Welcome to the WWII Forums! Log in or Sign up to interact with the community.

"...will report for duty without delay." To where?!?

Discussion in 'WWII General' started by George Miller, Mar 15, 2019.

  1. George Miller

    George Miller New Member

    Joined:
    Mar 5, 2018
    Messages:
    9
    Likes Received:
    2
    I've been researching my father's time in the Military Intelligence Service, and his Photo Interpreter team's attachment to the 30th Infantry Division, and just discovered an interesting bit.

    When they were attached to the 30th Division in April 1944, they went to the wrong location to report for duty.

    They went to Chichester, where the 30th had been, but the Division had left 5 days prior. The team spent 2 days in a hotel in Chichester trying to figure out where the 30th was located before they traveled to Chesham to report for duty as ordered "without delay".

    This made me think of a mundane but important question about everyday life then. How did soldiers know where to report for duty to their assigned units? From what I've seen, the location never appears on their orders. Where did they get that critical bit of information?

    Thanks!
    George
     
    George Miller, Mar 15, 2019
    #1
  2. OpanaPointer

    OpanaPointer I Point at Opana Staff Member WW2|ORG Editor

    Joined:
    Jun 5, 2008
    Messages:
    18,326
    Likes Received:
    5,693
    I reported to the "Hotel Del Coronado" for duty once. It was in the Persian Gulf at the time. So, yeah, things can get a little confusing. One of my uncles told me about sleeping on the sidewalk outside a recruiting station when he "missed movement" and didn't know where to go next. The recruiters made some phone calls and got him a train ticket.
     
    OpanaPointer, Mar 16, 2019
    #2
  3. KMZgirl

    KMZgirl Member

    Joined:
    Nov 2, 2007
    Messages:
    375
    Likes Received:
    93
    Location:
    The South
    Short answer, don't know. But, in my dad's belongings, I do have one "redistribution extract" that told him and several other men when and where to report, once he returned stateside. It did give a location, Camp Barkeley, in his case.
     
    KMZgirl, Mar 16, 2019
    #3
  4. OpanaPointer

    OpanaPointer I Point at Opana Staff Member WW2|ORG Editor

    Joined:
    Jun 5, 2008
    Messages:
    18,326
    Likes Received:
    5,693
    If the town was of any size there would be a USO canteen there. That would be a hook-up point if all else failed. I used to volunteer at a USO at an international airport. The young men would come in and look lost. We had a long list of contacts that covered just about everybody. Once a week we'd share new stories so the volunteers would be up to speed. One day a guy walked in wearing just boxer shorts, not even socks. One vol got on the phone for the airport police and the rest of us made sure he wasn't hurt. He'd been mugged in the men's room, the scum took everything.
     
    OpanaPointer, Mar 16, 2019
    #4

Share This Page