DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER LIBRARY ABILENE, KANSAS

[Pages:69]DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER LIBRARY ABILENE, KANSAS

U.S. ARMY: Unit Records, 1917-1950

Linear feet: 687 Approximate number of pages: 1,300,000

The U.S. Army Unit Records collection (formerly: U.S. Army, U.S. Forces, European Theater: Selected After Action Reports, 1941-45) primarily spans the period from 1917 to 1950, with the bulk of the material covering the World War II years (1942-45). The collection is comprised of organizational and operational records and miscellaneous historical material from the files of army units that served in World War II.

The collection was originally in the custody of the World War II Records Division (now the Modern Military Records Branch), National Archives and Records Service. The material was withdrawn from their holdings in 1960 and sent to the Kansas City Federal Records Center for shipment to the Eisenhower Library. The records were received by the Library from the Kansas City Records Center on June 1, 1962. Most of the collection contained formerly classified material that was bulk-declassified on June 29, 1973, under declassification project number 735035. General restrictions on the use of records in the National Archives still apply.

The collection consists primarily of material from infantry, airborne, cavalry, armor, artillery, engineer, and tank destroyer units; roughly half of the collection consists of material from infantry units, division through company levels. Although the collection contains material from over 2,000 units, with each unit forming a separate series, every army unit that served in World War II is not represented. Approximately seventy-five percent of the documents are from units in the European Theater of Operations, about twenty percent from the Pacific theater, and about five percent from units that served in the western hemisphere during World War II. Nearly every campaign of World War II is covered to some extent by this collection. Every unit series, however, is incomplete, with most series containing a relatively small amount of material. Some series may contain as many as 25,000 pages, while others may have as few as 50 pages. Most organic or component units of divisions are organized separately. Although organic units may comprise separate series, organic unit material may also be found in division or regiment level series.

The bulk of the collection consists of duplicate or surplus copies, retained by the units, of original after action reports and operation reports that were sent by the units on a regular basis to the Adjutant General's Office (part of Record Group 407, Records of the Adjutant General's Office). Army Regulation 345-105, "Military Records, Historical Records and Histories of Organizations," November 18, 1929, with subsequent changes, required that all commanders of regiments, separate battalions or squadrons, companies or detachments, and all commanders of a higher grade prepare and submit to the Adjutant General a detailed history of the organization concerned. The regulation also required that after every battle or engagement with the enemy or when prescribed by higher headquarters "reports after action against the enemy," together with unit and staff journals and supporting documents would be submitted.

The histories and historical records submitted under this regulation comprise the "Operations Reports" series in the custody of the Historical Records Section, Departmental Records Branch, Adjutant General's Office. Except for a small segment, all reports are of ground combat units that served in active theaters of war between December 7, 1941 and September 2, 1945. These records were originally sent by the units to the Operations Division, AFO, but after the war they were placed in a non-current status and retired to the War Department Records Branch (now the Departmental Records Branch), AGO. The records eventually came under the custody of the Historical Records Section.

The organization of the collection primarily follows the classification and filing scheme devised by Miss Margaret Emerson and associates of the Combat Analysis Section. The scheme, adopted in May 1946, is based on the organization of the Department of the Army's combat forces during World War II. For purposes of classification it is divided into three general categories of units: (1) theaters and their commands; (2) organic

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units composed of army groups, armies, corps, and divisions; and (3) non-organic units composed of nondivisional arms and service troops.

This collection, however, only includes: (1) division-level units and their organic units composed of regiments, battalions, squadrons, and companies and (2) non-organic units below division level. Within the series descriptions this basic arrangement is referred to as the classification scheme of the Departmental Records Branch (DRB).

In each unit series material of a general nature appears first, followed by more specific topics or items. The organization is chronological. Some larger series are divided into subseries. Some, but all, series contain the following categories of reports: General Historical and Operational, G-1 (Personnel), G-2 (Intelligence), G-3 (Operations and Training), G-4 (Logistics), G-5 (Civil Affairs), and Staff Section Reports. The General Historical and Operational Reports consist primarily of unit histories, operation reports, after action reports, journals, and miscellaneous historical items such as photographs, unit newsletters, correspondence, and memorabilia. The Staff Section Reports consist primarily of reports concerning the operations and activities of various staff sections and organizational components of the unit, such as artillery, ordnance, medical, quartermaster, and headquarters company. Original material consists of maps, photographs, correspondence, notes, memorabilia, and drafts of reports and histories.

