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WWII Unit Research Assistance - USAAF General Depot #5


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Folks,

I am scratching my head trying to determine where USAAF General Depot Number Five would have been assigned late in WWII (specifically in May of 1945). The unit's commanding officer was Colonel William W. Withey.

Any insight and assistance would be greatly appreciated.

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Do you have any further information like a uniform with patches, area of service for this guy?

By this late date there were eleven general air depots in the continental US. As far as I know these are not numbered but referenced by there actual location i.e Ogden General Air Depot, Fairfield General Air Depot. Air Depot and General are the same reference. Typically when they are numbered they are overseas and in this case the 5th Air Depot Group (General) was in Britain.

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Do you have any further information like a uniform with patches, area of service for this guy?

By this late date there were eleven general air depots in the continental US. As far as I know these are not numbered but referenced by there actual location i.e Ogden General Air Depot, Fairfield General Air Depot. Air Depot and General are the same reference. Typically when they are numbered they are overseas and in this case the 5th Air Depot Group (General) was in Britain.

 

Dustin,

 

Thank you for your response. I originally thought that the depot #5 would have been part of the 5th AF but some interwebs searching gave me reason to consider an alternative possibility.

 

I don't have anything other than his name. The piece that I am researching is a baseball program/roster (front/back cover | team rosters) from a game played on May 30, 1945 and was billed as the Memorial Day All Star Classic. Colonel Withey was the sponsoring commander who was overseeing the game. The only reference to this depot (that I have found) was that it was assigned to the MAAF from May, 1943 to November 29, 1944 as part of the Air Service Command Mediterranean Theater of Operations. As far as I can tell, this service command was assigned to these two locations:

 

Maison Blanche Airfield, Algeria, ca. March 1943
Naples, Italy, February 1944 - 30 November 1945

 

But I am not certain that the General Depot #5 was there nor that the game would have been held (at Naples).

 

The rosters of players could be from anywhere within the MAAF (not necessarily part of the General Depot #5).

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Alrighty, yeah its going to be tough to nail it possibly since many moved locations and there were so many all over the world but in some preliminary referencing is that this depot was overseas and most likely in Europe. For clarity, the Air Service Command is the big dog. The ASC controls, handles and distributes all AAF property throughout the world. It also conducts repair, Maintenance and reclamation of all USAAF military aircraft. From this command. From the administration office it breaks in multiple layers to what is referenced as Area Air Service Commands which are alternately referenced as general air depots. The Air Service Command MTO is an Area ASC responsible for all depots in the theater. Its an office of pencil pushers that would have cognizance over the #5 General Depot that actually handles materials. Your best bet would be to reference ASC and hope to get lucky with some sort of master list of all depots which there would be many, not sure it may not be that important to you to take all the time.

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Alrighty, yeah its going to be tough to nail it possibly since many moved locations and there were so many all over the world but in some preliminary referencing is that this depot was overseas and most likely in Europe. For clarity, the Air Service Command is the big dog. The ASC controls, handles and distributes all AAF property throughout the world. It also conducts repair, Maintenance and reclamation of all USAAF military aircraft. From this command. From the administration office it breaks in multiple layers to what is referenced as Area Air Service Commands which are alternately referenced as general air depots. The Air Service Command MTO is an Area ASC responsible for all depots in the theater. Its an office of pencil pushers that would have cognizance over the #5 General Depot that actually handles materials. Your best bet would be to reference ASC and hope to get lucky with some sort of master list of all depots which there would be many, not sure it may not be that important to you to take all the time.

 

Dustin,

 

Thank you. You confirmed my thoughts as I dug into this. Basically, this would take a records research effort that might not give me what I am seeking (to find the location of the game). I will see if there is anything in the direction of the ASC but I am not going to hold my breath.

 

Thank you for your guidance.

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