On Sunday night I had the pleasure of speaking with a member of the 1251st Battalion Combat Engineers. That was my fathers unit and I've been struggling to find anything on the unit. One of the few sites that they were listed on the web, is about a monument in St Louis dedicated to Veterans of the Battle of the Bulge. There they were.... listed with the Combat Engineers. So...I emailed the webmaster and asked where they got the info placing their name on the monument. Several weeks passed and I got a call from the president of the organization that had a phone number of a member of the 1251st. So I called the gentleman. It was a wonderful talk. He doesnt remember my father (there were 550 of them) and started by saying that it was a long time ago and he didnt think he remembered much. We chatted a long time and he had lots to tell me about where they were during the Bulge (on the road to Antwerp, in case the Nazi's broke through Bastogne), their time at bridge school, demolition work, and their building the bridge over the Rhine at Dusseldorf. We also talked about their work in building parts of Camp Tophat. They did a lot of the cement work (thus starting my fathers obsession with the gray stuff). We talked about the M-1, Ernie Pyle, Hitlers death....

He was pleased to hear the story of my fathers return to the Rhine: In the 70's my father was sent to Germany on business. He was in Dusseldorf and found a cab driver that had been there during the war and remembered where the bridge was. He took my father to the spot and my father got out of the cab and walked down the river bank a bit. I asked him how it felt to stand there after all those years. He smiled and said " It was nice to stand there and not be shot at". I hope that for every soldier in every war, that they get to return to the battle sites and stand in peace.

I am so happy for you!! :glasses: :blob3: I know what that feels like so I can bask in your happiness. Congrats!

It's been a long time coming huh??

That's really great.

They were on the road to Antwerp?

Can you explain please?

Does he remember any places?

Erwin

That's really great.

 

They were on the road to Antwerp?

Can you explain please?

Does he remember any places?

 

Erwin

Hi Erwin,

Just noticed your reply. Sorry it took so long to get back to this. I don't know anything else and was going to post here to ask. All that he was able to tell me was that their very first engagment was to be taken by truck about 8 miles (maybe kilometers) from Bastogne and were told that if the Nazis started heading toward Antwerp they were the last defense. They had no artillery support and could hear the German artillery. They did have some skirmishes, but fortunatly did not have to deal with the German forces head on. I'm looking for any and all info on this section of the Bulge. After that they went to Holland and were involved in using plywood boats (he called them assault boats) to rescue some Brittish troops.

He was very helpful, but he kept saying "It was a long time ago"....

Darlene

No need to apologize, Darlene.

I am not here every day either.

I know that many Engineer units were sent to the font as a sort of "emergency infantry" to try and stop or slow down the German advances during The Bulge.

Maybe that was the case with this unit too.

I wish I had a place or location as it would make it easier to find where the unit was during that offensive.

Engineer units served well in The Bulge.

They not only served as infantry, but some made it the Germans very difficult by blowing up bridges, blocking roads, etc for many hours and in some cases even days ..... time which was desparately lost for Mr. Jerry.

Interesting to hear they helped build Camp Top Hat which was near Antwerp.

For many years, a lot of US material was dug up there, going from dogtags to kitchen utensils etc.

It was a large transit camp where GIs went through on their way home.

If you want, I can mail you some pictures or post them here.

Just let me know.

Erwin

Erwin,

I would love to see some pictures. I wish that I were better at sending pictures, because I have some great ones of how Camp Tophat used to look. I wonder if any of the folks that visit this page were processed through Tophat. The Cigarette camps would be a really interesting topic to run here.

Among the pictures that my fathers unit mate sent me were of the remnants of some mine fields they helped defuse. We tend to forget that part of the job.

Some pictures from Camp Top Hat, Antwerp, Belgium.

Movie theater.

815th AAA Bn guarding German PoWs.

German Kettenkrad (damaged).

Top Hat.

AA gun with "kill rings".

Erwin

Glad you found those to share with Darlene and the rest of us.

Taking a deep breathe, gritting my teeth,,,,I'm going to try to post a picture. Marion, if I mess it up, please kill the post.....

Bandbox at Camp Tophat

Camp Top Hat - story.

Click on the title above to read about this Camp.

Erwin