Here's what Larry had to say in a PM to me this morning...
Here`s a couple possiblities for starters; according to the website of the 4th Naval Beach Battalion which landed with the 36thID some of the engineer units there were your 540th Combat Engineers, the 531st. Engineer Shore Regiment and units of the 36th. Infantry Division. (which if i remember correctly was 155th engineers attached to 36th?)
As reported on the website concerning 540th:
4th Beach Battalion's Co. A-1 Hospital Corpsman Francis A. Boland relates an interesting personal experience at Salerno. We landed on Red Beach during the Salerno Italy Invasion shortly after H-Hour, Sept. 9, 1943 with the second, third or fourth wave and had been working on the beachhead five or six days.
The 540th Combat Engineers had landed along with us and we helped them with their assignment to set up equipment so that big trucks and tanks could cross the beach sand and reach the roads.
They brought in bulldozers and other equipment and a material like summerfelt matting (rolls similar to chicken wire entwined with strips of burlap and wider that a wide truck) which they would unroll for trucks and tanks to travel over so that they would not bog down in the sand.
Marion's note: The 111th Engineers was the organic unit of the 36th Infantry Division. Other engineer units were attached to the 36th Inf Div in the ETO, including the 540th and 36th Engineers. The 40th and the 344th were also attached to the 36th too.
Salerno was the BAPTISM for the 36th Inf Div.
