I am researching my grandfather's World War II records and fortunately have his discharge papers. It says he served in the North Apennines, P O Valley, and Arno Rome. Besides Rome, where are the other locations? Lastly, the most important question is what he did and what the following means: "109 ORD MM CO"? He was a welder and also repaired tanks, planes, etc behind the scenes when he served. Any information on the above would greatly be appreciated!
109th Ordnance Medium Maintenance Company Here's a start. UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II: UNITED STATES ARMY FORCES IN NORTHERN IRELAND Look in the non-divisional units Section under Ordnance. Duckbill
Here's what I can tell you. You grandfather fought in the Italian campaign. Most of his service seems to have been in northern Italy. Arno is a river in north central Italy around which a campaign was fought. The Po River valley is in northern Italy, again the scene of a campaign. The Apennines is the mountain chain that runs north-south in the center of Italy. The Northern Apennines is still another campaign area. Check this Wiki article for a quick summary of the Italian campaign. Italian Campaign (World War II) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia He was in the 109th Ordnance Company. I'm not sure what the MM stands for. I hope others can give you more details here.
The North Apennines, Po Valley, and Arno Rome, were campaigns he participated in the Italian campaign. It looks as though he was a Maintenance mechanic, possibly in 109th Ordnance Medium Maintenance Company , which repaired weapons.
Greg, A medium maintenance ordnance company would have repaired just about everything up to and including the 3rd echelon of repair and maintenance. As a result the 109th would have maintained and repaired whatever it was sent. These units were usually attached at the Army level, but were then attached to lower headquarters like corps. Duckbill
akf86surf, Here is some more infomation about the capabilities of a medium maintenance company. A medium maintenance company was broken into Specialty Sections like Recovery, Automotive, Artillery, Small Arms, and Service. These sections provided retrieval, repair, and maintenance on: tracked vehicles, artillery weapons, trucks, general pupose vehicles, instruments, and small arms to name a few. The Service Section was a jack of all trades shop that welded and cut metal, and repaired vehicles and equipment of almost any type. Duckbill
Thank you everyone! That was very helpful. With the pictures that I have, it shows him in what looks like a repair location standing with planes and parts all over the place.
Sorry to bring this thread back alive so late but have a few more questions. My grandfather stated that he served in BOTH theaters, at least that is what he said and his medals say. Why does it not say any Pacific combat locations? Also, he has a patch from the 6th army, could it be possible that he served in both the 5th and 6th army? It seems that the discharge papers do not tell me everything, would it be possible to get any other documentation from the archives?
Can you scan his discharge papers and post them here? It makes it easier to decipher his service. Without further information, I can't say if he was in both armies, however, it would be possible to earn a Pacific Theater medal without being involved in any of the named campaigns. It should state his eligibility for the award on the discharge paper. Here are the criteria for earning the award - 3. Criteria: a. The Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal was awarded to personnel for service within the Asiatic-Pacific Theater between 7 December 1941 and 2 March 1946 under any of the following conditions: (1) On permanent assignment. (2) In a passenger status or on temporary duty for 30 consecutive days or 60 days not consecutive. (3) In active combat against the enemy and was awarded a combat decoration or furnished a certificate by the commanding general of a corps, higher unit, or independent force that he actually participated in combat. Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal
I have been trying for 30 minutes trying to load the pictures but keep getting error messages!! It was originally too big so I shrunk it but still getting issues. Any suggestion? Thank you!
Major Update!!!! I just got my grandfather's unit history from NARA and they sent 30 pages of information all for free! Thank you to everyone who gave me suggestions and all the previous posts that helped out so much! Here is what I learned about the 109th Ordnance Company (MM) They were alerted to active duty in March 1942 and shipped to Ireland, Scotland, and England in part of the Invastion force against North Africa. Landed on Algiers D plus 666 and supported the 1st Infantry as part of the II Corps during the African Campaign. After the campaign ended they were sent to France to help stage the Sicilian Invasion of the 7th Army, then assigned to the Fifth Army. From there they spent most of the time in Italy with General Mark Clark and Field Marshal Alexander. At the later stages of the war they were sent to the Philipines. It seems as if the 109th was attached to several other outfits through the war. As mentioned before 109th fixed all the tanks, vehicles, etc behind the lines. Some of the copies I have include Mark Clark, Field Marshal Alexander, and General Truscotts' names. This answers just about everything I ever wanted to know where my grandfather was during the war!!! Thanks to this website that helped me order the records!
