81st Combat Engineers

[jtruck]

Hello,

 

Maybe someone on this site can help me out. I am trying to find information on my grandfather Glenn Warner...service id 36478524, company c, 81st engineer battallion. I believe this was part of the 106th infantry div.

 

I know he was at the battle of the bulge. He mentioned it to me when I was little. From the information i've read the 81st was apparently at the battle of St. Vith. Apparently the engineers were called to help defend St. Vith. Many of them were killed or captured. Didn't know if anyone had any information on this or not.

 

Thanks for your help.

 

Jesse

 

ps. my mother has a great picture of the entire battalion posing in panoramic view. I'll see if I can't get a copy uploaded to share.

[Walt's Daughter]

Hello Jesse! Let me be the first to wish you all the success with your search. As most of us know, it can be a sometimes difficult and frustrating venture, but a most rewarding one when things begin to fall into place.

 

I hope we will be able to find some answers for you, but be sure to check out the research section with advice on how and where to get started.

[jtruck]

Thanks Marion! great site you have here.

 

Here is some info I found. Looks like he enlisted in 43 at the age of 20. Any idea what a film reel number would be?????

 

 

By the way, we are from Moline IL.

 

.

Field Title Value Meaning

ARMY SERIAL NUMBER 36478524 36478524

NAME WARNER#GLENN#W########## WARNER#GLENN#W##########

RESIDENCE: STATE 61 ILLINOIS

RESIDENCE: COUNTY 161 ROCK ISLAND

PLACE OF ENLISTMENT 6167 PEORIA ILLINOIS

DATE OF ENLISTMENT DAY 24 24

DATE OF ENLISTMENT MONTH 03 03

DATE OF ENLISTMENT YEAR 43 43

GRADE: ALPHA DESIGNATION PVT# Private

GRADE: CODE 8 Private

BRANCH: ALPHA DESIGNATION NO# No branch assignment

BRANCH: CODE 42 Undefined Code

FIELD USE AS DESIRED # #

TERM OF ENLISTMENT 5 Enlistment for the duration of the War or other emergency, plus six months, subject to the discretion of the President or otherwise according to law

LONGEVITY ### ###

SOURCE OF ARMY PERSONNEL 0 Civil Life

NATIVITY 75 MISSOURI

YEAR OF BIRTH 23 23

RACE AND CITIZENSHIP 1 White, citizen

EDUCATION 0 Grammar school

CIVILIAN OCCUPATION 316 Farm hands, general farms

MARITAL STATUS 6 Single, without dependents

COMPONENT OF THE ARMY 7 Selectees (Enlisted Men)

CARD NUMBER # #

BOX NUMBER 1088 1088

FILM REEL NUMBER 5.150 5.150

 

 

Hello Jesse! Let me be the first to wish you all the success with your search. As most of us know, it can be a sometimes difficult and frustrating venture, but a most rewarding one when things begin to fall into place.

 

I hope we will be able to find some answers for you, but be sure to check out the research section with advice on how and where to get started.

[Jeeper704]

Hello,

 

I got a friend who is doing research regarding the 106th Division.

He might have more information for you.

 

Merry Christmas,

Erwin

[carl1944]

Hi Jesse,

 

my friend Erwin told me about your post here. My main point of interest is the 106th Div. so I'll see if I can help you out with info.

 

C-Company of the 81st Combat Engineer Battalion was stationed in and around the town of Heckhalenfeld on December 16th, 1944.

This was in the 424th Infantry Regiment sector of the Schnee Eifel, the most southern part defended by the 106th Infantry Division.

 

On the second day of fighting, 81/C moved northwest, towards Elcherath. There they bivouaced for the night as the town was deserted.

Although they didn't know it at the time, they were the only unit of the 106th that was not surrounded. On the 18th, a artillery barrage bombed the town and the Germans were prepared to advance north from Winterspelt towards Steinebruck on the St Vith road. MG fire was heard in the north and the Engineers knew where to go (Rendesvous at Bracht) . They moved west and entered the deserted town of Hemmeres. In this village, 81/C fond vehicles of 424/SV that were abandoned. Service Company had pulled out the day before and was forced to leave it's vehicles behind. 1st Lieutenant Maier, at the time the acting Company Commander, decided that they should save the trucks. This was offcourse very practical as they didn't have to walk the two miles to Bracht then. While enemy fire was falling nearby, the Engineers of C-Company tried to ford the stream with three of the trucks. The first two got bogged down in the mud, but the third one got through!

The truck that made it had a winch and cable so the smart engineers pulled out the two other trucks and by 8:30 AM they had all reached it to Bracht. They proudly returned the trucks back to 424/SV.

