Units Landing in Normandy - Day by Day Chronology?

Specifically looking for 2nd Armored Division units landing on June 12, 1944, D+6. Internet searches aren't turning up enough info. I reason there must be a book somewhere that says what units landed on what days. I know it's a lot of men and units, but with my Dad's records lost in the 1973 fire, it's about the only way I can figure out to find what unit my Dad may have been in. Some units have good internet sites and some archives have good unit records. I'm just pulling on threads.

 

I would be interested in this too - both my uncles went over, one on Day 2, the other a week later. Hope you get some good responses.

 

try this site:
http://www.backtonormandy.org/usa-2-armored-division.html

http://www.backtonormandy.org/1944/828-1944-06-overview-month.html

 

Thanks, Ruud. There's a wealth of information there. It will take me some time to parse it out and digest it, but it's way more than I had before.

 

Hope you will find what you are looking for. have fun reading.

 

Some units of the 2nd AD left Southampton on 8 June and arrived at Omaha Beach (St. Laurent sur Mer) on 9 June.

You can find this info in the morning reports. They can be found in the archives in St. Louis.

 

With due respect, I think you're going about this the wrong way. A Division with all it's personnel and equipment in WWII was huge. A regiment and even a battalion of a certain division was loaded on several LST's or many LCT's. They never all came in on a particular day. Some parts of a unit landed days apart from others. There were other divisions landing, supply's for troops already there-- it was not " your turn, my turn", it was first come , first off. For instance, combat Command A was slated to land first with CCB following. The history show the 2nd Armored arriving in France on D+3 but the two Combat Commands didn't get off loaded until June 14. Division trains were not ashore until June 28th. All division troops had landed by July 2nd. (Donald E. Houston "Hell on Wheels")

Post his separation paper-- the answer about what unit he was in might be hidden there.
Write the VA and see what they have.
Read through the thread about obtaining copies of personnel records this section. There are many options to try.
I believe your looking for a silver bullet when it may take some research. I will bet the answer is out there besides his records that were burned at NARA.

I have a soft spot for helping 2nd Armored veterans and their families because so many helped me when I was in your shoes. I would really like you to learn all you can, but Sometimes there are no short cuts.
Keep us informed on what you learn. Good luck.

 

Hello. I have scanned his separation papers, but I'm not having much luck right now figuring out how to upload them and make them available to you. It's been a long day.

I have tried many options for obtaining documents, but I'm always looking for more. I don't have much time to spend on this effort, so I'm in it for the long haul.

I know that unit rosters for 1944 through 1946 were lost or destroyed. I know that he was wounded on 11/19/1944. Perhaps if I contact the VA they might have something to indicate the unit he was in when wounded.

 

If you know his unit you can look on websites dedicated to the 2nd Armored and post your questions there. Units did not maintain personnel rosters per se, they had morning reports which stated changes in personnel strength by name and service number. You could contact Geoff at Golden Arrow Research and have him pull the Morning Reports for the unit or units in question for the period of time 11/19/1944 plus a few days and it would show your guy wounded and taken off strength. Or Geoff could search for the name and service number to find the records.

Another potential source for separation documents is the county where he lived. GIs were told to register their discharges at the county court house.

When you asked for his personnel records did you also ask for his medical records? The medical records were kept in a different location than the personnel records that were destroyed and it could also have the information you are looking for.

To post pictures here just create a free account in photobucket and post the links here that you have in photobucket

 

Hi Folks. I have uploaded my Dad's separation papers to Photobucket, along with his final pay voucher, a picture of his uniform, and his purple heart, which my nephew has.

http://s296.photobucket.com/user/vt03a3/library/KM-WW2?sort=3&page=1

I hope this link works.

My nephew also has his hat, which I thought was lost.

I did ask NARA Personnel records for his medical records too, but they had nothing. I don't know his unit, so I can't precisely ask for morning reports around his wounding date of 11/19/1944. However, thanks to Ruud, I can see on a map where the 2nd Armored was on or about that date. I'm focusing on the German towns of [SIZE=11pt]Baesweiler, Palenberg and Ubach, searching the Web for action reports from around that date. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Once I have some suspect units, I may contact a paid researcher to look for morning reports. I have received some help from the Eisenhower Library folks. They tell me that Company A of the 66th Armored Regiment, Second Armored Division, was still unloading on June 12, when my Dad landed. They also have some action reports of the 66th from November 1944. They have been helpful. [/SIZE]

 

Sorry, I meant Combat Command A.

 

Where are the top lines on the Report of Separation?

 

On the jacket you have the Corps of Engineers (left) and Infantry (right) collar insignia.
The distinctive insignia (blue with white cross) is from the 113th Infantry Regiment.

It states that he was a truck driver, so maybe he was in a service company.

 

See my post under New Recruits for more info.

 

I answered the other post about the uniform, but with the records he posted my guess is he was a truck driver delivering supplies while in the states for nearly three years.

When he went to Europe he was attached as a rifleman with the 41st Armored Infantry Regiment of the 2nd Armored. The records show he was a rifleman for 6 months which would be from when they landed in Normandy until he was wounded on November 19th near Puffendorf, Germany. I noticed a Presidential UnitCitation with his PH. The 2nd Bn of the 41st earned the PUC for action from the 17th to the 28th of November for action where his father was wounded. All speculation because I can't find any unit referenced.

I didn't want to sound rude but wonder who put the uniform together.
Also wondered why the top of the separation was cut off. It's difficult to be helpful when you don't have all the info .

 

The separation papers are usually a dead end as far as which unit he served with in combat. Men were transferred to temporary units until their pay, records, medical issues were cleared - and those units are what appear on the separation papers.

All of the Divisional rosters are out there, somewhere. If you find that, you can at least get the regiment, date attached, and often other details like WIA, etc.

 

You're right, almost everyone was transferred to a unit for transfer to the states. Sometimes their real unit was entered as their last unit and sometimes the temporary unit was.
If the guy typing the separation paper had time or was conscientious enough, he would add the General Order number and unit after
any decorations. In this case he didn't even include it for the CIB or his PH. But like you said, the records are out there, it's nice to have some concrete starting point.

 

Are you referring to some records other than what I have posted? What is his "PH"? He did say something about a special citation, but I think it was for being on the front for so long.

Also, on another post, you mentioned his being eligible for the Bronze Star and [SIZE=11pt]the Occupation Medal w/Germany Clasp and also the WWII Victory Medal. Is there someplace other than the St. Louis personnel files that there would be a record of these things?[/SIZE]

 

Well, duh! PH = Purple Heart. And I know see that that PUC is that ribbon in the little section of the case over his PH.