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WWII NADA Ordnance Regiments TO&E


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During WWII our government combined with the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) to establish and man Ordnance Regiments. It was easier to strip the factories than train them from the ground up. The Regiments were numbered from 301st to the 305th. They were established and trained at Camp Sutton, NC. (I have not seen proof the 305th was at Camp Sutton.) Trained in pairs were the 301st with the 302nd and later the 303rd and 304th. I have seen proof of this.

 

These were four battalion regiments that were later restructured in a group concept.

The 301st became the 601st, 602nd and 603rd Ordnance Base Battalions. The 302nd became the 604th, 605th and 606th. The same continues with the other regiments. The fourth battalion of each regiment were numbered into different independent ordnance Companies.

 

Anyone out there have a TO&E for the Ordnance Regiment? Or of the Battalions after the restructure. I am also looking for a source for the idents of the independent companies.

 

On Ebay a while back I purchased 6 reels of 16mm film of the "John Deere Battalion" from their baisc to Califoria to Europe. I got them coverted to DVD if someone out there is working this unit. I guess I should say the 2nd Battalion of the 303rd Ordnance Regiment. Later known as the 608th Ordnance Base Armored Maintenance Battalion. I also have numerous photographs of some of the units. I am always looking for more.

 

Jack

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Interesting. There was precedence for this in WWI.

 

I used to work for Qwest, formerly US West, which is the phone company for 14 Western states. They of course were formed from 3 previous regional Bell Companies, which were in business during WWI.

 

In a private exhibit of the company, they have the unit pano photo of the phone company employees who joined up and were shipped overseas to France as a Signal Corps unit. Apparently they provided phone service to the American sector. As I recall the troops were drawn from the Omaha and Council Bluffs, IA area.

 

The Army did the same thing with railroad workers used to man the military railroad companies as I recall.

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  • 5 months later...

The Feb 1943 NADA Bulletin added clarification to the Ordnance Units I am researching. They called them "AFFILIATED" Units at the time. I am interested in the ones that trained at Camp Sutton, NC which appear to be the Ordnance Regiment, Bases. I am posting this extract from page 24 of the Feb 1943 NADA Bulletin to aid future researchers. It lists the units from the National Automobile Dearlers Association; International Harvester Company; American Road Builders association; John Deere Company; The J.I. Case Company; The Allis-Chalmers Company and The Associated Equipment Distributors.

 

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

National Automobile Dealers Association

 

301st Ordnance Regiment, Base

302nd Ordnance Regiment, Base

First and Fourth Battalions of 303rd Ordnance Regiment, Base

304th Ordnance Regiment, Base

305th Ordnance Regiment, Base

Maintenance Battalion, 9th Armored Division

Maintenance Battalion, 10th Armored Division

Maintenance Battalion, 11th Armored Division

Maintenance Battalion, 12th Armored Division

Maintenance Battalion, 13th Armored Division

Maintenance Battalion, 14th Armored Division

Maintenance Battalion, 15th Armored Division

Maintenance Battalion, 16th Armored Division

Maintenance Battalion, 17th Armored Division

 

Heavy Maintenance Companies

503rd, 504th, 505th, 514th, 515th, 516th, 517th, 519th, 521st, 522nd, 529th,

530th, 531st, 532nd, 534th, 535th, 536th, 537th, 539th, 541st, 545th, 546th, 547th, 548th, 549th, 550th, 551st, 554th, 556th, 557th, 558th, 559th, 560th, 561st, 563rd, 564th, 565th, 566th.

 

Medium Maintenance Companies

254th, 255th, 256th, 257th, 258th, 259th, 264th, 265th, 266th, 267th, 268th, 269th, 270th, 271st, 272nd, 273rd, 274th, 275th, 276th, 277th, 278th, 279th, 280th, 281st, 282nd, 283rd, 284th, 285th, 286th, 287th, 288th, 289th, 290th, 291st, 292nd, 293rd.

