'Allo, 'allo, 'allo.
Last night I went to bed with a list of things I knew I needed to do today. I went to bed all like "Yeah! Damn right I'll do all that work and feel like I've achieved something tomorrow! Nothing's gonna stop me, man, I'm a freakin' machine!" And then this morning I woke up with super-villain hair, one eye bigger than the other, cursing the sun and the chirpy birds. That list I'd thought of had been mentally torn apart with my teeth, whilst reciting an indiginous hunting chant of some sort. Well, that's what it felt like, any way. I started reading Lord Of The Flies for my English work in September. That was gripping.
Inevitably, I put that down.
You know, there's this little pill box in a field a few hundred yards from my house. One from the second world war. Mum reckons it's haunted, and my dog doesn't like it either. There's definitely something weird about it. So after I had finished exploring inside (it was pretty much empty except for an old mat at the entrance) I went back to t'interwebs to find out which US army bn. had been camped in Maiden Newton during the second world war. I looked through all the records and whatnot and apparently there were the 453rd AAA AW Battalion and 55th Quarter Master Base Depot. With my pro interweb 'intense research' I even found pictures of them training in Fort Something-or-other in America. Nifty, eh?
Instead of German we studied the 453rd AAA AW Bn today, chaps. And it was lovely, sir.
Daphne.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
My grandfather served in the 453rd. We're from Ohio. He survived WWII thankfully. Do you have a picture of this?
ReplyDeleteMy grandfather served in the 453rd. We're from Ohio. He survived WWII thankfully. Do you have a picture of this?
ReplyDeleteOh wow! I'm glad you got in touch, here follow these links to see pictures:
ReplyDeleteBattery A http://83rdinfdivdocs.org/documents/453rd/453rd_AAA_AW_HQ_1943.jpg
Battery B http://83rdinfdivdocs.org/documents/453rd/453rd_AAA_AW_B_Battery_1943.jpg
Battery C http://83rdinfdivdocs.org/documents/453rd/453rd_AAA_AW_C_Battery_1943.jpg
Battery D http://83rdinfdivdocs.org/documents/453rd/453rd_AAA_AW_D_Battery_1943.jpg
Article in Spearhead magazine http://83rdinfdivdocs.org/documents/453rd/453rd_Spearhead_1.pdf
Article in Thunderbolt magazine http://83rdinfdivdocs.org/documents/453rd/453rd_Article_Thunderbolt.pdf
Volley ball team! http://83rdinfdivdocs.org/documents/453rd/453rd_VBall_Team_small.jpg
They were stationed in my village in southwest England for a while before D-Day and sailed from Weymouth (about 15 miles away)- in fact there will be a big D-Day memorial weekend in Weymouth in a few weeks with re-enactors and vehicles and weapons on display, and of course a dance! I will post some pictures afterwards if you'd like to see them.
Anyway, when they landed in France they were eventually attached to the 83rd infantry division, they fought in Europe through to Germany, and were eventually deactivated in 1946, but then activated again in 1952 in Ohio. I hope this was useful to you!
I would love to see your pictures! I'm so excited, thanks for your reply! I will call my grandfather today, and share this with him
ReplyDelete