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The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is one of the oldest branches of
service. Engineers are responsible for various types of construction
projects, both during war and in peace time. (1) These projects
include construction of bridges, mine clearing, debris removal,
building and airfield construction, and performing as infantry in
defending their projects or as necessary. (2)
Combat engineers are
one of the separate elements that make up the corps. As their name
implies, many of their missions consist of projects charged in
combat conditions. In WW II, the Table of Organization determined
that combat engineer battalions were 800-man units. The battalions
consisted of a headquarters and service company, three lettered
companies (A, B and C), and a medical detachment. The 244th Engineer
Combat Battalion was activated at Camp Shelby, MS 25 Oct 43, with a
cadre from both the 4th Armored Engineer and 8th Armored Engineer
Battalions. In a peculiar situation, the GIs assigned to this
battalion were either from New England or the Southeast. The first
battalion CO was Maj. Frank E. (Rusty) Stevenson.
March 1944 found the unit engaged in the Tennessee Maneuvers.
Heavy rains washed away the accumulated snow still laying on the
ground. A valuable lesson during these maneuvers was learned by
those members of the battalion who neglected to bring their gas
masks. A sobering lesson was learned when 21 GIs drowned in swollen
rivers.
The battalion returned to Shelby by 3 June 44. Personnel losses
due to transfers began to shortchange the 244th. A large group went
to cadre another battalion and an even greater number were sent to
the 69th Infantry Division, which itself had been raided for
replacements. By 31 Jul 44, battalion replacements brought the TO
back up. Training the replacements began in earnest, as did
preparation for overseas deployment.
On 22 Oct 44, the battalion received its orders for deployment,
the next day, it was on a troop train to an unknown destination.
When the unit arrived at Camp Kilmer, NJ, the main Port of
Embarkation for the ETO, the GIs has their first clue as to their
destination. On 29 Oct 44, the battalion set sail in a convoy on the
S.S. Explorer. The EM were assigned bunks, stacked four high, and
all members were given instructions for procedures in the event of
aerial or submarine attack. The men kept their thoughts to
themselves as the Statue of Liberty grew smaller in the distance.
The first few days of the crossing were uneventful, and then
powerful winds began buffeting the sea and, of course, the ship.
Fish were fed quite well until the men learned not to eat in these
conditions. The battalion gratefully landed at Avonmouth, England 10
Nov 44. Combat training began on an accelerated schedule. PT, drill
(the staple of military training), mines and booby traps, machinegun
drills and long, longer, and longest hikes were all part of the
training. LTC Stevenson was relieved of command – well aware of his
reputation, he had expressed some reservations concerning his safety
en route – and a temporary CO, Maj. Freij, took over. The Battle of
the Bulge broke 16 Dec 44 and the battalion was slated as
reinforcements.
This change of leadership disrupted the plans that SHAEF had for
the deployment of the 244th. The battalion languished in England
while reports were generated and a suitable CO was located. While
significant to the battalion, this series of events, when compared
to the fluid, confusing and explosive situation in the Ardennes for
the totally unprepared SHAEF was of little significance to them.
Major Thomas Bowen, who had been XO, was promoted to LTC and took
command of the battalion. It wasn’t until 24 Dec 44 that the
battalion sailed for France and the ETO, arriving on Christmas in
the early evening. The men nervously noted the numerous mines
floating in the water. Little did the battalion know, nor did anyone
else, that at 1800 hours, the S.S.Leopoldville, carrying troops from
the 66th Infantry Division, would be torpedoed just off the French
coast, following the 244th’s route. Nearly 900 officers and EM were
lost, as the civilian crew abandoned ship, without giving
instructions, radioing for assistance or lowering lifeboats. No one
was wearing life belts on the doomed vessel nor was anyone in the
244th.
After the engineers landed safely in France, they were fed only
Spam for three days straight and then ordered to give up their
bivouac and shelter to the survivors of the 66th torpedo attack.
Most people are familiar with the Battle of the Bulge in the
Ardennes, which was a familiar route of attack (except apparently to
U.S. Army intelligence) throughout the long history of Europe. This
attack route was one of two meant to cut Allied supply lines
enabling the Germans to retake the port of Antwerp. The other German
route of attack was farther north in the Colmar region, where the
244th was committed. Rushed northward by train, the engineers were
given their first combat assignment 14 Jan 45 – the mining of a
snowy field as a blocking action for the 100th Infantry Division
near the crossroads town of Bitche, east of Metz. The 244th was
headquartered near Hirschland, where -26o temperatures greeted the
engineers.
