TRANSPORTATION CORPS U. S. ARMYThe 722nd Railway Operating Batialion was organized cind activated on December 14th, 1943 ot Fort Sam Houston, Texas. Most of the men who formed this battalion came from Camp Plauche, Louisiana, where they were in a provisional unit and awaiting assignment. The Battalion was sponsored by the Seaboard Airline railroad and many of the officers in this battalion worked for this railroad company in civilian life. Basic training began on January 3, 1944 at Fort Sam Houston. After four weeks of rooki training, which consisted of body building exercises, various drills and other classes on mili- tary training (Much stress was placed on military ‘courtesy and discipline). The battalion marched to Camp Bullis where the rifle range was located. The distance from Fort Sam Hous- ton to Camp Bullis was 21 miles and they can proudly say that all of the men of Company “B” completed the march, even though it was the first time that such a long march was attempted by them. |t was a bright and sunny day when they arrived at Camp Bullis and the men wéAe very tired but in high spirits. Each of them were assigned to a cot in a six man tent and at that fit every- ‘one thought that this was roughing it, little dic they know how hard outdoor life can really be. They spent two weeks at the rifle range, where they fired the Springfield rifle for record and the men made a fine showing for themselves: Many of the men had never fired before and it was surprising the way these men handled the rifle, and their scores were amazing. This was the result of the careful and deliberate training that they had previously received. In the meantime ‘the weather took a turn for the worse and it rained almost continually. After they had completed their work at the rifle range they spent the next nine days and nights. marching during the day and bivouacing at night, this was one Phase of their basic training that some of the men will never forget, here they learned what living in the rough wos most of the time and all through this trying period, it can truthfully be said that the men “took it” in a fine soldierly form. At times there was a little griping by the men, but this is ever present in the Army. The old saying goes shat a soldier who gripes and talks about his wife or sweetheart in the same breath will make a good soldier. On the tenth day the Company got up about 4:30 o'clock in the morning and the orders were to march back to Fort Sam Houston. As they were formed and waiting to move off a sudden squall came up and they were all soaked, They then moved off on their long march back to thei destination. Up to this time this march was the most tiring and gruelling one that they ever had, and what made it bad was that they were all soaked thiough to the skin before they started. The com- Pany arrived at Fort Sam Houston at noon that day and every man just dropped on a bed and slept the sleep of the weary.This comploted their basic training, On March 3rd, 1944, the Company left Fort Sam Houston and moved to Fort Benning, Geor- ‘sia where it was to be billeted during the period of technical training. Technical training began on March 6th, 1944 and the Company trained at the Central of Georgia railroad shops in Columbus, Georgia and Macon, Georgia. Here each man was ox sianed to a civilian employee, who in turn taught the men all that they: could possibly absorb in the short time that the company was there. Much credit should be given to these civilian em- Ployees who spent a lot of time showing the men how to repair engines and cars. These civil ns displayed @ great amount of patience and were courteous in every respec. i important part of their training because this was to be their job over- eas, and even though many of the men were not railroaders they learned their various jobs very rapidly. They were very much interested in their work and showed a willingness to learn, Technical training was completed on July 25, 1944, then preparations were started for the cverseas movement. They had clothing inspections anbother types of inspections and then on August 2, 1944, moved to Camp Shanks, New York which was the port of embarkation, The stay at Camp Shanks was a short one, it was about one week and this was another week full of shake downs and inspections. The Army inspectors left no stone unturned to see that the company was properly equipped before it left the United States. company 'B” left Camp Shanks on August 10, 1944, and proceeded by train to New York ity where they boarded the Army Transport S.S. Alexander. The ship stayed in New York harbor that night and the next morning moved down the Hudson river on its way 10 a ‘destin, tion unknown, he ship joined « huge convoy at a prearranged rendezvous and there was ample protection in the form of destroyers and airplane carriers and everyone fel fairly safer The hip across the Sezer wes the first one for almost all of the men and it was a pleasant one, dee to good Weather. There were only a few cases of seq sickness. It was very erowded on the boalt ket day. This was a Precaution against enemy attack, There was a variely of entertainment in the form of movies, cond wrestling. The boys spent much of their time either playing cards or having, bull sessions, some of these bull sessions were really something to hear. | believe tht ell cf the ‘men will always remember this trip across the ocean, Ireland was sighted on the 22nd day of August, 1944, and it was good to see land ‘again. The ship docked at Liverpool, England on the 23rd of August and the Company marched threugh {own toa railroad station where they boarded a train, which was bound for Southampton, TheFide through England was very interesting and it was enjoyed very much. The English country- side wes