1259th Engineers

[rmoore]

my dad is 92 and served with 1259th Combat Engr Bn, 18th airborne corp, flying dragons in Marseilles and Oise Intermediate Sector , eto hdqts us army, camp lucky strike near LeHavre and Rouen and Paris. Pattons 3r army cleared out zone around lucky strike which was surrounded by v-1 rocket launchers that rained on London.

 

dad moved from camp pickett to naval amphibious base ft. pierce fl to ft jackson sc to camp miles standish ny just outside nyc and sailed by statue of liberty for england in large convoy that included a ship of russian nurses headed back to eto. departure was top secret as dads unit did not know destination was pacific or eto until 3 days out to sea. 2 navy destroyers met convoy off continental shelf to escort convoy to eto. 2 destroyers constantly circled convoy during 12 days to england to protect vs uboats. dad said approaching england on channel side his ship hit many mines. dads unit left england for lehavre landing. dad headed to lucky strike.

[Walt's Daughter]

Hello and welcome. Let's see what we can find on this unit.

 

NOTE: I moved your post to it's own topic, for you originally replied under the the topic - Type of Engineer units

 

[Walt's Daughter]

Oh, at big hello to your dad from all of us. We really APPRECIATE our engineers!

[Walt's Daughter]

Here's an article about a member of that unit receiving a French medal.

 

http://www.thejournal-news.net/news/local_news/former-resident-receives-french-medal/article_29e860b0-70d8-11e2-8b51-001a4bcf887a.html

 

Here's a page from a book which lists a member of the unit

 

 

I often lists obits, for sometimes some one will recognize a name - There are so many, I have not listed them all here...

 

http://www.shipnc.com/obituaries/article_3f7e780c-c0c2-11e3-a633-0019bb2963f4.html

 

http://apps.westpointaog.org/Memorials/Article/13976/

 

http://www.meaningfulfunerals.net/fh/obituaries/obituary.cfm?o_id=1509043&fh_id=11750

 

 

Looks like you can contact the Library of Congress and get a DVD copy of Robert L Carter's memoirs.

 

http://lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/vhp/bib/69042

 

 

Here's a post from a page. Someone is looking for buddies who served with your dad's unit

 

Looking for old army mates: Served in 93rd Coast Artillery in 1942 in Honolulu. Served in 1259th Combat Engineers WWII 1945 in France. Roy E. Falls e-mail: rscmf@cyberramp.net Plano, Texas, USA

 

 

Here's an interesting article/auction on a gun owned by a member of the unit.

 

http://www.gunauction.com/search/displayitem.cfm?itemnum=12450398

 

 

Saw this entry on a guestbook which stated: It was dated Feb 11, 2014 - Here's the page

 

I, Roy Falls, will be in Washington D.C. at the Veterans Memorial on May 6th. In case any of my old buddies see this message, please take note: I had friends in the following units: 93rd Coast Artillery, 78th Infantry Division and the 1259th Combat Engineers ... as well as pre-flight school in 1944 at the University of Vermont. ~ Roy Falls

[Walt's Daughter]

Can your dad furnish us with some facts/stories about his experiences during the war? Does he have any souvenirs, artifacts, pictures, etc.?

[Walt's Daughter]

Tried to look up the unit patch in the American Society of Military Insignia Collection and nothing turned up. Sorry.

 

Surprisingly, many engineer units didn't have an official distinctive unit insignia (DUI) patch during the war. Several units made their own unofficial patches. Not uncommon.