World War II's Army Eng Fire Fighting Platoons

[SonofaMP]

Well, i found 1 location for the 1222EFFP in the U.S. Forces Paris Telephone Directory dated 5 April 1945.

They were stationed on Linas (street name?), Montmarte, Paris. which is the old art district in north paris.

 

 

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montmartre

 

The unit Lineage is from the 15th Engineer Company

http://www.history.army.mil/html/forcestruc/lineages/branches/eng/0015enco.htm

 

15th Engineer Company Lineage

Constituted 5 May 1943 in the Army of the United States as the 1222d Engineer Fire Fighting Platoon

Activated 15 July 1943 at Camp Claiborne, Louisiana

Inactivated 8 May 1946 in France

Activated 30 June 1946 in Japan

Redesignated 30 June 1947 as the 538th Engineer Fire Fighting Platoon

Reorganized and redesignated 5 December 1947 as the 538th Engineer Fire Fighting Company

Redesignated 31 December 1947 as the 15th Engineer Fire Fighting Company

Inactivated 15 September 1948 in Japan

Campaign Participation Credit: World War II: Northern France

[SonofaMP]

There was a huge engineer depot in Gennevilliers, northwest Paris known as E 508A & E 508B. It was located in the present day Port of Paris. This would have been an installation covered by the Fire Fighting Platoons and sections would definitly would be stationed there. It doesnt look to far from where the 1222d was stationed in Montmartre so they problably have been called to go there.

 

[SonofaMP]

I found a couple mentions of the platoon in the records of the Southern Base Section in England. The first mention is the platoon being added to the troop list dated 17 February 1944. The APO given for them is 582, which was Tilshead, England. the X4 probably denotes a district within the base section.

The 2nd mention is a similar addition to the troop list dtd 29 February 1944 ( probaly a move ), APO given is 511, which was Tauton , Eng.

From another website the platoon was stationed at Wrangaton, Eng as of 31 March 1944, and as of 30 June 1944.

They were at Martock, Eng. as of 31 August 1944.

So it seems to me they followed the path of movement of the Seine Section ( APO 887 ) from England to Paris in Sept. 1944.

( Eng. > Valongnes > Paris )

 

[chefjuke]

Larry,

 

This makes sense. Among my Dad's WWII-era letters were some postcards that I was able to track down to the Wrangaton area. I am collating all of the addresses of the French nationals who wrote him after he returned home to see if there is a predominance of folks from a particular area in Paris....which might help in narrowing down where he was....along with all of the other great info folks have been finding.

 

Hoping to speak with Jim Davis by phone sometime in the next week if we can get our schedules aligned.

 

Thanks again..

 

-Patrice

[RetiredFXCOFF]

Aloha Jim,

I am a retired firefighter from Fairfax County, VA. After my retirement I deployed to Iraq for a year and served as a civilian Fire Lieutenant on two US Army Installations. I have always had an interest in military history and have traveled to Normandy France, and Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. I am interested in conducting research about the Engineer Aviation Firefighting Platoons (EAFFP) deployed in England and the European Theater of Operations (ETO). My main goal is to write a series of articles or a book about the EAFFPs. I do not think this subject has been adequately covered and as a member previously posted, if not for service members such as yourself, this history would end up forgotten in the black hole of time. I would like to divide the book into two sections. The first would focus on the EAFFPs at airfields in England who responded to crashes and heroically rescued pilots and crew. The second section would look at the forward deployed AEFFPs in the ETO. What I am looking for are any official records, about training, apparatus, operational reports, incident reports, casualty reports, diaries, and any other useful information. If you could point me in the right directions I would be most appreciative. Thank you for your service. Dennis Donehoo

[Walt's Daughter]

I know I replied to this in another one of your posts, but I contacted Jim and he is supposed to call you.

[chefjuke]

Marion,

 

I thought I had noted that I had a wonderful talk with Jim and he was EXTREMELY helpful! I am continuing my research and he has put me onto some great places to look and ways of approaching finding out more about my Dad's service.

 

Thanks much!

 

-Patrice

[Walt's Daughter]

Fantastic. Yes, you probably put it in the other post and I hadn't read that one yet. I will go look now...

[RetiredFXCOFF]

Marion, Thank you so much for Jim's contact information. We had a long talk a few days ago, and he is without a doubt the authority on Engineer Fire Fighting Platoons. v/r Dennis