 

Depot Companies

186th, 187th, 194th, 195th, 196th, 197th, 198th, 199th, 200th, 810th, 811th, 812th, 813th, 814th, 815th, 816th, and 817th.

 

Total: 4 ½ Base Regiments, 9 Battalions and 91 Companies

Approximately 950 Officers and 26,112 Enlisted Men.

 

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

 

International Harvester Company

 

Maintenance Battalion, 12th Armored Division

Third Battalion, 303rd Ordnance Regiment, Base

188th Depot Company

809th Depot Company

543rd Ordnance Company, Heavy Maintenance

544th Ordnance Company, Heavy Maintenance

555th Ordnance Company, Heavy Maintenance

 

Total: Two Battalions, Five Companies

Approximately 57 Officers and 1, 575 Enlisted Men.

 

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

 

American Road Builders Association

 

193rd Depot Company

513th Ordnance Company, Heavy Maintenance

520th Ordnance Company, Heavy Maintenance

527th Ordnance Company, Heavy Maintenance

528th Ordnance Company, Heavy Maintenance

530th Ordnance Company, Heavy Maintenance

533rd Ordnance Company, Heavy Maintenance

542nd Ordnance Company, Heavy Maintenance

552nd Ordnance Company, Heavy Maintenance

553rd Ordnance Company, Heavy Maintenance

562nd Ordnance Company, Heavy Maintenance

 

Total: Eleven Companies

Approximately 40 Officers and 1,183 Enlisted Men.

 

 

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

 

 

John Deere Company

 

Second Battalion, 303rd Ordnance Regiment, Base

 

Total of One Battalion

Approximately 33 Officers and 600 Enlisted Men.

 

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

 

 

The J. I. Case Company

 

518th Ordnance Company, Heavy Maintenance

 

Approximately 4 Officers and 142 Enlisted Men.

 

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

 

 

The Allis-Chalmers Company

 

540th Ordnance Company, Heavy Maintenance

 

Approximately 3 Officers and 117 Enlisted Men.

 

 

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

 

 

The Associated Equipment Distributors

 

Company “B”, Maintenance Battalion, 14th Armored Division.

 

Approximately 5 Officers and 86 Enlisted Men.

 

 

Jack Clay

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  • 1 month later...
Interesting. There was precedence for this in WWI.

 

I used to work for Qwest, formerly US West, which is the phone company for 14 Western states. They of course were formed from 3 previous regional Bell Companies, which were in business during WWI.

 

In a private exhibit of the company, they have the unit pano photo of the phone company employees who joined up and were shipped overseas to France as a Signal Corps unit. Apparently they provided phone service to the American sector. As I recall the troops were drawn from the Omaha and Council Bluffs, IA area.

 

The Army did the same thing with railroad workers used to man the military railroad companies as I recall.

 

You are right about the railway operating battalions being formed with cadre from particular railroad companies. For example, the 713th ROB was formed with men from the Atcheson, Topeka & Santa Fe line. A full list is found in Shelby Stanton's Order of Battle: WWII, pp 580-582.

 

Bob

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  • 1 month later...

Jack

I am new to board. I was doing a search on the 552nd Ord when I found this board. My father was in the 552nd in Heavy Recovery Section. When he passed in 88, he left quite a large collection of pictures and documents of this unit. I have been in touch with quite a few veterans of this unit, including my fathers CO, who is still alive today. I would love to send you any information I have on a cd, or share information YOU have. Feel free to contact me any was possible.

 

 

Tom Dole

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Jack

I am new to board. I was doing a search on the 552nd Ord when I found this board. My father was in the 552nd in Heavy Recovery Section. When he passed in 88, he left quite a large collection of pictures and documents of this unit. I have been in touch with quite a few veterans of this unit, including my fathers CO, who is still alive today. I would love to send you any information I have on a cd, or share information YOU have. Feel free to contact me any was possible.

