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42nd
Field Artillery Brigade |
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| 42nd FA Group/Brigade History | ||||||||||||||||||
| 1953 - 19.. | ||||||||||||||||||
42nd Field Artillery
Group DUI 42nd
Field Artillery Gp/Bde DUI (approved 22 Nov 1967) |
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(Source:
Annual Historical Report 1953-54, HQ USAREUR)
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The
42nd Field Artillery Group was activated
in Nellingen, Germany, and assigned to Seventh Army effective 2
January 1953. The group consisted at the time of only the Headquarters
and Headquarters Battery, which provided the command structure for
the 280mm artillery battalions subsequently assigned to Seventh
Army upon their arrival in the theater.
By the spring of 1955, all six of the planned 280mm battalions had arrived in theater. One was assigned to each corps (V Corps - 216th FA Bn attached to the 36th FA Gp; VII Corps - 867th FA Bn attached to the 35th FA Gp), the other four 280mm battalions (59th, 264th, 265th and 868th FA Bns) remained attached to the 42nd FA Gp, which was assigned to Seventh Army Artillery. |
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(Source:
Annual Historical Report 1957-58, HQ USAREUR)
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Support
of the Northern Task Force
The Northern Task Force (NORTAF), formerly the 1st US Artillery Task Force (Provisional), had a wartime mission of providing atomic support to the Northern Army Group (NORTHAG). Its peacetime mission was to be so trained, organized, and equipped as to insure successful accomplishment of its wartime mission. NORTAF, or the 42nd Field Artillery Group, was regularly assigned to the US Seventh Army for peacetime training, administration, and logistical support. In the event of an emergency NORTAF would be reassigned to USAREUR (Theater Army) on order of CINCUSAREUR, who alone had the authority to move the force -- or parts thereof -- when directed by higher headquarters. If and when NORTAF was deployed to, or carried out peacetime training exercises in, the NORTHAG area, USACOMZEUR was to provide wartime advanced-weapons support and post D-day resupply of atomic weapons as well as conventional logistical support. |
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ORGANIZATION
(30 June 1958):
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[1]
STATION LIST, 17 April 1957
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(Source: Annual Historical Report 1958-59, HQ USAREUR) |
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| Atomic Delivery Weapons for NORTHAG Article moved to Overview Page, Field Artillery section. |
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PENTOMIC Changes - 1957/58 |
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ORGANIZATION (30 June 1958): |
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| [1] STATION LIST, 30 June 1958 | ||||||||||||||||||
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(Source: History of the 42nd Field Artillery Brigade, Bde PAO, 1980s) |
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On 2 January 1953, the 42nd Field Artillery Group was activated at Nellingen, Germany and subsequently moved to Giessen. 2nd HOW Bn, 92nd Artillery arrived in Europe on 25 June 1958 and was attached to the 42nd FA Gp with station at Rivers Barracks, Giessen. 3rd Bn, 79th Artillery arrived in Europe on 1 June 1959 and was located at Rivers Barracks where it was attached to the 42nd FA Group. 1st Bn, 333rd FA, a LANCE battalion, arrived in Europe on 1 Sept 1971 and was attached to the 42nd FA Gp with station in Wiesbaden. On 16 September 1980, the 42nd FA Gp was redesignated as the 42nd FA Brigade. |
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| If you have more information on the history or organization of the 42nd FA Brigade (or any of the subordinate units), please contact me. | ||||||||||||||||||
| (Source: Email from Hayes N. Thomas, Hq/Hq Btry, 42nd FA Gp) | ||||||||||||||||||
I was the 22nd man in the brand new 42nd FA Group. I got there before the CO, Col White, did. I arrived in Germany on the 26th of Jan 1953; was at Zweibrücken for a few days at the repo depot then straight to Nellingen Airfield where we stayed about 4 months and then to Baumholder behind the Rhine for the rest of my tour.
I was a college graduate electing to remain as an enlisted man instead of spending 4 years OCS, Korea as FO, etc. All Sgt billets were filled by re-uppers from Korea so Cpl was as high as we could get. They came along about three months before I rotated and offered four of us a commission by signing up for 18 months. I told the guy that I had 22 years in as a civilian, let me out I was going for 75 (I made 76 on Mar 9) so instead of pushing up daisies (or bamboo) in Viet Nam, I am writing you this email. Col White's (his first name escapes me, I'm thinking Charles) brother in law ran the repo at Zweibrücken so the 42nd got the pick of the crop as long as he was there. About a month later they offered two of us a First Lt commission. I have never regretted my decision to get out.
I was in the S2 section of Hq & Hq Battery of the Group headquarters. My main job was getting the paper work - 398 forms (or was it 298 - personal history for Top Secret clearance - 4 legal size pages back and front of one form and I had to make about 4 carbon copies - one mistake anywhere and I had to start all over again), as I recall, for practically everybody in Hq & Hq except the Wire Section and the cooks. Half of Hq & Hq was Wire Section and the rest were in the S-1 thru S4 sections, plus the Battery Hq (total about a 100 men). We had, on average, more education than the officers did and we had three West Point officers including Col White, a Lt (later Capt Middleton), and a 1st Lt by the name of Rienken.
Once the guns got there, most of the forms for Top Secret were with the FBI or whoever did the background checks and I spent a lot of time with our S-2 (Captain Young) visiting the units. One of my jobs was posting the daily weather report on the bulletin board. I would call somebody in Kaiserslautern and I had two stencils cut, one said RAIN and the other said SNOW and I posted one or the other it seems like everyday. The few days that the sun shone I was so happy that I would type the whole thing out. We also had a 'classified' trash can in every office and every day I collected the contents and burned them. I have burned more classified cigarette butts than anybody you ever heard of.
The official Class 'A' summer uniform consisted of OD pants, OD overseas cap, OD tie and kakhi shirt. It was so soon after the war that we could not wear civilian clothes on leave or pass in Germany until November of 1953. The first day we could wear civvies, one of our 2nd Lt's showed up in our barracks room in civvies ready to go to town with us. We all had college degrees and the only difference was he had had ROTC. The other officers wives had gotten there by this time and he was one lonesome puppy. Before we got to Baumholder as a unit, a group of about 4 or 5 of us went ahead (Apr 1953) with a couple MP's and engineers. We measured EVERY bridge (took pictures of them, too) in what used to be called the northern part of the French Zone which was shaped like an hour glass. We had never seen the guns as they did not get there until Nov 1953, so we improvised by sawing off a broom handle about 18 inches long (2 of them) tied a rope between them which was supposed to represent the guns length, we would then walk around a curve and if the rope hit the wall, that building had to come down in case the Russkies came over the border.
