Help with Morning Reports

Got all my father's info back from Golden Arrow Research. Geoff did a great job.

Some issues I am having with the Morning Reports.

On March 23 44 he is listed as
dy to abs conf Prov Plat 10th Engr Bn per VOCO

IOW from duty to absent confined

So when they say confined what does that exactly mean. I don't see where he got busted or went before CM.

At this point in time he was with 601st TD Bn, Co. A.

He was returned to duty on March 28th. So 5 days confinement???

Also he was listed as be sent on SD Separate Duty on the 24th May 1944 to Battery B 3rd Machine Gun Bn. Yet I am finding nothing on this battalion, has anyone seen anything about the 3rd Machine Gun BN?

Thanks
Dan

 

I think "Prov Plat" may mean Provost Platoon (i.e. Military Police). And "VOCO" means Verbal Order Commanding Officer. This was effective 22 March.

It may be just a coincidence, but the 3rd Infantry Division was replaced by the 34th Infantry Division on 28 Mar 1944.

The reference to "3rd Machine Gun Bn" has me a bit stumped. Sounds more like a WWI reference.

 

I knew what VOCO meant and being a Nav Vet I thought the same thing, Provost as in Provost Marshall. So you may be spot on there so now I wonder what he did? Too bad it didn't clarify.

 

Since 'Prov Plat' is followed by '10th Engr Bn' I looked at the Jul 43 T/O&E for an engineer combat battalion. Nothing even remotely connected to provost. My guess is 'prov' means 'provisional.' Might that explain the reference to the 3ID order where a temporary organization was created? If so, then 3ID G-1 and/or G-3 diaries might have the answer.

Even my vivid imagination can't come up with a crackpot theory on '3rd MG Bn.' I don't have an infantry div T/O&E for HHC - is there an AA section in Divisional HHC where MGs might appear? That wild guess would require a boo boo in the MR- where 'section' was meant instead of 'battalion.'

If resources were unlimited (my two step research plan - win the lottery, then buy timeshare condos in St. Louis and College Park), would be interesting to see how the entires on the other three GIS read.

 

I wondered about Provisional but why would he be confined to a provisional Eng Plat?

About the only thing I could come up with on the 3rd MG BN was didn't the English forces have MG Bn's? If so that could explain it since I know some of the Royal Forces where in the same locations but I couldn't find a reference to the 3rd.

I looked through all the 5th Army history I could find but didn't see a reference.

 

I had considered and discounted "provisional" for the same reason. The UK/Commonwealth angle may be worth looking into. I also have a 3rd ID history somewhere. I'll see if I can track it down. Maybe that will shed some light on the issues.

 

After finding a Book about the Engineering Units of the 5th Army I am leaning towards Provisional. The book mentioned that after securing the lines in March the engineering units were so short of men that they were pulling them from FA and Inf battalions. So a Provisional Platoon makes a lot of sense.

Now I am wondering if the "conf" could mean more than "confined" but still I question that thought because the MR states "to absent conf Prov Plat 10th Engr Bn". So he was considered absent from duty instead of attached ??? I have no clue.

 

Every listing of MR abbreviations I have seen has "conf" as "confined". For example: MR Abbreviations (PDF). Of course, that doesn't mean the guy that wrote this particular MR didn't use that abbreviation for something else.

For what it's worth, the 3rd ID component list includes an MP Platoon as well as the 10th Eng Combat Bn.

Have you asked Geoff at GAR about these MR entries? Maybe he'll have some helpful thoughts.

 

I agree and have only seen conf listed as confined. So not sure what it was all about. According to Geoff there was nothing else mentioned about it.