Help re Battle Action and locations of HQ ETOUSA in WWII (WW2, war)
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My father's Honorable Discharge from the US Army following his WWII service shows:
Battles & Campaigns: Normandy Ltr HQ ETOUSA
1. can someone please verify my interpretation: father landed at Normandy; then, later (Ltr) served with Headquarters (HQ) European Theater Operations USA (ETOUSA)
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2. would HQ ETOUSA have followed some safe distance behind regular Army combat units, managing operations?
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3. is there a way to get a battle action of HQ ETOUSA through all its movements and HQs from landing at Normandy in 1944 until its redesignation as US Forces European Theater (USFET) on March 15, 1945?
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I am trying to create a timeline, with locations, as my father rolled with his HQ unit from Normandy, to Granville, to Paris, and ultimately Frankfurt.
The HQ of the ETO would have been well behind the front lines. It was their job to plan, supply and support the combat operations of the troops in the theater -- they were not expected to participate in any fighting at all. They would not have a battle record per se as they supported all ground forces in Europe. The campaigns they supported were Normandy, Northern France, Southern France, Rhineland, Ardennes and Central Europe.
The HQ of the ETO would have been well behind the front lines. It was their job to plan, supply and support the combat operations of the troops in the theater -- they were not expected to participate in any fighting at all. They would not have a battle record per se as they supported all ground forces in Europe. The campaigns they supported were Normandy, Northern France, Southern France, Rhineland, Ardennes and Central Europe.
Thank you for that explanation.
My father did tell of one time he was engaged in fighting. In early 1945 HQ ETOUSA was located at Granville, a small harbor city on the Cotentin Peninsula. Late one spring night, while in bed in the barracks, he heard German commands through his open window. All of a sudden gunfire erupted and he grabbed his rifle as Army, Navy and Marines responded to the attack. However, German commandos successfully freed dozens of their POW comrades from this HQ, killing several Marines and Army personnel before escaping on their schnellbootes back into the darkness back to their Channel Islands' base. They also caused great damage to the harbor.
I don't know about your question 1.
for 2.: Yes, headquarters generally moved forward as needed. ETOUSA was a very high level HQ though and would have been in numerous locations at any one time. If you know what his job was, that may narrow down what part of the HQ he might have been in
I don't know about your question 1.
for 2.: Yes, headquarters generally moved forward as needed. ETOUSA was a very high level HQ though and would have been in numerous locations at any one time. If you know what his job was, that may narrow down what part of the HQ he might have been in
At first he was Mess Hall Sergeant (in London), and later Dining Hall Supervisor (last war-time post in the IG Farben Bldg in Frankfurt), for HQ ETOUSA Officer's Mess. My father used to tell many stories about seeing all the Top Brass (Patton, Bradley, etc), so I guess they would be some distance behind the lines.
After the war ended, he was finally assigned to the Civil Censorship Division, working at the Grand Hotel in Bad Nauheim, the hotel from which Gen. Patton left that fateful day he was involved in the crash which eventually took his life.
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