One thing I remember about the three weeks was that, because we were in the French Zone, two French officers with drivers had to accompany us to see what we were up to. We could not get the French up in the morning so about on the 3rd day we got up, had a leisurely breakfast and left them sleeping. We never saw them again and I have always wondered what those two wonderful officers reported back. By the way, if you remember, in that part of Germany there most have been what seems like a million short bridges going across the bachs (streams). If a bridge was short enough so that only one wheel of the prime movers got on, the bridge had to support only about 3 tons. Besides the forms, it took us sometime to write, edit and type the report of this trip giving the Bn's instructions where they could go with the guns and where they couldn't go. When we first got to Baumholder, we had no office building, so we had to double up with 16 of us in a German barracks room built for 6 or 8 men. We ate with the 2nd Armored Div, as we had no mess hall at first. Tempers were short as none of the NCO wives had arrived yet. So. with crowded conditions, NCO's with nothing to do but yell at us, and breakfast delayed as the 2nd Armored ate first. I think they rotated the 2nd Armored after I left, same tanks, different patches. The bottom floor was used as the officies for the Hq until the building was built.
I found this web site by wondering what I would get if I did a Google on 42nd Field Arty Gp.
By the way, that was the first time I ever knew we had a unit badge, we wore nothing except the 7th Army patch.
We were kind of the 'show piece' for NATO after our office building was built, we had to wear Class 'A's a lot of the time and as a matter of fact, I wore mine out but I still have them I spent about 3 or 4 weeks in the field the whole time I was in Germany and got paid TDY for that. The few times we were in the field, a Russian Zil or whatever it was soon parked near by and 'spied on us'. I hope they liked the pictures of the latrines they took.
I will never forget the day that Col White came in about to wet his knickers because 'the GUNS are coming.' Remember, everything was Top Secret. He got the info out of the Stars and Stripes. The guns came early and I bet you are not going to hear this anywhere else, they dropped a round that hit in the town of Lawton, Ok. The next day the offending Bn was shipped out for Germany, all that is except one safty officer.
Since I sent you the first e-mail, I have had a chance to read some of the other emails on your site. I read that the first guns got there in Oct and not Nov as I remembered it. I spent about month (Oct 53) at combat intelligence school at Oberammergau and when I got back to Baumholder (early Nov), the guns were in Germany.
Sometime in 1953, the whole army had some kind of maneuvers and since we had no toys, we acted as umpires wearing soft caps and a white arm band letting the world know we were 'officials' We had to drive all over the place and I remember we were up in Hessen or Greater Hessen and we had been on the move so much for several days, the three of us (S2, S2 Sgt and yours truly). We had had nothing to eat so when we got to this small town I was sent in to find something we could eat raw. We were there to set off a simulated atomic explosion. We had rigged up a 55 gallon oil drum, cut the top out of it and mixed up a bunch of chemicals. When we threw a match in, it would send up the prettiest 'mushroom' cloud way in the air you ever saw. While I was in the small town getting food, I had a bottle of cognac in my field jacket we had been sipping on for a few days (big bottle). When I came out of the gasthaus, a column of self propelled 155's was going by. On the first or second one was a full bird sitting up front on the back. He stopped the SP and yelled at me walking around by myself wanting to know "Soldier, where is your helmet?" I pointed to the white armband and realized it was a couple layers down and while reaching in to expose the armband, the bottle of cognac fell at my feet breaking and giving me a bath up to my knees. He laughed and took off. I returned to the place where we were going to explode our firecracker and while I was gone General Hoge (the commanding officer for all of Europe) had dropped out of the sky in a helicopter. He ordered the S-2 to set it off. Right in the middle of this I come strolling up with a loaf of bread under my arm and the remains of a huge bottle of cognac all over my pants up to my knees. The general laughed, but Capt Young failed to see any humor in it.
My next encounter with a general was about a month or so before I rotated. We were in the field. We rigged up two of those big 6 byes with the huge square structures (I think they were called vans) on the back. We would then back them together like two very friendly dogs and had a blackout tarp over them. We had the S-2 and S-3 sections with huge wall maps, etc right together with lights and everything. My replacement had gotten there so he was being trained for his job during the day. I had the night duty. One of my buddies and I had staid in a tent all day (it rained the entire day) drinking cognac. He went to sleep and I went on duty drunk and as I climbed up the steps, I grabbed some feet to help me. I continued to climb up whoever's body it was, and when I got to the top, it had 4 stars on the shoulders. It was the 7th Army commander, Gen McAuliffe (the Bastogne guy that said 'nuts' to the Germans during the Battle of the Bulge). He had to see my condition and as the S-2 Sgt explained that I was getting ready to return to the land of the big PX, he laughed That was the second time that I was happy to find out that generals have a better sense of humor than Lt's and Sgt's do.
I rotated on 26 June 1954, one of the first to come home.
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| (Source: Email from Roger Boehnke, Avn Sec, HHB, 42nd FA Gp, 1956-59) | ||||||||||||||||||
| I was stationed at Baumholder, March 1956 to September 1959. Flew out of Hoppstädten all that time for the 42nd Artillery Group. I remember the H-13 (whatever the model was) had the battery under your feet when you flew solo. When you picked up a passenger you had to move the battery back on the tail boom. Kinda blows my mind to see the sophistication of Army aircraft now. I was back at Baumholder last spring and the place was really run down. Had a hard time finding Hoppstädten. The air strip was abandoned, overgrown with weeds, and was being used by a glider club. Our old hanger was being used by a government sign making company. The 98th General Hospital, which was a few blocks away and where our son was born, is now a college campus. I walked out on the old runway and a young girl came out to see what I was doing and she assured me that airplanes never flew off the air strip and that there had never been a hospital there. Kinda depressing. It was a great place to be when we were there and flying was fun and loose. We had signs up that said "Welcome to Happy Valley".
