New Member Looking for Information from the CBI Theater

I have been trying to glean information from my father's WWII possessions. Not having much luck so far. Here is a breif synopsis of what I do know:

Waeren J McNabb

Drafted Allentown, PA in July 16, 1942
Reported to Fort Meade, MD
Sent to Camp Barkeley, Texas for medical training
Sent to Camp Breckinridge, KY to join the 25th Field Hospital
Sent to Camp Camp Anza California
Shipped out on the USS George Washington September 7, 1943
Landed Bombay, India on October 20, 1943
Traveled to Ledo, Assam by train and riverboat.

Unknown Activities

September 7, 1945, left Lashie, Burma and traveled by truck to Ledo, Assam arriving on September 10, 1945
September 12, 1945 left Ledo, Assam by train and arrived on Karachi, Sind, India September 19, 1945
September 30, 1945 boarded the USS C.G. Morton
October 1, 1945 Left Karachi, Sind, India
October 4, 1945 Passed Aden, Arabia
October 8, 1945 Arrived Suez, Egypt
October 8 1945 entered Suez Canal
October 8, 1945 Arrived Port Said, Egypt and refuled overnight
October 11, 1945 passed Sicely and Mout Etna
October 12, 1945 Passed Bisrata, North Africa
October 14, 1945 Passed Gibralter
October 22, 1945 Arrived New York City Pier 88, North River
October 22, 1945 left Pier 88 and arrived at Camp Kilmer, NJ on October 22, 1945
October 23, 1945 Left Camp Kilmer, NJ and traveled to Indiantown Gap, PA on October 23, 1945
Arrived Allentown, PA

I have lots of photos from the time on unknown activities, as well as several orders from the Mytikyina Task Force and the 25th Field Hospital and promotions. I have numerous references from newspapers and even his discharge papers that refer to the Merrill's Marauders, but I can not find any reference to him in the rosters. I have several pictures of him with groups of Kachin Rangers and British troops. I have a baggage tag with his name on it to be delivered to V Force in Shingbwiyang. I do know that he served as a medic and surgical technician while with the Kachin Rangers. I could not find any reference to his name in Detachment 101 of the OSS.

While he was probably associated with the 25th Field Hospital for most of his stay, in the CBI, I believe that he was "loaned out" for much of the time he was in the CBI

I have ordered his military records from St. Louis and anticipate receiving them in October.

I will make a follow-up post of the locations of the photos that I have.

 

Welcome to the forums!

 

Greetings. Welcome to the forum. That is a very interesting question you're asking. It sounds like you have a lot of info, but I can see the analysis is the problem. The CBI was a world unto itself, and the assets were stretched thin. The 25th may have been who he was attached to the whole time, and he was temporarily assigned where he was needed the most. Was he awarded the Combat Medic's Badge? It sounds like he should have been. If the 25th had a unit history that might provide a general history of their activities.

 

This could (just maybe) turn into one awesome thread. I have not seen anything like it here or on our sister forum: http://ww2talk.com/
(ww2talk is very British focused, while ww2f.com is more focused on Commonwealth and US Forces, fyi.)

So post anything and everything, no matter how trivial. OK FLScott?
It is very common here on ww2f for input to be added - years and years from now from viewers that drop in.

Hint:
If you ever get a chance to retrace your father's footsteps, some of the most popular posts on this forum have "Before and After Photos."

 

Welcome to the Forum, FLScott.

 

1. Please choose "More Reply Options" in your original post and retitle the thread to capture more specfic google searches.
- Aka - Kachin Rangers, 25th Field Hospital CBI Theater.

2. (Men, Brains, Oxymoron...)

Failed to mention that you should keep an eye on our sister forum's CBI section at: http://ww2talk.com/forums/forum/53-burma-india/
- Noting that ww2talk.com is very British orientated, whilst our ww2f.com is the Commonwealth and USA orientated part of the pair.