Got another letter from Armonde today.

Glad to hear from you, For starters, we arrived Nettlebed, Eng., about July 15, l942. We were attached to the Bristish army and thereby under their command, which meant that they also had to feed us. ( mutton and liver was the main staple ) which caused many of us to head for Henley, a few miles away for fish and chips. I have the dates on which we enter the different places etc., also a list of over eight hundred names and adresses ( for that time ) For instance, Harry J Drake. RD 1, St Ignatious, Montana . All members of the 343rd. I served in the HQS Company as the Regimental Supply Clerk. I could go on and on. Most all that I did correspond with, are now gone. There is only one that I keep in touch with now. Sgt Harlan Geise. He was the Regimental Surveyor. In fact, just got a letter from him yesterday. Hey, keep in touch. Incidently, the outfit was know as "The Bridge Builders"................Armonde

Armonde now has his own page:

https://ww2combatengineers.comArm...eCasagrande.htm

Received this during the holidays!

My father was Tech Sergeant Herschel Buck. I was watching the history channel today and they had on he crossing of the Rhine river. I dug out my dad's Bronze Star and was reading a news clipping that my mother had enclosed with it. It said my Dad operated a 5 ton Northwestern pile driver and drove bridge pilings and helped construct the first fixed bridge across the Rhine ten days ahead of time. That was from March 29, 1945 to April 8, 1945. He enlisted April 16, 1942 went overseas July 1, 1942 and served in England, Africa, Sicily, Germany, and France. I wish I knew more but he never talked much and he passed in 1988. I found your site while doing a quick search and thought I would pass this along. I don't know if anyone who served with my Dad's regiment is still around. If you know of anyone please pass this on.

Sincerely,

Francis Buck

Good morning,

You don't know how excited I was to find my Dad's name in Mr. CasaGrande's first post.

I have the dates on which we entered the different places etc., also a list of over eight hundred names and addresses ( for that time ). For instance, Harry J Drake - RD 1, St Ignatius, Montana. All members of the 343rd.

I went searching for 343rd Engineers topics a little over a year ago, and could find very little. This time when I did a Google search I found a GOLD MINE.

The main reason for my search is to try to obtain documentation of an incident where Dad's convoy and his vehicle were hit during the offensive into Messina. B Company, or at least some of them, had been detailed to deliver equipment and supplies to British troops near Messina. Dad's convoy was the last one and his was one of the last vehicles. It appears that Dad and one other person were the only ones to survive the hit. Dad was unconscious, but no obvious wounds. The injuries were more to hearing, back, and concussion. He was evacuated to a British Field Hospital, where he was left to be treated after the more seriously wounded. A British patrol cycle came by and said his unit was being moved. Dad hopped on the cycle and went back to his unit. Mind you he was still working on "Autopilot." You know soldier's!! Even if they are missing a limb, they want to get back with their "family." Dad states that it was about 10 days that he really didn't know where he was, or who he was. When he regained awareness, he was sitting in a tank engine (I think) cleaning the injectors. Dad has suffered from PTSD "forever" and there isn't a week that he doesn't wake up with nightmares at least a couple of times.

There are several names that Dad mentions, but at the moment the only one I can remember is last name of Lively, first name maybe begins with an A.

Dad now lives in Kennewick, WA, and with the help of my borther and myself is still able to live at home. He lost his lifelong partner last July 3 days short of their 60th wedding anniversary. It was a great blow to all of us.

I am lucky to have originals of several of the commanding officers letters, troop orders, etc.. I would be happy to share these with anyone if they are interested. I could provide them as PDF documents if wanted.

Thank you so much for this wonderful historical site.

Take care, have a great day, and GWG,

Ardis Kenney (Drake)

Ardis:

You have probably already read my PM to you, but of course I wanted to respond here too! I share your excitement, believe me! :blob3: :blob3:

Armonde will be so excited and so pleased to hear from you. I am delighted that you were able to find our site. I look forward to seeing ALL your documents and photos and to hear more about your dear father.

Sorry to hear about your mom. My mom just passed away last year too.

Warmest regards,

In my father's paper's I have found a unit commendation from Col. Richard B. Dunbar, C.O. of the 2nd Battalion / 343th Engineer (General Services Regiment) to the 2731st Engineer Light Equipment Company. It is dated 3 June 1944 and comments on support for the "past several months." The commendation is endorsed by B.G. Garrison H. Davidson, Office of Engineers, HQ Seventh Army.

My question is, does anyone have any information on the 2nd Batallion/ 343 Enginner (GS) Regiment for the period of January 1945 through June 1945? I am particularly interested in unit movements and bridges / projects worked on. Thank you in advance for any information.

Sam Caldwell

Don't know if you saw this extensive post on the 343rd:

http://208.109.212.45/forum/index.php?show...91&hl=343rd

There is some info there on that time period, but you should go directly to the source and contact Armonde Casagrande, for there is no better source than a veteran from that unit.

https://ww2combatengineers.comArmondeCasagrande.htm

Let me know and I can put you in touch with him.

Thank you, Marion.

Yes, I read that thread on the 343rd, but there was little information on the time period of interst. I would be greatful if you could put me in touch with Mr. Casagrande.

Thank you.

