292nd Engineer Combat Battalion (New Member)

Gary,

Thanks for the information, I did not have all of that. That is a picture of my uncle, and in fact, that is the ONLY picture I had of him as well. I have yet to get access to my Dads stuff, to see if he has more pictures of Charlie, so I would have to base any opinion of my uncle place in the unit from that exact same picture you posted. I would go so far as to say, the picture you posted is of better quality than the one I have from my Mom.

 

Thanks again my friend, I really appreciate it!!!,

Steve

ps: I have reached out by email to Hampton House to get a copy of the unit picture over a week ago, but have not received a reply yet.

Steve,

 

Glad I could help. This picture was attached to the family tree of a Betty Crawford on Ancestry.com. So, if you know who this is then you may have an avenue of investigation with this family member to see if she has any additional information on your Uncle. As for Hampton House, they did a wonderful job in every aspect of getting a copy of the unit photo except one... I first tried to email for some information and never heard back. I suggest you call and you should then have no problem and will be able to get the ball rolling on getting a copy.

 

As I get a chance, I am going to use the photo that I posted to see if I can locate him in the photo and will give you a heads up if I see someone that I think may be him.

 

See ya, my friend,

 

Gary

Gary L. Gates

Proud Grandson of Randall Gates
Mechanic, A and H&S Companies, 292nd Engineer Combat Battalion, 1149th Engineer Combat Group
Reply

Gary,

Those Longacre photos are the ones I was thinking of. The 1149th Ops Reports tell us what each company was assigned to each day during the Roer Crossings, which bridge or road or whatever. Interesting reading.

Pete

Pete,

 

I figured you'd know about the Longacre shots. Sam Harrison has well over one hundred shots from his father that he uploaded to Flickr. They are different that most of the Longacre shots in that they are mainly snapshots (the Longacre shots are more "professional"). They are different, but valuable in their own right to give you an idea of service through the eyes of the "normal joe". His shots can be viewed at:

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/129969616@N08/

 

I actually found a photo that shows the "motor pool gang" which has my grandfather in it (which is very cool since we have no other photos of him during his time in Europe). He was assigned to A Company through his time at Camp Butner, but was transferred to H&S Company right before deployment. He was subsequently transferred back to A Company sometime in January 1945 "due to a shortage of mechanics" and stayed assigned to that company the rest of his time in the service.

 

Let me get back on track, the more images related the better just to give anyone interested more of an idea of the service of these men from many different points of view. The same goes for information... it is great to be getting a ton of info from the battalion, but also great to get the 1149th documents. Kinda getting info from the other end if you know what I mean.

 

Just a observation... isn't it great that so many folks are taking an interest in the unit and getting involved with honoring these great men?!!! This really is fantastic!!

 

Later, my friend,

 

Gary

Gary L. Gates

Proud Grandson of Randall Gates
Mechanic, A and H&S Companies, 292nd Engineer Combat Battalion, 1149th Engineer Combat Group
Reply

Gary,

Thanks for the information, I did not have all of that. That is a picture of my uncle, and in fact, that is the ONLY picture I had of him as well. I have yet to get access to my Dads stuff, to see if he has more pictures of Charlie, so I would have to base any opinion of my uncle place in the unit from that exact same picture you posted. I would go so far as to say, the picture you posted is of better quality than the one I have from my Mom.

 

Thanks again my friend, I really appreciate it!!!,

Steve

ps: I have reached out by email to Hampton House to get a copy of the unit picture over a week ago, but have not received a reply yet.

Steve,

 

One further thing... here are the census records for your Dad and Uncles and their family for 1930 and 1940 (this year is split between two pages).

