Trying to identify places where they were stationed in the UK prior to D Day 6th June1944. Convoy/ships from the USA to UK, training areas and camps. This is an excerpt from the War Diary of the 305 Medical Btn 80th Div (US) who assisted with the Liberation of Buchenwald Concentration Camp in 1945. https://www.80thdivision.com/MiscReports/305thMedBn_History_AUG44-DEC44.pdf Background: Buchenwald concentration camp - Wikipedia Also mentioned in the above link: 20th Field Hospital (US) who were initially deployed. 83rd Infantry Division (United States) - Wikipedia
https://www.80thdivision.com/UnitHistories/305thMedBn_UnitHistory_AUG44.pdf UK Locations Heyeswood Lodge Marshalling Area near Southampton Aug 1944. WW2 Order of Battle Medical Units | WW2 US Medical Research Centre The 305 Diary entry mentions what appears to be this address Heyeswood Lodge, Heyes Park Northwich, Cheshire, CW8 2AJ Hartford, Cheshire - Wikipedia Possible HQ facility Hartford Manor - Wikipedia https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/people/ap10557/brunner-mond-co-limited Along way to Stonehenge, they must have been training in the area or visiting locally to go there in the snow. Larkhill School of Gunnery home of the Royal Artillery is 3.2 miles away. Bad weather stopped training or display? Google Maps Many American units used the Plain for training. 80 Div Artillery would be able to calibrate their guns on the ranges and their Regts familiarise with RA methods. Origin of enquiry: Seeking information - who are these people. US servicemen at Stonehenge.
Uncle Target, Heyeswood was a residence in Northwich, Cheshire where the 305th Med Bn officers were located until they departed for Southampton. 80th ID HQ was at Petty Pool Hall 15 minutes walk away from Heyeswood, which had been requisitioned by the army in 1940 and had previously housed many companies of British and US combat and other troops.Until you found this document I did not know that company D were at Heyeswood. They supported 318 IR who were camped in the grounds of Marbury Hall about 4 miles away from Heyeswood.
Thanks for your response Osborne2 I have a certain faith in the forum. We seem to solve a lot of mysteries with our diverse interests. Your response encourages me as there may have been some interest in visiting Larkhill Camp nearby. The area is bleak in the winter not the place for a pleasure trip without adequate clothing and transport. Stonehenge would have looked temptingly close from the Camp. Royal School of Artillery - Wikipedia Google Maps Need to find records or other evidence of a high rank visit there. Possibly winter of 1943/44. The photographer was a driver in 305 Medical Btn. These men in the photo on #2 look well fed, not the sort to leap over assault courses. Up to now I have had little interest or knowledge of American Forces in the UK. Never too old to learn. P.S. Our family watched a BBC program about Stonehenge not long ago, in which they showed pictures of an American jeep on top of the stones. Cant find it on line.
Uncle Target, thank you. I have now read the thread where you are trying to help someone. Your theory about 305 Med Bn may be right but 80 Infantry Divs artillery was collected and calibrated at Sennybridge (see Div Arty Morning report page1). The division was not in the UK until 7 July 1944. The GI's job description implies to me that he was a member of a Clearing / Collecting Company. These were an integral part of a Medical Battalion, but also independent companies, part of the Corps medical back up units assigned to divisions on an ad-hoc basis to support divisions in the event of local heavy casualties.This presents a problem in linking 80th Div incontrovertibly to the GI. if it's a Corps assigned unit, by the time of Buchenwald, Corps and division units had been moved around from one to another as well as divisions and had even moved between US 1,3 and 9th Armies. Some Corps independent Clearing / Collecting units I have looked at arrived months before they were assigned. I have a suggestion. There were not many Clearing/collecting companies in the UK in the winter of 1943/1944. Go through the lists of US units in the UK and their location in the winter of 1944 published here: United States of America You may be able to pin down a company that was present at the events you have described.
I'm not trying to identify people just narrowing options on who the group might be. The original enquirer advises that he doesn't know which unit his relative was in or if he changed units when he went to Europe. Similar to your reply in may ways. Looks like a dead end. But having said that, things often turn up in time, Its worth looking back in a while. "Persistence".