Tom Dole

 

Tom,

 

Sorry for the delay in responding. I am working on the history of the units at Camp Sutton. I posted the information you saw with your father's unit in it to aid researchers. I will share what information I have. I don't think I have anything specific to your father's unit. I will check my files and see what is there. Welcome to the board.

 

Jack

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In rooting through files at the Center of Mil History years back, I came upon a detailed, many-paged plan for "affiliated" units of the Organized Reserve Corps - ORC (later USAR). Although I do not recall NADA-affiliated Ord units, there were many university affiliates in Military Government and Intelligence (Interrogation of Prisoners of War and Cntr-Intel); women's colleges with WAC; police departments with MPs; city/regional telephone companies with Signal; hospitals (including mental hospitals) with Med (including lab, blood and veterinary dets and ambulance companies); fuel distributors/refineries with POL units; and even moving and storage companies with motor transport and depot units.

 

Apparently the institutions/firms named had expressed willingness to host such units. However, I think this plan was a "pie in the sky" thing and I doubt that anything more than a few fragments were actually implemented and even those did not likely keep the corporate affiliations past the Korean War era.

 

In the pre-WWII era many units of the ORC were affiliated with universities and city governments, but I do not recall specifics.

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Tom,

 

Sorry for the delay in responding. I am working on the history of the units at Camp Sutton. I posted the information you saw with your father's unit in it to aid researchers. I will share what information I have. I don't think I have anything specific to your father's unit. I will check my files and see what is there. Welcome to the board.

 

Jack

 

 

Jack

I have done extensive research on the 552nd. Send me an email and I will give you the 2 major documents I have, along with other contact info. I also chanced upon a cd with video of the 552nd, the dad's CO in it. I sent copy of cd to dad's CO, and he verified the video. I have not done other research on the unit for a year or so, kind of hit a dead end. There were no records kept, most were thrown away because there was no room to keep them. Makes you crazy when you think of that.

 

Tom

 

[email protected]

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My Uncle was in the 541st Heavy Maint. Btln. They served under the 1st army in France & Germany. Interestingly he has a tank destroyer patch as his combat unit patch on his ike.

I tried to get unit info from the Gov't, but only got about 12 photocopy pages -one of which was a letter from the commander of the unit saying he was "too busy" to write the unit history...

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  • 4 months later...

I just acquired a day-by-day diary kept by a man in the 606th OBAM Bn. It dates from January 1943 through November 1945. When I receive it, I will let you know what it may say about Camp Sutton.

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Guest abenjamin
My name is Alyson Benjamin and my grandfather was a member of the 520th Ordnance Heavy Maintenance Company from Fort Hood. I do not have any information about him at all. I also have onlu one photograph. I am looking for anything that anyone has regarding him or this company. His name was William Garfield Noles. He served from 1942-1945. I do have his discharge papers that say his battle was Ardennes Rhineland Northern France-Central Europe. If anyone knows anything-please let me know. Thank you so much!
During WWII our government combined with the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) to establish and man Ordnance Regiments. It was easier to strip the factories than train them from the ground up. The Regiments were numbered from 301st to the 305th. They were established and trained at Camp Sutton, NC. (I have not seen proof the 305th was at Camp Sutton.) Trained in pairs were the 301st with the 302nd and later the 303rd and 304th. I have seen proof of this.

These were four battalion regiments that were later restructured in a group concept.
The 301st became the 601st, 602nd and 603rd Ordnance Base Battalions. The 302nd became the 604th, 605th and 606th. The same continues with the other regiments. The fourth battalion of each regiment were numbered into different independent ordnance Companies.

Anyone out there have a TO&E for the Ordnance Regiment? Or of the Battalions after the restructure. I am also looking for a source for the idents of the independent companies.

On Ebay a while back I purchased 6 reels of 16mm film of the "John Deere Battalion" from their baisc to Califoria to Europe. I got them coverted to DVD if someone out there is working this unit. I guess I should say the 2nd Battalion of the 303rd Ordnance Regiment. Later known as the 608th Ordnance Base Armored Maintenance Battalion. I also have numerous photographs of some of the units. I am always looking for more.

