I found the following records on Ancestry.com today. I was already aware of Aubrey Festus Hughes, but found further info on him this morning. Left messages for everyone and asked they get in contact with me.

Many of you may remember him from part one of my documentary, No Bridge Too Far

Aubrey Engineer Combat Company was in North Africa, from Nov 1942 to July of 1943. From July 1943 to September of 1943 they took part in action in Sicily. They moved next to Paestum to take part in the invasion of Italy. During their service in Anzio, Italy the unit experienced heavy bombardment from the German Air Force. Their mission was to clear and maintain the beach as a port of operation for the Allied Forces. In July, the 540th begain support of the 36th Infantry Division for "Operation Anvil", the invasion of Southern France, scheduled for August 15. The day after the invasion, "YELLOW" beach was designated as a supply and unloading beach. Company "F" was assigned to clear and maintain this beach. After successful operation, Company "F" moved to St. Raphael,France to reconstruct the harbor and clear the streets. While working on the street clearance, Company "F" suffered the loss of two enlisted men, one was PFC Aubrey F. Hughes. Two other men later died of their injuries. Twenty seven men were wounded. The casualties were sustained when "Teller-mines", deeply encased in concrete blocks detonated by a bulldozier in removing the blocks.

Walter E. Gardner

Mr. Walter E. Gardner, 90, of Greensboro, went home to be with his Lord and Savior, on Sunday, August 8, 2010.

Funeral services, celebrating his life, will be held 11:00 AM Wednesday, August 11, 2010, at Hanes-Lineberry N. Elm St. Chapel, with Pastor Sandra Myrick, Pastor Shon Barrier, and Pastor Lois Eller officiating. Burial will follow in Lakeview Cemetery.

Born March 16, 1920, in Greensboro, to the late Jesse Boyd Gardner, Sr. and Callie Patterson Gardner, Mr. Gardner was a faithful member of Spirit and Truth International Church, where served as Head Elder. God first, Country, then family, would best describe Walter Gardner. He was a veteran of World War II, serving in the United States Army. Sixty-seven years ago, Pvt. Gardner landed at Safi, French Morocco, with the 2nd Battalion, 540th Combat Engineer Regiment, U.S. Army. For the Safi landing, he was awarded a bronze "assault" arrowhead and the first of seven bronze battle stars. Mr. Gardner's World War II campaign history reads like a modern-day tourist brochure; Algeria-French Morocco, Sicily, Naples-Foggia, Rome-Arno, Southern France, Rhineland and Central Europe. In five of these seven WWII campaigns, his combat engineers were there for D-Day, both numbers being quite remarkable. He was active in the American Legion Post 386. He was an avid reader and a collector. He served as a mail carrier for 50 years with the United States Postal Service. Walter was very much a family man who enjoyed nothing more than spending time with his family. He, along with his buddies met at Bojangles daily for lunch. He was a humble and loyal man who was true to his word. You always knew where Walter was coming from and where he stood. He practiced what he preached and had a passion for all people, and their salvation. He had an unconditional love for his family, a great work ethic, and was a great provider for his family. In addition to his parents, Mr. Gardner was preceded in death by his two sisters and his 3 brothers.

Those left to cherish his memory include his wife, Sybil Neal Gardner, who he loved passionately for 62 years; his children, Sandra Gardner Myrick and her husband Don, Neal Boyd Gardner and his wife Jina, and Candy Gardner Fields and her husband Ron, all of Greensboro; grandchildren, Joy Myrick Blair, Pam Myrick Barrier, Chip Myrick, Michael Fields, and Gabriel Fields; great-grandchildren, Matthew, Victoria, Ashley, William, Zachery, Madison, Jaxson, and Trevor; and a sister-in-law, Blanche M. Gardner of Greensboro.

The family will receive friends from 6 until 8 pm Tuesday evening at the funeral home and other times at the home of his daughter, Sandra's, 3705 W. Friendly Ave. in Greensboro.

Memorial contributions may be made to Spirit and Truth International Church 6011 Landmark Center Blvd., Greensboro, NC 27404.

The family wishes to express their heartfelt gratitude to the wonderful folks at Beacon Place for the care they extended to Walter and the support shown to his family. Also special thanks to the 4500 Palliative Care Unit of Moses Cone.

Paul C. Arnold

 

Death Date: 9 Dec 1944

Cemetery: Epinal American Cemetery

Cemetery Burial Plot: Plot B Row 10 Grave 36

Cemetery City: Epinal

Cemetery Country: France

 

War: World War II

Title: Private

Rank: Private

Service: U.S. Army

Service ID: 35385303

Division: 540th Engineer Regiment

Data Source: World War II Honor Roll

 

Alfred J. Gravelle

 

Death Date: 29 Jan 1944

Cemetery: Florence American Cemetery

Cemetery Burial Plot: Plot B Row 4 Grave 44

Cemetery City: Florence

Cemetery Country: Italy

 

War: World War II

Awards: Purple Heart

Title: Private First Class

Rank: Private First Class

Service: U.S. Army

Service ID: 31078008

Division: 540th Engineer Regiment

Data Source: World War II Honor Roll

 

Cicero Dancy

State Registered: Virginia

 

Death Date: 20 Feb 1919

Cemetery: Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery

Cemetery Burial Plot: Plot C Row 38 Grave 23

Cemetery City: Romagne

Cemetery Country: France

 

War: World War I

Title: Private, U.S. Army

Rank: Private

Service: U.S. Army

Division: 540th Engineer Regiment

Data Source: World War I Honor Roll

Stewart H. Hatch

 

Death Date: 1 Jan 1945

Cemetery: Tablets of The Missing At Epinal American Cemetery

Cemetery Burial Plot: Missing in Action or Buried at Sea

Cemetery City: Epinal

Cemetery Country: France

 

War: World War II

Awards: Purple Heart

Title: Private First Class

Rank: Private First Class

Service: U.S. Army

Service ID: 31301636

Division: 540th Engineer Regiment

Data Source: World War II Honor Roll

 

A note to Enry, notice Alfred is buried in Florence, Italy

It's true, you know something more about this soldier? You know if by chance before being transferred to Florence, he was buried in the US cemetery at Pietramala? I am attaching the old pictures and the comparison with the satellite photo today! The shape is still perfectly recognizable.

