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57th Ordnance Group (Ammo)
Seventh Army
Looking for more information from military/civilian personnel assigned to or associated with the U.S. Army in Germany from 1945 to 1989. If you have any stories or thoughts on the subject, please contact me.

37th Ord Bn History

57th Ord Gp / Bde

9th Ord Bn

15th Ord Bn

82nd Ord Bn

84th Ord Bn

101st Ord Bn

443rd Ord Ammo Co
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37th Ordnance Battalion History
(Source: STARS & STRIPES, April 23, 1971)
The 443rd Ord Co (Ammo) was transferred from Ludwigsburg to Muenster Kaserne in the summer of 1951. Parent unit of the 443rd was the 37th Ord Bn at Muenster. Other units stationed at Muenster during this period were:
450th Ord Co
2nd Ord Det (EOD)
3rd Ord Det (EOD)
a medical detachment
a chemical detachment

(The 450th was soon transferred to the Rhine Ammo Depot (later to become Miesau Ammo Depot) and later to France.)

In late 1952, the 37th Ord Bn was reorganized as a provisional ordnance group and later formally activated as the 57th Ord Gp.

Around this time, 2nd Ord Det (EOD) was transferred to Grafenwoehr and 3rd Ord Det (EOD) to Hohenfels. Cadre for other EOD outfits were also trained at Muenster.

Early 1953, the 443rd Ord Co was doubled in size and given responsibility for operating the ammo supply points at the major training areas:
Vilseck (ASP 1)
Hohenfels (ASP 2)
Wildflecken (ASP 3)
Baumholder (ASP 4)

Between Dec 1953 and Jan 1954, the 443rd moved to Vilseck.
 
57th Ordnance Group (Ammo)

Rhine Ordnance Barracks & 57th Ord Bde headquarters building (Don Deeley)

Photo album, 57th Ord Bde, mid 1950s (Don Deeley)
(Click on image to view the PDF file)
57th Ordnance Brigade crest
1954
(Source: Command Report. Prepared by the 57th Ord Gp, 1954.)

Prior to June 1954, Headquarters of the 57th Ord Gp (Ammo) was located at the Rhine Ammo Depot in Miesau. On June 8 1954, the Group headquarters moved to the new Rhine Ordnance Supply Depot in Kaiserslautern.

MISSION:
1. responsible for the receipt, storage, isue, shipment, surveillance, inspection, normal maintenance, renovation, modification, and disposal of all Class V ammo, components and related items which pertain to the basic load and training purposes of 7th Army;

2. receipt of strategic and special project stocks of 7th Army as directed to include development and execution of a rotation plan for basic load stocks;

3. special weapons support for 7th Army.

ORGANIZATION (beginning of 1954):

UNIT DESIGNATION

DUTY STATION COMMENTS
HHC, 57th Ord Gp (Ammo) Miesau
82nd Ord Bn Miesau
50th Ord Ammo Co Miesau
60th Ord Ammo Co Miesau
443rd Ord Ammo Co Vilseck
1st Det Grafenwoehr
2nd Det Baumholder, Wildflecken
2nd EOD Grafenwoehr
3rd EOD (not known)
20th EOD Miesau
1st Det Baumholder
2nd Det Wildflecken
46th Labor Supervision Gp Miesau
48th Labor Supervision Gp (not known)
7418th Labor Service (LS) Ammo Co Miesau
8903rd LS Renovation Pltn Miesau
2040th LS Ammo Co (not known)
2041st LS Ammo Co (not known)
Ammo Supply Point (ASP) #5 at Todendorf was assigned to the 57th Ord Gp control on 11 March 1954.

ASP #6 at Belsen-Hohne was established on 10 August 1954 (and probably assigned to the 57th Ord Gp at the same time).

The 84th Ordnance Battalion was activated at the Rhine Ord Supply Depot on 1 July 1954 and assigned to the Group.

The 9th Ord Bn was assigned to the Group on 10 July 1954; the 135th Ord Co was also assigned sometime in July 1954 (the 135th moved from Baumholder to Weierhof - probably Kriegsfeld Ammo Depot - on 9 October 1954).

