Transportation.

OCCUPATION FORCES IN EUROPE SERIES

On Feb 6 1945, the two existing Military Railway Services (1st and 2nd), which had
operated independently, were consolidated and a provisional headquarters was
established in PARIS (GO#16, ComZ). A director general was appointed to control
of all railway operating units. These functions were further defined and somewhat
modified, insofar as the command responsibilities were concerned, on April 3 1945
(SOP#32, ETOUSA, subj: "Continental Railways"). The Dir Gen, MRS, was then
made responsible for the maintenance of way and equipment and for the operation of
railroads on the Continent.

The Military Railway Service became an exempted command, responsible to Chief

of Transportation, except that the sections of the ComZ had admin authority over the
MRS general courts martial, financial transactions, and the issue of ordinary
supplies. All MRS units, together with some MP units to act as security guards, were
assigned to GHQ, MRS, which in turn reassigned them to the 1st and 2nd Military
Railway Service for operations.

One of the first acts of the new hqs was to divide the operating territory between
the two rail organizations. Boundaries were established on April 6, but the fast pace
of the last weeks of the campaign necessitated changes. The areas in effect on V-E
Day were roughly north and east of PARIS for the 2nd MRS, and south and west of
PARIS for the 1st MRS.

Shortly before the end of the campaign, the 2nd MRS Hqs at BRUSSELS
established an advance echelon at BRAUNSCHWEIG.

Operating Units
The operating unit of the MRS was a Railway Grand Division, usually placed so
that its jurisdiction coincided with that of a base section. Instead of having a fixed
Table of Organization, these divisions were allocated troops on the basis of the track
mileage they operated. With the usual assignment of
three Railway Operating Battalions (ROB)
one Railway Shop Battalion (RSB)
one Base Depot Co

A Grand Division was normally able to perform Phase I operations over 250 to 400
miles.

MRS after V-E Day

On May 19 1945, MRS was established as a separate service command under the
CG, ComZ. Technical control remained with the Chief of Trans, ComZ, operation
and admin control passed, with certain exceptions, to GHQ, MRS, ComZ (Prov),
which had been previously organized. ( Cir 70, ComZ, 19 May 45)
Adv Sec, GHQ, MRS was established in FRANKFURT on June 4, 1945 ( GO#26,
MRS (Prov), 4 Jun 45). The duties of the rear echelon were passed from the 1st MRS
to the Paris Prov RGD, organized on June 1 1945 ( GO#24, MRS (Prov), 31 May
45).

When HQ ComZ was redes HQ TSFET on Aug 1, MRS, was renamed as U.S.
Theater MRS, and was established as a tech comd under the CG, TSFET (
GO#179, HQ USFET, 2 Aug 45).

Hqs of 2nd MRS in BRUSSELS closed on Aug 11 and opened the next day in
FRANKFURT. Effective Aug 15, a new territorial division was made between the
1st and 2nd MRS (1):

1st MRS AOR: France, Luxembourg

Paris Prov MRS Paris, France
2nd MRS (2) AOR: Germany, Austria, Italy
707th RGD Nürnberg, Bavaria
708th RGD Bremerhaven, Bremen Enclave
Belgian District AOR: Belgium, the Netherlands
706th RGD

(1) Listing of RGD units might be incomplete. Still doing some research on this.

With the reorganization on Aug 15, 1945, the railway operating battalions in
Germany under the 2nd MRS were supposed to be:
Frankfurt,
2nd MRS (2)
Germany
Nürnberg,
707th RGD
Germany
712th ROB Mannheim,
inact Dec 9, 1945
(3) Germany
Nuernberg,
750th ROB inact Feb 10, 1946
Germany
746th ROB Munich, Germany inact Feb 10, 1946
Bremerhaven,
708th RGD
Germany
Hannover,
741st ROB inact Feb 10, 1946
Germany
734th ROB Bebra, Germany inact Feb 10, 1946
Frankfurt,
766th RSB
Germany
(2) Currently doing some research to find out if the "planned" organization was
actually implemented. In previous research I have found quite a few additional ROB
and RSB units that served in the ETO until the end of 1945 or early 1946. However,
many of those were probably located in France and involved with the Redeployment
efforts around several ports of France (Le Havre and Marseille).
(3) Based on a poor quality photo copy of the organization chart of the Office of the
Chief of Transportation, COMZ (Jul-Sep 1945). Could not make out if the battalion
listed was the 712th or 722nd ROB)
Also on Aug 15, the Belgian District of MRS was
established, which included Belgium and the Netherlands.
The district was placed under the jurisdiction of the
Commanding Officer, 706th RGD, who reported directly to
the Dir Gen, MRS.

In an agreement with the British opening the rail line of

communications from BREMERHAVEN, US traffic was
allocated by the joint Traffic Allocation Committee with the
first priority to movement of American personnel and
supplies. The line was operated by Germans under
American supervision and control. General operating policy
was fixed by the British Regional Railway Control Team,
which included American representatives.

It was not until Oct that some admin responsibilities were

turned over to the German Reichsbahn authorities. On Oct
24 45, GHQ, MRS was officially closed ( GO#59, HQ
TSFET, 24 Oct 45). Shortly thereafter, 1st MRS was
assigned supervisory responsibility for all US military
railway matters and interests in the liberated areas. and 2nd
MRS assumed supervisory control of German railway ops
in the zone of occupation. Both services were closed when
responsibility for railway supervision passed to the Trans
Div of the US Military Gov't on Jan 1 1946.

Rail operations in Austria

Rail ops in Austria were in Phase III (rail operations turned
over to Austrians) by Sep 1945. Control of Austrian
transport was vested in the Trans Div, US Allied
Commission for Austria.

(Source: Military Railway Service, The General Board Study No. 123)
The basic operating unit in the ETO was the Railway Operating Battalion
consisting of four companies:
HHC in charge of administration, train dispatching, supply, communications,
and signals;
Co A responsible for maintenance of way and strcutures;
Co B operated the engine house and made running repairs of motive power
and rolling stock;
Co C was the actual operating unit, with 50 train and engine crews.

This basic operating unit was capable of operating 90 to 150 miles of track with not
more than one terminal with classification yard facilities. The Bn consisted of 29
officers and 790 EMs.

The Railway Shop Battalion was responsible for maintaining and repairing rolling
stock, and was equipped to serve from three to four ROBs.