Jack
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  • 5 months later...

CampSutton, My Grandfather was in John Deere Battalion 303rd Ordnance Regiment , 2nd battalion, Company E If I am not mistaken. I would have to check his letters to make sure of his Regiment but I am positive it was Co. E. I would be very interested in obtaining a copy of the film you mention you converted to DVD. I also believe I have a roster of his entire unit among his things but I would have to check. I know his unit had many reunions, the last one in 2001 I believe. He left me much of the items he saved from his days in the service and I am still going through it.

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  • 2 weeks later...
CampSutton, My Grandfather was in John Deere Battalion 303rd Ordnance Regiment , 2nd battalion, Company E If I am not mistaken. I would have to check his letters to make sure of his Regiment but I am positive it was Co. E. I would be very interested in obtaining a copy of the film you mention you converted to DVD. I also believe I have a roster of his entire unit among his things but I would have to check. I know his unit had many reunions, the last one in 2001 I believe. He left me much of the items he saved from his days in the service and I am still going through it.

 

 

Sorry for the delay in answering. It has not been a good year. Spent twenty days in April in the hospital and have been slowly recovering. I am now back to doing my research. Nice to hear your grandfather was in the John Deere Battalion. Contact me direct at my email address [email protected] and I will see what I have to help you learn about your grandfather's service. The DVD films I talk about in the first posting are each mixtures of silent film clips. Some are in progessive order while others are clips that the soldiers of the unit would understand but are a little hard on the next viewers (example: wedding in Europe: building school ground equipment; motorcycle race; and test firing equipment). My plan is to learn enough about the unit to get all clips identified and then placed in order on one disk.

 

CampSutton

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I just acquired a day-by-day diary kept by a man in the 606th OBAM Bn. It dates from January 1943 through November 1945. When I receive it, I will let you know what it may say about Camp Sutton.

 

 

Sorry for the delay in responding to this. I spent twenty days in April in the hospital and after a slow recovery am now back to doing my research and getting caught up. I am interested in your diary of the 606th OBAM soldier. Did he give a good or bad account of Camp Sutton? In his days at Camp Sutton he would have been in the Third Battalion of the 302nd Ordnance Regiment.

 

The Ordnance regiments got caught in the movement from the strict regiment structure to the group structure. It looks to me now that the 301st through the 305th Ordnance Regiments (base) became the 231st through 235th Ordnance Groups.

 

I am very interested in what the soldier was recording at the time. Some of the stories I have heard from vets that were there just keeps me to believing the Army always wants to keep soldiers in the dark. One vet told me "While in transport on ship the Germans claimed to have sunk their ship. To fool the Germans they changed their unit number while still on the ship." I can see the rumors flying on that ship when they were told your unit number changed. The story above made a lot on sense to the ones not in the loop and thus this vet will swear to it 60 plus years later that they fooled the Germany. No I did not correct him. I never will. It does explain the grave markers today that reflect eather the unit prior to the restructure or after. Also the confusion family members have in finding out about their soldiers service.

 

I sent another vet the matrix used to number the companies of the first three battalions of the Ordnance Regiments after the restructure. He sent me a copy of the photograph of the unit sign in North Africa with a statment of he always wondered where the four digit unit number on the sign came from instead of his company letter. Below is a quick version of the renumbering matrix.

 

301st 1st Bn Companies A B C D became 601st 3251 3101 3151 3201

2nd Bn Companies E F G H became 602nd 3252 3102 3152 3201

3rd Bn Companies I K L M became 603rd 3253 3103 3153 3203

 

302nd 1st Bn Companies A B C D became 604th 3254 3104 3154 3204

2nd Bn Companies E F G H became 605th 3255 3105 3155 3205

3rd Bn Companies I K L M became 606th 3256 3106 3156 3206

 

303rd 1st Bn Companies A B C D became 607th 3257 3107 3157 3207

2nd Bn Companies E F G H became 608th 3258 3108 3158 3208

3rd Bn Companies I J K L became 609th 3259 3109 3159 3209

 

