I have been attempting to research my father's unit in WW II and came across this most excellent site. I am most impressed with the quanity and quality of the information here.

I am looking for any information on the 2731 Engineer Light Equipment Company. I believe it was activated in July 1944. It was deployed to France in January 1945 and attached to the 7th Army.

Any information or leads to sources will be most appreciated.

Thank you,

Sam Caldwell

Hello and welcome,

You know to what unit they were attached at that time?

I'm thinking 3rd Infantry Division, but could be wrong.

The divisional combat engineer battalions were capable of performing most engineering tasks (including demolitions, obstacle emplacement, fortification, and light bridge building) for the division. Additional battalions from corps or army augmented divisional engineers for more extensive tasks. Corps battalions were assigned to the command of an engineer group headquarters, which consisted of an H&H Company and an engineer light equipment company. Normally there were between three and six battalions in an engineer group and one or two groups per corps or army.

Military History Online - Engineers

Erwin

It is not the unit you asked for, but maybe this person can be of some help to you:

610th Engineer Light Equipment Co Assn

Mr. Hub Spooner

P . O. Box 893

Belle Glade, FL 33430

USA

Erwin

Erin,

Thank you for the welcome and for the information on the 610th Enginner Light Equipment Company .

I don't know which, if any, unit the 2731 Engineer Light Equipment Company was attached to. My father always said that his company worked for General Patch / 7th Army.

I have read somewhere that Engineer Light Equipment Companies were attached to an Army rather that to any particular division. I don't know if this is a fact.

Again thanks,

Sam

It is not the unit you asked for, but maybe this person can be of some help to you:

 

610th Engineer Light Equipment Co Assn

Mr. Hub Spooner

P . O. Box 893

Belle Glade, FL 33430

USA

 

Erwin

Sam,

You are right there, these companies seemd to be primarily attached to Army Corps or Armies.

No problem, I always try and help if even a little.

Erwin

Hey Sam:

First thanks for joining and becoming a part of OUR FAMILY. That's exactly what we are here. No show-offs, no nasties, and if there are any, they get da boot! Just plain simple folk who have a common love and interest, and love to share their knowledge with others.

Secondly, as you've found out, most engineering companies were separate entities and were known in the army as bastard units. They were attached to corps, armies and when needed to individual divisions, etc. This is exactly the situation with the VI Corps engineering units.

Third, I do not have any information regarding this unit at the moment, but that may change. However, I strongly suggest that you follow a few leads that I suggest in my research section.

http://208.109.212.45/forum/index.php?showtopic=23 (all addresses, phone numbers and websites are listed here)

Number One: Get in contact with the Office of History, Army Corps of Engineers. While it cannot be guaranteed, they have folders on most of the engineering units. They had a ton of stuff on my dad's unit, the 540th, so give them a shot. Please tell Mike Broadhead that I sent you. We are good friends, and he was a tremendous help to me.

Number Two: Get in contact with NARA in Maryland. Go there yourself, or hire a private researcher or research student from one of the colleges. NARA will have records from WWII. There was a wealth of info on my dad's unit. I can tell you more if you decide to pursue this route.

Number Three: Contact Richard Horrell at WW2 Connections. He does private research and has an EXTENSIVE library at his disposal. He works on several levels. Check out his website.

Hope that helps to get you off to a good start. Happy to help. Best of luck to you.

Thank you Marion for the leads. I will be getting to work on them soon.

An interesting item among my father's papers is what I think is part of an activation order for his unit. It's about ten pages in length. Each page list officers and enlisted personnel from a fort or base that are being transferred into the 2731 st Engineer Light Equipment Company.

Sam