Some time late 1956 they changed 42nd FA Group to 42nd Artillery Group. The Group had three battalions and a headquarters company. The 265th FA Battalion and the 868th in Baumholder had 280 guns (atomic cannons), and the other Bn (?) in Pirmasens had Corporal missiles. Each Bn had two L-19s and the Hq Co had one L-19 and one H-13. Early 1957 the Group got a L-20.
I was in Group headquarters and the only one checked out in the L-20, so I got to go to Stuttgart to pick it up. A big deal for us at that time. Right after that I went down to 7th Army Instrument School to get an instrument ticket. On our final check ride we flew radio ranges and approaches all the way to Hamburg and spent the night there. Most of which was on the Reeperbahn. Anyhow, there were some big headaches on the flight home. We flew the L-20 on instruments all over western Europe. It was great for IMC, the clouds would come in from the North Sea and back up to Alps and stay like that for months with no turbulence. All we had was an AN/ARC-12 radio and radio direction finder (forget what it was called). Everybody except the French would let us lumber along on their airways. The French would tell us to get off their airways (we were too slow and low and didn't have the right frequencies) and we would just ignore them.
The Gp had nuclear weapon support for 7th Army and the British Army of the Rhine. I still have my NORTHAG patch. We spent a lot of time up around Düsseldorf and Wildenrath with the British and NATO forces. When we would go on maneuvers up there with the British, we would take our dress blues with us because the British would always have a dining in night while we were there. You had to be tough to survive their parties. We always stayed with the British Army pilots on maneuvers and got to know them real well. They could drink anybody under the table and would fly the same day. They flew Austers that were maintained by the RAF and were always having engine failure. We also had a couple H-34s attached to us part of the time. Our job was to go with them to get the "bird cages" which had the nuclear part of the warhead.
There was a TAAM Co (Transportation Army Aircraft Maintenance Co) next to us at Hoppstädten, which moved to Hanau early 1957. An aviation section from the 2nd Armored Div moved into their hanger. All the pilots in our Gp were glad we weren't in the Armored Div. I don't think they knew what to with their aircraft and their pilots did about everything except fly. Think there was a little jealousy about flight pay. We had some good parties with them.
We had a good relations with the Germans in the area. We let them fly their gliders off the air strip and they would let us fly with them. We got invited to a lot of hunting lodges and parties. From late 1956 to mid 1959 I was the only pilot in Gp that had an instrument ticket and was checked out in the H-13. Gone all the time, which my wife will be glad to tell you about. Anyhow, it was a great place for a new 2nd Lt and pilot right out of flight school. Wow, really rambled on. Hadn't thought about this stuff until we went back to Baumholder last spring.
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| (Source: Email from Harvey Rubin, HHB, 42nd FA Gp, 1965-1967) | ||||||||||||||||||
 SGT Rubin at Graf Here on the eve of Veterans Day, I thought I'd go over your nostalgic website again. As I read the various information you have compiled, including the emails from other vets of the 42nd and its constituent units, it occurred to me that I might be able to fill in some gaps. I arrived in Bremerhaven in April or May of 1965 after crossing the Atlantic from Brooklyn on the USNS General William O. Darby - a wonderful 8 days at sea. Then, by night train to the Repo Depot in Frankfurt, and on to Giessen. With my MOS of 051 (later 05B), Radio Operator, I was assigned to the Comm Platoon at HHB, 42nd Arty Group, in the U-shaped barracks at the Giessen depot, as described by others. My recollection is that our neighbors were the 308th QM, with whom we shared a mess hall. I was there until I rotated and REFRAD in August 1967.
At that time, the Group CO was Col. Robert O. Van Horn, and I recall Sergeant Major Seiffert. At Headquarters Battery, the CO was Capt. Parks, XO was 1LT Wenzel. Most memorably, the First Sergeant was John Stephens of Mississippi, who only wanted to be known as "Bear" - very apt nickname, and that was what was displayed on his parking spot marker.
The units comprising the Group at that time were:
All but 2nd Bn, 18th FA were stationed at Rivers Barracks; 2-18 was at Butzbach, and later moved to Rothwesten (as I recall - but they certainly did move from Butzbach).
I recall being at Graf, and a unit of the 1/26 TAB was located near our radio rigs - I recall they were in a shelter mounted on a 2½, and had a pet parrot in a large cage! Strange group, though they did remarkable things with various slide rules and charts in the days before computers.
I can recall Col. Van Horn retired (super-annuated and passed over for BG), to be replaced by Col. Magathan, mentioned by another vet. Short guy, uniforms always looked couple of sizes too big. Battery Commander Capt. Parks left (Viet Nam, I suspect along with several NCOs) to be replaced as BC by 1LT Wenzel. I also remember SSG Briere running the Motor Pool. The BG commanding V Corps Arty was a big guy, wore a 1911A1 45 Cal in a leather shoulder holster, fancy buckle on his leather belt, had a fancy shelter on a 2½ that reminds one of the shelter used by Gen. Bradley in the movie, "Patton".
I can try to recall more, and I may also have some photos that I can scan as JPEGs and send to you, if you are interested. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION Comments to the photos shown below and above...
1. The 42nd Arty Gp HQ building is shown from what I thought to be the front! However, looking at your Army Depots - Giessen page, I noted that you have a picture of the real front, from the time of Flughafen-Giessen, its former life. I do not believe in the nearly two years I spent on the kaserne I ever saw the other side of the building. Our garrison radio station was on this side, second floor. 2. The two radioteletype rigs, AN/GRC-46, were photographed at the Motor Pool. Best I can recall the troops in the photo are Lloyd and Sheffield. Memory getting a bit dim.
3, 4 & 5. The static shots of the 8" and 175 mm artillery pieces and the Honest John were taken at Rivers Barracks where these units were based - likely an Army Day or similar celebration. The CG of V Corps Arillery was there, along with Bundeswehr officers.
The last shot (above) is of me at Graf, in front of the luxurious accomodations. Even in the winter, it was sometimes better to be in the field as opposed to these buildings - heated by little coal stoves. By this time I was promoted to SGT E5, and was Radio Section Chief.