Division-level after action reports, normally prepared on a monthly basis, usually consist of brief operation summaries. A report may also consist of a general division summary of activities followed by after action or operation reports from organic and attached units. G-2 periodic reports, normally prepared on a daily basis, are usually divided into the following sections: Enemy situation at end of period, enemy operations during period, miscellaneous (enemy casualties, weather, morale), enemy capabilities, POW interrogation reports, CI (counter intelligence) reports, and special reports. G-3 periodic reports are usually divided into the following sections: U.S. front lines, location of troops, information on adjacent and supporting troops, weather and visibility, our operations for the period, combat efficiency, and results of operations. The G-3 periodic reports for most of the units, as well as some of the G-2 periodic reports, include map overlays, and many of the reports also include maps. The maps have been transferred to the Dwight D. Eisenhower Map Collection.

Photographs depicting unit activities and unit personnel, including many high-level officers, have been transferred to the Dwight D. Eisenhower Audiovisual (AV) Department. When photographs appeared within the body of a report they were replaced with a Xerox copy. NOTE: The photographs have not yet been processed and made available for research. Contact the AV staff for more information.

The collection contains many items of special interest. Among the more interesting items are photocopies of letters (in the 11th Inf. Regiment Series) written in 1814 by Major John Wingate Weeks while serving during the War of 1812. The copies were sent in 1937 to Col. L.A. Kunsig (of the 11th Inf.) by Sinclair Weeks, a descendant of Major Weeks and Secretary of Commerce during the Eisenhower Administration. Other items of interest include allied interrogation reports (in the 101stAbn. Division series) involving people who were close to Hitler and other members of the German High Command, and the notes of Major General Charles H Gerhardt (in the 29th Inf. Division series) concerning his fact-finding trip to Italy in October 1943.

The last two boxes in the collection are card index files. The Unit Index contains cards for units in the collection, arranged by type of unit, with information about associated organic units. The Campaign Index contains listings for each official campaign in World War II, arranged in alphabetical order, listing the units in the collection that participated in the campaign. NOTE: Although specific units in the collection may have participated in a given campaign, this collection is incomplete and we may not have relevant documents for that time period. For instance, a particular division may have taken part in the Normandy invasion, we may have records for that division, but we do not necessarily have the records of that unit for June, 1944.

This collection contains the potential for numerous research topics. Some of the subject areas for which there is a significant amount of material of research value are: U.S., German, and Japanese infantry tactics; U.S., German, and Japanese defensive positions; small unit tactics and actions; artillery operations; armored operations and tactics; amphibious assault; airborne operations; engineer activities; logistics; military

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intelligence; training activities; occupation activity in Germany and Japan; and the life and experiences of the American soldier in combat.

NOTE: The materials in the collection are fragmentary and incomplete for all units. This index lists the army units for which records are available at the Eisenhower Library. As time permits, the Library staff is preparing folder lists to the records of individual units. Records of units for which lists have not yet been prepared are open to research but the Library staff must screen the records before any copying is done by researchers.

Detailed folder lists, when they have been created, are located in the following guides. Individual battalions and Regiments may be listed two time, individually and with the division to which they were attached. Please make sure to do a complete search of the index for the unit of interest.

Book 1

Airborne-Armored [Box 1-160]

Book 2

Tank-Artillery [Box 161-489]

Book 3 Cavalry-Engineer [Box 490-747]

Book 4 Infantry Divisions (Americal-36th Division) [Box 748-902]

Book 5

Infantry Divisions (37th Division-76th Division [Box 903-1072]

Book 6 Infantry Divisions (77th Division-106th Division) [Box 1073-1240]

Book 7 Infantry Regiments (1st Regiment-162nd Regiment) [Box 1241-1403]

Book 8 Infantry Regiments (163rd Regiment) -Tank Destroyer Battalions [Box 1404-1567]

INDEX TO U. S. ARMY UNIT RECORDS

Box 1

11th Airborne Division 11th Parachute Maintenance Co 13th Airborne Division 88th Glider Infantry Regiment

Box 2-5

17th Airborne Division

Box 5

194th Glider Infantry Regiment 717th Ordnance Maintenance Co.

