Named Groupings, 17th Abn, 29th ID, etc.

[Junior45]

This thread keeps getting better! Wonderful stuff.

Couldn't agree more!!

 

Waffentag, you have some amazing bits of history in your collection!! Keep us posted

 

thanks again for taking the time to share

 

Regards

JEB

[tarbridge]

Thanks for posting your groups.

[Waffentag]

Waffentag - I was wondering what the caliber of the bullet is. The head stamp might show it. It looks like some kind of "wildcat" round - a lot of powder and a small bullet. Also, is that a Liberator pistol in the CPT Wilson group? Yama Hama.

It is a 7.92x94mm round for the PzB 39, It fired a 220 grain bullet over 3600 fps. It seems that they were used in Nothern France. The Germans made more than 30,000 of them. There were other guns that fired this round. My friends Dad in the 29th must have picked it up while fighting in France?

 

The Panzerbüchse 39, abbreviated PzB 39, (German: "tank hunting rifle model 39") was a German anti-tank rifle used in World War II. It was an improvement of the Panzerbüchse 38 (PzB 38) rifle.

 

PS, That is a German flare gun that came in the CPT Wilson Group.

[BEAST]

Fantastic collection especially your dad's items. It's great to see them still in the family.

[Eric Queen]

Unfortunately I had to hide your last three posts. German items are not allowed on this forum unless there is a direct link to a US service man/woman in which case you can post them in the Spoils of War sub-forum. Thanks for understanding.

[Waffentag]

Roger that,

 

 

Unfortunately I had to hide your last three posts. German items are not allowed on this forum unless there is a direct link to a US service man/woman in which case you can post them in the Spoils of War sub-forum. Thanks for understanding.

 

[TFH]

Both groupings are amazing but I LOVE your father's one !

TFH

[katieony]

Some really nice groups! Thank you for sharing the images and their stories!

Mike

[1canpara]

Amazing collection and with such a personal connection! Fantastic!

 

Thanks for sharing them! I look forward to more posts of your collection!

 

Rick

[Waffentag]

Wow! Both great groups and even better stories behind them. Definitely something to be proud of. Did you ever get a chance to talk with either your Dad or the 29th vet about their experiences at length?

 

Kyle

SGT Frank Cassidy, Dad

 

I did write down what I remembered my Dad telling me before he passed away in 1980. My older brother took this information and submitted it to the 17th ABN Association News Letter.

 

SGT Frank Cassidy joined the Army on 14 April 1942 and spent part of 1942 with the 331st Engineers CO D at Camp Claiborne, LA. He was in Canada and Alaska from August 1942 to December 1943. Apparently tired of building runways in Alaska and Canada (I remember seeing blueprints of a portion of the ALCAN Highway in the attic when I was young), he and several of his friends volunteered for Airborne training. He was in Co I of the 1st Parachute Training Regiment at Fort Benning, GA, graduating 5 February 1944. He must have really wanted to be a Paratrooper because I remember he always had a problem with heights. He spent some time in the 597th Parachute Engineers before being assigned to the 659th Airborne Engineers Co C at Camp Pickett, VA. The Regiment he was assigned to was broken up and he was reassigned to the 17th Airborne and the 139th Engineers. His friends were sent to the 82nd and the 101st.

 

He crossed the Atlantic to England on the Queen Elizabeth where he made a few training jumps. He was in the hospital with Jaundice when the 17th deployed to France and thus missed the Battle of the Bulge. This was probably a stroke of luck for him as well as my Mother, brothers, and sisters. He was released from the hospital and re-joined his unit after the battle.

 

His experiences in Operation Varsity are sketchy. We believe he crossed the Rhine River in the vicinity of Wesel in a rubber raft during Operation Varsity, but have never found anyone familiar with that part of the crossing.

 

We think he was part of a group of NCOs assigned to reconnaissance work. The History of the 139th Airborne Engineers has the following on page 33:

 

“Often patrols on engineer reconnaissance penetrated deep into German territory. There was an organized reconnaissance section by this time under Captain Ray MacMullen. Their aggressiveness on patrol won each of the eight a Bronze Star Award. On 9 April, 1945 four men of this group entered the city of Essen while it was still in enemy hands. They found no trace of any German soldiers. And based on the information they turned into their commanding officer, Essen the largest town of the Ruhr group was occupied by the 17th Division troops the next day.”

 

My Father mentioned many times how he and several other troopers were the first to enter Essen, though his account is different from the 139th History. He said they did see some German soldiers, though neither side made an aggressive move. They reported back that they met no resistance and the 17th then entered the city the next day. The 139th Unit History said all members of his group won the Bronze Star, but we never saw anything that indicated he was awarded the medal. He was told he was going to be put in for it, but he never received one. There’s no record in his discharge papers of a Bronze Star, though we do not have his service records. There’s no telling what really happened with the medal.

 

When asked about shooting at anyone or getting shot at, he was usually evasive. He said he was in group actions where who was responsible for hitting the enemy soldiers being shot at was not clear. He did say he was never pinned down by fire where he could not move. He did mention heavy losses from German snipers. He also mentioned the importance of firing from a supported position, telling how many replacements would not last long because they would fire and miss and then were hit by return fire.

 

He never told us the “There I was, me and my guys, facing the Germans” type of stories. He only told us of the odd or funny things he saw, such as:

 

Eating lunch with a trooper who was sitting on a dead, frozen German soldier.

 

Driving into a roadblock at night, at which point the young Lieutenant jumped out of the Jeep, put a map on the hood and turned his flashlight on to read the map. My Father said he saw German soldiers and never understood why they did not fire.

 

Getting orders to blow up a bridge just built by another army engineer unit.

 

Blowing a building down by using too much C2, while trying to blow a bank vault.

