Hi..

Have you tried the National Archives for regimental unit records that would include Co. B?  Sometimes you can find BN records too..so you would want 1st BN.  You can also inquire if the Records Center in St. Louis might have Company Morning Reports that would show the flow of men into and out of the Company.

As far as living members are concerned,  the search is more difficult and hit and miss.  If you have any WWII era addresses, you can begin by checking with local postmasters at those addresses.   I suspect you have already tried any historical associations.   Have you tried putting a notice in the American Legion, DAV or VFW magazines?  

If you want additional information about Company B men, many States offer discharge records at a small price.  These records are either held in the county of WWII residence OR by a State Archive in the State of WWII residence.

Not sure any of this helps, but hope that it does.  I tried most of these steps searching for members of my father's unit...but this was starting in the 1970's.  And I have followed the same practice using merchant marine records in my search for crews and passengers on board a particular freighter during the war.

theron

Oh btw, the 291st was NOT part of any division. The unit was referred to as a "bastard" unit, just like my father's engineering regiment. What it means is that they were independent and were free to float or used where needed. They were under the jurisdiction of a Corps or Army. Sometimes these units were attached to divisions/regiments, etc., but these were always temporary assignments. 

There is a lot of info on the 291st on our site and you can find more by typing "291st" into the main site's search engine and the forum's  search engine. There are also two great books, First Across the Rhine and Engineering the Victory by Col David Pergrin. 

Best place to obtain Co B records is from NARA in Maryland. Please see their website for further information. 

🙂

I misread the post.  I thought it said infantry, not engineers.

There is quite a bit of material, including a book written by the wife of one of the men.  There are also references to it in the US Army's History of the Ardennes

BUT...as you noted, the best place to go is NARA..and also morning reports for each Company if they still exist in St, Louis.

Yes, morning reports in St Louis and unit reports in Maryland. There is no lack of material on this unit! One of the most famous engineer bns from WWII. 

happy thanksgiving yall.

 been busy on my care boxes an cards for my   soldiers.. christmas is such a real busy time as a team member of soldiers angels

yes i have my dad's va file an it has the 75th div connected to the said company.. i guess the Goverment & army got it wrong according to what yall are telling me ...Interesting

and have been tryin to find as to why he recieved a purple heart I know many men also got the bronze star which he did also..l have all his service medals... as a daughter

i know he was in the battle of the aredennes  battle of the bulge..& the colomar packet

i always appreciate further info  on this unit & the men in it.. 

kind regards.

kitty

theron

yes that is listed in there as well combat infantry...

 not sure as to why..

kitty

Yes i been thru several of what you have mention  the ron..

im taking time off as a truck driver i hadnt much time to  search here last few years,

 i even found a 1/2 sister born in scotland  & we were friends for a while lol she was born in 47 over there as i could figure out when he was in the field hospitals of england  he & her  mother got together & was friends with her until her passin several years back...

so its been an interesting road.. i started this  when i didnt even have a computer all pen & page lol & help from a good  nam vet counsuler friend of mine..

He may have journeyed home with the 75th Inf Div. Not all men sailed home with their stated units. 

In fact, this happened a lot.  'high point' men were often transferred out of their original units to a  unit on the way back to the States in order to be sent home.

A number of high point men in the unit I studied had this happen.  At discharge, the men were asked specific information that found its way onto discharge papers, including unit designation.  So, it seems that  some of the men I studied used the most recent unit while most of the men used the unit in which they served the most time.  For my father, he used the 978th because he was sent home directly from that unit.

this  a little sense as i have read as well div 75th didnt exsist at  that time in ww2 so im thinkin wht??

can yall recommend  reading as to have a 'start place'?  i know bill carr my dad started at ft lost in woods mo Then i believe  ft brecnkinridge was that last in the states when he shipped out Im research   the 291st Co B An Who they were 'attached' to 

thats where i seem to have the most trouble as Sooo many Units i lose track

as it is now i  dont have a true starting point.

thank yall

kitty

Hi.

First, the 291st, if I remember correctly, was  a 'Corps Engineer outfit.  Keep in mind that there were echelons (levels)in the Military. Each Army  was made up of Corps AND support units like quartermaster, engineer, anti-aircraft, Ordnance and artillery units.  Each Corps controlled infantry and armored divisions AND support units just as in the Army.  Each division included a similar mix of support units as well as three infantry regiments.....

An Engineer BN was attached to and considered part of each infantry division;   Engineer (combat) groups  were part of the Corps support units.  So each echelon had engineer BN's.   The 291st was part of the 1111th Engineer Combat Group, attached to VI Corps.  The 1111th Engineer (C) GROUP  controlled several engineer BN.s and sometimes a maintenance company, bridge, truck and light equipment companies.    So, there could be cases that an engineer BN from a Corps Engineer GROUP might be assigned directly to a Division for some temporary time period.

TO ILLUSTRATE:  my Dad's outfit, the 978th Engineer Maintenance Company was a Ninth US Army unit, attached to the 1104th Engineer Combat Group that was part of the XIXth Corps on the Ninth Army (at that time).  As part of the Group, it provided direct support to several infantry Divisions as well as many other support units.  During its service the XIXth Corps included several different Infantry and Armored Divisions.

Keep in mind, too, that the person you are looking for many NOT have actually been in the 75th...but was reassigned there for a short period.  A number of Divisions were sent home directly from Europe to be reorganized to be sent to the 
Pacific...but the war ended before any of them were actually shipped.

Unfortunately, the 75th Infantry Division unofficial history is mostly a photographic history does not provide a list of units attached to it during the war.  The history DOES say that the 75th entered combat in December 1944.

I would look up the two books on the 291st Engineer Combat BN:  

I would not even pay any attention to the 75th, since it was probably a unit he was sent home with. So let that go and simply focus on the engineer unit. There is a ton of history on this unit on the main site and forum, and as Theron did above, I provided a list of books to read, several days ago.  🙂

THANK YA MAAM.. I HAD BROUGHT THE VHS TAPE WHEN I WATCH THAT ON a&e  BACK  IN EARLY 90'Sthose damned engineers & thanks for the advice marion =)

kitty