Samuel T. Caldwell

[

So good talking with you today... Have a merry Christmas --- I finally figured out where I was going wrong on your email address...

Thank you Marion -- You are doing a magnificent job... I have some info to share with you... I have attached a photo of my Uncle George E. McClun who served in the 343rd engineering regiment.... Also an article from the Stars and Stripes about some of their bridges... He worked on the one where they used the rail locomotive, I can still hear him tell me about that... I have more I would like to share if you wish... I remember the day he came home, came back on the Queen Mary...

You are doing such a service with your documentaries, Thank you...

Oh Yes, I am in touch with Armonde Casagrande also served with the 343rd...

Thanks,

Don Hereford

Woodland, WA

343rd_Stars_and_Stripes.pdf

Seeking members of the 343rd Engineer General Service Regiment who were involved in rebuilding the railroad brigge over the Durance river near Meyragues, France between late August and mid september 1944.

Please contact me (by clicking on his underlined username)

Thanks,

Jim Davis - Maui Hawaii

1204th Engineer Fire Fighting Platoon, the outfit that pumped out the containment structures for the bridge piers.

Hi everyone:

I merged several topics on the 343rd into one. We had at least four separate posts on this unit. Too confusing. Trying to consolidate.

Jim: I removed your email address, for your own safety. It's too easy for SPAM bots to get a hold of it, and then all hell breaks loose.

If anyone wants to get in touch with any other forum members, simply click on their names, and you can send them email or private personal messages.

Jim, I can forward the names of our 343rd "family". Will send those via email in just a bit.

Smiles,

M1

Posting this from Janna Banks. Wanted to place this certificate here. Never saw this before.

Marion,

Thank you for the warm welcome to the group. Thank you also for putting us in touch with Armonde; we have been corresponding for a few weeks now and Dad (Reed Banks) has really enjoyed "talking" to him about the 343rd. Armonde has been a wealth of information, and we really appreciate his memories and knowledge about the 343rd engineers and the many campaigns they were involved in.

You are providing a wonderful service to the men who served and their families with your site. Thank you for all your hard work in making this happen.

I'm including a file with this email that shows a certificate that Dad recently received from the Army. It's wonderful to know that the Army appreciates the sacrifices that WWII veterans made, even now, decades after the end of the war. Dad was pleased and humbled to receive this certificate and thought you might enjoy seeing it also

Janna Banks and Reed Banks

The latest. Correspondence between Tony Honeyman and John and Glenna:

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

Monday 24th May 2009

Monroe,WA

Good morning gentlemen (or rather good evening Tony in the UK),

My name is John Bishop and although I live in the UK, my wife (Glenna) is from Washington State and we are currently visiting the USA.

Glenna has always provided me with stories of her fathers exploits in WW2.

Yesterday we searched the attic and located a daily journal that he kept throughout his time in the 343rd Engineering regiment from April 1942 to his discharge in the spring of 1945.

The daily journal provides location (in general terms due to military protocol), colleagues and characters, movies and books, pay dates and amounts, work details, etc., and follows his journey from Camp Claiborne, via New Jersey. to the UK (via Halifax and Glasgow) and his arrival at Nettlebed on 16th July 1942. (By coincidence he drew a sketch of the small stone castle which was constructed at the entrance to the camp in the rear of his journal - and your web site provided me with the opportunity to verify the accuracy of his sketch.) He traveled to North Africa, Sicily, Italy, Southern France and eventually into the Rhineland before returning to the USA via Brussels (a three day pass) and being discharged as part of the 328 Engineer Battalion.

The complete journal is in our possession and provides a fascinating and probably accurate insight into daily life during his travels.

At this stage I have no idea if one or other of you might be interested in the contents etc.,

Terry, I will be back in the UK by 2nd June and happy to chat over the phone, if you are still interested.

Best wishes and thanks for the opportunity to verify the accuracy of Roy's journal from the entries on your website.

Very sincerely

John

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

Dear John and Glenna

Thanks for the interesting email - the short answer is yes, I would love to learn more about the 343rd and in particular their time in Nettlebed. The journal sounds really interesting and just the sort of thing that can provide detail that is missing elsewhere.

How about meeting up some time? I live in Oxfordshire, not too far from Nettlebed and could show you the site. I've put some photos and also a map which shows the locations of the two Nettlebed camps (North and South) on my Flickr site here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/23690313@N04/page6/

My home phone number is (removed for privacy) but unfortunately I am traveling to the US tomorrow until Friday. Well unfortunately meaning I won't be there if you phone!! I've also sent you my other email address which I check daily - I tend to use this one for web boards etc in case I get a spam attack and don't check it all the time.

Again thanks for getting in contact.

Best wishes

Tony

Hello Everyone. My Grandfather served in Co F of the 343rd. I was looking for anyone who may know more about this specific company, or anyone who may have known PFC Elroy Hubbard.

A warm welcome to our little family. Nice to have you hear.

I am removing your email address from the post, for I strongly encourage people not to do so. This is for your own protection against spammers and other weirdos. Forum members can correspond with each other via personal email/messaging by clicking on the member's name while logged in. If an anonymous reader wants to get in touch with you, they may do so through me and I will put you in touch with each other. This screens out more of the riff-raff.

All the best,

Marion