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Here is a scan from my Grandfather’s notebook (one of several he had.) This page is from Oct 20, 1944 and is a sketch from the plan for the Charmes Bridge over the Moselle. I looked up "Charmes Bridge" on Google and found this. As the regiment in question passed over the bridge more than a month before I don't think they were the same but I it was all I could find.

I've got more pages from his notebook that I will add periodically. As they need to be of a fairly large size to appreciate, I can't have a lot of them on at the same time.

Hi I have THE ENTIRE set of army documents for almost three years. Daily, weekly, and monthly journals from S-1 to S-4 and after-action reports, maps and more. This is for EVERY day of the war for the 540th from early 1943 through November of 1945.

Eventually the entire set will be available to my viewing public. But it will take a few years to do it.

I have it filed by Month and Year!

I will see what I can come up with for this day. How about that?

From the OFFICIAL - Basic - Daily Journal Report, Oct 44. Hqs 2d BN., 540th Engr. Regt.

20 October 1944: Company "D", Chatenois, France. Building ramps between hospital buildings for moving patients from one building to other buildings at 21st General Hospital, Mirecourt, France. Operating water point and showers. Hauling lumber for hospital job in Mirecourt. Company "E", Mirecourt, France. Provide and put in operation utilities in buildings of 21st General Hospital in Mirecourt, France/ Building#!, checked and repaired water lines to toilets. Complete except for heating and hot water. 95% complete. Building#3, same as Building #1. 95% complete. Building #5, complete except for heating and hot water. 95% complete. Building #7, continued installation of fuse and switch boards. 95% complete. Building #9, continued installation of master fuse and switchboard. 95% complete. Building #11, continued installation of master fuse and switchboard. 95% complete. Building #4, complete except for heating and hot water. 95% complete. Building #6, continued repairing tile flooring. 40% complete. Building#8, laid small sections of tile floor. 35% complete. Building #10, continued installation of plumbing fixtures. 85% complete. Building #12, continued installation of electrical fixtures. Continued repairing plumbing. 95% complete. Central heating plant: checked and refilled boilers. continued small fires for drying out boilers. Administration: Worked on basement drainage. Utilities section: continued work on water lines. 60 % complete. Tunnel: Worked on repair of water line. 35% complete. Company "F", Darney, France. Completed laying cable at 21st General Hospital, Mirecourt, France. Completed digging road across road at hospital. Hauled 50 telephone poles and erected 11. 20 % complete. Hauling gravel for truck turn-about at railhead. Made two (2) truck crossings at railroad tracks. 35% complete. Hauling gravel for Regimental HQ. 30% complete. Started constructing platform and pouring concrete at 21st General Hospital in Mirecourt. 20% complete.

Monthly Activity Journal - October, 1944

To: Commanding General, Seventh Army, APO 758, US Army

5 Oct - 31 Oct 44 - Mirecourt, France:

BRIDGE ASSIGNMENTS:

Work completed on two canal bridges, Highway N 57 vic Epinal and two canal bridges on N 57 vic Crevechamps and Flavigny; completed construction of 290' double-single, 1-way, Class 24 Bailey Bridge vic Charmes; reinforcement of Bailey bridge construction (Pont D'Ain) completed; dismanted 150' Bailey bridge, Chatel, and hauled to dump area; moutning water head and current conditions due to heavy rains during period involved the Regiment in an extensive bridge reconnaissance, maintenance, repair and reconstruction program, principally vic Nomexy, Chatel, and Charmes; completed replacement of 1-way bridge vic Chatel with 2-way Class 40 fixed construction (336'6" long X 24' wide); two bridges removed; German bridge and Bailey bridge across Moselle River vic Chatel.

ROADS:

Continued extensive reconnaissance of main and secondary routes in Regimental area; furnished crews and equipment in extensive mud clearing program. clearing debris, maintenance and repair of roads, road drainage and culverts; established stock-piles of cinders/sand/gravel along highways to combat ice and snow conditions; erected road signs; maintained roads in Class III dump at Rapey.

