vernon coffey - 11th armored div.

hello forum. very glad to have found this site. im hoping you may be of help to me. my grandfather was Vernon R. Coffey (berea, ky) and he served in the US 3rd Army, 11th Armored division (thunderbolt). he brought a LOT of interesting thins home from war and id love to find out more about it, abd the company he served in. all i have to guide me now is what i remember of his stories (he died last year) and these amazing artifacts.

like i said, he served with the 11th armored and ive checked a web site of theirs that has tons of info but nothing on my grandfather. (maybe im not looking in the right spot?).

there was a a letter his girlfriend at the time wrote to him, plus 2 gold pins with 390th AAA AW BN (sp) written on them. i never heard him talk of that company/division and dont really know what it means, but i assume if i find out what that is, i will find a lot more info on him. all i know from his patches and stories is he drove a half-track, was a Technician 5th grade, and Corporal. (i hope i spit that out right). i know he was also at the battle of the Bulge, among 2 other major battles

ill post pictures soon, and a list of things he had in the basement, but one thing that really caught my attention was a patch of the 1st Infantry division (big red one). how he got that im not sure at all, but my best guess is his brother was in that division. i dont think that company was anywhere near Bastonge in '44 were they? anyway, any help is greatly appreciated. ill post again soon and often

 

thanks so much for the info guys. ill have a good look through those links

heres a list of things that are still around today (some stuff was lost in a fire long ago). maybe it will help in finding out more about him. or at least, make an interesting read

Gillette Tech razor with leather case
- 6 blue blade packs
- red "CCW hide" case

dogtag #35805615 T43 44 A

Tebe-Klien Photothek 6x9
- includes professional photos, and personal photos, sent to hhis mother
- CPL vernon coffey
BTRY C-467 AAA
AW BN (sp) APO 403

37mm auto gun "container"
"mia2, complete round shell HEM54
lot_lop packed OCT '43
container m59"

6 50mm rounds
i think half-tracks were mounted with 2 50mms

a stamp made of a block of wood
"C-5615" (dog tag number)

2 "enlisted" US pins

gold pin; "Aviation, machinist mate"
had a few aviation patches. maybe from a friend? or brother?

3 medals "for good conduct"

2 "390th AAA AW BN (sp)" pins
-has illustration of orange bug carrying 3 guns, standing on tracks

12 "army class A ovrseas" stripes

6 "technician 5th grade" patches

4 "corporal stripes"

training command patch

1st infantry patch

honorable discharge patch

HQ ETOUSA COM Z patch
us army euro theatres communications zone


SS mountain troop hat and jacket patches
http://www.soldat.com/abz%20SS%20GBJ%20Ins.jpg

SS Croation Nat. 13th Waffen-Gebrigs patch
http://militaryspecialtiesinc.com/images/German/ww2germancloth/ssshieldcroatia2var_small.JPG

"restricted doucument"
extract from Orlando Airbase

Europe road map
1:1,000,000 AMS 6303
1st edition ams 1
france. army map service 1944

FW Holler bayonet

combination scoreboard
M1918 AZ
wrote down his scores from shooting range

FM22-5 field manuel
"leadership courtesy and drill"
feb '46

Collins and Co machette

2 Nazi chest patches? sleeves?
blue and white
white tank top shirt, with Nazi chest patch
blue shorts

German SS officer dagger
Spr wkc/solingen
http://i3.iofferphoto.com/img/item/100/327/829/o_XFBo4oAYn47stsB.jpg

Nazi party flag
reichskriegs flagge

Nazi navy flag
kr fl 80-135
lorenz summa selmo
Oberkotzau
http://www.neaca.com/images/Nazi_Battle_Flag_1_.JPG

- he said he took the flags because "the Germans were too flag-happy"

 

i was able to find this little blurb about the 390th through Google. it came from an online book about the 3rd US Army. just one more little piece of info

"between 2020 and 2030 hours, may 8th, the 390th Antiaircraft Artillery AW Battalion (self-propelled) also part of the 27th AAA, engaged three FW-190s as they flew over the 26th ID. One smoked as it burst into flames and crashed. This was the last confirmed destruction of an enemy plane in the Third Army zone"

 

heres a picture of a pin worn by the 390th. sorry for the bad quality

 

heres another article about a photographer who was attatched to the 390th. the article also explains the company's pin

Untitled Document

heres a link to a website of a soldier who was in the 26th ID. very interesting stuff here
http://www.rinfret.com/ww2.html#anchor161602

 

for anyone who is as interested in the 11th Armored( especially the 390thAAA) as much as i am i found this great page. ive been building this thread since i started it, slowly but surlye, i do hope to make this a huge resource on the 390th, and hopefully my grandfather especially.

