530th Engineer Light Pontoon Company

[disneydave]

A recent addition to my collection, this piece of original insignia art was created by Hank Porter for the 530th Engineer Light Pontoon Company, in the fall of 1944. I love how Porter used amphibious creatures as design elements - considering the unit's role, this was an appropriate choice.

 

 

The 530th was a separate, independent unit assigned to the U.S. Sixth Army. The Company was composed of 205 men and six officers. The unit was broken down into three line platoons who were tasked with transporting, constructing and maintaining two ten-ton floating bridges, twelve units of infantry support raft and 432 feet of infantry footbridge. The Company also maintained 70 boats, which were used during river assault crossings.

 

The 530th was formed on June 25, 1943, at Camp Beale, California, by a group of officers from the Fort Belvoir Engineer School and a cadre from the 73rd Engineer Light Pontoon Company. Training was conducted at the camp throughout the fall and winter of 1943 and 1944, with excursions into the Sierra Nevada Mountains for extra realism.

 

On April 21st, 1944, the unit departed San Francisco aboard the SS Cape Neddick. After 26 unescorted days at sea, the Company went ashore at Finschhafen, located on the South Pacific island of New Guinea.

 

In October the unit experienced combat for the first time when it supplied bridging for the 96th and 7th Divisions on the Philippine island of Leyte. In January 1945 the 530th took part in the second Battle of the Philippines. Attached to the XIV Corps, the 530th provided bridging for the 40th Division in the initial stages of the campaign, after which they spearheaded the 37th Divisions drive for the capital of Manila.

 

The 530th spent the balance of the war preparing for the invasion of Japan. If the invasion had been necessary, the Company would have landed on the east coast of southern Kyushu. Japan's formal surrender on August 15th made these plans moot.

 

My thanks to Michael Brodhead, Office of History, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, who provided me with over 200 pages of reference material for the 530th.