304th 1st Bn Companies A B C D became 610th 3260 3110 3160 3210

2nd Bn Companies E F G H became 611th 3261 3111 3161 3211

3rd Bn Companies I K L M became 612th 3262 3112 3162 3212

 

305th 1st Bn Companies A B C D became 613th 3263 3113 3163 3213

2nd Bn Companies E F G H became 614th 3264 3114 3164 3214

3rd Bn Companies I K L M became 615th 3265 3115 3165 3215

 

I still don't have enough information on the fourth battalion of the above regiments to figure out what their companies or the battalions themselves were renumbered to. I do have a copy of T/O 9-35 Ordnance Ammunition and General Supply Battalion, Base Regiment April 1, 1942.

 

It confirms the structure of the Battalion Headquarters with two Depot Companies and four Ammunition Companies prior to the reorganization. If anyone has what they became please let me know. I have some information but not enough to make sense of yet.

 

4th Battalion -Headquarters and Service Company

Company N (Depot Company)

Company O (Depot Company)

Company Q (Ammunition Company)

Company R (Ammunition Company)

Company S (Ammunition Company)

Company T (Ammunition Company)

 

 

Again sorry for the delay in answering. Looking forward to hearing what your soldier was saying at the time.

 

Jack

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Sorry for the delay in responding to this. I spent twenty days in April in the hospital and after a slow recovery am now back to doing my research and getting caught up. I am interested in your diary of the 606th OBAM soldier. Did he give a good or bad account of Camp Sutton? In his days at Camp Sutton he would have been in the Third Battalion of the 302nd Ordnance Regiment.

 

The Ordnance regiments got caught in the movement from the strict regiment structure to the group structure. It looks to me now that the 301st through the 305th Ordnance Regiments (base) became the 231st through 235th Ordnance Groups....

 

Jack

 

 

Jack-

 

Sorry to hear you were hospitalized.

 

Have you written to the Center for Military History at Carlisle Barracks?

 

They have T/O&Es and I am pretty sure yours are available. They are on the Internet.

 

Luis

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My Father in law served in HQ and Service Company of the 608 Ord. Bn. in World War II. He enlisted in Sept. 1942 and ended the war as a 1st. Lt. He was employed by John Deere previous to the war as were many of the men in the unit.

 

I have some photos that he had during the war, a 1945 directory of the battalion, a "yard long" style photo that he is pictured in as an EM, his DUI, some branch insignia and rank insignia as well, and some of his documents.

 

I need to find his discharges and his other paperwork to get all of this organized.

 

He rarely spoke much about his time in the service and it wasn't until after he passed away and my mother in law's passing that my wife and I found these things. I've now learned at least a little more about his time in the army.

 

I'd love to see that DVD mentioned above about the 608 OBAM. I think that it would be very interesting.

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My Father in law served in HQ and Service Company of the 608 Ord. Bn. in World War II. He enlisted in Sept. 1942 and ended the war as a 1st. Lt. He was employed by John Deere previous to the war as were many of the men in the unit.

 

I have some photos that he had during the war, a 1945 directory of the battalion, a "yard long" style photo that he is pictured in as an EM, his DUI, some branch insignia and rank insignia as well, and some of his documents.

 

I need to find his discharges and his other paperwork to get all of this organized.

 

He rarely spoke much about his time in the service and it wasn't until after he passed away and my mother in law's passing that my wife and I found these things. I've now learned at least a little more about his time in the army.

 

I'd love to see that DVD mentioned above about the 608 OBAM. I think that it would be very interesting.

