Hi Frank,
My Dad's records from the archives were disappointing because so much important info was faded-out, charred from the fire, or missing. He was in Company "A." You might be lucky but it does take at least four months to get anything. Otherwise, for specific information about your Grandfather, contacts through M1 and veteran John Fallon are the only resources I know.
The history of the 36th Engineers in context of the war is impressive. They spent more days fighting as foot soldiers (much of it on the Anzio beachhead) than building bridges or mending roads. They were among the first combat engineering regiments to enter the war and had one of the longest continuous records of service of any unit in WWII. The 36th Engineers made five major amphibious assault landings in the course of ten campaigns and were used so frequently as a shore party that they came to be regarded as Amphibian Engineers.
If you read everything about the 36th Engineers on this website and want to learn more in general through WW2 books, I would be happy to recommend some good ones. But rest assured that your Grandfather belonged to one of the finest units that served. Best of luck in your search.
Peanuts
Those are fantastic! Thanks for taking the time to show the links. Those will come in handy for a lot of people, including myself.
Those are official situation maps and the website has some good photos too. I didn't get through all the history accounts there yet but the Allied Counterattacks section says: "The commitment of two regiments of the 45th Division in the 1st Division sector resulted in a depletion of VI Corps reserves. To offset this loss the 36th Engineer Combat Regiment took over a portion of the Moletta River line, relieving all but one battalion of the 157th Infantry. Although the engineers had had no experience as infantry and were badly needed for construction of defenses and road maintenance, by holding a relatively quiet portion of the front they released infantry troops needed to bolster the critical central sector. In the succeeding weeks while the regiment continued to maintain the Moletta River line the engineers were to prove themselves able to handle machine guns and mortars as capably as they handled bulldozers and road graders."
However, the 36th ECR did have some experience as infantry during the prior Salerno operations. There are contrary accounts in details of the regimental history when you study the Adjutant's history, Gen. Gardes' Salerno report, Gardes/Chubbuck interview, personal accounts, and situation reports, etc. Many gray areas still remain.
