SLU and SCU were special liason units. They handled receipt and transmission of messages.

=====================

On 15 March 1944 General Marshall, U.S. Army Chief of Staff, sent to General Eisenhower a letter which set forth the basis upon which German Ultra intelligence was to be made available to U.S. Army field commands in the European Theatre of Operations. The following paragraphs are taken from the letter:

"7.D. The receipt and distribution, at the field commands, of messages containing or relating to Ultra intelligence, is handled by Special Liaison Units furnished and controlled by the Director General, G.C. & C.S. The personnel of these units includes American officers attached to MID, War Department, London.

"7.F. One or more American officers assigned to MID, War Department, London, will be detailed to each American field command which receives Ultra intelligence. These officers will be subject to the administration and discipline of the commands to which they are detailed. They will work under the control of the G-2 or A-2 of the command as part of his staff. They will have had a period of training at G.C. & C.S., and, if possible, with operational commands in the Mediterranean Theatre, and this training will be directed toward equipping them to use Ultra intelligence effectively and securely. Their primary responsibility will be to evaluate Ultra intelligence, present it in useable form to the Commanding Officer and to such of his senior staff officers as are authorized Ultra recipients, assist in fusing Ultra intelligence with intelligence derived from other sources, and give advice in connection with making operational use of Ultra intelligence in such fashion that the security of the source is not endangered. If at any time the flow of Ultra intelligence is not sufficient to occupy fully the time of these officers, they may be used for other related intelligence assignments."

======================

The SLU/SCU detachments were composed largely of British officers and other ranks, although a number of American officers participated in the work and, in a few cases, commanded the detachments. The detachments were controlled by SLU 8, at SHAEF, and were attached to the U.S. field commands. Most of the detachments served the G-2 (or A-2) section but their anomalous administrative position led to a repeated and important recommendation for an organizational change.

=============

For more information on this subject, visit this link:

http://www.ibiblio.org/pha/ultra/army-1.html

There are two listings for the 393rd. One is a General Service Regiment, the other a Special Service Regiment, which in this case would make more sense, as it would appear to go along with the special liason info that I provided above.

If that is the case, the 393rd was with the 2nd Ranger Battalion and would have been at Normandy at one point.

http://www.rangerfamily.org/History/Histor...20Bn/second.htm

Wow, that's quite some information.

Thank you, I knew I could rely on you.

If you have any other info either on the unit or on Thomas Shepard, it would be much appreciated.

Erwin

EXTREMELY WELCOME! I'll keep ya posted...

The only reference i found for to the 393rd Eng GS Reg. was found here:

Historic Context for the African American Military Experience: Section 9, Part III

393rd Engineer General Service Regiment- Activated at Camp Clairborne, Louisiana, and returned after a short stay at Camp Robinson. Staged at Camp Patrick Henry, Virginia.

The 38th Engineer General Service Regiment is listed as a non-divisional unit for the Normandy invasion.

38th Eng Reg WWII Timeline

1 October l933 organized as the 38th Engineers (General Service) Regiment.

13 January 1941 the 38th Engineers (General Service) Regiment was re-designated as the

38th Engineers (Combat) Regiment.

28 May 1941 activated as such at Fort Jackson, South Carolina. Participated in the

Carolina Maneuvers, September - November 1941.

14 March 1942 departed Charleston, South Carolina.

30 March 1942 arrived on Ascension Island and began construction of an airfield.

19 August 1942 departed Ascension Island.

23 August 1942 landed at Pointe Norie, West Africa.

30 December 1942 first increment moved to Dakar, Africa

17 February 1943 second increment moved to Dakar, Africa

29 May 1943 the 38th Engineers (Combat) Regiment was re-designated as the 38th Engineer Combat Regiment.

8 December 1943 departed Africa.

1 January 1944 the 38th Engineer (Combat) Regiment was re-designated as the

38th Engineer General Service Regiment.

4 January 1944 arrived in England

9 June 1944 landed in France and was assigned to the Normandy Base Section.

13 March 1946 arrived New York.

14 March 1946 deactivated at Camp Kilmer, New Jersey.

Just for the heck of it i googled Mr Shepard`s serial No. It brought up 2 posts by a Daniel Wagner who had the jacket in 2005

Post found on www.koreanwar.org

Entry: 53110 2nd Engineer Special Brigade Thomas J SHepherd

Daniel Wagner wrote on 2005-09-12 00:00:00.0

Comments: I am looking for any information on a private Thomas J. Shepherd from Kings County New York. Joined in January of 1942 and was trained at Fort Dix New Jersey. His army serial number is 32204839. I have his original Eisenhower jacket which has Seahorse patch and Meritorius Unit Patch if that helps any. Please email me with any info you may have.