very picturesque and quaint. The company arrived at a bivouac area near South. cmpton, England on August 25, 1944 and bivovacked there overnight. The next day the Com- pany boarded the H.M.S. Cheshire and sailed across ‘the English Channel to France. The cross- Ing required 24 hours. The ship anchored in a bay off the coast of France. The Company landed on the Utah beachhead on the Normandy peninsula on August 26, 1944 and marched inland to abivovac area, They: stayed in this area near Fougarville, France for three days and August 29, 1944 moved to Chef Dupont, France and entrained on the famous 40 and 8 box cars. Every seraatuyFemember the ide in these cars, as it was ther frst experience with war lime ransyor, {ation by railroad. "For four days each car held 30 men, who ate and slept and lived in then: On the outside of each car was printed the famous [Ayftommes oux 8 Chevaur.” Forth likes of the men they could hardly understand how eight horfes could be put into the cars, let alone 30 men. It was on this trip that the men showed their ingenuity, preparing their meals and also learning the many possible uses of the steel helmets. Here also the great American sense cf fiumor Kept the men in good spirits and a feeling of comradeship wes born, which was to carry them through the many trials of war. Friend-ships were formed and became s0' strong thel men who but a short year ago were strangers had become as close to one anoth as blood brothers. As the train rolled along the men stood at the open doors and looked out upon the destruc: tion that had been piled up by the American forces. This was the frst time they had seen just What conditions they would have te: work under. At each station French civilians would gcther The ee Fal ae tay times the men would share their rations wth the children, ‘ow geateful {he men fel, knowing that this destruction was in Europe and not at home, i was e core sight to see old folks and children looking. around in the wreckage of thelr homes for something fo-salvage, yes, this trip made a big impression on the men, which they will never forgetLE MANS, FRANCE rige ComPany arrived at Le Mans on September 1, 1944, and took over a group of buildings which wore fo be used at living quarters. These same buildings were formerly seed by Ger mon troops and there was much evidence that these Germans had to leave in hurry. a Alter a survey ofthe local roundhouse and the surrounding yards, which were in shambles, Sompany “B* went to work. Another railroad battalion was here and also a heavy shop hatte ior ics i operation. Coaling the engines was the problem here, the coal hopper wes bacly wracked and all of the engines were coaled by hand. This was a slow process tnd ow advan, ing Armies were clamoring for supplies. Something had to be done to relieve this situction ome old cranes were available, but they kept breaking down almost every day, which made them practically useless. The answer of the problem was to repair the coc! hopper, ‘The nos tackled this Herculean task and in three days had the coal hopper in shape so thet it could be used again, and the engines were rolling off the line. This was the first of the many outstanding feats that Company “B” accomplished. in this war.a NARA CHARTRES, FRANCE The Company arrived here on September 11, 1944 and this was the first terminal that was completely under control of the 722nd Railway Operating Battalion. This town was the last main military coaling station on the line to Paris. This place was in fairly good condition, due to the fact that the French underground patriots had seized the ter- minal before the Germans could destroy it. The men gained much valuable experience on “G.I.” engines here at Chartres. This town was the site of one of the main battles on the road to Paris, here the famous French Maquis did o + «wonderful job of harassing th cat every turn. Chartres is also the home of one of the many beautiful Cathedrals that are in France. Our armies were advancing so rapidly, that we were hardly settled when we were ordered to move forward. Company “B” left this town on September 20, 1944 and moved on to Liege, Belgium.rerun ewes: UEGE, BELGIUM .ge was only twelve kilometers (8 miles) from the front line, where the German Army was making a firm stand before Aachen, when Company “B” arrived on September 23, 1944, As the Company rode through the streets, they received a very hearty welcome from the citizens of this newly freed city. In many parts of the city American soldiers were stil clearing out snipers from their nests. Here the company had its first experience with air raids and buzz bombs, these buzz bombs would drop in and around Liege at the rate of two an hour and the air raids were all night _ affairs. The station here was being used as a loading point for hospital trains, which were evacuat- ing the wounded from this area. These trains were serviced by Company "BY cor inspectors as they were being loaded, in this way valuable time was saved in speeding the wounded to gen- eral hospitals. ‘After a survey of the local roundhouse and car sho} use Liege as a railhead ot this time, so Company “B” The Company left Liege on September 29, 1944, ps, it was decided that it was impossible to "was ordered back to Valenciennes, France.VALENCIENNES, FRANCE this terminal. The roundhouse was the Pttely destroyed, nevertheless operations were sarted end arn work had to be done in the open, weather conditions notwithstanding, They receive French, who were willing to do'more than their shen d wonderful cooperation from the In tho meantime a force of engineers had cleared and repaired the local airport, and on Octo- ber 18, 1944 fleets of C47 planes began to unload important by rail to General Hodges and his First Army. the engines