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| (Source: Email from Ben Rutherford, Sr.) | ||||||||||||||||||
| I was stationed
in Giessen, Germany, from mid 1966 through early January 1968. I served
with HQ 42nd Artillery Group. Our unit
was housed in a U-shaped barracks in the compound. The 42nd was only
one of three units housed there. An MP unit was one of them, but don't
remember what the other may have been. Our CO was 1st Lt. Wenzel,
can't recall his first name. Prior to Lt. Wenzel, our CO was Capt.
James D. Parks. I also recall some wonderful visits from a Col. Walter
Magathan...think he may have been from V Corps. Insofar as the mission of the HQ 42nd Arty Gp, we were a support unit for the 6th of the 9th Bn and another Bn that I simply cannot recall. 6th of the 9th was housed a distance from our unit and since I was only there on one or two occasions, can't bring to memory where. I spent about a week there as a Chaplain's Assistant, which was my MOS, but the chaplain & I didn't mesh very well and I opted to go back to the HQ unit. Unfortunately, as I was drafted, I wasn't much interested in the history of the unit. Just wanted to serve my time and get back home unscathed. Ours wasn't a big unit. I worked in the Motor Pool as a Dispatch Clerk and eventually wound up in the PLL shed working with two other guys ordering parts, Sp4's Lewis and Clem. Our Motor Pool serviced our vehicles and the other Battalions as well. The NCO in charge of the Motor Pool was a Sergeant Brier and he rotated out midway through my tour by a Sergeant Weisgerber. We had several officers, the product of the Army's OCS. Most of whom were attached to the Crypt portion of our unit. We also housed the mess that served the other two units in the barracks. Some of the names I can recall: Sp4 Brian Muscott of St. Louis, Michigan; PFC's Billy Collison and Danny Jackson both were from Nebraska (mechanics); Sp4 John Davies, another mechanic; PFC Michael Jackson (not that one) a medic; Sp4 Bufalino, an officer's driver; we also had a mail room. I recall a Sergeant Couch in charge of the mail room and some other duties. I know our unit was comprised of less than 50 soldiers. Any pictures I had from that time are long gone or buried in photo albums. We often went on alert exercises because of our support for the Artillery Battalions. One of the most memorable was a week long duty during which we spent a couple of days in Gafenwoehr. |
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| (Source: Email from Christopher F. Kiger, HQ 42nd FA Gp, 1969-71) | ||||||||||||||||||
| I was the S3 Clerk/junior NCO at Headquarters, 42nd FA
Group in Giessen, West Germany from August 1969 to Mar 1971. 42nd Group at the time I left Germany consisted
of: 6/9th, 2/83rd, 2/92nd, 3/79th and a TAB (A
Battery, 1/26).
The
6/9th was 175mm; 2/83rd and 2/92nd
were 8"; and the 3/79th was equipped with the Honest John Rocket. Our CO was Col Mike Malone, Exec was LTC Felske, HHB CO was CPT Snow and the First Shirt was O'Holloran (or Holloran). All battalions were are Rivers Barracks, TAB was up on the "hill", and HHB 42nd was at Giessen Army Depot. The S3 at HQ was Maj Coates, the Asst S3 Capt Dunn (who took over as CO of the TAB just before I left). SGM Clerc was the S3 senior NCO. My co-clerk/junior NCO was SP5 Herrington. The asst to SGM Clerc was SSG McCarthy. Several of the staff officers including WO's were aviators there being a airfield attached to 42nd Group and within the Depot. O1A Birdogs, U6 Beaver and a couple of OH1 helos were flown. 42nd Group was scheduled to get eplacement helos, I believe Kiowas. 42nd Group and 36th Group comprised Fifth Corps Artillery, HQ'd in Darmstadt. I think that 2/92 transferred to 36th Group at the time I left. Fifth Corps was HQ'd in Frankfurt. There was a nuclear site (dump) on the depot in Giessen, and when I pulled Staff Duty they called a few times overnight via landline for commo checks. Guard duties were rotated from the troops at the various battalions attached to 42nd. What I remember most was the calibur of the individuals at HHB, from the bottom up, almost to a man, exceptional, we were more brothers, a family, if you will. The MPs sharring our elongated building were okay, but the Supply and Service Companies in between were just a slight better than "duty soldiers". I big hello to anyone who might read this from Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 42nd Field Artillery Group and any of the attached units. Christopher Kiger |
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| (Source: Email from Joe Hall) | ||||||||||||||||||
Hello, I liked your site. It seems I served with a ghost battalion! I can't find any information on the 2/92nd FA in Giessen at Rivers Barracks.
We were part of the 42nd Arty Group and while I was assigned there, we became the 42nd Arty BDE. We had two nuke-capable 8 inch units and two lance units in the BDE: |
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ORGANIZATION (early 1980's): |
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By the way, not only were we a nuclear deterrent, we were also one of two active 8" Bns with a Direct Support role. We were DS to 3/11 ACR.......needless to say, we were in the field a lot!
I was assigned to 2/92 for about 5 years. I was an officer and extended to take command of HHB 2/92 in mid 1984. I was initially a Battery special weapons officer as well as the FDO ( fire direction officer of C-BTRY). Ultimately I became the BN Special Weapons officer for about a year and then into command.