Box 6

82nd Airborne Division 319th Glider Field Artillery Battalion 320th Glider Field Artillery Battalion 376th Parachute Field Artillery Battalion 456th Parachute Field Artillery Battalion

Box 7-15

101st Airborne Division

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Box 14

Box 14-15 Box 16-24 Box 25 Box 26

Box 27-28 Box 29-40 Box 41 Box 42 Box 43 Box 44

321st Glider Field Artillery Battalion 377th Parachute Field Artillery Battalion 463rd Parachute Field Artillery Battalion 907th Glider Field Artillery Battalion 117th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron 326th Airborne Engineer Battalion 327th Glider Infantry Regiment 401st Glider Infantry Regiment

501st Parachute. Infantry Regiment 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment 502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment 551st Parachute Infantry Regiment 326th Airborne Medical Co

1st Armored Division

1st Armored Division 6th Armored Infantry Battalion 11th Armored Infantry Battalion 14th Armored Infantry Battalion 123rd Armored Ordinance Maintenance Battalion

1st Armored Division 1st Tank Battalion 1st Armored Regiment 4th Tank Battalion 13th Tank Battalion 13th Armored Regiment 751st Tank Battalion 752nd Tank Battalion 757th Tank Battalion 804th Tank Destroyer Battalion 805th Tank Destroyer Battalion 894th Tank Destroyer Battalion

1st Armored Division

2nd Armored Division

2nd Armored Division 4th Cavalry Group Mechanized

2nd Armored Division 14th Armored Field Artillery Battalion 17th Armored Engineer Battalion

2nd Armored Division 22nd Infantry Regiment 41st Armored Infantry Regiment 44th Field Artillery Battalion

2nd Armored Division 48th Armored Medical Battalion 62nd Armored Field Artillery Battalion 65th Armored Field Artillery Battalion

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Box 45

Box 46 Box 47

Box 48

Box 49-60 Box 60 Box 61-64 Box 65

Box 66-67 Box 68-80 Box 80

Box 81

66th Armored Regiment

2nd Armored Division 66th Armored Regiment 67th Armored Regiment 70th Field Artillery Battalion 78th Armored Field Artillery Battalion

2nd Armored Division 82nd Armored Reconnaissance Battalion 87th Armored Field Artillery Battalion 92nd Armored Field Artillery Battalion

2nd Armored Division 113th Cavalry Group Mechanized 142nd Armored Signal Company 152nd Counterintelligence Corps 195th Antiaircraft Artillery (AW) Battalion 258th Field Artillery Battalion 335th Infantry Regiment 405th Infantry Regiment 406th Infantry Regiment

2nd Armored Division 557th Field Artillery Battalion 696th Armored Field Artillery 702nd Tank Destroyer Battalion 743rd Tank Battalion 987th Field Artillery Battalion

3rd Armored Division

67th Armored Field Artillery Battalion 23rd Armored Engineer Battalion 703rd Tank Destroyer Battalion

4th Armored Division

4th Armored Division 10th Armored Infantry Battalion 25th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron (Mechanized) 8th Tank Battalion Operations 4th Armored Division Military Police Platoon

4th Armored Division

5th Armored Division

15th Armored Infantry Battalion 46th Armored Infantry Battalion 47th Armored Infantry Battalion 75h Medical Battalion Armored 3907 Quartermaster Truck Company 3912 Quartermaster Truck Company

6th Armored Division

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Box 82 Box 83-84 Box 85-92 Box 93

Box 94-95 Box 96-97 Box 98 Box 99-103 Box 104

6th Armored Division 128th Armored Division Ordnance Maintenance Battalion 603rd Tank Destroyer Battalion

6th Armored Division

7th Armored Division

7th Armored Division 17th Tank Battalion 23rd Armored Infantry Battalion 31st Tank Battalion 33rd Armored Engineer Battalion 38th Armored Engineer Battalion 40th Tank Battalion 48th Armored Infantry Battalion 77th Armored Medical Battalion 87th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron 129th Ordnance Maintenance Battalion 147th Armored Signal Company 203rd Anti-Aircraft Artillery (Automatic Weapons) Battalion 434th Armored Field Artillery Battalion 440th Armored Field Artillery Battalion 489th Armored Field Artillery Battalion 750th Tank Battalion 774th Field Artillery Battalion 814th Tank Destroyer Battalion

