41st Engineer Regiment.

[colinhotham]

M1 I have come across a reference to this on the other WWII site I'm a member of. I cannot find it in the 'bible' or by putting it into search here. I dont even know if I have the correct wording for this unit. Can you help?

 

Colin.

[Walt's Daughter]

I found a photo of the unit and a brief description on this page. They were a "Negro" unit, who trained at Fort Bragg.

 

http://www.history.army.mil/photos/wwii/ma...s/maneuvers.htm

 

They were actually a battalion.

 

Re: The attached photo - "On parade, the 41st Engineers at Ft. Bragg, NC in color guard ceremony."

 

It's a start. I will see what else I can come up with.

[Walt's Daughter]

An honor guard of African-American troops, from the 41st Engineers and Defense Detachment, under the command of Colonel A. A. Kirchoff, welcoming President Franklin D. Roosevelt at Roberts Field, Liberia, in 1943. President Roosevelt had just arrived in Liberia, after a four hour flight from Bathrust, Gambia.

[Walt's Daughter]

Ah, in fact, Michigan's first black Mayor (Highland Park) Robert Blackwell, was a member of this unit. He died in 2009.

[Walt's Daughter]

SC130020 – First Army Maneuvers in the Carolinas. These nine musicians, and formerly members of leading colored dance orchestras, are now members of the 41st Engineers Regiment, Fort Bragg, N.C., and play with the Regiment dance orchestra. They are L to R : Pfc. Louis W. Carrington, Richmond, Va; Sgt. Rufus Wagner, Atlantic City, N.J., formerly with Blanch Calloway’s orchestra; Pvt. Elmon Simon, Norfolk, Va., formerly with Tiny Bradshaw; Pvt. Teddy Wood, Richmond, Va., formerly with the Roseland Ballroom orchestra of New York City; Cpl. Milton S. Bell, Richmond, Va., formerly with Johnson’s Happy Pals; Sgt. Wilburn Pogue, Washington, D.C., formerly with Duke Ellington and Ethel Waters; and Sgt. Frank Wess, formerly with Blanch Calloway; and in the foreground are (left) Charles L. Anderson of Virginia, formerly with Don Albert; and Pfc. George Wolfe, Atlantic City, N.J., formerly with Ethel Waters. South Carolina. October 20, 1941.

 

Marion's note: This photo states is was a regiment, but I will ask my historian buddy at the Army Corps of Engineers about this, this morning. We will get the straight scoop.

 

SC130020 – First Army Maneuvers in the Carolinas. These nine musicians, and formerly members of leading colored dance orchestras, are now members of the 41st Engineers Regiment, Fort Bragg, N.C., and play with the Regiment dance orchestra. They are L to R : Pfc. Louis W. Carrington, Richmond, Va; Sgt. Rufus Wagner, Atlantic City, N.J., formerly with Blanch Calloway’s orchestra; Pvt. Elmon Simon, Norfolk, Va., formerly with Tiny Bradshaw; Pvt. Teddy Wood, Richmond, Va., formerly with the Roseland Ballroom orchestra of New York City; Cpl. Milton S. Bell, Richmond, Va., formerly with Johnson’s Happy Pals; Sgt. Wilburn Pogue, Washington, D.C., formerly with Duke Ellington and Ethel Waters; and Sgt. Frank Wess, formerly with Blanch Calloway; and in the foreground are (left) Charles L. Anderson of Virginia, formerly with Don Albert; and Pfc. George Wolfe, Atlantic City, N.J., formerly with Ethel Waters. South Carolina. October 20, 1941.

 

[Walt's Daughter]

There was also a 41st Infantry Regiment, which is NOT related. There may be some confusion on the part of people piecing the history together. As we know, this happens frequently...

[SonofaMP]

The "UNIT CITATION AND CAMPAIGN PARTICIPATION CREDIT REGISTER"

lists the 41st Infantry Regiment as part of the 2nd Armored Div. 2nd Armored records will list them as 41st Armored Infantry Reg.

 

no listing for a 41st Batalion, only as a regiment.

 

41st Engineer General Service Regiment;

Remarks -Unit redesignated from 41st Engr Regt 1 August 42

Campaign Credits:

Remarks - (29) Naples - Foggia - Hq & Hq Co and Svc Co.

34 Rhineland

35 Rome - Arno

37 Southern France

[SonofaMP]

There is a 41st Engineer Battalion but they were not in WWII as the 41st. The 126th Engineer Mountain Battalion, an element of the 10th Mountain Division, was inactivated on 21 November 1945.The Battalion was redesignated as the 41st Engineer Battalion and activated on 1 July 1948, at Fort Riley, Kansas with the 10th Infantry Division.

 

Info from: http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/agency/army/41eng.htm

 

"The 41st Engineer Battalion was originally constituted as the 126th Engineer Mountain Battalion and activated on 14 September 1942, at Camp Carson, Colorado. The mission of the 126th was to operate in mountainous terrain constructing tramways, cableways, suspension bridges, and mule trails.

 

The 126th Engineer Mountain Battalion was assigned as an element of the 10th Light Division, later designated the 10th Mountain Division. The Battalion played an active role in the Division's successful offensive in the North Apennines and Po River Valley Campaigns, which broke the Germans seemingly impregnable Gothic line. The 126th Engineer Mountain Battalion was inactivated on 21 November 1945. The Battalion was redesignated as the 41st Engineer Battalion and activated on 1 July 1948, at Fort Riley, Kansas with the 10th Infantry Division. The Battalion was inactivated on 14 June 1958, at Fort Benning, Georgia.

 

On 2 September 1985, the 41st Engineer Battalion was activated at Fort Drum, New York, home of the 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry). The 41st Engineer Battalion "Sappers" provided combat engineer support to the maneuver brigades of the 10th Mountain Division, as well as the Division Support Command, Division Artillery, and the Combat Aviation Brigade."

[colinhotham]

Thank you to both of you for all the information above. It will take a bit of time for me to digest and work out whether in fact it was a US Combat Engineeer organisation that was being referred to. The post was sketchy so it could have been infantry, but it just aroused my curiosity and as always I reached for the 'bible'!

 

Colin.

[Walt's Daughter]

http://news.cornell.edu/stories/2007/11/cornell-collection-documents-world-war-iis-africa-campaign - Liberia