I guess I was wondering if you knew where I could find out any information about when 2/92 was deactivated or re-flagged..........also, I am available if you or anyone else is doing research on the M110A1 and its capabilities or unit info. etc. |
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| (Source: Email from David La Rue, HHB, 42nd FA Bde, 1988-92) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Very interesting site you have created. I was looking for information to find some buddies I used to be stationed with this unit from August 1988 till 1992. When I first arrived in Germany I was stationed with HHB 42nd FA (Bde) located on Depot in Giessen Germany. As far as I can remember First Sgt Halter was top then. I can remember him real well because he loved the bavarian outfits and he wore them alot on weekends. We thought it was funny but he loved it. I was a 31C (Single Channel Radio Operator) or RATT Rigger was the typical name. Col Roe was the Commander at the time. I remember we got moved from Depot to Rivers Barracks in 1989 or early 1990, right before the start of the crisis in Kuwait. When that kicked off I know two line batteries got changed from 8 inch to MLRS. After that all commo guys got shipped to Frankfurt-Hoechst to be trained in the new communication system MSE (Mobile Subscriber Equipment). I know as soon as we got transferred HHB 42 FA got sent to Kuwait. Been a very long time ago so memories of unit actions are a bit vague. |
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| 59th FA Battalion (280mm Gun) | ||||||||||||||||||
| 1954 - 19.. | ||||||||||||||||||
59th Field Artillery
Bn DUI |
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| (Souce: 59th Field Artillery Bn, Pirmasens, Germany, printed by Voro-Druckerei Robert Vogel, Pirmasens, probably 1956) | ||||||||||||||||||
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| 1956 | ||||||||||||||||||
| (Source: Email from Elsworth Walker, 59th FA Bn, July 1956 - 1957) | ||||||||||||||||||
| 59th Field
Artillery Battalion, 280mm Cannon (Atomic)
42nd Field Artillery Group 7th Army (Seven Steps To Hell) NATO, European Theater of Operation, West Germany Arriving in Europe We disembarked from the troopship USNS Taylor, at noon, Sunday, 22 July 1956. Stood formation until people were sorted out for troop trains. Trains were going to France, Italy, Berlin and all over Germany. Rode all night through Germany sitting up. The train would stop every so often and let troops off. We would have a little time to buy something to eat at a vendor. Finally got to Pirmasens, Germany, which was located in the southwest of Germany, near the French border. This was wine and grape country. A jeep met me and we went to D'Isly Kaserne, home of the 59th Field Artillery Battalion, 42nd F.A. Group. I was assigned to Battery "C." I was bunked in a squad room that slept six, which was on the third floor of a former German army hospital. Barracks were stucco covered and painted white. As Battalion was on a live fire NATO training at Grafenwöhr, Germany, I had a several days to sew on the 7th Army patches and get clothing washed and shaped up. Also had indoctrination on the 59th's mission and history. Learned that the 59th held the "Santa Barbara Award" (the Patron Saint of Artillery) for firing highest score at live fire at the Vilseck, Germany, range. I went on duty with the 59th which was one of six artillery battalions assigned to the 42 Field Artillery Group and was part of the 7th Army (Seven Steps To Hell). One atomic shell had same power as bomb dropped on Hiroshima. I soon learned this was a "Gung Ho" unit. Uniforms starched and ironed. (Engineers were sloppy and equipment dirty.) All equipment was kept top notch, in the 59th. The Battalion had 415 cannoneers assigned. Three 280 M.M. cannons, named "Cool Cat," "Bugs Bunny," and "Sad Sack" were the pride of the 59th. One cannon belonged to each Battery: "A," "B" and "C." Also, there were Headquarters and Service Battery, Medical Detachment and Aviation Spotter Unit. Battalion had a German barber (Joe) and some civilian KP's, they even went to the field with us. So much money was taken out of our pay each month for their salary. We also supported a Childrens Home with new shoes and toys. Our laundry went to a Germany company and came back starched and pressed. Also a German did tailor work. So you can see the military was doing a lot to support the economy. Cannoneer Boogie I settled into battery as a stranger to artillery as engineers had a different mission. "C" Battery gun Sgt. went on leave after NATO live fire exercise, so I was put in as section leader for two weeks. Battery commander Captain Keys would not listen when I told him I knew nothing about artillery. He said: "Just do cannoneer boggie for two weeks." I sure didn't know what that was. The crew didn't approve of me as I was still "pissing state side water and was a dud," as they stated. So we cleaned and painted cannon, "cannoneer boggie," as this was called. I was glad to get reassigned to Maintenance Section. After Velz-Velz come at me with his bayonet knife - he had been sitting on a foot locker shining it when I stepped on the toe of his spit shined boots - I figured I'd better get my hat. Maintenance Section I talked to Lt. Gibbson, Motor Officer, about getting assigned to Maintenance Section. I was assigned as section leader on engineer equipment. I had four PFC's and two SP-3's in my section. Also I was signed for 5-ton tractor and 40-foot low bed trailer, which hauled D-7 tractor crawler. As section leader I reported to Sgt. Edwards, Motor N.C.O. Also was assistant wrecker operator. My section also had three gun generators on trailers and three air compressors on back of 2½ ton trucks, also shop truck and jeep with trailer for parts and mail pick up. Also had a 5-ton wrecker. Guard Duty I also was corporal of the guard. Here we carried loaded rifles, with one up the pipe. We had been put on alert as "Intel" got wind of a communist plot to blow up a gun. We were just a few miles from the French border, who had a lot of communists. Also, the town of Finton (sp?) was only about 5 k's away and was a "Communist" town. I think back of when we would road test vehicles and drive through Finton, just looking for trouble. Any way my buddy rider opened his jeep door and knocked a comrade off his bicycle. Guard post #5 was at our ammo dump. The post was several k's from the Kaserne. A 24 hour guard shift was required. We had a guard shack, with bunks and a heating stove. One hot meal a day was brought out. The rest of meals were C-rations. We did get a good supply of bread and butter. Made toast on top of stove. Anyway an old German would come by with a youngster, we would give him extra bread and some C-rations. He was always very grateful. Civil Affairs Projects I worked on some (Civil Affairs) projects for the Germans. I used the D-7 tractor to knock down a bombed out factory. Pulling the smokestack down was a job. Steeple jack had climbed to the top of stack to attach a cable, which broke on the first pull. He would not climb the stack again so we pulled the bottom out. Stack tipped over and almost got me on the tractor. I graded a sportsplatz (sports field), also repaired roads. The D-7 bulldozer was used mainly for digging gun pits on live fire maneuvers. Was also useful for pulling stuck T-10's and cannon out of the mud. Road Marches The 59th spent a lot of the time in the field either on live fire, NATO games, or command exercises (CPX). The 280's were a reaffirming sight and flag bearer as the Navy battle ship was at one time. My first winter found fog, cold not much snow. Our field trips would turn into a muddy mess. Also, either had German people cheering us or dumping their pots on the convoys. The streets were narrow and we'd be awful close to those second story windows, in the early morning. The narrow streets were nice when passing through a town. Someone would "break down" and block the road. Guys would jump out and run into a Gausthaus and by a liter of beer and food. On one of our road marches a five ton driver hit an oxen carts and killed the oxen and frau. The comrade wasn't concerned