 

Enjoy, my friend,

 

Gary

post-2431-0-10324600-1466485411_thumb.jpg

post-2431-0-68748100-1466485428_thumb.jpg

post-2431-0-53710800-1466485448_thumb.jpg



Attached Files
.jpg   Census1930CrawfordCharles.jpg (Size: 292.33 KB / Downloads: 0)
.jpg   Census1940CrawfordCharlesPg1.jpg (Size: 309.16 KB / Downloads: 0)
.jpg   Census1940CrawfordCharlesPg2.jpg (Size: 304.5 KB / Downloads: 0)
Gary L. Gates

Proud Grandson of Randall Gates
Mechanic, A and H&S Companies, 292nd Engineer Combat Battalion, 1149th Engineer Combat Group
Reply

Gary,

Thanks for the information, I did not have all of that. That is a picture of my uncle, and in fact, that is the ONLY picture I had of him as well. I have yet to get access to my Dads stuff, to see if he has more pictures of Charlie, so I would have to base any opinion of my uncle place in the unit from that exact same picture you posted. I would go so far as to say, the picture you posted is of better quality than the one I have from my Mom.

 

Thanks again my friend, I really appreciate it!!!,

Steve

ps: I have reached out by email to Hampton House to get a copy of the unit picture over a week ago, but have not received a reply yet.

OK,

 

This is the last one for tonight. :) Any chance this fella is your Uncle, Steve? Does anyone else have an opinion?

 

Later,

 

Gary

post-2431-0-08683400-1466486965_thumb.jpg

post-2431-0-65887000-1466487009_thumb.jpg



Attached Files
.jpg   Possibility1.jpg (Size: 97.96 KB / Downloads: 0)
.jpg   19440000_CrawfordCharlesW.jpg (Size: 210.18 KB / Downloads: 0)
Gary L. Gates

Proud Grandson of Randall Gates
Mechanic, A and H&S Companies, 292nd Engineer Combat Battalion, 1149th Engineer Combat Group
Reply

Pete,

 

I figured you'd know about the Longacre shots. Sam Harrison has well over one hundred shots from his father that he uploaded to Flickr. They are different that most of the Longacre shots in that they are mainly snapshots (the Longacre shots are more "professional"). They are different, but valuable in their own right to give you an idea of service through the eyes of the "normal joe". His shots can be viewed at:

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/129969616@N08/

 

I actually found a photo that shows the "motor pool gang" which has my grandfather in it (which is very cool since we have no other photos of him during his time in Europe). He was assigned to A Company through his time at Camp Butner, but was transferred to H&S Company right before deployment. He was subsequently transferred back to A Company sometime in January 1945 "due to a shortage of mechanics" and stayed assigned to that company the rest of his time in the service.

 

 

All of my pictures on Flickr are already hi-res scans and can be downloaded at their full size from the site. I actually scanned the front and the writing on the back of each picture and made it one *.tif file, with two images inside. Those Tiff files are pretty big. If anybody wants those "original" full quality scans with front and back, I can gladly send them to you. I think in total they're around 2GB or 3GB. Easily fit on a flash drive in the mail. I've got a video interview with my grandpa from 2013-2014 before he passed. I haven't been able to edit it yet, but I'm hoping to tackle that soon. Hopefully that can add to the history mystery too.

 

-SaM

Reply

OK,

 

This is the last one for tonight. :) Any chance this fella is your Uncle, Steve? Does anyone else have an opinion?

 

Later,

 

Gary

Gary,

Betty Crawford from Ancestry is my Mom!! :) I wish I could blow up that unit picture as much as you can!! From my limited look, I kinda thought that the man behind Haughton looked like my uncle. However, I cant get that picture to blow up enough to look closely. When I get a copy of the unit picture, I will look at it closer with my Mom. Apparently my Uncle at this time, looked just like my Dad.

 

Thanks for all the information and effort, I do appreciate it!!

