974th Ordnance Evacuation Company,WWII, ETO

[Irishmaam]

My uncle, T-5 HAROLD E.HAMITER ,served with 974th Ordnance Evacuation Company from pre June 6, 1944 invasion at Normandy until the end of Dec 1945 . The unit was under 1st Army And participated in following campaigns :

Normandy,N.France, Ardennes, Rhineland, Central Europe, Germany .

 

He is now deceased and I would like to be able to trace his unit's progress during this period .

but cannot find out to which commands the unit was assigned .I feel sure it was an armored command but am unable to confirm .

 

Is anyone familiar with this unit or possibly the armored command to which it was attached ?

 

I was a 12 year old boy during this time and wrote to him frequently but he never wrote to me about where he was at the time . When he returned home, he never talked about his wartime experiences .

 

ColBill

[SonofaMP]

Hi Bill, The 974th Ordnance Evacuation Company (some lists show it as a battlion) was a VII Corps unit.

I`ll send some more info i`m finding later when i get home tonight.

[ColBill]

Larry,

Thanks for your help . I look forward to hearing from you further . Your having given me the VI Corps is a good lead but additional info regarding the units to which 974th was assigned will be most helpful .All I had was a copy of his equivalent to form DD214 .

 

Bill

[SonofaMP]

Here`s what i found so far Bill.

The Ordnance Evacuation Companies were designed to transport tanks forward to the combat zone and to evacuate unserviceable tanks from the combat zone to repair shops.

They were also used to haul ammunition and clear disabled vehicles from supply roads.

 

The 974th might have been under the 224th Ordnance Base Group for the Normandy landings.

By the end of July there were three new group headquarters-the 51st, 71st, and 72d. The 51st relieved the 224th. I`ll try and verify this info as soon as i can.

 

Here`s a .pdf file about the organization and Requirement for Ordnance Recovery Company"

 

http://www-cgsc.army.mil/carl/eto/eto-096.pdf

 

More reading here:

 

Normandy - The Technical Services: Ordnance

 

it includes this paragraph:

The crews of the forward collecting companies, known as the "Diesel Boys" from their diesel-powered M-19 tank transporters, operated close to the front, often under fire, employing road patrols with wreckers to clear broken-down tanks and vehicles from main routes of advance under severe enemy bombardment. Ernie Pyle, who accompanied crewmen from the 974th Evacuation Company (Collecting) when they retrieved a German tank on the Carentan front one night in July, was impressed by their bravery and skill. He also noted their ability to make themselves comfortable back in the bivouac area, in tents strung out along the hedgerows. One driver even had a feather bed that he had got from a French family. "The average soldier couldn't carry a feather bed around with him, " commented Ernie, "but the driver of an M-19 could carry ten thousand feather beds and never know the difference."

 

VII Corps Armored Units

 

3d Armored Group

 

6th Armored Group

 

9th Armored Group

 

10th Armored Group

 

70th Tank Battalion

 

705th Tank Battalion

 

709th Tank Battalion

 

737th Tank Battalion

 

738th Tank Battalion

 

740th Tank Battalion

 

741st Tank Battalion

 

743d Tank Battalion

 

744th Tank Battalion (Light)

 

745th Tank Battalion

 

746th Tank Battalion

 

750th Tank Battalion

 

759th Tank Battalion (Light)

 

771st Tank Battalion

 

774th Tank Battalion

 

777th Tank Battalion

 

786th Tank Battalion

[ColBill]

Larry,

Thanks for this additional information . It gives me good info for further search .I am sure my Uncle was assigned under an armored command as I remember he went to tech school at Flint ,Mich before going overseas .This was probably at a GM training site for tanks and tank engines .From the info you have furnished and what I can find, he was probably assigned to a VII Corps unit, subordinate to the 3rd Armored Div.

 

He went into the army on 16 Feb43 and was discharged on 18 Dec45 .After his basic and Tech training, he went directly to Scotland and England before landing on Utah beach on or shortly after DDAY. He was never able to come home from the date of his enlistment until he was discharged .This,of course,was not unusual at this time in the war.It is certainly not as long as some of the men who went into N.Africa,Sicily,Italy and Germany and did not come home for more than 3 years .

 

Thanks again, you have been a great help .The links were especially helpful.

Bill

[ColBill]

Larry,

 

In your link above to NormandY-the Technical :Ordnance, it goes to a chapter in the Military History site . On page 257 of the chapter is footnote 28 .If you click on the footnote it gives a reference : (1)History 974th Ordnance Evacuation Company .

 

Do you know where I can find this history? I have searched the History site www.history.army.mil/ and am unable to find it .Also in this chapter there are many references to a report by Col. slaughter which concerns these same subjects .

 

I would appreciate any tips you can give me .

 

Bill

[Walt's Daughter]

Bill:

 

You very best bet is to contact NARA in College Park Maryland. They have records on WWII units, and you can write a letter or call them, requesting information. They will do a search, then contact you and inform you, what they found. Many times they are willing to copy material, and will let you know in their reply.

 

Their information is located in my Research section. Let me know if you need any other advice.

 

Pasted their website here for your convenience:

 

http://www.archives.gov/dc-metro/college-park/index.html

[ColBill]

Marion,

 

Thanks for the tip. I'll give it a try .Larry has been most helpful and I have learned

quite a bit from his posts. This is a relatively obscure unit and was apparently attached to different commands but remained in VII Corps for the entire period after Normandy .

 

Bill

[Walt's Daughter]

You are welcome. Can't wait to hear what you find out.