ANOTHER POST ON GRUNTS.COM FORUM:

Posted: Mon Nov 07, 2005 4:07 pm Post subject: Help ID the patches on this WWII Ike Jacket

Hi guys, great forum here. Was hoping someone could help me ID these patches on this WWII Ike Jacket. It belonged to a Thomas Shepherd from Kings County New York Service number 32204839. I believe it's a 2nd Engineers Special Brigade. The pics can be found in my photo gallery.

Thanks,

Dan

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

Posted: Mon Nov 07, 2005 4:17 pm Post subject: Re: Help ID the patches on this WWII Ike Jacket

The big blue one is the Army Amphibian Forces Patch.

The Seahorse is the Army Engineer Special Brigade Patch.

Thanks for the info.

I'll pass it on to my friend.

Erwin

Here's some photos on the 393rd:

http://www.campclaiborne.org/galleries/393rd_B_Co.php

Thanks again, Marion.

I'll pass it on to my friend.

Erwin

You are quite welcome. Glad I could help.

Hey everyone,

I've been researching my grandfathers unit from WW2 for a number of years now. It's spawned www.campclaiborne.org, and has taken on a life of its own. I still however hunt for stuff relating to the 393rd, and that is something that's fairly difficult and been less than plentiful.

Over the years on ebay, I've managed to pick up a few items that are 393rd related. A handful of photographs, that are now on the site, a newspaper article from the Claiborne paper covering them unvailing their unit crest and motto. I've also picked up 5 DI's(distinctive insignia).

3 of these are the same design, flat pinback style with enameling and the unit motto at the bottom. The other 2 have raised pelican emblems, no motto and silver instead of white as in the other 3.(I'll supply photos as soon as I get a chance this evening.

Also, the wings on the pelican are spread in the 3 matching, and folded in on the other 2.

Reason I'm mentioning all of this is that in the past week, 3 newly made patches of the 393rd Special Services Engineer Regiment have turned up on ebay. 3! All named to the 393rd Engineer Batallion(African American) or similarly worded.

So, I flip open the 393rd Special Service Regiment book the unit produced, and there is the crest, exactly as the patch looks.

Knowing there was a 393rd General Services Engineer Regiment(African American) it makes me wonder this:

1. is the motto-less DI's I have the 393rd GS emblem?

2. is it just a variant of the 393rd SS?

3. did unit's share DI's? cause I thought the DI meant "Distinctive Insignia".

I have to tend to family matters for a while, but will post more this evening linking to some information I have, with pictures etc.

Any info/insight/speculation is appreciated.

Best,

Ken Kopacki

Camp Claiborne Historical Research Site

www.campclaiborne.org

Here's some photos on the 393rd:

 

http://www.campclaiborne.org/galleries/393rd_B_Co.php

That link is going to change soon as I'm working on a overhaul of the site. I'll try and remember to do a redirect to the main gallery page so people don't get a dead link

Ken

There are two listings for the 393rd. One is a General Service Regiment, the other a Special Service Regiment, which in this case would make more sense, as it would appear to go along with the special liason info that I provided above.

 

If that is the case, the 393rd was with the 2nd Ranger Battalion and would have been at Normandy at one point.

 

http://www.rangerfamily.org/History/Histor...20Bn/second.htm

If you are referring to the Special Services 393rd, they didn't get to France until September, October 44. I believe the port of entry for them was La Harve. I'll have to pull my records out this evening, but I don't think they were attached to the 2nd Rangers or had any interaction at all.

I could be wrong thought, it's been a long day

Ken

Hi Ken:

First off, it does stand for Distinctive Insignia. Correct!

The following is scanned from my American Society of Military Insignia Collectors book, Engineer's edition. Volume 1, December 1996.

The entry in the book refers to the 393rd Engineer Bn.

Now there can be variations, but insignia were NOT shared with other units. Some may be similar, as is the case with the 36th and 540th, as they shared history. In fact, the 540th 3rd Bn actually joined the 36th, and the 540th remained as a two battalion unit throughout the war. Their seahorse insignia bear a close resemblance.

Just for further clarification and reference, I am going to join this post with an older post on the 393rd.

Back in a moment after I do this.