ARMY ENGINEER DETAILS:

Furnished materials, equipment and personnel for extensive repair and establishment of utilties in buildings occupied by 21st General Hospital (Mirecourt), including construction of ramps between buildings and hopper ramp to heating plant; hospital sites prepared and cleared and miscellaneous engineer services furnished for 9th, 11th, and 51st Evacuation Hospitals; constructed for road system, RR crossings, prepared and cleared area at Hymont railhead; road system, culverts, turn-offs, into dispersal area being constructed for Ordnance Vehicle Depot west of Nomexy; roads constructed for ASP at Bayon and Class III dump at Charmes; furnished miscellaneous trucking details and engineering work for units in area; water points and showers maintained for use of troops in area

More to come.... (break time)

HQ Activity Journal (weekly)

Oct 17-22, 1944

Mirecourt, France:

Usual Regimental Personnel Section duties, personnel correspondence and processing daily morning reports and daily ration strength. Prepared 201 file of Captain Stanley R. Sadowski transferred to the States on rotation. Prepared S/R's and allied papers of 3 EM transferred to the States on rotation. Prepared S/R's and allied papers of 5 EM placed on TD in the States per 7th Army order. Captain Frederick C. Woods designated Commanding Officer of Co "C" vice Captain John H Quay relieved. Captain Robert D Stephens designated Commanding Officer of Co "D" vice Captain Decater Brown relieved. Enlisted Men's payroll prepared,signatures obtained and submitted to finance.

S-3 "stuff" From monthly journal...

18-21 October 1944

Mirecourt, France:

Canal bridge at Nomexy on approach road to main highway bridge across the Moselle River at Chatel was washed out and replaced. The center bent of the Chatel bridge washed out and work started to replace it with a pile bent. On the next day , however, the adjacent trestle bent washed out and it was decided to widen and reinforce the entire bridge to a two-way, Class 40. The was done by replacing the washed-out trestle bents with double-pile bents and adding three piles and the necessary additional stringers and flooring to each of the existing 16 trestle bents that remained. Road system, RR cross-overs, and unloading area was established in the railhead at Hymont. Work continued on construction of two-way, Class 40 fixed bridge across the Moselle at Charmes until high water washed out the reinforced one-way bridge. It was decided to provide a crossings of the Moselle at Charmes by the construction, instead of a one-way, Class 24 Bailey bridge at the site of the partially demolished highway bridge.

Daily Journal

20 October, 1944:

Co "A" - Epinal, France - Construction of a 2way Cl. 40 1way Cl. 70 Bridge at Charmes was discontinued per VOCO. Materials were hauled from Charmes to Bridge site at Chatel.

Co "B" - Bayon, France - 33 - Road maintenacne: Removed mud and improved drainage on Route N-404 from Route N-57 to Route N-419. Hauled and spread 15 loads of gravel on road net of gas dump in Charmes. Hauled and spread 6 loads of gravel on road net near Bayon. Preparation of site for 51st Evac Hosp. Constructed and installed 1 culvert. Hauled and spread 78 loads of gravel on road net. Hauled material to 1st Bn Dump. Maintenance of Moselle River Bridge at Bayon. - Revetted fill. Hauled and spread 5 loads of gravel on approaches. Maintained 24 hour traffic control.

Co "C" - Igney, France: - 88 - Reconstruct Canal Bridge at Nomexy - Completed 1 trestle. Secured and placed in position 24 stell I beams. Placed 6" X 6" wooden stringers. Laid 40' of deckings. Project 45% complete. 89- Repair of Bridge over Moselle River at Chatel. - Constructed 2-9 1/2" caps. Cut 4 piling to size for caps. At 0340 hours the original bent slipped 7 inches and flooring and guard rails has to be ripped up. Project 20% complete.

Battalion Medics: Charmes, France: Normal first aid duties

Battalion HQ: Charmes, France - Normal administrative duties

I can see why you are tired! That's a heck of a lot of typing to do.

You are one dedicated lady!

Cheers!

I guess I get a little obsessed at times. I know I would like to hear it if I were you. It's interesting to put facts together and get a bigger picture.

It just keeps amazing me HOW much they accomplished, and this is only a day, and a week out of all the time they put in.

The next time I am deployed, I will know (for the most part) how long I will be gone; and that will only be 7 months to a (at a max) a year. My grandfather shipped out for north Africa and had to tell his wife, "be back when the war is over." We always talk of the "fanatical NAZI's" being of a "victory or death" mindset, but there were three ways home for our boys oversees as well - victory, death, or incapacitation.

My fathre was three when he met his dad.

You keep typing and I'll keep trying to make the posts interesting! I have several more scans of my Grandfathers notebooks.

Capt' Todd-

I realized while going through all the reports from the 540th for the month of October 1944, that there were indeed DUPES of several of the reports. (that was fun sorting through!!) I would love to offer these to you and your father. Would you be interested in obtaining copies? Let me know.