Antiaircraft Command - 390th AAA AW Bn History

 

ive put my skills as a graphic designer to use here. theres not very many good photos of the 390th's pin/mascot so i decided to recreate it myself. this is probably the best picture you'll find on the web. nothing i have found has accurate colors, so here it is.

 

made a pretty big discovery today in the AAD archives. the info here isnt much as far as who/what he did in the Army, but at least i found a record of him

NARA - AAD - Display Full Records - Electronic Army Serial Number Merged File, ca. 1938 - 1946 (Enlistment Records)

 

about time for pictures. one Nazi dagger is currently missing from my gradfathers collection, but i got to photograph everything else. im hoping you guys can help me identify some of this stuff. im not interested in value, id just like to know more about it and where it came from.

you can browse them at the link below. i thought that would be best than posting them all here

papaw WWII - a set on Flickr

 

hi all. havent made a post in quite sometime, but i have something good to share today. this entire thread has been a sort of records collection of my grandfathers military history, focusing mainly on the 390th AAA.

today i get to connect with his 11th Armored history. he jumped around between at least 3 AA units, though he mostly claimed himself as a member of the 11th Armored

so, i found a news paper article dated 3/9/1948 which says...

and this small article....

history of the 575th AAA http://www.11tharmoreddivision.com/history/575th_aaa_battalion_history.html

thats not all. also got a Western Union post card...

and one more thing.... a patch of the 3rd US Army, Corporal's stripes, and a patch of the 11th Armored Division

 

Hi Thunderbolt....
I know you posted this all a very long time ago, but I stumbled across it last night as I was researching my grandfather's WWII history.

He fought in the 390th AAA AA Bn. He was a Staff Sargent, Staff Sargent Charles Ray Allen or Lewiston, ID. His Lt was Bill O'Neill of Bellingham, WA. He landed July 27, 1944 on Utah Beach and pushed up through there, inclduing fighting in the Buldge and relieving interment camps. I've been fortunate enough to hear so many of his stories, including having him speak to my European History class when I was in high school. After that experience, he never stopped talking about it. So therapeutic.

That insignia -- He's got a few pictures with that. I believe he told me they called it a Gallywompus (sp?) or something similar to that.

What is your grandfather's name? Where was he from? Where did he do his basic?

I went to film school and ended up doing a documentary on his WW2 experience. If you would like to see it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kP3mZnvEGnA&list=UUGVXZXIBU2As6ZLu2HQSP-A

(Please know I'e learned a lot about filmmaking since this was shot and edited; this is also only a snipit of what was filmed. I also have Bill O'Neill speaking with my grandpa at one of their WWII reunions about 8-10 years ago; this version is edited for film school purposes and is only a fraction. So please forgive editing mistakes, shaking camera movements, etc)

I would love to talk more with you about this if you are still researching your grandfather's history. There are so few veterans of the war left to tell stories. I think it is important we keep telling their stories for them.

Best,

Maile Allen

 

Hi Thunderbolt,
My grandfather Bert Edward Carroll, was the captain of the 390th AAA. He wrote about his time in the 390th in the book called My World War II memories. You can find a copy of this book at the VA hospital in Long Beach. I was only able to donate one copy because that's all I had but I think my mom has a copy I'll try to get some more made. Ed "fish" Fishchel was also in his unit. Not only were they in the Battle of the Bulge but they also helped liberate Dachau concentration camp. I hope you enjoy the book again you should be able to find a copy at the VA hospital in Long Beach California. I hope this helps you. If you need more information or would like to know more please contact me thank you so much, Jen, the VA bunny lady

 

Captain Bert Edward Carroll 390th AAA AW BN (sp) I think that's right I always get the last few letters mixed up. I used to go to dinner with Grandpa's unit at Knott's Berry Farm, and the last time we were there we got to ride the half-track. My son Jocelyn Charles Wellings is a bit of an expert on the subject. He studied my grandfather's unit quite a bit. You can find him on Facebook, and I'm sure he'd be more than happy to give you information on the unit. Good luck please contact me if you have any questions thank you. You can find me at the Long Beach VA Hospital I volunteer there as an ambassador. I was bringing bunny rabbits to the veterans through the pet therapy program but the rabbits are on hold right now while I work to get them reinstated into the pet therapy program pets for vets. I'm going to take it to Washington DC and hopefully you guys will have bunny rabbits again soon! Thank you for your service.

 

Sry
My son goes by Joss Wellings on Facebook and he lives in United Kingdom, and is in the ROTC for the British Infantry. You can also look for Rasheda Carroll, both have a lot of information on Grandpa's unit also photos I'll try to post them later. Good luck and again thank you for your service. We owe you guys everything.