All I have is what is showing. I downloaded this from Ancestry.com while looking for 540th members...

Thanks for the before and after photos too.

no problem, as far as I can, sharing it's always a pleasure for me!

Booklets on American Battle Monument Commision Cemeteries

NORTH AFRICA, TUNISIA - na_pict.pdf

SICILY- ROME, ITALY - sr_pict.pdf

FLORENCE, ITALY - fl_pict.pdf

EPINAL, FRANCE - ep_pict.pdf

LORRAINE, FRANCE - lo_pict.pdf

List of men of the 540th Engineer Regiment Buried in AMBC Cemeteries.

Overseas Burials AMBC 540th Eng Reg.pdf

From WWII Unit Database search from The American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) http://www.abmc.gov/search/wwii_unit.php

Search Results for 540 ENGR REGT

32 records found, ARNOLD PAUL C to TRAVIS HIRAM

Name Rank Ser No State Date of Death Plot Row Grave Cem

ARNOLD PAUL C PVT 35385303 OH 9-Dec-44 B 10 36 EP

AVERRETT JACK B PVT 39409400 NV 10-Mar-44 G 4 45 SR

BAHTIARIAN ARDASH TEC5 32224142 NY 24-Nov-44 A 26 57 EP

BAKER JOHN M PVT 16062649 MI 22-Mar-44 I 2 41 SR

BARRY GEORGE D TEC5 32395856 NY 2-Jun-43 H 17 12 NA

BAY CHARLES J TEC5 31097472 MA 31-Dec-44 D 13 15 LO

BUSONICK CHARLES J J SGT 33114832 PA 24-Nov-44 C 14 97 LO

CIUREY CREIGHTON P PFC 37146136 NE 1-Mar-44 E 9 50 SR

DE LEO DOMINIC PFC 31086753 MA 1-Mar-44 C 15 42 SR

DE WALD HERMAN J PFC 35665426 KY 1-Mar-44 D 8 14 SR

FITZWATER RALPH PFC 35427654 WV 1-Mar-44 C 2 2 SR

GRAVELLE ALFRED J PFC 31078008 MA 29-Jan-44 B 4 44 FL

HARRISON CHARLES W PVT 34042444 TN 24-Nov-44 C 21 96 LO

HATCH STEWART H PFC 31301636 MA 1-Jan-45 0 0 EP

HODGES JAMES T PVT 34198513 AL 1-Mar-44 E 9 17 SR

HUFF VINCENT M PVT 36184037 MI 1-Mar-44 H 10 17 SR

JOHNSON ANDY W PFC 39178092 WA 9-Nov-42 H 14 9 NA

KAPETANICH JOHN M SGT 39234205 CA 19-Dec-43 D 15 35 SR

KJEMS HENRY R SGT 39175674 WA 24-Nov-44 0 0 LO

KRIEGEL BERNARD PVT 42017513 NJ 19-Aug-44 B 7 3 RH

LAWSON WILLIAM O PVT 38402141 OK 18-Aug-44 A 1 15 RH

LAZZARO VINCENT J PVT 42102900 NJ 1-Jan-45 C 6 40 LO

LEE CLIFFORD C PFC 35382331 OH 24-Apr-44 I 9 64 SR

LOHBECK CHARLES J PVT 15114305 OH 10-May-44 G 2 45 SR

LOVETT JOHN R JR SSGT 34267994 GA 24-Jan-44 0 0 SR

MCLAUGHLIN CHARLES PFC 13066312 VA 12-Aug-43 E 9 3 SR

MOEN JOHN PVT 37278217 ND 1-Mar-44 C 10 4 SR

NICOL ROBERT B 2LT O1111269 CT 6-Feb-44 F 6 1 SR

PEDERSON THEODORE L PVT 36222407 WI 24-Jan-44 0 0 SR

STECHER ROBERT A PVT 32278321 NJ 15-Aug-44 A 4 14 RH

THOMPSON BERNARD H PVT 37207081 KS 24-Jan-44 0 0 SR

TRAVIS HIRAM PVT 37146110 MO 12-Jul-43 E 8 43 SR

Cemetery Codes

SR = Sicily-Rome, Italy

EP = Epinal, France

NA = North Africa, Tunisa

RH = Rhone, France

LO = Lorraine, France

FL = Florence, Italy ( sorry, i ommitted this code in the .pdf file)

Note: 0 0 in the “Plot” & “Row” columns stands for Tablets of the Missing

Overseas Burials AMBC 540th Eng Reg.pdf

Men of the 36th Engineer Combat Regiment, 36th Engineer Combat Group, And 36th Engineer

Combat Battalion Buried Overseas in American Battle Monument Cemeteries

Overseas Burials, 36th Eng Reg.pdf

Listings for more 6th Corps Engineer Units:

39th Engineer Combat Battalion

Overseas Burials, 39th ENGR COMBAT BN.pdf

1108th Engineer Combat Group,

48th Engineer Combat Battalion

235th Engineer Combat Battalion

337th Engineer Combat Battalion

255th Engineer Combat Battalion

Overseas Burials, 1108th Eng C Grp, 48th, 235,337th,255th.pdf

God bless ya Larry!