The minefield, defensed with
anti-tank mines, was prepared near the fortifications of the Maginot
Line, which proved fortuitous. German positions were only 1,500
yards away, and they began shelling the 244th. The engineers
scurried to the safety of the blockhouses, each of which was
approximately 400-1,000 feet apart. This potentially deadly game of
cat and mouse continued whenever the engineers were observed during
their continuous mining efforts. Oftentimes, to avoid German
scrutiny, the engineers prepared the minefield at night. During all
these artillery bombardments, the battalion had only one casualty,
an officer who went to the aid of a casualty form another engineer
unit. Battalion equipment wasn’t as fortunate. An accident occurred
within A Co, when Pvt John T. Mathis, a
new replacement, inadvertently set off a mine which
killed him and seriously wounded another engineer. The A Co. medics
froze, not willing to venture out in a snow-covered minefield. A C
Co. medic raced out through the minefield to treat and retrieve the
wounded GI. The medic then retraced his steps and recovered the
remains of Pvt. Mathis.
Even though the artillery shelling was somehow erratic, and
casualties were so light, it was difficult to get food up to the
engineers. Hunting parties for the small European deer which lived
in the area were encouraged and successful. The hunters soon learned
that armor-piercing rounds did not leave much meat. Another problem
was the weather. The winter of 1944-45 was one of the coldest on
records, with continual lows in the -20s, and the battalion lacked
proper protective winter clothing. Shoepacks, woolen long johns and
gloves were not available to the engineers, or to many frontline
troops. The rear echelon personnel were helping themselves. When the
clothing finally arrived – it was spring. In mid-February `45 the
244th was dispatched for road repair in the vicinity of Dieuze,
Belgium. In support of 7th U.S. Army operations, and without the
encouragement from enemy artillery, the battalion worked seven days
a week. Armor troops let their appreciation be known. Morale
improved, especially in the areas being worked by B Co. Two
enterprising engineers, Wilber and Weed, successfully scrounged or
requisitioned enough scrap wood and other materials and built
showers.
Road repair continued well into March, but the engineers
maintained their infantry skills with rifle and automatic weapons
training. In mid-March 1945, the 244th Engineer Combat battalion was
transferred to the 9th U.S. Army, which was actually under command
and control of the British 21st Army Group, and operations in
Germany. On March 19th, the battalion entered Germany. Many of the
engineers were surprised at how little was left or Aachen, a major
city that arrogantly resisted American efforts toward its ultimate
surrender. It seemed that the tallest building was knee high to
those who got out to stretch their legs. The famous Siegfried Line
was equally devastated in the area. Fanning out for shelter away from
the Aachen city limits, the 244th took over German homes, and the
men were pleasantly surprised at how superior the German homes were,
in soundness, structure and amenities, when compared to the French.
On March 24th, the battalion was assigned to the assault crossings
across the Rhine River in the vicinity of Wallach.
The mission of the 244th was the construction of road approaches
to both ends of a 1,760 feet long floating Bailey bridge. Crossing
the Rhine, thought by the Germans to be their national and
historical boundary, with a defense expected equivalent to its
psychological value, was expected by the Allies to be an exceedingly
dangerous operation. This German defense, unlike in the previous
months, was anticipated to be organized, directed, static and
fierce. Beginning at 0200 hours in a drizzling mist – which turned
the dirt surfaces to mud – the engineers began dumping truckload
after truckload of rocks. Bulldozers began pushing them into place.
A few remaining German aircraft continued an aerial assault against
the crossings, but accurate AAA fire, working closely with
searchlight units, kept knocking them down. Tracers of all calibers
were flying – and they are the only bullets which could be seen.
German artillery had been forced to retreat out of range. A light
treadway bridge had already been erected by armored engineers, but
9th U.S. Army wanted the stronger and longer Bailey to support U.S.
medium and heavy tanks as Allied forces exploited the river
crossing. Once the bridge was built, the 244th took a short break
and crossed the Rhine themselves at Wesel on a British-built bridge.
With Germany collapsing, there were no real front lines, and no real
organized German defense.