The 15th Ord Bn was assigned to the Group on 17 December 1954.

60th Ord Ammo Co:
Det 1 relieved Det 3 at Baumholder and returned to Vilseck sometime in 1954; the 60th moved to Baumholder on 13 December 1954; Det 1 replaced Det 2 of the 443rd Ord Ammo Co at Wildflecken on 13 Dec 1954 (Det 2 moved to Hohenfels).
1959

R.O.B. Christmas Menu - Rosters for
HHC, 57th Ord Gp; HHD, 84th Ord Bn; 50th Ord Co
If you have more information on the history or organization of the 57th Ord Group, please contact me.

9th Ord Bn

15th Ord Bn

82nd Ord Bn

84th Ord Bn

101st Ord Bn
 
57th Ordnance Brigade

57th Ordnance Brigade Organization, March 1966 (A)
57th Ordnance Brigade Patch
(Source: STARS & STRIPES, June 21, 1966)
The new shoulder patch of the 57th Ord Bde was unveiled during organizational day ceremonies at Kaiserslautern in May 1966. Until now, the 57th has been wearing the 7th Army shoulder patch.

In June 1965, the 57th Ord Gp was redesignated as the 57th Ord Bde. The command is responsible for providing complete ammunition support to 7th Army. CO of the Bde is Col Stanford Hicks.

ORGANIZATION (STATION LIST 30 June 1966):

UNIT DESIGNATION

DUTY STATION COMMENTS
HHC, 57th Ord Bde (Ammo) Rhine Ord Bks, Kaiserslautern TOE 9-032E65
15th Ord Bn (Ammo) Gutleut Ksn, Frankfurt TOE 9-086F65
84th Ord Bn (Ammo) (DS) Rhine Ord Bks, Kaiserslautern TOE 9-086F65
101st Ord Bn (Ammo) (DS) Badenerhof Ksn, Heilbronn TOE 9-086F65
23rd Ord Co (SP Ammo) (DS) Badenerhof Ksn, Heilbronn TOE 9-047E65
28th Ord Co (SP Ammo) (DS) Kreuzberg Ksn, Zweibrücken TOE 9-047E65
Det Münster Ksn, Münster
50th Ord Ammo Co (SP Ammo) (DS) Dolan Bks, Schw. Hall TOE 9-047E65
144th Ord Ammo Co (Ammo) (DS-GS) Ray Bks, Friedberg TOE 9-017E65
Det Wildflecken Training Area
184th Ord Ammo Co (Ammo) (DS-GS) Pulaski Bks, Kaiserslautern TOE 9-017E65
Det North Point, Kriegsfeld
501st Ord Ammo Co (Ammo) (DS-GS) Gerszewski Bks, Karlsruhe TOE 9-017E65
Det Husterhoeh Ksn, Pirmasens
535th Ord Ammo Co (Ammo) (DS-GS) Nainhof Ksn, Hohenfels TOE 9-017E65
Det Rose Bks, Vilseck
545th Ord Ammo Co (SP Ammo) (DS) Münster Ksn, Münster TOE 9-047E65
663rd Ord Ammo Co (Ammo) (DS-GS) Rose Bks, Vilseck TOE 9-017E65
664th Ord Ammo Co (Ammo) (DS-GS) Strassburg Ksn, Idar-Oberstein TOE 9-017E65
2nd Ord Det (EOD) Graf Post, Grafenwöhr TOE 9-500D62
636th Ord Det (Ammo) (S CNTL) North Point, Kriegsfeld TOE 9-500D62
2040th LS Ammo Co LS Ksn, Darmstadt Lithuanian personnel
2041st LS Ammo Co Lüttich Ksn, Mannheim Polish personnel
(Source: 15th Ord Bn Unit History)
(Source: Redstone Arsenal Historical Information website)
LTG Charles W. Eifler, Jr.

After graduating from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces in June 1956, General Eifler became Group Commander of the 57th Ordnance Group in Europe, a position he held until June 1959. (Several tours at Redstone Arsenal, Vietnam and MICOM followed.)