 

Steve

Reply

 

All of my pictures on Flickr are already hi-res scans and can be downloaded at their full size from the site. I actually scanned the front and the writing on the back of each picture and made it one *.tif file, with two images inside. Those Tiff files are pretty big. If anybody wants those "original" full quality scans with front and back, I can gladly send them to you. I think in total they're around 2GB or 3GB. Easily fit on a flash drive in the mail. I've got a video interview with my grandpa from 2013-2014 before he passed. I haven't been able to edit it yet, but I'm hoping to tackle that soon. Hopefully that can add to the history mystery too.

 

-SaM

Sam,

 

Count me in when it comes to getting the tif files. I'll message you with mailing info and please don't hesitate to let me know the cost and I'll drop payment in the mail. Need to keep this as low maintenance as possible for you since you already did the work of scanning them and keep your costs down. I did remember that you had mentioned you had done some video interviews with your grandfather. What a treasure as most of us either did not have the foresight or opportunity for similar endeavors with our relatives. I'm sure there is still some pain from your grandfather passing away earlier this year so there is truly no pressure from any of us when it comes to the videos. Be assured they will be a welcome addition and will be respected and appreciated by all, but clearly you need to do your thing with them on your own timetable and we all respect that. They will definitely be one of the cornerstones of your grandfather's legacy of service to family and country.

 

Thanks for this opportunity, my friend. I'll message you momentarily.

 

Gary

Gary L. Gates

Proud Grandson of Randall Gates
Mechanic, A and H&S Companies, 292nd Engineer Combat Battalion, 1149th Engineer Combat Group
Reply

Gary,

Betty Crawford from Ancestry is my Mom!! :) I wish I could blow up that unit picture as much as you can!! From my limited look, I kinda thought that the man behind Haughton looked like my uncle. However, I cant get that picture to blow up enough to look closely. When I get a copy of the unit picture, I will look at it closer with my Mom. Apparently my Uncle at this time, looked just like my Dad.

 

Thanks for all the information and effort, I do appreciate it!!

 

Steve

Steve,

 

I can send you the blown a version of that portion. Give me a few moments.

 

Gary

Gary L. Gates

Proud Grandson of Randall Gates
Mechanic, A and H&S Companies, 292nd Engineer Combat Battalion, 1149th Engineer Combat Group
Reply

Gary,

Betty Crawford from Ancestry is my Mom!! :) I wish I could blow up that unit picture as much as you can!! From my limited look, I kinda thought that the man behind Haughton looked like my uncle. However, I cant get that picture to blow up enough to look closely. When I get a copy of the unit picture, I will look at it closer with my Mom. Apparently my Uncle at this time, looked just like my Dad.

 

Thanks for all the information and effort, I do appreciate it!!

 

Steve

Steve,

 

Here's the guy your spoke of. Any chance this is your Uncle?

 

Later, my friend,

 

Gary

post-2431-0-82901800-1466563469_thumb.jpg

post-2431-0-59463300-1466563482_thumb.jpg



Attached Files
.jpg   Possibility2.jpg (Size: 99.58 KB / Downloads: 0)
.jpg   19440000_CrawfordCharlesW.jpg (Size: 210.18 KB / Downloads: 0)
Gary L. Gates

Proud Grandson of Randall Gates
Mechanic, A and H&S Companies, 292nd Engineer Combat Battalion, 1149th Engineer Combat Group
Reply

Gary,

Betty Crawford from Ancestry is my Mom!! :) I wish I could blow up that unit picture as much as you can!! From my limited look, I kinda thought that the man behind Haughton looked like my uncle. However, I cant get that picture to blow up enough to look closely. When I get a copy of the unit picture, I will look at it closer with my Mom. Apparently my Uncle at this time, looked just like my Dad.

 

Thanks for all the information and effort, I do appreciate it!!

 

Steve

Incidentally,

 

Tell your Mom "Hi" for me and to keep up the good work! :)

 

Later,

 

Gary

Gary L. Gates

Proud Grandson of Randall Gates
Mechanic, A and H&S Companies, 292nd Engineer Combat Battalion, 1149th Engineer Combat Group
Reply


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