Hello all, I had a question as to where I should go to look for after action reports. My grandfather was in the 23rd Inf Regiment, 2nd Inf Division. He was killed on December 17, 1944 near Krinkelt, Belgium. Did the reports come out on a monthly basis? How could I find these reports as they pertained to his regiment for the month of December 1944? And along those lines, how would I find the reports for his regiment for the months of september through december 1944, if I do not know what actions his regiment specifically took part in? And while I am asking, what other "reports" are out there that may lend some light on his unit's actions for that time period? That is, other than after action reports, what kind of reports should i be looking for. Again, thanks to all who have helped me in the past.
Hi, For starters you should have the Regimental History: The Twenty Third United States Infantry, 1812-1945: 2nd Infantry Division, World War II Regimental History (Lone Sentry) The monthly AARs will be in the National Archives and copies are obtainable from them; they are very nice to work with. John
As with the GO request, send an email to the NARA II, College Park, and tell the staff what you want: Archives2reference@nara.gov The NARA will pull the records, determine how many pages there are and send you a letter and tell you the cost for reproduction. i.e., $0.75 per page. Dave
If you know his company and therefore his battalion, there may be unit journals (S-2-3) at the NARA. These usually cover the daily or hourly activities of a Bn. If you would like to see samples (from the 45th Infantry Division), send me a PM and I will be glad to email some to you. Dave
Thanks Dave.....I have deduced that he was in the third battalion. Would i make a separate request for the unit journals? That is, would I ask for the after action reports for the unit and then ask for the unit journals? Wasn't sure how specific i needed to be with them. I have already requested the after actions reports and was wondering if I should send out another request for the unit journals you mentioned. Or should I just wait and see what they have for me with the first request? Thanks again for your time and insight.
Dave: So, i've requested after action reports and now battalion journals. What else is there to request? I figured the more documentation I request, the more the chance I will find something very interesting. I have seen that there are morning reports and unit rosters that can be ordered. Would these be different than the unit journals you mention? I see that the unit rosters for 1944 have been destroyed. Was wondering if it was worth the effort to request the morning reports, at least the reports for the time my grandfather went MIA in late December 1944. As a side note, I have already requested and received my grandfather's IDPF file from the Army and his military file from NPRC. Again, thanks for your time.
The AARs are fairly high level reports and don't provide much insight. The reports I found to be most useful were the Battalion S-3 reports. They came out every day and they get into a level of detail that gives some sense of what each company was up to during that day. They might give weather reports and status of equipment and morale and other things that won't appear in the higher level reports. IMHO the S-3s are the gold. Ask NARA what info they have and you might be surprised. When I was searching for info they were able to turn up a personal diary/journal that was invaluable. Good luck!
Excuse my ignorance, but what does the "S-3" stand for? I actually have requested both from the NARA (AAR and the battalion journals). I figure you never know what you are going to get and something in the AAR might lead you to something else more detailed. Thanks for your input, it's much appreciated.
The "S" refers to a staff organization at the Brigade/Regiment/Battalion level. These are the men (and women, today) that help the unit operate. The number is used to denote the specific staff section. In this case, the "3" refers to the Operations section. 1 = Personnel, 2 = Intelligence, 4 = Logistics & 5 = Plans. You'll have to pardon my ignorance but I am unsure if WWII combat units had Plans Sections. For units of division size and higher, the "S" is replaced by a "G" but the numbers are the same. In today's armed forces, the Air Force and Navy also use similar numbering but use an "A" for USAF and "N" for Navy. Joint organizations (comprised of forces from two or more services) use a "J" for Joint Staff. The Operations Section is the staff section that oversees execution of the unit's operations. Therefore, they are typically in the prime position to report on the unit's actions, especially in combat. Hope my somewhat rambling response is useful. John
Just an update to this post, I received a notice from the NARA today stating that they have 70 pages of AAR's for me for the three months my grandfather was overseas before he was killed. I'll keep you updated as to the content when they come in. Thanks again to all that have provided invaluable insight.
Just an update to this thread..... received the AAR's I requested from the NARA. 70 pages of reports covering four months of action. As most have stated, requesting docs from the NARA seems to be pretty seemless and stress free and quick. Just waiting for the battalion journals now. (As a side note, I posted another thread regarding Oral Histories of WWII, which I requested from the NARA as well. That request netted about 800 pages of documents. Cannot wait for that to come in as well.)