In September 1969, he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General and was assigned as Deputy Commanding General for the U.S. Army Europe (USAREUR). He retired in 1973.
If you have more information on the history or organization of the 57th Ord Bde, please contact me.
57TH ORD BDE ORGANIZATION (MARCH 1966) - Footnotes

(A) I have attempted to compile an organizational chart for the 57th ORD BDE showing the ammunition brigade's structure after the reorganization of 7th Army support units under COSTAR. Corrections and any relevant details are very much appreciated (webmaster). Sources used for compiling the org chart: FM 29-22, Maintenance Operations in the Field Army, July 1965 (doctrine) and STATION LIST, 31 March 1966. (This is a draft and subject to change as new information or corrections are submitted.)

(1) 28th & 545th Ordnance Special Ammunition DS companies.
(2) 144th Ordnance Ammo DS/GS Company.
(3) The 2040th Labor Service Ammo DS/GS Company served as the second conventional Class V unit in the 15th. Did the 2040th have the same mission as the 144th?
(4) 23rd & 50th Ordnance Special Ammunition DS companies. (The 50th would return to the States as part of REFORGER in 1968.)
(5) 535th & 663rd Ordnance Ammo DS/GS companies.
(6) The 38th Finance Section was attached to the 101st Ord Bn. The unit was stationed at Heilbronn at the time and probably just received administrative and logistical support from the 101st.
(7) 636th EOD Company - there were several EOD detachments (2nd, 3rd, 21st and 121st) assigned to the 57th also. Were they all attached to the 636th or did they report directly to the ordnance DS/GS battalions?
(8) 184th, 501st & 664th Ordnance Ammo DS/GS companies. (The 664th would return to the States as part of REFORGER in 1968.)
(9) 2041st Labor Service Ammo DS/GS Company.
(10) 554th MP Guard Company.

Return to chart
 
443rd Ordnance Ammunition Company
1951 - 19..
UNIT HISTORY - 1954
 
(Source: Letter from Romeo LaCombe, Jr.)

443rd Ordnance Ammunition Company Unit History (1954)
Click here to access Unit History & Company Roster
I traveled to Germany in September of 1953 onboard the USS Butner. I was assigned to the 443rd Ord Ammunition Company then headquartered at Munster, Germany (near Darmstadt) with ASPs in Vilseck, Wildflecken, Hohenfels as well as Munster.

I served as personnel NCO until I rotated back to the States onboard the USS Rose in January of 1955.

In the fall of 1953 company headquarters was moved to Vilseck, Germany. I have a roster and history of the company during this period if anyone is interested. The narrative is 3 pages long and attached I have the roster of the various sections and ASPs. This is another 4 or 5 pages.
(Source: Notes from my trip to the USAREUR Military History Office in the early 1980s)
The 443rd Ord Ammo Co arrived at Bremerhaven on the 22nd of May, 1951. The Battalion was subsequently assigned to the 7th Army and stationed at Froman Kaserne in Ludwigsburg.

MISSION:
- to receive, store, and issue (conventional) ammunition to 7th Army units

On 1 June 1951, the Company was further assigned to the 37th Ordnance Bn (Ammo). On 27 June of the same year, the Co was moved to Münster Ammo Depot (near Darmstadt).

The Co was subsequently relieved from assignment to the 37th and reassigned to the 57th Ord Gp (Ammo) and given the mission of operating the following ammo supply points:
  ASP #1 Vilseck
  ASP #2 Hohenfels
  ASP #3 Wildflecken
  ASP #4 Baumholder
  Ammo Depot Kirchheimbolanden
  Ammo Depot Langen
 
On October 20 1953, the Company's strength was reduced (personnel went to the 60th Ord Ammo Co) and it was relieved of responsibility for operating Ammo Depot Langen.

On December 15 1953, the 443rd moved from Münster to ASP #1, Rose Barracks, Vilseck.

On February 5 1954, the Company was relieved of its responsibilities for operating ASP #4 (personnel at ASP #4 were transferred to the 60th Ord Ammo Co).

On July 1 1954, the Company was relieved from attachment to the 57th Ord Gp and attached to the 84th Ord Bn.

NOTE: The ASP consisted of a Headquarters; Depot Section; Magazine Platoon; and Motor Section.
 
