Co. B, 116th Engineer Battalion

Looking for information about the 116th Engineer Battalion, Co. B. Does anyone have any history for them during the early part of the war?

N. Reeves

 

What I could find in Stanton's WW2 Order of Battle was that the battalion was formed at Ft. Lewis, Washington on 14 Feb 42. It shipped out of San Francisco on 22 Apr 42 and arrived in Australia on 14 May 42. From there it moved to New Guinea on 15 Jan 43, then to Biak 24 May 44, then to the Philippines on 28 Jan 45. It was assigned to the 41st Infantry Division, and was there through the end of the war. I didn't find anything at the company level in my sources.

 

These may help either as info or contacts for more info;

WWII Engineer Insignia - VI CORPS COMBAT ENGINEERS WWII
Company B 116th Engineer Battalion "ESSAYONS" - Unit Pages
116th Engineer Battalion
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/41st_Infantry_Division_(United_States)
HyperWar: US Army in WWII: The Approach to the Philippines
HyperWar: US Army in WWII: CARTWHEEL--The Reduction of Rabaul


This lists the battle honours etc. (P123-124);

U.S. Army heraldic crests: a ... - Google Books

Hope that helps some

 

Thanks for your responses. The person I'm researching belonged to the 116th Engineer Battalion, Co B. Either before or after that he belonged to the 218th Field Artillery Battalion, Battery A.
To make things more complicated, I'm told he was on a mission in Luzon before going to New Guinea. Both his known battalions were in the 41st Division, which were shipped to Australia from San Fran. But he was in or around Lae at the beginning of March 1942, just before the Japanese were beginning to land in Lae and Salamau on March 9, 1942. None of this coincides with the 41st's arrivals in April & May to Australia. I can't figure out if he was in a different division/battalion/company when he first went to Luzon, but I know he was only there for a month or two before shipping to Lae. Does anyone know what group was in Lae Feb or Mar '42 before the Japanese actually started bringing in troops in early March?

 

Quite often Engineer units are sent ahead of the main party of a deployment in order to prepare defences, camps and infrastructure etc. The move to artillery is likely to be later rather than before, as, many support units were culled for men as the campaigns progressed.

 

This makes sense. If this is the case, it would mean that this particular unit, which was part of the 41st Division, would have been deployed for overseas much earlier than the rest of the division, which went to Australia for further training before entering into combat on New Guinea. And from what I can tell, not all units of the division were sent to New Guinea. The smaller units are almost impossible to trace.

 

A lot of combat in the PTO was smaller unit actions. Regimental Combat Teams (RCTs), battalions and companies were sent to secure areas that didn't have the need or room for a full division to maneuver in. Some smaller units were detached and never caught back up with the parent unit for the duration.