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The .25.2nd Engineer Combat Bn~aKaufman

The u.s. Army Corps oi Engineers is one oithe oldest branches of service. Engineers are resporrsibletorvartous types ofconstruction projects, .both .during war and in .peace. Theseprojectsinclu.deconstruction.of bridges, mine clearing,debrisremoval, buttdingconstruction, buildingairfields,and performing as infantry in defending their projects.Combat engineers are one of the separate elements that make up the 'Corps.As their name implies, much of their skill consistsof project-building in combat conditions. The 252nd Engineer Combat Bn wasactivatectatCampGruber, OK,on July 23, 1943,with a cadre from the 82nd Engineer Combat Bn. The personnel who subsequently .fHledout the ranks of the unit came fromOhio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Indiana and a few came for other states. Initial battalion training began inmid-October. In addition to basic, there were several other topics taught and learned; these included mine detection andclearing, Air-Ground Liaison, and other engineer-related subjects. The unit was transferred to Camps Maxey and Howze, TXwhere it conducted extensive maneuvers at both locations and in LA in 1944. In April 1944, a cadre from the battalion was sentto form the 381st Engineer Combat Bn at Camp Van Dorn, MS.On August 24, 1944 the battalion departed the NYPOE for England, arriving in one week. More training at the Bailey BridgeSchool, and the continued drawing of supplies and equipment was conducted until the engineers arrived at Omaha Beach onSeptember 19, 1944, transported by the Liberty ships Horace Gray and the Rollins Victory. Moving quickly to a rainy and soggyLePieux, on the west side of the Cotentin Peninsula, the battalion was faced with its first task - clearing of mines on the beach.It was here that the 252nd suffered its first casualties. Five engineers were killed and eleven wounded before their mission wasfinished.The 252nd also provided trucks to the Red Ball Express and maintained the MSR. At the end of October, the 252nd moved toTongress/Rosmeer, Belgium. They settled in the vicinity of Ft. Eban Emael. It took only two days to travel more than 450 miles.Buzz bombs went over their heads, and Wehrmacht stragglers kept the engineers on alert.Settling. in, the battalion was soon at work on standard engineering duties - road maintenance and bridge-building. The firstbridge was built by Company A at Valkenburg, Holland, and the engineers were soon rewarded - it led to a brewery. CompanyS constructed a supporting bridge under a standing bridge that was being utilized by an armored division. Company C wasdispatched to Geilenkirchen, Germany to removed captured German hardware. In December, battalion companies alsomaintained Army main supply routes, hauled various lengths of piling, operated numerous sawmills, transported the cut timber,and guarded a prefabricated bridge intended for future use.The Bulge and Colmar region assaults broke in mid-December 1944, and the Allies, caught short, scrambled to rush units intothe breech. Initially continuing with engineering duties, the battalion repaired and installed 1500 windows at an evacuationhospital; built two bridges in the vicinity of Geilenkirchen; and manned barricades and patrols with Dutchand forces. Then, inearly January 1945, the battalion was reorganized as an infantry battalion, relieving elements of the 102nd Infantry Division's405th Infantry.This was the battalion's toughest challenge up to this point. Companies A, S, C, and HQ were split up and each assumeddifferent areas of operations for different periods of time in that month. Jumping into foxholes, pillboxes and buildings, theengineers were as prepared as possible to defend the lines along a 1,000 meter front on the Siegfried Line. Company A,assigned to the lines in Beeck, suffered two engineers KIA, one DOW, and 3 WIA when during a barrage, a German artilleryshell struck the cellar the Gis were in. Company C had two KIA in the vicinity of Wurm. In their infantry assignments, thecompanies conducted reconnaissance patrols and assaulted Wehrmacht positions. A total of nine engineers were KIA, and