about his wife getting killed. He said "he could always get a new one." He just wanted to be paid for oxen and cart. Maintenance Section had a large tent, used for working on vehicles; this became our home, in the field. We had sleeping bags and a "John Brown," heater which would run out of fuel during the night and no one wanted to get up and start it. Alerts We had many alerts, this meant loading up all equipment and be ready for road march in two hours. Sometimes we'd get an alert in the middle of the night, get all loaded up and there would be a stand down, or head out. One night in Oct. 1956 we got an alert and no stand down. The convoy headed southeast and kept going. At the first break rumors were starting we were going to Austria, at the next break we had "not Rounds" Atomic warheads, from the blue room. "Mr. Peepers," radioman, was in contact with 42nd Group, 7th Army and was passing news, against regulations. We knew later in the day that there was a revolt in Hungary against the Communists and the rumor was that Russia was invading, which they were. As things turned out, Russia assured the US that they only were interested in Hungary not anyplace else. The President backed down so we turned around and went home. So the cold war lasted another 35 years. We wanted to nuke a few comrades. War Hawk Spring mud, fog, snow and rain found the 59th on "Operation War Hawk," a NATO field exercise. 250,000 NATO Allies - Americans plus British, Canadians, French, Turks, Italians and many more countries. Any way we were all together playing games so someday we might stop the hoards from East. We live fired cannons for 12 hrs only stopping to clean the tube. Three guns firing and concussion almost drove you nuts. All canvas on vehicle had to be rolled up and all windows open, or they would blow out. My job was to help wheel up powder bags for C battery's gun. We had to fire all old rounds, as they were six months old. Every country had different vehicles, ammo, field equipment. I don't know how we would have won any war. Our support unit on "War Hawk," was a cavalry unit with the 82nd Airborne Division. We watched them jump and drop equipment. A jeep was wrecked on drop. A 75mm gun went barrel first into the ground. Airdrop includes Quad. Fifty Cal. machine guns on small track vehicles. Jeeps with 75mm guns, small tanks. We were "straight legs," to them. They were all crazy and liked to pull jokes on us. Their favorite was to sneak up behind you, in the chow line and stick a blank bullet in your open rifle chamber, which was at sling arms; snap it shut and pull the trigger. We soon kept chambers shut, against regulations. In the second week my section was assigned to guard ammo trucks, several k's away from the firing batteries. We got bored on our assignment guarding the 5 ton ammo (280mm rounds) trucks, which were in a rock quarry. So did some trading with a German who worked there. We traded, three Jerry cans of 15 gals of gas and some cigarettes for a couple cases of beer (liters), wurst and hard bread. We ate well for three days, which made up for sleeping on the ground, in sleeping bags. We also "liberated" extra boxes of C and K rations when we went to mess tent, for our one prepared meal a day. Anyway on the weekend we handed out cans, boxes and cigarettes to the Germans. They always went for a walk on Sundays. The cigarettes were like straw but they liked them. After two weeks we went back to the post. I was lucky, as I had been back to pick up parts and mail, so took a shower there. Otherwise none for two weeks, some did go to a radar station, AF, for a shower and a movie. Paris, France I left for Paris on a week's leave. Found the French not too friendly. Paris was dirty, didn't impress me. I saw all the sights. TDY U.S. Army Engineer School Shortly thereafter, I got orders to go to Murnau, Germany for refresher course on the D-7 crawler. I left by train and changed at Munich. This is where I run into my "Airborne friends." My uniform was bloused boots, "they told me to on blouse them, as only airborne could wear bloused boots." I did so as they ment business. When I got back on the train, I bloused them again. As I had all my field equipment, duffel bag and rifle I didn't dare sleep. Then I had three comrades, one with an arm missing, starring me down and talking about me. They kept eyeing my rifle. As I had it broke down and some parts in my duffel bag. I was sure they wouldn't get it. I took my bayonet and put it on my lap and put duffel bag strap through my belt. Anyway when they got off the train I was relieved. After that I fell asleep and missed my stop at Murnau. The car was unhooked and a comrade was sweeping the floor. He must have been afraid to wake me up. I asked him about Murnau and he pointed to a train going back, which I jumped on. No one asked me for a ticket or got too close. So with that I was at Murnau. The Engineer School was housed in Barvarian style buildings with murals painted on them. Engineer classes were from Monday through Friday with weekends free. Every weekend I went on a different U.S.O. tour. I went to the Garmish ski area and Switzerland. Next weekend to Munich and visited castles, next weekend to Salzburg, Austria, Castles and "Eagles Nest". A German made our beds, shined our shoes and other chores, we paid him in carton's of cigarettes, per week, which he went out and sold on the black market. A carton cost us $1.00 and a ration coupon; he could sell them for 20 marks or $5.00, on the German economy. First two weeks were classroom. Second two weeks we did civil action projects for the Germans. Such as moving rock, grading and smoothing out road beds. Germans that were worked for in southern Germany were friendlier and gave us, beer and schnapps. 59th to Gyroscope back to States April 1957: the 59th received orders that they would "Gyroscope," whole unit would go back to Fort Jackson, S.C. and be deactivated. Missiles were going to replace the cannons. I volunteered to stay in Germany. I had less than a year to do in the army and did want to do the time in the States, as filler. Also wanted to go to some other countries. I received orders to report to the 559th Field Artillery Missile (Corporal), Atomic. I can't leave the 59th without remembering Battery Commander Captain Keys. He was a Mustang (former enlisted man), Airborne during WWII, infantry in Korea, battlefield commission. Was tough as nails on us. He liked to take the battery out and double time us for a couple miles, about every week. As he had to go for a medical check-up one week he sent a Second "Lewie" out to run us. We ran him until he was in the ditch puking. Click here to proceed to Elsworth's recollections of the 559th FAM Bn. Email to Elsworth Walker |
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| 264th FA Bn (280mm Gun) - 3rd Gun Bn, 82nd Arty | ||||||||||||||||||
| 1954 - 19.. | ||||||||||||||||||
264th Field Artillery Bn DUI |
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| (Souce: Email from SSG William Terry (then PFC-CPL William Terry) USA Ret, 264th FA Bn, Fort Sill OK to Bad Kreuznach, Germany - October 1953 thru February 1957) (Updated email: william.p.terry(AT)us.army.mil - replace (AT) with @) | ||||||||||||||||||
| The
Beginning I am trying to recall this from memory and please understand it has been nearly 50 years so if I err on some of the information, forgive me. I'll begin with me completing Basic Infantry Training at the Field Artillery Replacement Training Center (FARTC) at Fort Sill OK in October 1953. After completion, a direct assignment to the 264th FA Bn with two weeks leave before reporting to Battery B. My military records show I had an additional eight weeks of 155mm Long Tom gun training with the 36th FA Bn, but actually I was sent straight to the 264th for On The Job Training (OJT). The 264th was getting up to strength to Gyroscope to Germany. This is where the whole unit goes and in some cases swapped places with a unit in Germany. If this was the case with the 264th I do not know. |
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| We were the first
inhabitants of the kaserne since the German Army. It was in sad shape.
