My grandfather, Col Augustine Patterson Little, Jr. (pictured here in 1943 and June 7th, 1944 on Omaha Beach) commanded the 814th Engineer Aviation Battalion through North Africa, Sicily and into Italy until called back to England to take command of the 922nd Engineer Aviation Regiment prior to the Normandy invasion. I have been collecting information for a while now on the IX Engineer Command and have started a website dedicated to these men.
The IX Engineeer Command was tasked with building, maintaining and defending the airfields on the European continent used by the 9th Air Force in close air support of the invasion forces. The first IX Engineer Command unit (the 819th EAB) landed on Utah Beach at 10:30 AM on D-Day and had the first Advanced Landing Ground operational by that evening. From then on, the men of the IX Engineer Command built or reclaimed over 300 airfields in France, Belgium, Germany and Austria. In many cases, these airfields were just behind (and in a couple cases ... in front of) the battlelines.
I am interested in talking with veterans of the IX Engineer Command, their families and any one else interested in these men, their units or the airfields they built.
David