Marion & National Archive Records

[Walt's Daughter]

Well you always run into one of them...

 

I did hear from NARA the very next morning (that made me a bit suspicious already) and the guy said this,

 

"There are no company level records for the 540th Engineer Combat Regiment/Group. What INFORMATION are you seeking-- be specific and provide details."

 

Well I thought I had given him enough info, but I wrote back and...

 

"Hmmm. That has me concerned because the 540th Combat Engineers were one of the longest active engineer units during WWII. I was even able to obtain certain records from the Army Corps of Engineers.

 

Well, what more can I tell you? Let's see...

 

They started out as the 540th Combat Engineer Regiment. They consisted of two battalions, 1st and 2nd and a Headquarters and Service Company. Later in the war (approximately Jan of 1945) they became 540th Engineer Combat Group and the 1st Battalion became the 2832nd and the 2nd Battalion became the 2833rd, which my dad was part of.

 

The unit was a "bastard" unit and not a permanent part of any division, but mostly functioned as a independent unit, but attached to various divisions, etc. on a need-as basis. They were part of the 5th Army, 7th Army and also part of VI Corps.

 

They began their tour of duty in North Africa in 1942 and then went onto Sicily, Italy (Salerno, Naples, Anzio, Rome/Arno) then onto the invasion of Southern France, up through France, took part in the Ardennes/Alsace Campaign and then into Germany and remained there until fall of 1945.

 

The unit covered much of the same ground as their fellow VI Corps regiment, the 36th Combat Engineers.

 

I am looking for after-action reports, morning reports, etc. Actually anything I can get my hands on for the research for my website and the book I will be writing.

 

Specifically my dad was 540th Combat Engineer Regiment/Group, 2833rd Battalion, H & S Company, Fourth Platoon.

 

If there are no records in Maryland, do you have any other suggestions on where to look? I hope you are able to find something, because many of my friends have found info on fellow engineer regiments such as the 48th, 85th etc.

 

Thanks and let me know if you need any more assistance from me. I am more than happy to help."

 

So I get a reply back the very next day saying this,

 

"Few Engineer Combat Battalions have extant records at company level. Moreover, what records that do exist document unit organization and operations, not activities of individual service members. You still have not indicated the sort of INFORMATION you are seeking."

 

Well golly, what the heck more could I tell him?? So I wrote back to my buddy Bill who is helping me with this and said HELP! He wrote back and said it sounded like I was getting the run around for some reason and gave me the name of the gentleman at College Park who helped him. So I sat down two days ago and snail-mailed a letter to him.

 

I don't know, it just didn't seem right that the National Archives wouldn't have ANY INFO on the 540th!? My husband said, well how hard did this guy look? Sounded that way to me too. Could be wrong but... If they have history on other engineer units from that era, I'm sure there are records on my dad's unit too.