morning reports 41st armored infantry

I am looking for morning reports about H & HQ Company 3rd Battalion of the 41st Armored Infantry Regiment from september 1944 to december 1944.
This is for my father-in-law Henry Factor who was in this unit.

 

Internet search, Facebook groups, wwii forums, also sent inquiries to NARA in Maryland. Got back response to check with st Louis nara and am waiting on response from them.
I have also engaged private researcher from Golden arrow. Although, the he is very busy, he did send me a goodly amount of info. But it seems incomplete, thus the ask for a few moments that he seemed to miss.

 

Ted Islam.

It may cost a bit of money and I don't know how reliable this service is, but maybe, just maybe, these folks could help you:

Request Morning Reports and Rosters ⋆ Golden Arrow Research

You might also look into the 41st Armored Infantry Regiment Association or a bunch of WWII re-enactors who "do" that regiment today for some guidance.

Both can be found on Google.

Cheers, good fortune on your search and be well.
Evilroddy.

 

Check the National Archives in St. Louis, MO. Just look up National Archives on internet and the site will provide you with informationwww.archives.gov › personnel-records-centerAccess to Morning Reports and Unit Rosters | National Archives Good luck.

 

thank you for looking for me, but the links are for the 41st infantry and not the 41st armored infantry

 

Unless you stumble upon someone who has copies already, your only option is to either go to St. Louis yourself or hire a private researcher. You're in good hands with Golden Arrow and using the long wait time effectively by looking at the big picture of the unit's activities.

For those just beginning this journey, Golden Arrow's site has a good (if repetitive) description of what kind of info the morning reports contain. You didn't say why you wanted to look at the MRs.

Morning Reports: Locating Your Army Veteran Using WWII Military Records ⋆ Golden Arrow Research

 

I believe that my father-in-law left the 41st armored inf after a hospital stay from oct44 to nov 15 1944 according to the fold3/ancestry.com hospital records. Those dates were not included in the material from golden arrow.

 

Not enough detail to even make a guess. Logically, you have to go from the last date you are certain of (not just 'believe') what unit he was assigned to and from that date go day by day through that unit's MRs until he was reassigned. Repeat as necessary. For all we know, he could have been shuttled between several hospitals, sent to a repo depot, then assigned to a light duty unit. The possibilities are almost endless. The record of the hand off from one unit to another is the path to an answer. That chain has to be followed without a break.

Like getting all of the toothpaste out of the tube; start squeezing at one end and stick with it. It may require looking at many months of MRs. Without the service record, there's just no other way, certainly no cheap and easy way.

 

This is for the 2nd Armored Division that the 41st Armored Infantry was attached to for Aug 1944.
My question is this, my father-in-law was in the hq and hq co. What does that mean?

 

DV HQ co. ccould be clerical, driver, wrench turner (mechanic), defense platoon (guards), supply/supply clerk, telephone switchboard, telephone repair (lineman), radio operator, anti-tank gunner, scout car crew/light tank crew (reece) or just a cook or potato peeler (cook's assistant).

BTW, Col. Sidney Hinds was an Olympic Gold Medal shooter who raised his regiment to high standards of marksmanship.

 

what exactly is this?-- 'scout car crew/light tank crew (reece)'....
I believe he was part of a tank crew.
what type of missions would the hq unit go on?

 

Ted, Headquarters and Headquarters Company of the Regiment or Battalion. HQ consisted of the commanding officers and his staff. Headquarters Company supported the Headquarters and consisted of officers and enlisted men. So he was one of those enlisted men in the 3d Battalion Headquarters Company.

There appears to be a typo in the MCOE attachment. IIRC, Division Reserve consisted of the 41st AIR (minus the 1st and 2d Bn and Company I of the 3d Bn). So it was essentially Just HQ & HQ Co, Service Co, and the 3d Bn (- I Co).

 

If he was part of the 3d Battalion Headquarters Company and was part of a "tank crew" then he was probably crewman in a 75mm Howitzer Motor Carriage M8 - a self-propelled howitzer. Very late in the war the 41st AIR had those replaced by a 105mm Medium Tank M4, which was a tank.

 

Could be M-20 Scout Car or M-8 Greyhound (basically the same 6 wheeled vehicle but with 37 mm gun in a rotating turrets). Tanks were normally the M-5 Stuart. It could also be a M-8 which is the M-5 Stuart equipped with a low velocity 75 mm gun in a open top turret. Battalion recce troops were sent out to snoop and probe.

They also had a MG platoon, mortar platoon. He may even have been part of the battalion inf. recce platoon.

 

where can i find more information on these types of vehicles? My father-in-law talked of being first a gunner for 75mm.
75mm Howitzer Motor Carriage M8
Could be M-20 Scout Car or M-8 Greyhound (basically the same 6 wheeled vehicle but with 37 mm gun in a rotating turrets).

so, a 'recce platoon' was a reconnaissance group? how many would be in a platoon?
ted