 

If you need more info you can always contact the 106th Infantry Division Association. http://ice.mm.com/user/jpk/

Mail John Kline and ask him a list of your dad's former buddies that are attched to the Association. Then you might be able to contact them.

Or maybe John might add your request in the next Cub (the quarterly magazine).

What you can also do is send a Form-180 request to NARA to obtain your dad's full military record.

 

I hope I could have been of help. A Merry Christmas and the best of luck with your search in the New Year 2008.

 

Carl Wouters

 

www.the106thinfantrydivision.be.tt

[jtruck]

Thanks Carl this information is very helpful!

 

Sorry its been a year since i've been back on. In the process we've had a little boy so my days have been a little hectic. But, I'm going to fire up the research again and send out notes to Mr. Kline of the 106th.

 

My grandfather was a mechanic thoughout his working days. I'm sure he helped get those trucks up and running to get them back to the 424. Neat story.

 

My goal is to put something together for the rest of my family that shows where he was and what he faced during the war.

 

Does anyone know of any pictures from the 81st? My mother has a really cool panoramic picture of the 81st engineers during the war. When I go home for christmas I'll try to get that digitialized and sent out.

 

Happy holidays everyone

 

and thanks marion for putting that video together! Great site you have here.

 

Jesse

 

 

 

 

 

Hi Jesse,

 

my friend Erwin told me about your post here. My main point of interest is the 106th Div. so I'll see if I can help you out with info.

 

C-Company of the 81st Combat Engineer Battalion was stationed in and around the town of Heckhalenfeld on December 16th, 1944.

This was in the 424th Infantry Regiment sector of the Schnee Eifel, the most southern part defended by the 106th Infantry Division.

 

On the second day of fighting, 81/C moved northwest, towards Elcherath. There they bivouaced for the night as the town was deserted.

Although they didn't know it at the time, they were the only unit of the 106th that was not surrounded. On the 18th, a artillery barrage bombed the town and the Germans were prepared to advance north from Winterspelt towards Steinebruck on the St Vith road. MG fire was heard in the north and the Engineers knew where to go (Rendesvous at Bracht) . They moved west and entered the deserted town of Hemmeres. In this village, 81/C fond vehicles of 424/SV that were abandoned. Service Company had pulled out the day before and was forced to leave it's vehicles behind. 1st Lieutenant Maier, at the time the acting Company Commander, decided that they should save the trucks. This was offcourse very practical as they didn't have to walk the two miles to Bracht then. While enemy fire was falling nearby, the Engineers of C-Company tried to ford the stream with three of the trucks. The first two got bogged down in the mud, but the third one got through!

The truck that made it had a winch and cable so the smart engineers pulled out the two other trucks and by 8:30 AM they had all reached it to Bracht. They proudly returned the trucks back to 424/SV.

 

If you need more info you can always contact the 106th Infantry Division Association. http://ice.mm.com/user/jpk/

Mail John Kline and ask him a list of your dad's former buddies that are attched to the Association. Then you might be able to contact them.

Or maybe John might add your request in the next Cub (the quarterly magazine).

What you can also do is send a Form-180 request to NARA to obtain your dad's full military record.

 

I hope I could have been of help. A Merry Christmas and the best of luck with your search in the New Year 2008.

 

Carl Wouters

 

www.the106thinfantrydivision.be.tt

[Walt's Daughter]

Dear Jesse:

 

So nice to hear from you once again and congratulations on your new arrival.

 

I have another link for you. It's a PDF article, which includes a photo!

 

http://www.hq.usace.army.mil/history/PIR-90-MAR.pdf

 

-----------------------------

 

December 17, 1944

 

Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Riggs, 81st Engineer Combat Battalion, received orders from the l06th Infantry Division to establish a line east of St. Vith and hold off the Germans. He rounded up all available men of the 81st and 168th Engineer Combat Battalions and managed to hold off the Germans until 21 December when they broke up into small groups and attempted to make their way back to St. Vith. Colonel Riggs was captured, but he escaped in Poland and fought with the Russians until he returned to his unit in April 1945.

 

----------------------------

 

Here is a very good page. It's long, and very informative. There is a mention of the 81st - See December 17, 1944

 

Battle for St Vith

 

Merry Christmas and thanks for your very kind words!

 

 

Evidently the link directly above is no longer viable. I went back to the site and typed St Vith in their search engine, and it took me to this page. There are several entries if you scroll through!

 

http://www.eucmh.com/?s=st+vith&x=13&y=7

[Walt's Daughter]

This page shows the 81st being attached to the 1142 Combat Engineers for a time...

 

http://www.1142combatengineers.com/documents.htm