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many more wounded. It was later determined that a lack of supporting mortar fire made the engineer's task in an infantry rolethat much more difficult. On January 26, 1945, the 102nd attacked through the 252nd and closed to the Roer River.February 1945 saw the reduction of the Colmar Pocket finalized, and the 252nd Engineers went back to engineering duties inHolland. A wooden passageway was built at the same evacuation hospital that had its windows repaired; several timber trestlebridges were constructed, and roads were cleared of mines.By March 1945, the collapse of Germany was becoming widespread. The battalion's engineers were extremely busy withnumerous assignments both in Holland and Germany. In Germany, the Rohr River area was the work site for Company A. TheRoer was testament to the rapidity of US forces crossing the quickly flowing and swollen river. There were bridges built on topof bridges; various damaged/destroyed assault watercraft and tanks littered the shores; KIAs from both sides were prevalent.Mines were a continuous danger. Company A tore down several bridges, and salvaged watercraft and other equipment. They(with Company C) and the 250th Engineer Combat Bn also constructed a 952-foot long timber trestle bridge (in night shifts)over the Maas River at Venlo, Holland in only 13 days (receiving a commendation from the British 21st Army Group), andcleared the area for a bridgehead at Wesel over the Rhine River, in Germany. Company B constructed a wooden trestle bridgenear Linnich, Germany; cleared an area of mines for a proposed cemetery; constructed another wooden trestle bridge nearMunchen-Gladbach, Germany; and cleared a bridgehead site of mines on the east bank of the Rhine at WeseJ. Company Cconstructed a POW enclosure, and began working on the 1600-footlong trestle bridge at Wese!.The bridge at Venlo was a project that had been in the planning stages for weeks. Venlo was itself a major communicationscenter on the Maas River, and was a terminuson thestrateqic VenIo-Wesel highway, whtch runseast-westm the regIon. Thebridge was built by the tow U.S. engineer battalions (plus a Tightpontoon company) for the British Army, due to a shortage ofBritIsh -engineering units. It was built to exacting British specifications, notably the height. The 13-days construction phase wasnine days less than projected.In April, the 252nd agaIn teamed up with the 250th Engineer Combat En to construct and complete the 1814-footlong FrankllnD. Roosevelt Memorial Bridge (in honor ofthelate president) in only 21 days. This was a record for the project type. Due to thetremendous amount of fill, the bridge was nearly a milelong,and both battalions received a letter of commendation from the 9thU.S. Army commander; General William Simpson.In very early May the battalion moved to the vicinity ·ofMagdeb.urg.,met the Russians andbuiltanautouahnbridg.eQver theWeser ..Elbe Canal, opentngthe reeteto Serlin.With Germany surrendering May 8, the battalion moved to Herford, Germany, where it performed security duties. Thecompanies spent a great deal of time 'Scavenging for engineering equipment,clearing a futurebridqesite.foadedturnber onrailway cars, and built an airstrip.On June 15, 1945, 9th Army transferred all its assets to 7th ArmY,endingits +t-montn mission in the ETO. The 80-plusengineer combat battalions were aLertedfor deployment to the Far East, occupation, or inactivation.In July 1945, the 252nd Eng(C) Battalion was directly involved in the reconstruction of the railroad bridge at Jossa, Germany.This was a difficult project inasmuch as the 252nd had no training in construction of a steel trestle and concrete reinforcedbridge - and this one was 104 feet in height. The bridge had been blown during the war, with only one pierofthree undamaged,a gap in the middle, and material from an abandoned earlier repair attempt left in place. The engineer general service unit thathad abandoned the previous repair attempt was utilized to again design repairs and provide materials. Two trains brought theseconstruction materials from Kassel, Germany. The two engineer units, soon joined by a third, proceeded to reconstruct thebridge to pre-war condition. Civilians completed the ties, rat! and guardrail and after testing, the bridge was opened to traffic onAugust 8th.The battalion receivedcampaigncredifsfor the Central Europe and Rhineland campaigns. In September 1945, the battalionwas initially assigned its occupation duties in Berlin, providing engineer support to the 1st Allied Airborne Army. There, the unitguarded POWs, demolished bunkers withexplosives,operatedanelectrical parts warehouse and supported classified emactivities. As with many units on occupation, they became very under strength.The battalion was redesignated the 252nd Engineer Construction BninJanuary 1947. It was redeSignated the 252nd EngineerService Bn September 1, 1948 and inactivated atSwetzingen, Germany, May 1,1949. The battalion was reactivated March 22,1951 at Ft. Leonard Wood, MOas ·HQ and HHe, 252nd Engineer Service Bn,and inactivated August 15, 1952 at the samestation.

The Insignia

In the ETG, the 252nd Engineer Combat Bn was assigned to the 9th U.S. Army. While on occupation duty, they wereauthorized the USAREUR 581 with "Berlin District" tab. They also had an 581 custom-made for them in Berfinin the fall of1945. It is ona blue wool background, with bullion borders, red tabs, top and bottom. "252 Combat Engineers"and "CloudBurst" are embroidered in yellow on the top and bottom tabs, respectively. Cloudburst was the code name for the unit. Thecenter is a white cloud, border highlighted in dark blue, with a yellow bullion engineer castle picked out in red. A red lightningbolt per bend sinister completes the striking 581.There are also two Dls for the battalion, both painted. The Dlon the ·left(252A1 )issimilar to the SSlon wood or composition,but has a long shield shape, medium blue cloud and tabs are in blue on yellow. The figure on the right (252A2)is on pot metal,has a wider and shortershieldshieldshape,and the cloudisalight blue. Dls courtesy of the eOL. Robert E. Leard collection.

Sources

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After Action Reports. November 1944 ~May 1945. 252nd Engineer Combat Battalion. National Archives and Records Service

Company B. 252nd Engineer Combat Battalion history, author unknown, not previously published (excerpts)

Conquer: Story of the 9th Army. 1944-45 Infantry Journal Press. Washington. D.C. 1947 (excerpts)

Headquarters and Service Company. 252nd Engineer Combat Battalion history. author unknown. not previously published

Reconstruction of the Jossa Railroad Bridge. unpublished report. author unknown

Tillum, Sidney Pfc. Company A. 252nd Engineer Combat Battalion history> not previously published

Article reformatted for the web by Associate Webmaster Paul Conrad please address any errors to this email address© 2003 ASMIC and the article author (s)

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