7th Armored Division

8th Armored Division

9th Armored Division 2nd Armored Medical Battalion

10th Armored Division

10th Armored Division 3rd Tank Battalion 11th Tank Battalion 20th Armored Infantry Battalion 21st Tank Battalion 54th Armored Infantry Battalion 55th Armored Engineer Battalion 61st Armored Infantry Battalion 80th Armored Medical Battalion 81st Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron (Mechanized) 132nd Ordnance Maintenance Battalion 150th Armored Signal Company 419th Armored Field Artillery Battalion 420th Armored Field Artillery Battalion 423rd Armored Field Artillery Battalion 442nd Quartermaster Truck Company 448th Quartermaster Truck Company 609th Tank Destroyer Battalion

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Box 105-109 Box 110

Box 111-113 Box 113 Box 114-116 Box 116

Box 117-118 Box 119

796th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Automatic Weapons Battalion

11th Armored Division 21st Armored Infantry Battalion 22nd Tank Battalion

41st Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron Mechanized 41st Tank Battalion 55th Armored Infantry Battalion 56th Armored Engineer Battalion 63rd Armored Infantry Battalion 81st Armored Medical Battalion 133rd Armored Ordnance Maintenance Battalion 133rd Ordnance Maintenance Battalion 151st Armored Signal Company 490th Armored Field Artillery Battalion 491st Armored Field Artillery Battalion 492nd Armored Field Artillery Battalion 575th AAA AW Battalion (SP) 705th Tank Destroyer Battalion

12th Armored Division

13th Field Artillery Brigade 23rd Tank Battalion 43rd Tank Battalion 66th Armored Infantry Battalion 92nd Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron (Mechanized) 119th Armored. Engineer Battalion

13th Armored Division

16th Armored Infantry Battalion 24th Tank Battalion After 46th Tank Battalion 59th Armored Infantry Battalion 67th Armored Infantry Battalion 83rd Armored Medical Battalion 93rd Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron 124th Armored Engineer Battalion 135th Armored Ordnance Battalion 153rd Armored Signal Company 403rd Quartermaster Truck Company 496th Armored. Field Artillery Battalion 497th Armored Field Artillery Battalion 498th Armored. Field Artillery Battalion 574th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Automatic Weapons Battalion 4028th Quartermaster Truck Co. After Action Report April-May 1945

14th Armored Division

14th Armored Division 25th Tank Battalion 47th Tank Battalion 48th Tank Battalion 62nd Armored Infantry Battalion

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Box 120 Box 121 Box 122

Box 123 Box 124 Box 125 Box 126 Box 127

68th Armored Infantry Battalion 84th Armored Medical Battalion 94th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron (Mechanized) 125th Armored Infantry Battalion 136th Ordnance Maintenance Battalion 500th Armored Field Artillery Battalion 501st Armored Field Artillery 801st Tank Destroyer Battalion

16th Armored Division

20th Armored Division

20th Armored Division 6th Armored Group 8th Armored Infantry Battalion 9th Tank Battalion 20th Tank Battalion 33rd Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron (Mechanized) 65th Armored Infantry Battalion 70th Armored Infantry Battalion 138th Ordnance Maintenance Battalion 220th Armored Engineer Battalion 220th Armored Medical Battalion 412th Armored Field Artillery Battalion 413th Armored Field Artillery Battalion 414th Armored FA Battalion 468th AAA AW Battalion

1st Armored Group

2nd Armored Group 3rd Armored Group 5th Armored Group 7th Armored Group 8th Armored Group

9th Armored Group 12th Armored Group 13th Armored Group 19th Armored Group 20th Armored Group

32nd Armored Regiment 36th Armored Regiment 415th Infantry Regiment

33rd Armored Regiment 46th Armored Regiment 66th Armored Regiment 67th Armored Regiment 68th Infantry (Light Tanks) 68th Armored Regiment (Light) 80th Armored Regiment 81st Armored Regiment 1st Tank Battalion

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