Hello

My Father was also in the 1264th Combat Engineer Battalion. He also went through Fort Hood Tx. his name is William Edward Wells.

 

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He was originally in the Army Specialist Corp which sent 200 men to the University of Dayton to study engineering for the rebuilding of Europe after the war. Once things escalated he was transferred into the 1264th. He was wounded in the Rhineland campaign and spent 14 months in the hospital.

 

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If you want any info from the book I would be happy to get it for anyone. I would love to hear more about your dad.

Hello - Wow, that must have been a very traumatic war experience for your Dad. I'm sorry to hear he was injured. I'm glad he made it home. My Dad Ken Zino was also Army Specialist Corp before being pulled out in March 1944 to join the 1264th ECB Company B. He had been sent to Purdue University to study engineering. He was in his third 12 week term at the time the U.S. Army pulled them all out. Ken was Class of 1942 St. Augustine's High School in Brooklyn and I remember he mentioned the testing by the U.S. Army when he was drafted. I don't know how they determined who got sent to what university? Ken had a 2nd cousin who was drafted by the U.S. Army from the same place on Long Island, also in 1942, tested and assigned to the ASTP, but his cousin was sent to the University of North Dakota for engineering studies. From what I have read the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was also relying on interviews to get men who had experience in construction, heavy equipment or who were mechanically inclined. PS: I'm attaching a photo I am fond of from my Dad's Army Specialist Corp days, when he arrived in the summer of 1943 to Purdue. I added a label for the "sliderule" in his left hand because I wasn't so sure his grandchildren and great-grandchildren would know what a sliderule was (or how to use one)!! -barbara

Thanks for these interesting posts. Always love seeing images of these guys during the war. This will make so many people happy.

It's been years since I last visited this forum. I recently found it again while researching the 1264th ECB for a history paper at school.

Yes, I returned to college after being laid off from my job due to the company moving overseas. I mean, 55 isn't too old to graduate with a degree, is it?

Anyway, I have been doing a LOT of research into the 1264th for this paper - I even found the notes from my meetings with Rex Pierce from 7 years ago. Sadly, he passed away a couple of years ago.

I haven't yet turned in the final copy of this paper, but I have been asked permission for the college to retain an electronic copy of this paper as a resource. If you happen to spot any mistakes, PLEASE let me know ASAP.

The sources are listed at the end - with the vast majority of the information was found via personal interviews or from the unit history itself. I tried to include as much information as possible - I even called the National Weather Service to obtain the weather information for Brownwood, Texas (Camp Bowie was located just south of Brownwood), on April 1, 1944.

Enjoy...I hope this is informative for you. Do not copy without permission, please.

Nice to have you back again. I will check out the doc when I get a chance. Looking forward to reading it. And no, you are never too old to graduate. Happy for ya! 

Had a chance to read it this morning. Nicely done. Wouldn't change a thing.

Sam,

I enjoyed reading your Bastard Battalion story. Weston-Super-Mare is not far from my home in Wiltshire, UK and is a famous seaside resort these days as it was before WW2. I was interested to know of it's connection to the Bailey Bridge training. Thank you for posting.

Colin. 

Some posts refer to the rank of SP 5.  This rank did not come about to the late 1950's or early 1960's.  In WWII the equivelant rank was T 5 for technical Sgt.  As far as the question concerning the 1264th member wearing the 100th ID Patch, non divisional Eng Battalions like the 1264th were frequently attached to infantry Divisions.  Otherwise they wore the Army patch i.e. 1st Army or 7th Army.  My Dad had the 7th Army patch on his Ike jacket.  The 1264th arrived in the. ETO at the tail end of the battle of the bulge.  Many of the truck drivers were assigned to haul supplies forward similar to the red ball express.  After the supply crisis ended the drivers returned to their duties per my Dad. Their primary mission was improving the road net in the Eiffel.  They did assist in building bridges across the Rhine.  The Hoges bridge was the major construction project.  While building the Rhine crossings they were subject to German attacks with V1 buz bombs fired from Holland and the new German jet and a very large railroad gun. The Battalion was on the list to go to the pacific until the war ended.

I agree, they did not use that designation in WWII and yes many units were bastard units and were not part of any division, as stated elsewhere on our forum :-), however, I am not sure what you are referring to for I looked through the posts and even performed a search within this post and can't find any references to SP 5 or SP5. Thanks!

Sam used the rank SP 5.

Yes, I just saw the one instance.

On 10/15/2009 at 12:36 PM, Proud Son said:

Hello

My Father was also in the 1264th Combat Engineer Battalion. He also went through Fort Hood Tx. his name is William Edward Wells. We are so fortunate that he is still with us and in great health, despite what the Germans did to him. He will be 87 on Dec 7th of this year. He was originally in the Army Specialist Corp which sent 200 men to the University of Dayton to study engineering for the rebuilding of Europe after the war. Once things escalated he was transferred into the 1264th. He was wounded in the Rhineland campaign and spent 14 months in the hospital. He was out before the bridge at Remagen. He does not speak of it at all with the exception of an occasional funny story. He still has nightmares but is the best example of a good man I have ever known. I'm sure the same thing can be said for your Father. Those men were cut from a better cloth. Our Father's served together and might have known each other. If you would like I will ask him. I also bought a book that was written by men in that unit and was printed in Germany in 1945. I found it in an antique bookstore in FLA. I read the forward and cried. They said " We are not writing this for us because we would like to forget what we saw here." We are writing to the future children of these men who will inevetibly ask, Pop what did you do in the big war?" They went on to say that" ..."And he will never speak of it." They wrote that book to me and you. I gave it to my Dad and the only thing he said is." Whoever said time heals all wounds never saw this stuff, cause some just don't heal. If you want any info from the book I would be happy to get it for anyone. I would love to hear more about your dad.

Hi, I am very interested in the book you mention. Would you be willing to sell or send a copy of it? My dad was a T Sargent in the 1264th and I have very little information besides a few remembered stories. Trying to identify his path through Europe and maybe match a couple photos we have. 

On 7/13/2017 at 9:26 PM, Sam said:

It's been years since I last visited this forum. I recently found it again while researching the 1264th ECB for a history paper at school.

Yes, I returned to college after being laid off from my job due to the company moving overseas. I mean, 55 isn't too old to graduate with a degree, is it?

Anyway, I have been doing a LOT of research into the 1264th for this paper - I even found the notes from my meetings with Rex Pierce from 7 years ago. Sadly, he passed away a couple of years ago.

I haven't yet turned in the final copy of this paper, but I have been asked permission for the college to retain an electronic copy of this paper as a resource. If you happen to spot any mistakes, PLEASE let me know ASAP.

The sources are listed at the end - with the vast majority of the information was found via personal interviews or from the unit history itself. I tried to include as much information as possible - I even called the National Weather Service to obtain the weather information for Brownwood, Texas (Camp Bowie was located just south of Brownwood), on April 1, 1944.

Enjoy...I hope this is informative for you. Do not copy without permission, please.

 

Does a copy of the mentioned report exist somewhere? Would love to get a copy of it. 

On 7/14/2017 at 7:21 AM, Walt's Daughter said:

Had a chance to read it this morning. Nicely done. Wouldn't change a thing.

Any way to get a copy? 

I have eight people in my 1264th email list. I will put you in contact with them. Don't know how many addresses are still viable, but it's worth a shot. 

Thank you. Much appreciated.