Had another great day today,
Previously, I posted what a great day I had a while back when my mother called and said she had some photo's for me of my grandfathers service record. I have been trying to piece together my Grandfathers service history to be passed down to family generations.
Today my mom called me again and said she had found some more papers as well as a few more photos relating to Africa, Sicily , D-Day , Belgium , and Germany..
I just finished reading everything from today's find.
Included in Today's finds were:
- My Grandfathers original Birth Certificate,
- Honorable Discharge from the Civilian Conservation Corps 1936 -1938 at 18 years of age to Join the Army. (Join the Army was the reason stated on the discharge).
- Orders dated 3rd of February 1945 , by order of LT. Col Page to award the purple heart to my Grandfather for wounds received at Bullingen, Belgium January 1945. Büllingen was nearly completely destroyed during the Battle of the Bulge in winter 1944-1945
- Original Written citation for his Bronze star for " Courage as a machine gunner" against overwhelming odds in the Kasserine Pass. I can only imagine what went through those boys minds facing Rommel's 10th and 21ts panzer Army divisions that day.
- Various other company level papers now definitely state my Grandfather was with the Golden Lions who fought along side the Rangers and the 26th Infantry not the Blue Spaders as previously believed.
Here is a History of the Golden Lions:
The 33rd Field Artillery was originally organized on 5 August 1918 at Camp Meade Maryland. After being alerted several times for overseas deployment, it was demobilized on 12 December 1918. In the words of the Battalion's unofficial history written in 1950, "The Lion opened one eye, looked around, and went back to sleep." The unit was redesignated on 1 October 1940 as the 33rd Field Artillery Battalion and assigned to the 1st Division (later redesignated as the 1st Infantry Division) at Fort Ethan Allen, Vermont.
After participating with the Division in the "Carolina Maneuvers" and training in England, the Battalion participated in the first of its 3 assault landings near Les Analouses, North Africa. At 0832 hours on 8 November 1942, while firing in support of the 26th Regimental Combat Team, B Battery fired the first US artillery rounds in the European Theater. Throughout the North African campaign, the 33rd Field Artillery continued to support the 26th Regimental Combat Team, including at the battle of Kasserine Pass where the Battalion provided both indirect and direct fires.
On 10 July 1943, the 1st Infantry Division hit Sicily. The 33rd Field Artillery landed at Gela and fought along side the Rangers and the 26th Infantry. The gun positions were less than 500 meters from the sea when the Herman Goering Division launched a counter-attack. "It was either fight the gun or die." Regimental Forward Observers directed the cannon fires and naval gunfire to stop the counter-attack just short of the beach. 8 German tanks were destroyed by direct fire from the 105mm howtizers, while many others were damaged and pulled back.
The 33rd Field Artillery again supported the 26th Infantry throughout the Sicilian campaign. At Triona, fires from the 33rd Field Artillery held back attacks against the 2nd and 3rd battalions of the 26th Infantry, while inflicting some of the heaviest casualties and damage to the German troops in the entire Sicilian Campaign.
The Battalion and battery recon parties landed on Omaha Beach on D-Day, while the rest of the Battalion came ashore at D+1. The landing at Omaha constituted the third assault landing for the Battalion. Those 3 landings are symbolized by the 3 points on the lion's tail on the battalion crest. By the 12th of June 1944, the Battalion occupied positions just North of Caumont. Caumont, held by the 26th Infantry, was the point of deepest penetration on the allied front. By mid-July 1944, the battalion had collected enemy and American guns and mortars to the point that the total number of weapons being fired through the Fire Direction Center totaled 51.
The Battalion continued to fight its way through Northern France, including fighting surrounded during the evening of 3 September 1944, until it was relieved by elements of the 26th Infantry. Over 200 of the enemy were found dead in the area when relief arrived.
In October 1944, the 26th Regimental Combat Team received the mission of clearing Aachen. The 33rd Field Artillery, the Direct Support battalion for the 26th Infantry, had the task of coordinating all the fires from various battalions into Aachen. On 21 October 1944 the city surrendered, thus being the first German City to fall to the Allies.
The Battalion supported the 26th Infantry again during the "Battle of the Bulge." The Battalion helped hold the northern shoulder of the "bulge" against the 12th SS Panzer Division, firing over 4300 rounds on 19 December 1944 and over 4000 rounds on 22 December 1944.
The Battalion continued to move westward, providing General Support fires as the 1st Infantry Division crossed the Roer and Rhine Rivers. The Battalion then returned to its Direct Support role as the 26th Infantry moved out of the Remagen bridgehead. The Battalion eventually found itself supporting the 26th Infantry again as the Regiment took Brocken Berg, the highest point in Germany.
When the war in Europe ended on 8 May 1945, the 1st Infantry Division and the 33rd Field Artillery Battalion had crossed the Czech-German border and was attacking toward Karlsbad. In the 2 1/2 years since landing in North Africa, the 33rd Field Artillery had participated in 8 major campaigns (including Tunisia, Northern France, Rhineland, Ardennes-Alsace, and Central Europe), including 3 amphibious assault landings (Algeria-French Morocco, Sicily, and Normandy). It had accumulated 422 days of actual combat, decorated 655 officers and soldiers, sustained 292 casualties, expended over 175,000 rounds of high explosive ammunition, and taken over 500 prisoners.
