30th Inf Div - MP's

[Walt's Daughter]

Mary Ann, thought you would enjoy reading this since it pertains to MP's during the war...

 

http://30thinfantry.org/unit_history_30MP.shtml

 

[206thmpco]

thanks M1! great to see the quotes from other MPs. Poor guys may not have been "popular" especially with AWOLs etc, but they did an important job & most of em did it very well.

 

I know my Dad's outfit got a Meritorious Unit Award for what they did at Anzio. Standing at a crossroad post, out in the open, must've been scary - but they had to keep traffic & men moving in all that Italian mud. My father's letters from France in '44 tell how bad the weather & road conditions were - from snow, snow, snow & bitter cold to mountains of slippery mud - you wonder how anybody was able to get anywhere (but they did).

 

As far as being an MP, my father would say that when you were in the Army - you did whatever the Army told you to do. If they said you were an MP - that's what you were.

If they said you were on Kitchen Patrol - then you were cleaning pots & pans & peeling potatoes sometimes for as long as 16 hours, getting up at 4am. If the Army made you get up at dawn & prepare for a 25 mile hike with a full pack in the cold rain - you did it, even if the men ended up sittin' around for hours waiting to go. My Dad would say tell us that you never knew where you were going or what was going to happen to you in the Army.

Interestingly, in addition to Dad's brass MP insignia, I also found brass signal corps

insignia. I think he may've been briefly assigned to the Signal Corps at the beginning

of 1942. He mentions going to "school" over at the 104th Infantry's bldg & this might explain his electrical wiring mania & telephone wire tinkering in later life.

 

My father kept a "diary" in '42 (mostly noting the girls he was dating. Ha!) and in it throughout the year were these mysterious notations: "Hannon gone, Hannon back, Sent out after Hannon, Hannon's gone again, Found Hannon at the Statler Hotel, Guard Hannon etc". And so it went - finally ending with: "Hannon court martialed".

I wonder who he was & what became of him.

 

m2

[Walt's Daughter]

Well your post inspired me and I do believe we have a new "buzz-phrase" now, "Where is Hannon?" Okay, so anytime we are in frantic search of some item, or anytime we are beside ourselves with the question du jour, we will frankly inquire, "Where is Hannon?" That will say it all. Gotta love it babe! It will be our equivalent of, "Where's Waldo?"

[SonofaMP]

Here is a good article on MPs formed as Zone of the Interior units at the begining of the war

 

Army MP and homeland defense in World War II

[Walt's Daughter]

Thanks Larry. Didn't mean to leave you out of the loop! Should have addressed the post to the both of ya.

[Walt's Daughter]

The first nondivisional Army MP unit formed during the national crisis (before the attack on Pearl Harbor) was the 702d Battalion. This unit was activated on 5 January 1941 at Fort Brady just outside of Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. Its primary duty was to provide security for the Sault Ste. Marie Canals.

 

Wow, didn't know that; right here in Michigan. YEAH!

[206thmpco]

thanks for that interesting and informative article Larry!

I never knew that there were MP units formed & designated "zone of the interior units".

 

When my Dad was at Camp Edwards on Cape Cod - he got lots of guard duty at the Sagamore & Bourne bridges. They were "new" bridges then.

 

My favorite has always been the vertical lift railroad bridge which was just recently

restored. I remember driving with my Dad & seeing that bridge & knowing we were

close to the beach.

 

Way to go US Army Corps of Engineers!!!!

 

 

Here's the link to the USACE Cap Cod Canal website:

 

http://www.nae.usace.army.mil/recreati/ccc...analbridges.htm

[206thmpco]

And check out the WWII coastal fortification photos!

 

http://www.nae.usace.army.mil/recreati/ccc.../ww2coastal.htm

[Walt's Daughter]

I'll second that!

 

Way to go US Army Corps of Engineers!!!!

[SonofaMP]

M1, i never feel outta the loop here, i`m just a little slow in catchin up with the posts being on the road so much.

i`ve done a lot of reasearch on MP units & have a ton of links about MPs. I`m still waiting for dad`s records from St Louis to confirm the parent unit of his escort guard det, was the 504th. i should be receiving records for uncle John in a week or two, his records were damaged in the 1973 fire but they are sending copies of what they have.

So far i`ve identified at least 4 MP units with arrowheads for the Invasion of Southern France, the 206th MP Co & 504th MP Co (6Corps), 204thMP Co. & 759th MP Bat (7th Army).

Later on 23 Sept the 73rd MP Co landed at Marsielles for duty with the 7th Army.

MP research is difficult because there was never a complete historical record made of the MP Corps. For example there is almost no documentation on Maryann`s father`s 206th Co on the web. I would have loved to gone here to get the scoop:

 

I was going to put this photo link in the Anzio motorcycle post, but i guess here will do, theres a few hundred photos including 3 pages of MP motorcycles.

 

WWII Military Police Photos