 

Having a wheel-barrel full of Reichs Marks (RM) and giving it away to an elderly German woman, only to get paid in RM the next month. (I heard from a German friend a few years ago of the story of an elderly woman called the Angel of Essen who came up with a large amount of money near the end of the war and helped take care of the locals with her newly found wealth. I’ll always wonder if it was the same woman.)

 

Sleeping in a cellar only to find German soldiers in the attic the next morning.

 

A trooper going crazy and shooting flies off the ceiling, with other troopers upstairs.

 

Two troopers having a duel with 45 caliber pistols. One was shot in the hip and the other was court-martialed.

 

Using the Krupp estates for the Division HQ.

 

Going swimming and having someone swipe his duffel bag full of souvenirs (fortunately they did not take his clothes).

 

Being on the French Riviera for VE day.

 

Returning to the US in a very slow, small ship, during which he won, and then lost, a lot of money playing poker.

 

We’ll probably never find out the experiences our Father went through in 139B and C. Based upon his frequent use of the German words essen (eat) and verboten (forbidden) at the dinner table when we were young, we know he did pick up a few phrases during his time in Germany. My brother Pat still has his jump uniform and a pair of ugly green and black Army sneakers that my Father wore to the beach until 1980. We don’t have any photos of him in his jump uniform. He told us that being part of a Recon Team, they were not allowed to take photos .

[Waffentag]

SGT Frank Cassidy 139th ABN ENG BN, 17th ABN

 

Just as I thought that there no photos of my Dad, My older brother who is in the process of moving found this photo of my Dad! I just got it minutes ago. He found it in one of his old report cards. You can not imagine how I feel. I have been looking for a photo of My Dad in Germany during the war all of my life!!!

 

It is not "the" photo that Dad said was lost! But this photo of him with a grease gun will do!

 

Dad said that there was a photo of him, with a captured MP43, he had a Jump helmet with camouflage net and first aide kit, M43 pants with rigger pockets, Jump boots, an M3 knife on one leg and German ammo pouches on the other leg. American flag on his arm and a yellow ID panel. Well we may never find that photo unless it pops up with139th ABN Vet?

 

From what I can see in this photo, grease gun, M3 knife, Jump boots, Jump Helmet? The pants do not look to be the M43 Pants?

 

My brother is sending this photo to me, I want to have a professional digital repair it as best as can be done. Expense is not an issue!

 

What a fantastic day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What find! THANKS Brother! You get a cookie!

 

Pat

[Waffentag]

A couple more photos of Dad, One Stateside, One in Alaska or British Columbia?

[Screamingeagles101]

Great groupings. It's really nice that all the Thomas brothers made it home!! Also cool that one was a marine, one was a sailor, and army.

I could only imagine what it was like at their dinner table.

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[General Colt]

Wow! Stunning grouping! Definitely following this one.

[Waffentag]

On 9/17/2016 at 6:30 AM, Waffentag said:

Here is my Dads uniform before he joined the Paratroops!


SGT Francis C. Cassidy Jr. (Frank)
SN 11050770
Artic Uniform

Born 25 Feb 1916, entered the service on 14 Feb 1942. 20 August 1942 to 20 Dec 1943 served with the 331st Engineers in Canada/Alaska working construction of runways and other construction associated with the Alaskan Highway effort. The arctic jacket, the fur cap, M43 goggles, the arctic Socks and mukluk boots were issued to him at the time. The Sheath knife was presented by one of his men and is made out of a broken bulldozer blade and Caribou antler. From Alaska he volunteered for Paratroops.

I got a new mannequin for my Dads Alaska Uniform, tried to make it look like one the photos 

[Waffentag]

I tried to do a mannequin with a resemblance of the one photo of him in Germany,  this photo was lost for years until my older brother found it in one of his report cards from the 50s.  In the  photo, Dad has the M43 Jacket & Pants, Jump Helmet,  Jump boots, M3 Grease Gun, M3 fighting Knife with a shot up wall behind him.  He told us about another lost photo where he is standing in front of a shot up wall after crossing the Rhine with the 17th ABN as part of Operation Varsity,  He said that in this photo, he had full web gear, the M43 pants with rigger pockets added, Jump Helmet with Net & First Aide Kit. He was carrying a captured German MP43, had an M3 knife strapped to one leg and MP43 mag pouches to the other.  I would give anything to find that missing photo!   Maybe at some point, AI can make it for me😳

[ScottG]

Really amazing stories, items, and family history. Thanks for sharing and for keeping us all up to date as you find new photos of your dad.    Scott

[Waffentag]

On 12/12/2025 at 9:55 AM, Waffentag said:

I got a new mannequin for my Dads Alaska Uniform, tried to make it look like one the photos 

I messed up!!!  The jacket that I put on the kneeling mannequin is not the same style jacket that Dad is wearing in the photos from Alaska.  Although the Jacket on the mannequin was Dads. Dads Jacket on the mannequin is a Jacket  Winter N1, but it’s not the one in the photos,  (Jacket Combat Winter) Also called the Tanker Jacket,  that one is long gone 😩 I like the display,  what to do?  I could look for the correct winter combat jacket, but it won’t be Dads. 

[MauserHSc]

Outstanding groupings, mannequins and histories!  Thank you for posting!

[Waffentag]

A number of years ago I got a call from the daughter of GEN (Ret) Glenn Kay Otis.  He was my neighbor.  I worked with his son in-law who was a Colonel at the Army War College,  He had recently passed and the family was cleaning out the house and asked me if I wanted his uniforms.  I made three trips truck.  I got every type of Uniform, including the one that he wore at his USAREUR Change of Command and retirement,  completely un touched 

[Waffentag]

I have 3 boxes of uniforms with no space to display. 

[Waffentag]

More,