1058th pc&r or port construction and repair group

[Curlock]

Hi: My dad served with the 1058th PC&R Group also. I am new to this site and so excited to find someone else who's father served with mine. My dad's name is Walter Curlock, he is from Oklahoma but inlisted in San Francisco, CA. He passed away in 1991 but I have a few stories, as well as, some pictures of dad with buddies. I also have a few letters that buddies referred to him as 'Rusty'. He went in at Omaha Beach, he said it was D-Day, but I have not been able to confirm. I only know he was attached to 1st Army, but I don't know what other regiment the 1058th was attached to. Maybe you can help me with that. He was a Tech4 Welder Combination. He was injured at Remagen on Ludendorff Bridge, but survived. After being put back on the line, he went back to the 1058th until points caught up with him somewhere in the Philippines in 1945 and he was shipped home and discharged. I can try and answer some of your questions, although I have many myself!

[Walt's Daughter]

Gee, when you wrote to me, I had forgotten about this topic. This is SOOOO cool! No wonder you are excited.

 

Welcome to the forum!!!!

[parker]

<!--sizeo:4--><span style="font-size:14pt;line-height:100%"><!--/sizeo-->Gee, when you wrote to me, I had forgotten about this topic. This is SOOOO cool! No wonder you are excited.

 

Welcome to the forum!!!!<!--sizec--></span><!--/sizec-->

 

Donald,

 

I have been absent from the forum for quite a while and only today saw your entry. Through my research, I finally discovered that the 1058th PC&R was in overall charge of the bridge repairs at Remagen. My Uncle T-5 George Chandler Company A 341st Engineer (GS) Regiment was attached to some outfit working on the bridge when it fell. He was killed when this happened and I have not been able to nail down just when he was attached or to whom.

 

I am in the process of hiring a researcher to help with my problem and just wanted to say hi. If I can be of any help please ask. Marion and this site has always been great.

 

Parker

[Curlock]

Hello, my name is donald rhyne my dad Virgil rhyne was with this group 1058th ENGRS PC&R group in ww2.Was in england assembling the mullberrries as a welder pre-dday.then to omaha beach d+? in operation cobra.over to grainville france to repair this port,also cherborgh later.Later Shipped to the hurtagen forest operation.Had trenchfoot either at hurtegen battles or battle of the bulge?shipped home before his group was decimated at the remagen bridge collapse,6 of his group lost.Trying to find a guy named lightfoot?Any help is appricated.donald rhyne columbia,illinois

 

My father was in the 1058th also. His name was Walter N. Curlock. He was from Oklahoma. I am also trying to gather information on their experiences while in European Theatre. He went down on the Remagen Bridge while welding. Dad lost a really good friend, last name Johnson, from Turlock California when the bridge collapsed. I don't recall Dad mentioning a friend named 'lightfoot',My dad's nickname was apparently 'Rusty', which I found out from some old letters from his buddies while he was recovering from the collapse. I will try and find the letters and see if 'lightfoot' is mentioned in any of them. It is a good possibility they new each other.

[Curlock]

Donald,

 

I have been absent from the forum for quite a while and only today saw your entry. Through my research, I finally discovered that the 1058th PC&R was in overall charge of the bridge repairs at Remagen. My Uncle T-5 George Chandler Company A 341st Engineer (GS) Regiment was attached to some outfit working on the bridge when it fell. He was killed when this happened and I have not been able to nail down just when he was attached or to whom.

 

I am in the process of hiring a researcher to help with my problem and just wanted to say hi. If I can be of any help please ask. Marion and this site has always been great.

 

Parker

 

My dad, Walter N. Curlock 1058th went down while welding on the Remagen Bridge. He was injured, but survived only to have back problems the rest of his life. I have pictures of the bridge right after the collapse if you are interested. I would really be interested in what your researcher finds out for you.My father said his friends died because while they were welding they were chained to the bridge to keep them from falling (he guessed)When the bridge collapsed the men died because they couldn't away from the steel structures they were attached to. He said he was one of the lucky ones and pulled himself loose after his girder hit the bottom of the river.

[Walt's Daughter]

This is what the forum is all about; putting people together who have common threads. I am delighted you are able to get to know each other and to discover more information through this exchange. Your father's would be proud.

[whbrauck]

Just today came across this forum. Donald you asked about a person named Lightfoot with the 1058th.

 

I was with the 1058th from late 1944 when the group was being assembled in Porthcawl, Wales until it was disbanded in the Phillipines in late 1946. I have a listing of home addresses of the group, which is not dated, but must be over 65 years old by now. Probably some 300 names on the list.

 

I do remember a Sgt. Lightfoot; William V. Lightfoot, address: Gen. Delivery, Sewanee, Tenn. Your father, Virgil A Rhyne, is on the list living at 6924 Plymouth, University City, MO. Also mentioned in this forum and on the list was Walter M. P. Curlock, living at 303 North Broadway, Sayre, Oklahoma. I do not specifically remember these two.

 

Memorable events were the days while camped just south of London while the unit was engaged in the construction of concrete docks to be floated over to France and enduring the almost daily "Buzz Bomb" and V2 Missile attacks; then to Granville, France clearing debris and installation of new cranes; The train journey from Cherbourg to Remochamps on the infamous "40 and 8's"; The Remagen Bridge and it's tragic collapse and loss of men; Neuweid, and the construction of the Captain Arthur Francis Gullo Memorial Bridge in memory of the engineering officer killed in the collapse of the Ludendorff Bridge; the German surrender and the long voyage from Marsielle, France via the Panama Canal to Luzon, Phillipines. Japan's surrender and the return from Manila to San Francisco in late December 1945,

 

Walt

[Walt's Daughter]

Dear Walt:

 

How very wonderful to have you as a member. Always a pleasure and an honor to have another WWII veteran, especially an engineer, join our ranks. Kind of partial to the name WALT, for that was my father's name.

 

We look forward to talking with you. Thank you for sharing some memories with us. Can't imagine seeing that bridge collapse. Brings chills to the bones.

 

Warmly,

Marion

[CaptO]

Sir, it is good to have you aboard! Were you ever in Subic Bay? I am in the Marines and we just did an exercise there in October. I doubt there is any place in the Philippines (or any place in the Pacific for that matter) that would be recognizable, however.

 

My pictures are here:

<https://picasaweb.google.com/104745627018165888181/PHIBLEX?noredirect=1#>

[Curlock]

Walt: Thank you for responding to our inquiries. I also have a list of the names and addresses of the 1058th my Dad left me. My Dad's name is Walter N.P. Curlock. He passed away in Dec 1991 (age 71) in Las Vegas, NV. He had lived there since 1962. I found out through some old letters the guys called him 'Rusty'. A few of his buddies were Sgt. Carl J. Campbell from South Carolina; Robert Sherrow from Indiana; Charles O. Gaston from Missouri; Ray Gillihan from Texas; Herbert Johnson from California; Henry Albertson from Kansas, to name a few I know of. I appreciated very much your story of the history of the 1058th, where they started out from and some of the places along the way. I have tried to find out some of the information you wrote about but have 'hit' alot of dead ends. Apparently, all of the records of the 1058th were distroyed in a fire many years ago. I would appreciate any more information you can give me such as your participation in The Battle of the Bulge and if you were in Hurtgen Forrest, etc.

Thank you so much for sharing your story with us.

Saundra