 

The John Deere Battalion had all five companies photographed at Camp Sutton is this the "yard long" you are mentioning? I have a copy of the Headquarters and Service Company done at Camp Sutton. Any copies of you father in law's paperwork and/or photographs you are willing to share would be greatly appreciated. In reference to the DVDs, contact me direct at my email address [email protected] and send your address and I will mail you copies of two of the disks. A couple of the disks look to be finished product to show at a reunion. The others are film clips that are of various quality and parts of were used in the finished film. There is no audio so I am trying to collect as much history of the unit as I can to help identify some of the footage. The plan is to load all of the disks put all of the film in order by event and create a single DVD with audio added to explain the footage. Remember I started with 16mm film reels. At this time I am not sure when I will get this project completed. Finding the information about the unit to explain the film my take time. As with my name here Camp Sutton is my area of interest. I have no trouble identifying footage from there however, the VIPs that came for the Battalion getting it's National Colors are a problem for me to identify.

 

Looking forward to hearing from you.

 

Jack Clay

 

P.S. One member I shared the two disks with just let me know he is sure he sees his grandfather marching in a unit parade on the DVD. It is a small world after all.

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Jack-

 

Sorry to hear you were hospitalized.

 

Have you written to the Center for Military History at Carlisle Barracks?

 

They have T/O&Es and I am pretty sure yours are available. They are on the Internet.

 

Luis

 

 

Luis,

 

Thanks for the reply. I tried this a few years ago. Not much luck. I guess I need to try again. I also tried the Ordnance Museum. What I need to do is get to the unit manning reports and morning reports. At this time I don't think they let you in them unless you are trying to reconstruct lost personal records. Until I get to them I am using internet searches and the auctions to help fill in the gaps. Slow method but the quality of some of the people I have met makes it worth it.

 

Again Thanks for the response.

 

Jack

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The John Deere Battalion had all five companies photographed at Camp Sutton is this the "yard long" you are mentioning? I have a copy of the Headquarters and Service Company done at Camp Sutton. Any copies of you father in law's paperwork and/or photographs you are willing to share would be greatly appreciated. In reference to the DVDs, contact me direct at my email address [email protected] and send your address and I will mail you copies of two of the disks. A couple of the disks look to be finished product to show at a reunion. The others are film clips that are of various quality and parts of were used in the finished film. There is no audio so I am trying to collect as much history of the unit as I can to help identify some of the footage. The plan is to load all of the disks put all of the film in order by event and create a single DVD with audio added to explain the footage. Remember I started with 16mm film reels. At this time I am not sure when I will get this project completed. Finding the information about the unit to explain the film my take time. As with my name here Camp Sutton is my area of interest. I have no trouble identifying footage from there however, the VIPs that came for the Battalion getting it's National Colors are a problem for me to identify.

 

Looking forward to hearing from you.

 

Jack Clay

 

P.S. One member I shared the two disks with just let me know he is sure he sees his grandfather marching in a unit parade on the DVD. It is a small world after all.

 

Jack,

 

I'd be happy to send photocopies of whatever i can find about the battalion and his service. Most of this is pretty unorganized right now. I need to locate several of the items I know we have. Most of this we got after my mother in law passed away. My father in law died over 20 years ago. I do know that nothing that was military related was thrown away. I just need to locate these items again. Many of these things were bought to my home and my wife and I need to find them and organize them.

 

I have found that directory copy. I'll get it copied and sent to you. To the best of my knowledge this is a 1945 directory. The original isn't in good shape so I need to make a few copies for myself as well.

 

The "yard longs" are labeled Panora LTD London W.C.1. They appear to be winter photos. Appears to be snow remnants on the ground and the men are wearing greatcoats. Most of them are armed with M-1 Carbines and some with Springfield bolt action rifles. The troops appear to be wearing the Army Service Forces patches in the photo. It is hard to tell. At the time this photo was taken my father in law was a staff sergeant.

 

My email address is [email protected]. Feel free to email me.

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  • 5 months later...

I'm desperate and hope that y'all can help me. This is the closest I can find on the internet, so I'm hoping............ My father was in the 614th ordnance maintenance bn during WWII (as far as I can read "militarese" It looks like 3114th ordnance (B) armd vehicle maint co, 614th ordnance (B) armament maintenance bn. I'm trying to find any info on this group. I have a DUI but cannot find exactly what group it is for. Can you direct me someplace for some help? I can scan in the pin if an image is needed. I have no idea what regiment, etc and I really don't know all the different levels of military organizaton. Please help.