We immediately began making it habitable and did a lot of work ourselves.
In fact we found a lot of unexploded ordnance in the ground and in
the bomb shelters in the area. Composition of the 264th The 264th was composed of three firing batteries, A, B & C and a HQ and Service Battery. Each battery had a captain as a CO, a First Sergeant and a Chief of Firing Battery. There were 2 gun platoons (sections) in each battery, commanded by a lieutenant and a SFC. Each firing section had a Section Chief (Staff Sgt) who was also the gunner and an assistant gunner and six cannoneers as I remember. Also included were an artillery mechanic (also the platoon leader's driver), 2 transporter drivers and 2 assistant drivers. We also had a counter battery radar section in the battery but I don't know the make-up of it. Of course we had the Supply Section, Motor Pool Section and had a bull dozer assigned to each battery. The battery also had a commo section and a survey section. Life in the 264th After a short stint in the FDC I asked for a transfer as I was math poor and was really out of my element. So I was transferred to a gun section as a truck driver/ammo handler. I was assigned a 5-ton ammo truck and trailer and had full responsibility for it. The trucks in the motor pool were rotated monthly with the trucks in the ammo dump that had the basic load on them and were ready to go, so maintenance could be kept up. |
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| Military justice
was swift and sometimes severe. Small infractions (like insubordination
or screwing up in the barracks) were usually dealt with by the platoon
sergeant. He would usually just pull your pass for a couple of weeks.
For more serious infractions and you had to see the First Sergeant,
it meant Article 15, your name in the "Red Book" and loss of a stripe.
For real serious stuff and you had to see the Battery Commander, you
might as well pack your belongings in a duffle bag as you were certainly
going to the stockade in Kaiserslautern or the rehab barracks at Crailsheim
for at least thirty days. Soldiers quaked at the threat of Crailsheim
because of the extreme re-training that was done there. Every evening (except weekends) a retreat formation was held in Class A uniform at 1700 hours. The evening meal in the mess hall was in either Class A uniform or "appropriate civilian attire," which was coat and tie. This was also the requisite clothing for going on pass. We got around the tie thing by using western string ties. |
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| Before going
on duty the guards were inspected by the officer of the day and was
quizzed on General Orders and Special Orders and evaluated for sharpness
of person and uniform and weapon. The one picked for orderly got 24
hours off, other than making the bed for Staff Duty Officer. If picked
three times in a month, he got a three day pass and off the duty roster
for a month. That was a great deal. We really prepared for that too.
Khaki's were highly starched and there were people that had someone
hold their trousers and two more insert the person into the trousers
so as not to break the crease. OD (wool) trousers sometimes had tinfoil
sewed into the legs to make sharp creases and were never cleaned to
make them stiffer. Corcoran jump boots were highly prized and remember,
this was the "brown shoe" Army and the boots were shined to a glaze.
The owners walked flat-footed so as to not break the polish in the
creases on the boots. Only 15% of the unit was allowed out on pass during off duty hours. Overnight passes were allowed but only on Saturday nights. Week night curfews were 2300 hours and Saturday 2400 hours. You had to be off the street between those hours and 0600. I loved to go to Wiesbaden as it was an Air Force town and they didn't enforce the curfews plus they had great places to go. One was the Eagle Club which is now a luxurious casino. Another favorite place to go was Bingen and Ruedesheim on the Rhine River. I still go there when I go to Germany. We trained quite heavily and my platoon had the best platoon in Germany so we were selected to go all over Germany and demonstrate the Atomic Cannon. Until I left Germany my platoon held the best emplacement time for the gun. From the time the command "Prepare for action" until we announced "On the way" (the shell had been fired) was 7 minutes flat. Of course we did some highly unauthorized shortcuts, like literally dropping the gun from the transporters, but it worked for us. We got some great TDY from it. |
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| On one trip back
from Graf, one of the guns lost an air hose (the throttle and brakes
of the rear transporter were controlled by the front transporter by
air hose connections), there by losing all air pressure and thusly
the brakes. It was a long steep incline and the drivers had been warned
to use low gear going down. Our drivers didn't and needless to say,
the gun reached about 80 MPH going down. Luckily the autobahn is wide
and relatively straight so the gun made it to the bottom without incident.
