431st. AAA AW Bn Battery D - Please Help

hello

my name is ryan crum.
im looking for information about the unit ( 431st. AAA AW Bn Battery D ) my grandfather served with in ww2. i know he served in N. Africa, Sicily, Sardinia, France & Germany.
his name is John P. Crum and his service number is 37221622
im basically starting from scratch. the records office in st.louis said his info was lost in a fire.
i would like to learn first hand accounts about what happened to him, while he was in europe. im very interested in finding vets he served with.

thank you for any help you provide

 

Ryan -

I can give you this quick summary: dates, places, and campaigns:

1 Mar 42 - Activated at Camp Stewart GA
5 Aug 42 - New York Port of Embarkation
17 Aug 42 - England
8 Nov 42 - North Africa (the initial assault)
10 Aug 43 - Sicily
4 Dec 43 - Sardinia
8 Nov 44 - France
45 (dates uncertain - Germany
16 Oct 45 - Boston Pork of Embarkation
17 Oct 45 - Deactivated at Camp Miles Standish MA

The Battalion is credited for service in the following Campaigns:
Algeria - French Morocco
Tunisia
Sicily
Rhineland
Ardennes - Alsace
Central Europe
Their mission in Sardinia was almost certainly that of protecting Allied Air Bases there.

For a fairly good reference on each of the campaigns, go to
http://www.army.mil/cmh-pg/collections/eame-cmps.htm
While you may not find explicit references to your grandfather's battalion, you'll get a good understanding of the situation and action.

- Pat

 

thank you so much for your help.

i've exhausted all avenues on the internet that im aware of to locate info about this unit.
im have an appt. next tuesday at abiline,ks to search the eisenhower library for this units after action reports, so thats my next move.

are you or anyone else aware of any ways to locate living soldiers in this unit. ive only been able to locate deceased vets.
my main objective is to locate old battle buddies to get first hand accounts of the battles, but i know time is not on my side.

thank you for any help you can give me.

 

My grandfather was in the 431st. AAA AW, before he died my father interviewed him about where he want and what he did. We also have a book that was written by somebody about where and what they did during world war 2. They were at the Kaiser Hotel near Salzburg Austria when the war ended, then went to france for a while before returning home. I have a lot more information about what they did, though I am not sure what battery my grandfather was in. Email me if you need more information.

 

you are right about sardinia, we were guarding a air field that flew b-26s some to the ploesti oil areas. from sardinia we went into southern france. there is a pacque in san rafael commemorating the event, then we went up to strasburg. sorry about the spelling. howard

 

i'm alive what do you need i was with the 431st from fort stewart to the time we were discharged howard

 

this is greenfrog, i don't communicate too much on a computer and don't understand how to operate on this web page. i sent you a note saying that i was with the 431st from their activation at camp stewart in georgia until my discharge when the unit was deactivated. i am alive---i think. started as a 2nd lt. and ended up as a 1st lt. i was in c and d batteries.
i'd be happy to hear from you.

 

My dad was in an AAA unit when trained and was then transferred to 545th Field Artillery but I have found that there is a site that describes an AAA unit in very great detail so that you might get a feel for some of what the AAA did. It may or may not pertain to the 431st. I have found those AAA units were so often moved from unit to unit you just about have to find someone who was with them to find out what they did. The group that I am going to give the link for is the "Skylighters" which gives exact descriptions matching what my dad's training was like. It is a AAA website that has a great deal of detail on what they did. http: Skylighters, The Web Site of the 225th AAA Searchlight Battalion: Other AAA Units in the ETO

 

hello ryan, my father also served in the 431st.
AAA AW Bn Battery D. I don't know to much except the medals he recieved and the campaigns he was in. If you find out more would sure appreciate if you let me know. thank you charlotte harris.

 

i"m howard, charlotte, 93 years old. was sent directly from officer's candadate school to what was known as camp stewart, in hinesville georgia, just south of savannah. this was three months after we declared war on germany. the 431st was just being formed at that time.we trained and got ready to go overseas. the 431st packed railroad flat cars themselves, road in them up to fort dix, then embarked on the orchides , to set sail for Liverpool England. Landed in liverpool and went to a spot south of london. were welcomed by the broadcaster lord haw haw.he said the german aircraft would make uus more than welcome shortly.
i don't know if this is the type of stuff you're interested in, or weather it's a bore. let me know and i'll either continue on in detail or stop boring you and close down. just remember hat we were over there for forty two months and an awful lot of stuff happened in that time.
greenfrog howard

 

Welcome, indeed, Howard to the forum. As Biak said, we look forward to reading whatever you have to say about your experiences during the war. Thank you for sharing them with us and, most of all, thank you for your service. We owe our freedom to brave men like you. :S!

And welcome to you, Charlotte. We are very happy you have joined the forum.

 

first of all, i'd like to say that tomorrow i'll be 94. thi is merely to inform every one that i'm an computer ignoramous.neext this is addressed to any of you who have an interest in the 431 aaa bn aw.
when the 431st. was in france in one of the cigarette camps, a few of us started to gather togather a listing of where we had been and what went on. this resulted in a phamplet that was printed and titled"the 431st aaa aw bn (m) memories of three years overseas."

it does not give any info on time at camp stewart south of savannah georgia when the unit was first being formed and then transported by rail to fort dix for shipment to liverpool.

it is 61 pages in small print, and measures 6 inches by5 inches, and has two hand crafted maps.

now, my big problem !!! how to reproduce it. i'm not interested in selling it . i'd much rather give it to anyone interested in it but at the same time i certainly want to keep the original. could i take camera shots of the pages and then be able to reproduce it and send it to people by e-mail.
as i said, i'm not computer literate so some one will have to tell me what the best way to make it available to all of you at the least or if possible at no cost to any of us

hope i hear from you greenfrog

 

Happy birthday Greenfrog!!My 16 years old daughter is also born on November the 12th!!And as we're french,we're free thanks to boys like you!Have you been in the Luckystrike camp before the return to the States?It's only a couple of miles from me and some friends have digged up a lot of GI's relics there..I hope you had a wonderful birthday party with your family.

 

Actually, the best thing to do is have it scanned at 300 dpi (minimum) and then
converted to a pdf. Your local Office Max should be able to do that for you.

Or do you have any computer-literate children or grand-children?


Dave