During WWII our government combined with the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) to establish and man Ordnance Regiments. It was easier to strip the factories than train them from the ground up. The Regiments were numbered from 301st to the 305th. They were established and trained at Camp Sutton, NC. (I have not seen proof the 305th was at Camp Sutton.) Trained in pairs were the 301st with the 302nd and later the 303rd and 304th. I have seen proof of this.

 

These were four battalion regiments that were later restructured in a group concept.

The 301st became the 601st, 602nd and 603rd Ordnance Base Battalions. The 302nd became the 604th, 605th and 606th. The same continues with the other regiments. The fourth battalion of each regiment were numbered into different independent ordnance Companies.

 

Anyone out there have a TO&E for the Ordnance Regiment? Or of the Battalions after the restructure. I am also looking for a source for the idents of the independent companies.

 

On Ebay a while back I purchased 6 reels of 16mm film of the "John Deere Battalion" from their baisc to Califoria to Europe. I got them coverted to DVD if someone out there is working this unit. I guess I should say the 2nd Battalion of the 303rd Ordnance Regiment. Later known as the 608th Ordnance Base Armored Maintenance Battalion. I also have numerous photographs of some of the units. I am always looking for more.

 

Jack

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Ok, after wading through this thread, I'm still confused. My father enlisted in Sept 1942 at Ft. Oglethorpe GA in the 305th ordnance maintenance. He was sent home as "enlisted reserve" (his words) and called up for active duty in Dec. 1942. He was sworn in at Ft. McPherson GA and sent to Camp Santa Anita in CA. He later went to Flora MS for "processing" then to Camp Miles Standish before being shipped to Liverpool.

 

I found papers that say he passed some kind of training (rifle?) while at Santa Anita as part of the 3114th co., 614th bn.

 

This thread keeps mentioned Camp Sutton. Was this before Daddy joined or was the 305th never at Camp Sutton?

 

Thanks for any help.

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Ok, after wading through this thread, I'm still confused. My father enlisted in Sept 1942 at Ft. Oglethorpe GA in the 305th ordnance maintenance. He was sent home as "enlisted reserve" (his words) and called up for active duty in Dec. 1942. He was sworn in at Ft. McPherson GA and sent to Camp Santa Anita in CA. He later went to Flora MS for "processing" then to Camp Miles Standish before being shipped to Liverpool.

 

I found papers that say he passed some kind of training (rifle?) while at Santa Anita as part of the 3114th co., 614th bn.

 

This thread keeps mentioned Camp Sutton. Was this before Daddy joined or was the 305th never at Camp Sutton?

 

Thanks for any help.

 

I still have not seen any proof that the 305th Ordnance Regiment was at Camp Sutton as I posted in the first message of this series. That said, in May of 2006 autoexecmag.com had an article "War and Remembrance" which is on line. It stated "Dealers, mechanics, and salesmen made up the 301st to 305th Ordnance Regiments (responsible for guns, tanks, and trucks). First they had to build their training camp -Camp Sutton, Monroe, NC".

 

Camp Sutton was where their basic training was conducted. The units were only there for a short time. Think of it as where they got their first uniforms. They learned to stand in line, march and basic rifle training. After they completed basic off they went to ordnance schools to learn their specific jobs. They had a big parade and were awarded their national colors then on the train and gone. I have proof (pictures, letters, films, etc) of the 301st - 304th being at Camp Sutton. I have not seen anything to confirm the 305th was there. It is possible for 4,000 soldiers to come to Camp Sutton for a month or two and not show up in the local records. The first regiments show up a lot. By the time the 305th came into the picture we were involved in combat. News of our local fighters and world events dominated the local newspapers not the soldiers in training.

 

The locations you list for your father are the same locations the 302nd and 303rd went to after they left Camp Sutton.