got their monthly boilerwash and checkup. The When they opened this shop and the local citizens gave the, of cut flowers, this:was an expression of gratitude, because American soldiers. supplies, which were trans-shipped 1944 a small roundhouse on the outskirts of town wos taken over ond here A this point, in anticipation of further movements it was decided to move the Company into box cars. A train was made up which consisted of three shop, @ supply in. The mobile shop section consisted of Sycunchouse office, a car shop office, two machine shop cars, one blacker car, one wel Car; one electric shop car, one carpenter shop cat, one paint shop cor and completely equip- ped power plant. The supply section consisted ‘of ten ce orderly room car, a kitchen car, a dining car, two officers’ ser 25 cars which were living quarters for the men, Electr Painted inside and out. The men were permitted to furnich men used their ingenuity to make their cars as comfortable o Living in boxcars had been frowned upon by high Army changed the opinion of these offi "5, which carried everything that jobs. The living quarters section consisted of an 5, @ railroad operational car, and ights were installed and the cars were the cars to suit themselves, and the s possible. officials but subsequent inspection Is. The train was highly recommended for the manner in which it was furnished, for its appearance and cleanliness, ued for ie mobility. The speed by yihich the company was able to move from one assignment to another eng ‘commence opera- tions hac much to do with the record that was made by Com plished. pany “B” in the work they accom.At this point it was necessary for Company “B” to send out detachments to Mons, _ and Aulnoye, France, to assist in keeping the traffic moving at top speed, Records show that the greatest amount passed through these terminals durin sting Battalion and all this was don Belgivin, of supplies which were to back up our winter offensive ig the time they were operated by the 722nd Railway Oper- 1¢ without one single engine failure or train wreck.a EBS ES NAMUR, BELGIUM 2" Companys operations in Namur, Belgium from November 29, 1944 to February 6, 1945 best shown in an article taken from one.of the leading Army publications, as follows: “Power! Powerl! was the ery, and Power was needed. This was the reason why Company “BY was moved to Namur, Belgtom.” {They arrived at Namur on November 29, 1944, where they found a pile of rubble that was Here they also found about fifty American {and English locomotives, that were either lead, or in need of repair. The reason for thie mac Gtk of Belgian manpower. Hore war the ‘answer to the shortage of power, and the men of i 'm three (3) days they had all the en- sna everthing was shaping up fairly well’ but this ac only the Beginning of their troubles; winter soli eal Irth ft came the cold and freezing woather, many of the locomotives froze, and th in thawir ‘and replacing ~ broken pipes, and many other repairs long with all this, the coal would freeze solid in fee cars, and in some cases it had to be blasted cut of se ‘cars. im greping the hospital trains in good running et this terminal. This was their fst expert Perea @ roundhouse and car shop under fre, ene can be said that the men came through in great style. With all these Cificulties, they turned out nine hundred (900) engines during the month of December, 1944. thi record that is hard to beat,"AULNOYE, FRANCE Somaine, France Hirson, France Jeumont, France Charleroi, Belgium Volenciennes, France Laon, France ‘Once again “B” Company is operating in France. The railroads in France had been turned back to the French for operation, but the job proved too much for them, due to the style and speed of American operation of railroads. Locomotives were breaking down, supply and coal trains were delayed and conditions in general. were very poor.’ So the 722nd Railway Operating Battalian was assigned to operate what was at that time one of the longest railroad divisions in the European Theatre of Opera- "tions. On February 6, 1945 one half of the company made headquarters at Aulnoye and the re- mainder of the company was dispatched to various points along the line of operation. Slowly but surely the situation was clarified until by April 1, 1945 the French were able to handle things entirely by themselves with American general supervision.The spring offensive of 1945 had started and was poised on thet west bank of the Fan ita the fime between the stopping of Von Runsted’s final attempt to plorce he Aled ines and March of 1945, a tremendous amount of supplies had been brocght up for the great fo Germany and the end of the war. The first bridgehead across the Shine River was accomplished in March, 19. advanced so rapidly that the plans which een made for the supporting troops and supply line troops had to be seveneeer ns eat immediate needs. Cn the morning of April 15, 1945 the 722nd Railway Operating Battalion wes ordered to Froceed to Germany to commence operation of captured German railroads, ine thers na (2 the men, the Commanding Officer of Company "8 gave them an idea of atc) co expect and under what conditions they wou'd probably be work’ penta @ chance to see just how destructive war can really be, It wos soled when most of the flotiruction was in the big industrial cities, auch as Saarbrucken, Maing ana Frankfurt. As the Train Passed through the countryside, soldiars expressed with wonder the beauty of the farms Ai the train advanced closer to the point of operation, bridges had to be replaced and the 1 Thay ePaired. The 722nd Railway Operating Battalion crowed the thie River on April 17,1845 at Mainz, Germany, over a bridge that was dedicated to Freld Roosevelt; this bridge hod been built in the tecord time