My sister and I are going to Normandy this summer. We are proud of our dad's military service in WWII and want to take this journey in honor of him and his service to our country. I have his "Enlisted Record and Report of Separation/Honorable Discharge" paper. But I don't understand all of the terms. Would you be able to explain: Box 6: Hq Btry 459/CA Bn (I have searched online and don't see "459" anywhere) Box 30: Clerk Typist 405 (He always told us that he was a supply sergeant with a tank or a jeep) Box 32: Lists several locations of battles plus this phrase which I don't understand " GO 223 Hq XIX Corps 27 Jul45" We have his travel itinerary which a soldier friend put together. It states arrival in Paris on August 27, 1944. Does that mean he was in one of the military parades that marched under the Arc de Triomphe? Thank you for your help.
I believe you are looking for the 459 Antiaircraft Battalion . . . a goodly number of Coast Artillery (the CA) you see were converted and re designated as AA units for overseas deployment. Most folks here are more knowledgeable on these army sorts of things than I and could explain it better. You might want to download the document here re the article on AA units assigned to the 9th Army. The 459th show up there. https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a509813.pdf
The 459th AAA Automatic Weapons Battalion (Mobile) was organized 1 September 1942 at Camp Hulen, Texas as Separate Coast Artillery Battalion AAA. It departed New York 21 October 1943 and landed England 3 November 1943. The battalion was assigned to First U.S. Army and V Corps for Operation NEPTUNE, attached to the 29th Infantry Division. The battalion as a whole landed on OMAHA Beach D+4 (10 June 1944), but advance detachments probably landed as early as D+1 (7 June). It remained attached to the 29th ID until 17 August 1944, then was attached again 28 September-29 October 1944. With a bit of digging I can probably deduce who else it was with for the rest of the war. It returned from Germany via Boston 24 October 1945 and was inactivated the next day at Camp Miles Standish.
Okay, for 19-27 July it was actually attached to the 35th ID. Otherwise, it looks like aside from the two periods of direct attachment to the 29th ID and 35th ID, the 459th remained attached to the 12th AAA Group, which was assigned to the XIX Corps. You can find mention of the 459th in (download the various parts and then search for 459): Anti aircraft artillery notes. :: World War II Operational Documents Anti aircraft artillery notes. :: World War II Operational Documents
