Gilsdorf Bridge, April 1945 and Christmas, 1944
#9

Well I looked into my grandfather's notebooks (one is more engineering oriented and the other is normal day-to-day army life) to try to date the Gilsdorf Bridge definitively. The engineering notebook, from which the Gilsdorf entry is taken, has dates with years in the begining - Dec 5 through Dec 22, 1943. Then there are about 3 blank pages followed by an entry dated 24 February. I am led to assume that this is 1945 (he didn't use it for more than a year?) due to the fact that the dates go through 3 May (Heillbronn Bridge) and then goes into his trip home. The journal of his trip home (July 14 - August 6) is interesting and have those scanned for future entries.

 

The entries that flank the Gillsdorf Bridge are the Heilbronn Bridge on 22 April (which as I mentioned before is discussed again in May) and Gailsdorf Bridge on 30 April.

 

I wish I had an engineering background so I could make sense of some of these entries, but alas it's not to be. Looking through the other journal does lead me to believe, however, that there are a lot of similarities between the normal day-to-day then as there is now. I only wish I were as organized as he was! The other journal (from which the Christmas entry is taken) begins June 5, 1944 and goes through April 3, 1945.

Maj Todd O. USMC, Retired
Grandson of LTC John O'Brien
Reply


Messages In This Thread
Gilsdorf Bridge, April 1945 and Christmas, 1944 - by CaptO - 04-17-2008, 01:06 PM
Gilsdorf Bridge, April 1945 and Christmas, 1944 - by CaptO - 04-20-2008, 11:29 PM

Possibly Related Threads…
Thread Author Replies Views Last Post
  Eruption of Vesuvius - 1944 CaptO 3 9,945 01-22-2012, 02:01 PM
Last Post: Walt's Daughter
  The Bridge in the Sky. colinhotham 1 5,234 10-21-2011, 02:06 PM
Last Post: Walt's Daughter
  VI Corps Operations 19 December 1944 armored infantry 2 5,911 12-24-2010, 12:24 PM
Last Post: Jeeper704
  Fall of Rome - 5 June 1944 Walt's Daughter 4 8,752 06-06-2009, 08:11 PM
Last Post: roque_riojas
  25 May 1944 - Anzio beachhead linkup Walt's Daughter 1 5,008 05-25-2009, 10:00 AM
Last Post: roque_riojas
  1 March 1944 CaptO 6 9,588 03-28-2008, 09:01 PM
Last Post: twobisquit
  Charmes Bridge over the Moselle CaptO 25 31,990 03-28-2008, 05:24 PM
Last Post: Gerome
  Anniversary of Anzio - Jan 22, 1944 Walt's Daughter 5 8,106 01-23-2008, 03:09 PM
Last Post: 206thmpco
  This Day in History - Italy March 12, 1944 Walt's Daughter 3 7,221 05-25-2007, 05:19 PM
Last Post: Walt's Daughter
  april 1, 1945 Walt's Daughter 0 2,836 02-25-2007, 12:34 PM
Last Post: Walt's Daughter



Users browsing this thread: 4 Guest(s)