfather's sleeve here looks like it could be 1st army
     

    Attached Files:

  15. Byoos

    Byoos Member

    The pin on his hat is his units pin which is tge second pic
     

    Attached Files:

  16. Slipdigit

    Slipdigit Old Hickory Recon

    Yes, I transposed 368/386.

    Regardless, the 368th EGSR would not have been attached to a division. Most likely, they would be in the Communication Zone.

    They landed in France 25 Jul 44, but did not enter Belgium until 8 Mar 45, The Netherlands 19 Mar 45, both long after the First Army was well into Germany and control of the area ceded to CZ troops under JCH Lee. The 368th entered Germany 4 Apr 45 and were at Krefeld in Aug 1945, which was more of a 9th or 15th Army area, at best, but most likely reverted to CZ control by then. Division, Corps, and Army control just did not extend that far back from from the front.

    The patch does not look like a First Army patch to me. I think strongly it is a Communication Zone patch. In the attached photo, notice the rounded bottom and top of the patch and the white flash of color at the top of the patch.
    [​IMG]
     
  17. Byoos

    Byoos Member

    Do you have a pic of the patch you believe it is, I search communication zone patches and it gives me the ADSEC patches that nothing like that
     
  18. Byoos

    Byoos Member

    I'm searching all over for a patch with a light or white top and dark lower to try and figure it out
     
  19. Slipdigit

    Slipdigit Old Hickory Recon

    It is in my post.
     
  20. Byoos

    Byoos Member

    Doesn't open this?
     

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