At that time I was driving the platoon leader's jeep, which always
preceded the gun with red lights and siren. I saw the gun was in trouble
and was bearing down on me (my jeep would only go about 60 MPH) so
I got out of the way. My 2d LT told the transporter drivers if he
had known they were in trouble he would have stayed in front of them
with the light and siren. That instantly reinforced my opinion that
all new 2d LTs were nuts. Another year one of the ammo 5-ton trucks had a transmission explode going down the same place on the autobahn and it lost the air brakes as well as the power steering. The driver managed to get the truck safely to the bottom of the mountain, got out of the truck and fainted. For good reason as the truck (and trailer) was loaded with 280mm shells and powder as well as small arms ammo. We did a lot of maneuvers in the Black Forest and I mean it is black there at night. And of course we were total blackout conditions. Lots of nights the only way to find the area was by the sound of the generators. When reading General Colin Powell's autobiography, he mentioned that as an Infantry 2d LT, his platoon had done perimeter security for a 280mm gun outfit. I wondered if it might have been ours. We always had an Infantry Company, an anti-aircraft battery and sometimes a tank platoon attached to or with us. In B Battery we had a great, alcoholic cook/baker that was in his element cooking on the field stoves and always made biscuits and cinnamon rolls for us in the field. He always made enough for the Infantry guys and they really appreciated it, as their meals were usually WWII C-rations. Once the military police chased our bull dozer transporter into the motor pool because he wouldn't stop for them. As he tried to leave the kaserne the battalion exec wrote the MP up for entering a restricted area without a pass and speeding in the motor pool. Which brings up another story or two. The troops at the 2nd Armored Division up the street really resented us. Can't say I blame them too much. The 264th FA Bn was a very close knit unit and we stood up for each other. So we virtually took over Bad Kreuznach when we arrived. Consequently there were hard feelings between us, especially us and the MP's. Our Battalion Commander, LTC O.B. Lawrence had said that if we got back to the kaserne we were home free. Many nights we outran the MPs home. The Rose Barracks kaserne was on the way to our training area on Kuhberg Hill. At 1700, the gate MP's at Rose Barracks would bring a little stool to the middle of the street at the entrance gate to direct traffic. Our transporter drivers would see how close they could come to the MP on the stool. Remember the 280 gun in traveling mode was about 85 feet long and 12 feet wide. The MP's would see us coming and would jump off the box and drag it back into the kaserne. We thought this was hilarious. I went through most of the jobs in the gun section. Ammo section and truck driver, cannoneer, assistant gunner, gunner and finally as artillery mechanic. I was responsible for all the maintenance on the gun and drove the platoon leaders jeep. I was also trained in assembling the nuclear round. I was a corporal when the military came out with the specialist ratings and changed to SP3 which later was SP4. This was in 1956 I believe when they created the E8 and E9 grades. I attended the 7th Army NCO Academy in Munich in 1956 and graduated with honors. That was a surprise to me. You were allowed only 20 demerits during the whole one month course and I got 10 my first week. If you got the 20 you were returned to your unit with recommendation for a one paygrade reduction. I left Germany in February 1957 and was assigned to the 3rd Missile Command, and Honest John missile unit at Fort Bragg, NC, as a nuclear weapons assembly specialist. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION The photos below are of Big Ike II. Big Ike I was at Fort Sill. "A" Battery had the original Atomic Annie, if I remember correctly. Back in those days the names had to begin with the 1st letter of the battery; so, everything in "B" Battery had to start with a B; in C Battery a name for a gun had to start with a C. For the life of me I cannot remember what the 2d gun section's gun was named. It'll probably come to me later. |
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| (Source: Email from Rev. Robert Reid) | ||||||||||||||||||
| I was assigned to the 264th FA Battalion on April 12, 1957. I served with the 264th at
Bad Kreuznach until late June of 1959 when I returned to states for
discharge. The 264th was redesignated 3rd Bn, 82nd Artillery in June of 1958. We were moved north to Giessen, Germany and initially the whole bn was based at Rivers Barracks. After a few months, due to cramped space, HH&S and A Batteries were moved to the QM Depot in Giessen across town. B & C Batteries remained at Rivers Barracks where they shared the post with the 594th FA Bn and the 93rd Engineer Bn. The 594th was a 8" self propelled unit. Enjoyed seeing the photos of Bad Kreuznach post. I lived in building in the first photo. I do not recall in my time in Germany of our being assigned to any artillery group. I was always under the impression that we were just part of V Corps. I was personnel clerk in HH&S. I cut orders for the Bn. and also arranged port calls for the troops going home. I also typed the morning reports that had to be done every morning by 9 a.m. While we were at Bad Krueznach, around the spring of 1958, we shipped home for discharge, individuals that were not high school graduates. We referred to this as the "dumb bell" discharge. We sent home a couple hundred, mostly canoneers from the gun batteries. One of my favorite tasks was sending home the disliked officers by boat. In those days about sixty percent of the troops had to cross the Atlantic on troop ships. I was in the vantage point of being able to arrange the mode of travel. Top notch commanders were assured of my getting them an air port call through Frankfurt. The ones that were known to be hard-nose rank pullers I would let my friends in 7th Army headquarters know that I thought this or that officer would make a fine troop ship officer on the 10 day trip on the Atlantic. I had a few arrogant 1st Lts. that tried to go over me and get their port calls changed so that they would fly home. I had a tight connection in Stuttgardt and even the call of my Lt.Col. C.O. couldn't get their transporation changed. As a result of my job, I would get a little more in the chow line. The cooks knew to take care of me. I remember when I would go through the chow lines at mess, a seasoned cook would always tell the new cooks to take care of me in the chow line and I would take care of them when it came to "flying" home. |
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| (Source: Email from Jerry Wilson) | ||||||||||||||||||
I served with 3rd Gun Battalion 82nd Artillery at River Barracks in Giessen Germany. There was 4 batteries with 2 280 MM cannons each.
We went to Graf at least once a year for military exercises. One of the things that I remember most was how hard it was to maneuver the gun units through the small streets in some of the cities. Many time we would tear into the brick buildings with a gun. Sometimes we would have to pull the rear unit used to tote the gun sideways with a wrecker which we always had with us. Once we turned one of the unit used to carry the gun over and injured a soldier. Another time there was a very sad incident where a young German kid was killed when one of the units hit him. I am sure he was really curious to see the one of the 280 MM cannons and got too close to a wheel of one of the gun units with the huge wheels and the driver could not see him due to the size of the unit. The biggest draw back to the 280 mm cannons was the time it took to get them ready to fire, pick them up after firing, and getting to a hiding place. I remember once when we were on maneuvers every vehicle in our unit was stuck in the mud including the gun units, wrecker, 3 quarter trucks, and jeeps. We faced bitter cold on all maneuvers. I remember once we camped out on an air strip in Frankfort when the temperature was 20 below zero with strong winds. We slept in our clothes in our sleeping bags. The next morning you could scrape ice from the inside of your pup tent. We did however enjoy the time we spent in the woods by the fires at night when our Captain allowed us to make a run to the nearest tavern to get a truck load of beer. None of our vehicle had heaters with maybe the exception of the ambulance we had with us. We all idolized ELVIS stationed near Frankfort south of Giessen who had a heater in the jeep he drove. |
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| 265th FA Bn (280mm Gun) - 3rd Gun Bn, 81st Arty | ||||||||||||||||||
| Nov 1953 - 19.. | ||||||||||||||||||
 265th Field Artillery Bn DUI |
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| (Source: 265th FA Bn - Best of All, June 1956 - submitted by Jan R. Perrin) I served in the 265 FA from December 1954 until June 1957 Jan Perrin |
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| The 265th Field Artillery Battalion 1952-1956 |