(Source: Email from Floyd Earls, 443rd Ord Co, 1951-53; 176th Sig Co, then 545th Sig Co, 1953-54)
I served with the 443rd Ord Ammo Co at Munster Germany from May 1951 until the fall of 1953. I served with the 176th Sig Co (Rep) and the 545th Sig Co (Depot) from the fall of 1953 until I returned to the States in 1954.

I was part of the 443rd Ord Ammo Co that was formed at Fort Bragg NC at the beginning of the Korean war and another Company, the 450th Ammo Co, was our next door neighbor. Our orders were for the Far East and 37 hours away from leaving Ft Bragg the new orders were for Germany.

We boarded the train for New York and later we boarded the MB Stewart for Bremerhaven. On the way over we let the 450th off in France. Later the 37th Ord Bn came to Munster Germany from France with the EOD Squad.

This (Münster) Ammo Depot was a walking time bomb with unexploded ammo left behind by the Germans. The Ammo Depot was never found by the Americans or the British and I was one of the advance party to go there and set up for the 443rd to come in. We had left from Ludwigsburg for this trip.

I later attended the 7th Army NCO Academy 1952 and returned to Munster and was promoted to Staff Sgt and given the 1st Platoon. Our job was receiving, storing and issuing ammo to the 7th Army Troops. Our first job was cleaning up the depot and finding ammo and marking it. One area was a nightmare and later the nightmare come alive it caught fire and we didn't have any type of equipment to extinguish it and the local Germans came in with an old German Army motorcycle half track and done their best they had long poles that look like fly swaters. I will never forget seeing them coming in to the base to help. It later burned out and the 7th Army gave us two tanks with bull dozer blades for future use. That was the only time the depot caught fire.

Later we started getting replacments since all the guys that went over with the 443rd were reservist and they could returned to the States. The 443rd was made up of WW2 Veteran reservist except a few like myself. I had spent a year with the 5th Inf and the 3rd Inf Div training in Ft Jackson and Ft Benning and was released into the reserves and was called back to active duty Oct 12 1950. I chose to stay in.

Most of the replacements were drafted and I remember one very well. I really don't know how they ever let this kid in and they assigned him to my platoon and me I was 21. He was always giving the guys the finger. One day I had to lecture him on discipline. He gave the platoon leader the finger. Our Lt. laughed it off. Later on I had him in tears and we were lucky while we were cleaning and searching for old ammo he called out to me: "Sgt Earls, look what I found". He was waving a German Potato Masher ( hand granade). I called out for the guys to get down and called out to him to stop waving the granade and at the same time not to throw it down. I had him lay it down on the ground and by that time he was crying. I didn't lecture him. He had gone through enough he got the message. Later on he did rotate back to the states and I guess he was giving a medical discharge. I have tried to contact him but I havn't had any luck. I have always said he tried and he served and to me that is all that counts.

I would like to find the records of the 443rd while in Germany. The last place I served with the 443rd was in the mountains near Kirchheimbolanden while building a depot there. Our duties at that time were unloading 15 train car loads of 155's every day and transporting them 15 miles in the mountains and storing them onto ammo pads. Today I have to use tractions and have had to have an operation before I left the military. I am service connected and my claim is 22 years long with no compensation.
Former Staff Sgt Floyd Earls

One thing I didn't mention was when we arrived in Munster there was one soldier stationed there and he had been there for two years. The party I was with went into town and the Germans closed the window shutters. Later on we were accepted by the town of Munster. What they didn't know was, we were all from the south except one soldier and he was from New York. The 443rd was made up of all southern reservist, our CO, Captain Kenny P. Gannam (sp?), was from Georgia (Captian Gannam was Greek and I am sure that is not the way his name is spelled but that is the way it sounded)

When we first went over we had German KP's and at that time I was a second cook and the officers had German waiters, that is all except one - Captain Gannam would not let a German wait on him. He was a WW2 Veteran and he chose me for that job, I never forgot that. As I said before I was sent to the NCO Academy and on to another school in Eschwege, the ammunition school. I later attended a radio repair and was assigned another MOS and with that I asked for and was granted a transfer and that ended a lot of my lifting.
Floyd Earls
 
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