,What little defense was sporadic and uncoordinated,
sometimes fierce, sometimes face-saving. Germany was not able to
slow down the flood that was the advance of Allied ground forces
from the west or from the east. The 244th was in this flood, and
really had no time to unpack, let alone do any work. In mid-April,
the battalion set up in Fallersleben (current headquarters for
Volkswagen) which was, at the time, the home of Kraftwagen Werks,
the largest builder of the German jeep, or Küblewagen. Fallersleben,
east of Munchen-Gladbach, was a typical German village. Villagers
were neither friendly nor outwardly hostile. As they had done in
other locations, the battalion put out road and bridge guards. The
atmosphere of the occupation of Fallersleben began to change to one
of uneasiness and foreboding. The German villagers began avoiding
the GIs, became recalcitrant at curfew – and then all seem to have
disappeared. Battalion operations were increased in size and the
numbers of GIs assigned to them. Co B. was assigned to guard the
town and its immediate approaches, Co. A was in reserve, and Co. C
was guarding the canals and a possible enemy escape route. It became
known that there was a sizable force of German armored infantry
troops and their tanks may be in the area. Intelligence reports had
it that the U.S. 5th Armored Division bypassed them en route to
another location. Battalion reconnaissance failed to turn up
anything, and the townspeople certainly had nothing to offer. They
remained hidden. The 244th began preparing reinforced defensive
positions and determining possible enemy routes of attack.
Early in the morning of April 21st, the sounds of a moving
armored force were heard. Battalion HQ determined that it was
German. Reconnaissance reports indicated that there were several
tanks and perhaps 400 supporting infantrymen. Once the German forces
met the outposts, the battle was on. The attacking Germans forced
the overwhelmed OPs back into the village. German troops, welcomed
into the village, fought from inside homes and other buildings. The
battalion regrouped and fought back with an organized response. The
GIs managed to knock out three tanks and forced the accompanying
infantrymen to flee or to surrender. There were more than 30 German
killed in their assault. The engineers handed over more than 150
POWs to the 102nd Infantry Division. The battalion had six EM KIA
(five from Co. B) and ten WIA. Subsequent battalion patrols
partnered with the 102nd Infantry Division netted many more German
POWs in the next few days. The battalion had little time to mourn or
receive replacements, as they had new orders to move up to the Elbe
River, to a point that is approximately 30 miles south of Hamburg.
That point was the city of Bleckede, and the mission was to build a
bridge across the Elbe. The result was arguably the battalion’s
greatest accomplishment in WW II, they received a letter of
commendation from Lt. General James M. Gavin, commander of XVIII
Airborne Corps. Please see the attached story in this web site about
that specific mission.
Following the end of the war in the ETO, the battalion built an
Army rest camp near Saalsee at Zarrentin, in Germany. Following a
short occupation in Germany, the battalion was transferred to France
and began preparations for the upcoming invasion of Japan. The
battalion learned that it would be glider-borne in an aviation
assault later that year. The atomic attacks against Japan brought an
end to WW II and an end to glider-training. At Camp Chicago (near
Laon, in the Oise region), the battalion was engaged in building the
remainder of the camp, which included Neisen, Romney, Swiss,
American Stee huts and several other buildings. The most popular may
have been the NCO Club, and then the PFC Club. The engineers also
built several athletic fields for regiment-sized and battalion-sized
teams. The battalion was also sending out work details throughout
France that lasted for weeks to months. Replacements continued to
come in. When engineers returned back to battalion, they sometimes
didn’t recognize anyone. It was at Camp Chicago when the engineers
learned that a new round of discharges was coming forth. The 244th
also learned that the 277th Engineer Combat Battalion, which had
gone overseas at the same time as the 244th, was not only taking the
244th veterans home, but was going home AS the 244th Combat Engineer
Battalion. This caused many GIs left behind on occupation duty to
notify family and friends it was not THE 244th coming home. This
unit identity switch also caused a great deal of confusion with
official Army records. In any case, the remainder of the original
244th Engineer Battalion returned home by early 1946.
(1) In WW II, units as diverse as engineer petroleum distributing
companies, base utility detachments, topographical engineer (map
making) battalions, and engineer fire fighting platoons were
included in the corps of engineers.
(2) ",The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers had the following types if
units during WW II:
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