I have been trying to research my fathers unit the 1251st Battalion Combat Engineers for several months now with almost no info. It has been very frustrating to say the least, but about two weeks ago, I posted on a bunch of WWII web sites. After several days, I figured that there was going to be no answer, until Friday AM. A very wonderful person pulled the records at the National Archives and sent me a two paragraph description on the different armies....yes armies they were in. Evidently they were sent wherever they were needed. Kinda like a decent utility infielder being traded from team to team. He never was part of the sixth, but spent time in the 15th,1st,9th, a second time with the 15th and then the 12th corp....They received credit for the Central Europe and Rhineland Campaign.
Heres where my confusion comes in....One of the few places that I could find a listing for the 1251st was on a monument in St Louis listing them at the Battle of the Bulge. One of my uncles said that my father talked about being terrified at the Battle of the Bulge, and yet, he did not reach France until Dec 31st of 44. So, I'm still really confused...How the heck were they in the Ardennes long enough to be listed on a monument....
Darlene, let me end your confusion. The Battle of the Bulge (Ardennes/Alsace Campaign) actually ran from December 16, 1944 until January 18, 1945, (some give dates until the following week). As with many you are probably just thinking of the beginning of the Bulge in Belgium. If you could look on a map of the Bulge, you will see how extensive it was and would find out the extent of the almost 6 week battle.
Marion J Chard
Proud Daughter of Walter (Monday) Poniedzialek
540th Engineer Combat Regiment, 2833rd Bn, H&S Co, 4th Platoon
There's "No Bridge Too Far"
He could have been in a unit that closed The Bulge in January.
The bloodiest fightings took place in that month as Mr. A wanted to (1) destroy the Bastogne corridor by sending remnants of SS Panzer units like the 1st SS Panzer towards the area and (2) hold as much terrain as possible to pin down the US units there so he could launch other offensives (Alsace).
Every area lost in December was recaptured with heavy fightings and heavy losses on both sides as well.
And the weather went from worse to severe in that month.
Non-organic units shifted from one place to the other were they were needed.
A lot of these units were used as infantry units as well during The Bulge.
It also could be that he was a replacement joining the unit in January?
Thanks Marion, That map was very helpful. I have ordered "Bitter Woods" at your suggestion. I am really a rookie at WWII. (Now the US Civil War is a whole other kettle of fish)
Erwin. According to what the nice person sent me, the was initially assigned to the 15th Army on 1/8/45 and then assigned to the 1st Army on 2/15 |(The month and day of my birthday!!) and then to the 9th on 2/26 and thenon 4/1 back to the 15th assigned to 12th Corp. They arrived in France New Years day of 45.
The other thing that puzzles me on the little blurb he sent is the use of numbers as a place reference.- M|V505-217 and S141396.
I have lots of research to do now that I have the basic info....
I found some other facts you might be interested in:
From mid-January 1945 until March the Fifteenth U.S. Army was charged with rehabilitating, re-equipping and training various units of the 12th Army Group that had suffered heavy losses during the Ardennes campaign. It processed all new units which arrived at northern European ports through the staging areas until their 12th Army Group assignment.General Eisenhower inserted the Fifteenth Army (under U.S. 12th Army Group) to hold the Ruhr Pocket along the Rhine. Ninth United States Army and First United States Army were to pressure the German defenders from the north, east, and south. 18 days later First and Ninth met at Paderborn, with Fifteenth holding the western side of the encirclement.
On March 15, 1945 Fifteenth Army assumed command of the forces that were bottling up the German forces left behind in the French Atlantic ports. Fifteenth Army also turned east and assumed a defensive position (using XXII Corps) on the west bank of the Rhine from Bonn to Hamburg.
Fifteenth Army never entered the main line of battle. However, its formations did see some action, when it contained and then reduced the enormous Ruhr Pocket from the west during April 1945 in conjunction with elements of Ninth Army. This resulted in the capture of 325,000 German prisoners. Fifteenth Army would take over occupation duties in the region as Ninth Army and First Army pushed farther into Germany.
In April 1945 the Fifteenth Army crossed the Rhine, 2-3 weeks behind the other Allied Field Armies. It took over responsibility for the Hesse, Saarland, Pfalz, and Rhine provinces, where it processed many German POW's and Displaced Persons.
I found some other facts you might be interested in:
Erwin
This is amazing stuff. I can now start doing a time line to better help me understand where he was. He told us very few stories, but he did talk about the DP's (displaced persons) and how he enjoyed talking to the Poles. My father was fluent in Polish. He didnt encounter a lot of them, but it kinda reminded him of being home where they spoke Polish.
My father and I had a difficult relationship. Come to think of it, he had many difficult relationships in his lifetime. Part of my reason for doing this research is to understand why he was like he was, and also to focus on the really good things he did in his life. Now that we have The History Channel, History international and the Military Channel I often wonder what other stories he would have told had we been watching these shows.
My favorite story took place in the early 70's. My father had to go to Germany on a business trip. I asked him if he saw anything familiar. He remarked that it looked sooooo different with buildings standing whole and roads unclogged. He did go through a town where they placed a bridge over the river, and the cab driver, being a little older knew where the crossing had been and took my father there. He went down to the river and stood for several minutes. I asked him what that felt like and his comment was. It was nice to see it with "noone taking potshots at you".