of nine days, and General fennt Was present at the dedication ceremonies. Heo om this tip thatthe valve of this type of a train proved itslf, for ot no time during the cntize fourney did the men suffer from any inconvenience, there wen, op Ci fimes a sufficient ‘mount of purified drinking water, cooked meals, and comfortable sleeping quarters Jeja rete pence meses KASSEL Marburg Warburg Bielefeld Company “8” commenced operations of the roundhouse and car shops at Kassel on April 24, 1945,19 days after the city was captured. Kassel was one of the most stubbornly defended citiesffn Germany. Here was located largest plant for the manufacture of Tiger tanks and the greatest concentration of S.S. troops in the entire German Army. lt had been subjected to a terrific aerial and artillery bombardment, experts judged that ninety per-cent of this city was in ruins, but by @ strange stroke of fate, the roundhouse and the surrounding yards escaped de- struction. A survey of the surrounding area showed that many locomotives were hidden in tunnels and some of them were booby trapped. It also showed signs of the scorched earth policy, for many of the engines and cars had been destroyed by the retreating Germans. German civilians were hired to work under strict American supervision and in a very short time this terminal was operating effectively. In the meantime a detachment of roundhouse and carshop men had started work at War- burg ond as progress was made additional terminals were opened at Marburg and Bielefeld «and supervised by men of Company "B." German personnel were very co-operative cind they did their utmost to carry out the instruc- Jion of their American supervisors. However one of the biggest drawbacks was the type of coal that the Germans had available, they had been using as a substitute and it burned very rapid- |y, making ito problem to keep a fire going in the engines, in spite of the handicaps it was not long before twenty-five locomotives a day wore being handled here. Germany's surrender on May 8, 1945 was greeled. by everyone with a feeling of gladness cond hope, for this news meant one step closer to home, The tempo of work increased three. fold through ihe necessity of redeployment of men and moteriais to the States and the Pacific, Al the time of the arrival in Kassel, iw. red that an underground city existed under the foundations of the railroad station. This had been built for the express purpose of pro- tecting the people and continuing the normai functions of the city. This underground city was four floars deep and extended ovt for a half mile In all directions, it had @ private hospital, an immense electrical plant, « huge heating plant, large storage rooms, individ- ual apartments and feeding and sieeping accammadations tor thence There were coveral of theseBREMEN BREMERHAVEN, The ending of the war was the signal for Company "B” to move again, and so, on to Bremen and Bremerhaven, Germany. Bremen and Bremerhaven wey selected by the Allied Commands as ports for the Ar ‘Army of Occupation and the 722nd Railway Operating Battalion was picked to work junction with the Bremen Port Command and organize all the railroad facilities in that area. Company “B" left Kassel on May 20, 1945 and arrived at Bremen and Bremerhaven on May 24; 1945. This time the trip was uneventful with the exception of two bridges that had to be built before the Company could continue on to its destination. In this part of Germany all of the bridges were demolished by the retreating Germans, who were trying to slow the American advance, but to no avail. “Upon arriving in Bremen, a survey of the roundhouses and carshops and yards was launched immediately and every! was found to be in very good condition. The only difficulties en- countered were that the electricity was turned off and there wasn't any coal. These things were soon taken care of and the first train left Bremen on May-30, 1945 and was bound for Bremer- haven. Within two weeks the yards were teeming with activity as American boats were unloaded and supplies were rushed by rail to the American zone of occupation. Detachments of Company “B” men were placed along the line of operation, which at one time exceeded 400 miles, and the plans of the Military Railway Servite were put fo work. Little by little more civilian employees were added and put under strict American supervision, until on September 1, 1945, when it was decided that it would be possible fo start to release men for discharge. The first contingent of men were released from active duty with the 722nd.Railway Operating Battalion on September 19, 1945 on the first leg of their journey home.POEM It was the day before Christmas in forty-four, Hearing a roar we rushed to the door; Then out of the west, just coming in sight, The Americans and Germans were in a dog-fight. There were only three Jerries as far as we could tell, But they seemed to us rookies to be doing right well; But we learned a lesson in a very short time, And that was the Americans were superfine, These three Jerries were not out to bluff, They gave all they had, but it was not enough; For our American fighters bore in on the three, And just what happened was hard to see. For before they had time to come very close, Two of the Jerries had received their dose; Then out of the clouds they came tumbling down, ao And burst into flames as they struck the ground. That left only one and bp put up a fight, And the stunts that he pulled were a sight), Although he seemed to be very cleve He waited too long to pull the For two of our fighters got on to his tal, And these two fighters sure carried the mail, { With one perfect burst they landed on Jerry, And he departed this world in one awful hurry.Ib BATTLE of the BULGE 16 Dec. 1944-16 Jan. 1945