Received this email from Peggy. Below that I will list my findings as I discover more info.

My father-in-law was in the Army 527th Pontoons and was an engineer. I have photos of some of his experiences in the war. He was Atu, Alaska, North Africa, Battle of the Bulge, Italy, France. He told of General Patton riding up in a jeep and growling for them to hurry up and finish a bridge. Before the war he was a logger so he was trained to make lumber which they used to make bridges that they blew up after they were crossed.

 

Do you know how I can find more information on the actions of the 527th during WWII?

 

Peggy ONeill

Here is an excerpt from a book found at OSU's online books - page 327 from The Ardennes: Battle of the Bulge

...defending Bastogne, which by this time were cut off from the rest of the corps. The outposts of the corps at Recogne (held by the 7th Tank Destroyer Group) and at Vaux-lez-Rosieres (defended by a scratch force from the 28th Division, reinforced by the 527th Engineer Light Pontoon Company) thus far had escaped the attention of an enemy moving west, not southwest. General Middleton was concerned about his open left flank and as his engineers came back ordered a barrier line formed along the Semois River. On the VIII Corps right, in the area south of Bastogne, reinforcements from the Third Army were concentrating under the command of the III Corps. The VIII Corps tactical air command post, which had been moved to Florenville on the 21st, continued to receive rumors and half-true reports of German forces turning southwest against its front, but it was fairly clear that the main threat was past.

To meet the German forces scouting and probing along the corps sector General Middleton organized a counter-reconnaissance screen. Behind this were collected stragglers and strays, many of whom had crossed the French border and got as far as Sedan. What was left of the corps artillery, mainly the 402d Field Artillery Group, assembled for tactical control and re-equipment. Other field artillery battalions, as well as tank destroyer battalions, engineer regiments, and the like, were arriving to reinforce the corps and help make good its losses. New infantry formations were on the way to restore the striking power of the corps and the Third Army commander already was planning the employmenton the offensive-of a revitalized VIII Corps.

There remained one more battle to be fought by the residue of General Cota's command, gathered around the outpost position at Vaux-lezRosieres on the Bastogne-Neufchateau road. During the night of 21 December some two hundred survivors of the 110th Infantry fight at Wiltz reached the 28th Division command post. Those who could be provided with clothes and weapons were put back into the line. Cota had in addition the engineer light pontoon company, retained as riflemen over the protests of the corps engineer, a few howitzers sited as single pieces around the village perimeter, and a platoon of self-propelled 76-mm. tank destroyers from the 602d Tank Destroyer Battalion, which had just come up from the Third Army. While the stragglers were being organized, about 0800 on the 22d, German shells commenced to burst over the perimeter. Enemy riflemen opened fire and an incautious light tank poked its nose into range of an American tank destroyer, which destroyed it. One prisoner was taken before this first flurry ended, a rifleman from the 5th Parachute Division.

The 5th Parachute Division, it will be recalled, had the mission of extending westward the cordon which the Seventh Army was to erect to forestall American counterattack against the south flank of the Fifth Panzer Army. The terminus of this extension was intended as the line Sibret-Vaux-lez-Rosieres-Martelange, at which point the 5th Parachute Division would go over to the defense. Colonel Heilmann's troops had taken Martelange, the eastern anchor for this projected line, late on the 21st while small detachments reconnoitered to the west; it was one of...

World War II Bridge Test Site

Obit of Millard William Becraft

Obit of Albert Jules Allpress

See excerpt from this book - see entry regarding Elsey

Here's a document from our website on the units in the Battle of the Bulge

This clip from a 1952 newspaper talks about their first reunion

Here's an excerpt from the page below. Click on the link to read the whole thing in context.

http://thedonovan.com/archives/005010.html

With the withdrawal of the 35th Engineer Combat Battalion the VIII Corps no longer had elements directly in the path of the main German drive, always excepting, of course, the troops defending Bastogne, which by this time were cut off from the rest of the corps. The outposts of the corps at Recogne (held by the 7th Tank Destroyer Group) and at Vaux-lez-Rosières (defended by a scratch force from the 28th Division, reinforced by the 527th Engineer Light Pontoon Company) thus far had escaped the attention of an enemy moving west, not southwest. General Middleton was concerned about his open left flank and as his engineers came back ordered a barrier line formed along the Semois River. On the VIII Corps right, in the area south of Bastogne, reinforcements from the Third Army were concentrating under the command of the III Corps. The VIII Corps tactical air command post, which had been moved to Florenville on the 21st, continued to receive rumors and half-true reports of German forces turning southwest against its front, but it was fairly clear that the main threat was past.

The Bulge Bugle (newsletter from 1987) - They give reference to a reunion for your dad's unit, later in the newsletter.

The Bulge Bugle (1988) - same thing here

I understand that a Peggy in March 2014 requested info on the 527th. My grandfather was in this unit and fought at Vaux Les Rosieres in belgium during the bulge. I have after action reports and photos and lots of info on this unit. Put her in touch w me.

 

About 15 years ago the men of the 527th stopped having reunions but i kept in touch with a few. Most are gone now.

 

Robert A Garcia

 

Will do Robert. I will send her a PM today and give her your email address.

I've attached a couple of accounts from the Battle of the Bulge and Rhine Crossing that I found online. I also attached my father's account of the war that he wrote in 1998 for his grandsons.

Mark Pendergast

Son of O.W. "Bud" Pendergast.

3rdArmyRhineCrossing.pdf

George Kester - Give me the Jeep!.pdf

My Father was at Rosieres.pdf

527LPC_as_told_by_Bud_Pendergast.pdf

Thanks for posting that wonderful info. I will have to take more time to go through it all. 

I would love to have the after action reports and info on the 527 lpc mentioned by Robert Garcia.  Let me know how to find them. 

Thank you.

Mark Pendergast

Let me see if I can reach her. If not, you will have to contact NARA. Hold on....

You would have to contact NARA in Maryland. They have unit reports including after-action reports. You can find the contact information in the RESEARCH section of this forum. Happy hunting!  :pdt34:

Well I sent an email... time will tell. I'll keep you posted.