 

As you have seen there is very little information on line for the 305th. Be aware the 305th Ordnance Regiment became the 235th Ordnance Group. When you see the listing of the 614th Battalion in your father's records this change has already occured.

Will share more information later if desired.

 

Jack Clay

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froglady2010

I would absolutely love to hear from you! I really am quite frustrated trying to sort out all the number changes, which is complicated by the fact that I am not familiar at all with army organization. For example, which army, brigade, division, etc. would Daddy have been in?

 

I checked with my sister and pored over Daddy's records. We absolutely have never heard of Camp Sutton before I joined this forum, but we also can't remember where Daddy said he had his basic training. I have a few notes from about 20 years ago that I have not managed to find yet (packed away when I moved). Hopefully, those notes tell where he had basic.

 

Thanks for you help! (all thanks to all of the rest of you who have responded!)

 

I still have not seen any proof that the 305th Ordnance Regiment was at Camp Sutton as I posted in the first message of this series. That said, in May of 2006 autoexecmag.com had an article "War and Remembrance" which is on line. It stated "Dealers, mechanics, and salesmen made up the 301st to 305th Ordnance Regiments (responsible for guns, tanks, and trucks). First they had to build their training camp -Camp Sutton, Monroe, NC".

 

Camp Sutton was where their basic training was conducted. The units were only there for a short time. Think of it as where they got their first uniforms. They learned to stand in line, march and basic rifle training. After they completed basic off they went to ordnance schools to learn their specific jobs. They had a big parade and were awarded their national colors then on the train and gone. I have proof (pictures, letters, films, etc) of the 301st - 304th being at Camp Sutton. I have not seen anything to confirm the 305th was there. It is possible for 4,000 soldiers to come to Camp Sutton for a month or two and not show up in the local records. The first regiments show up a lot. By the time the 305th came into the picture we were involved in combat. News of our local fighters and world events dominated the local newspapers not the soldiers in training.

 

The locations you list for your father are the same locations the 302nd and 303rd went to after they left Camp Sutton.

 

As you have seen there is very little information on line for the 305th. Be aware the 305th Ordnance Regiment became the 235th Ordnance Group. When you see the listing of the 614th Battalion in your father's records this change has already occured.

Will share more information later if desired.

 

Jack Clay

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  • 7 months later...
Sorry for the delay in answering. It has not been a good year. Spent twenty days in April in the hospital and have been slowly recovering. I am now back to doing my research. Nice to hear your grandfather was in the John Deere Battalion. Contact me direct at my email address [email protected] and I will see what I have to help you learn about your grandfather's service. The DVD films I talk about in the first posting are each mixtures of silent film clips. Some are in progessive order while others are clips that the soldiers of the unit would understand but are a little hard on the next viewers (example: wedding in Europe: building school ground equipment; motorcycle race; and test firing equipment). My plan is to learn enough about the unit to get all clips identified and then placed in order on one disk.

 

CampSutton

 

 

My name is Bernice Blacksher and I am new to the board. My father was in the John Deere Battalion, 2nd Battalion of the 303rd Ordnance from 1942 to 1945. He went to Ordnance School in Camp Sutton and Aberdeen. I am interested in obtaining any history of his time spent in the Army as well as any photos that people may have. I am especially interested in purchasing the DVD film that you referred to. Thank you.

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My name is Bernice Blacksher and I am new to the board. My father was in the John Deere Battalion, 2nd Battalion of the 303rd Ordnance from 1942 to 1945. He went to Ordnance School in Camp Sutton and Aberdeen. I am interested in obtaining any history of his time spent in the Army as well as any photos that people may have. I am especially interested in purchasing the DVD film that you referred to. Thank you.

 

Bernice,

 

Welcome to the Forum. I do not sell the DVDs I have. I share portions of them that apply to fellow researchers or family members. If you provide your father's name and company I will see what I have that may help you document his history. Post here at the forum or send me an email direct at [email protected].

 

Jack

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