Seeking information about the 528th Field Artillery Battalion

Hi, my grandfather was also at Camp Pendleton in the 47th Coast Artillery!  Can you tell me the date of that letter you found?

I've been trying to locate any unit histories about them but haven't found much.

Hopefully you'll have more luck when you visit the archives.

Christine

Hi again Christine, so sorry for the delay, this research happens in fits and starts. I finally got all the letters together so I have a better idea of his movement now. It appears my grandfather started at Fort Monroe, VA, in the Recruit Battalion of the 2nd CA, Battery 2. He then spent a little time on the nearby island of Fort Wohl, and got moved to the Headquarter Battery.

Then I have a letter from April 14, 1943 to his mom where he writes, "We fall out at 7:15 tomorrow morning to go to the other camp. I know all but about two of the fellows who are going so that makes it nice. It is a 155mm gun outfit over there." The next envelope I have is postmarked April 23 from Camp Pendleton and shows him in the 47th CA, so it would appear a large part of the 2nd CA got moved to Camp Pendleton to join the 47th CA on April 15, 1943. This also seems to be what sets them on the path for joining the 528th as that was a 155mm gun outfit I believe.

His letters then show several men were moved by bus in Feb 1944 briefly to Camp Pickett, VA. But by mid-March 1944 they were already with the 528 FA at North Camp Hood, TX. Then I have some large time gaps in letters, but it would appear he stayed there up until they departed October 21, 1944 to head for New York en route to Liverpool.

Unfortunately I haven't had time to read through all the letters yet. We'll be heading to Wales next week to see where they spent a few months in Llanybydder, with some time in Aberystwyth since my grandfather spent a lot of time there while on leave. He has about 8 postcards of the town and was invited to a Christmas dinner with a local family, so it seemed to be a special place for him.

Best of luck and I'll let you know if I find more info.

Hi Nick, thanks for the info.  I came across a wonderful set of records at the National Archives website and found muster rolls for the 47th CA regiment Hq battery, and found your Grandfather Robert Perse!

Here is the website address:

https://catalog.archives.gov/id/371993793?objectPage=855

he is mentioned numerous times, you should be able to track him at this unit, the records go through Dec 1943.

thanks, 

Christine

Sorry, I think that address is wrong.  Here is the correct one:

catalog.archives.gov/.../371993793

Thanks Christine! He seems to be mentioned throughout every 30 or so pages. As far as I could tell it was payroll records though I didn't get very far into the 1000 pages.

Nate

Hi Nate, the records also mention when the men where promoted.  I found them very useful in creating a timeline for my grandfather, and I now know what battery he was with and when he was promoted from Private to Corporal!

Christine

Very cool! I'm happy you were able to find more info on your grandfather. I believe mine was only promoted once (which at least got him out of KP).

Our trip to Wales was fascinating - Aberystwyth (where he spent most time when he had a pass) was beautiful! Unfortunately the contact I made in Llanybydder to get us near what we believe was his camp, flaked out on me after I confirmed the date with him. From what I saw on satellite however, there didn't seem to be much to see anyways. Oh well.

Hi Nate, above you mention several of your grandfather's letters stating that several men from his unit were moved to Camp Pickett VA?  My grandfather was also sent there around that time before being sent to Camp Hood TX.  Do those letters say what unit they were in at Camp Pickett? Was it still the 47th CA?

thanks,

Christine

Just to let you guys interested in the 528th FABn unit that the morning reports are now available to view online at the National Archives website:

catalog.archives.gov/.../463163406

I have some info from that time but sadly there are big time gaps in the letters around then. Here's what I have: Jan 23, 1944 he wrote a letter from Camp Pendleton saying he still didn't know when/where they'd be moving.

Next letter is from a Sunday morning in Feb, 1944, but sadly there's no postmark date and it's one of the few letters he didn't write the date on. This is the last letter I have from Camp Pendleton. So it would've been either February 6, 13, 20, or 27th. I suspect it wasn't the 27th. In that letter he writes, "we are moving tomorrow morning at 9am. We are going to Camp Pickett, Va about 143 miles from here. It is a big camp that can hold 163 thousand men. It is so big that they have several busses just for transportation inside of the camp. It is sort of a replacement training center. From what I understand we will be broken up there on Thursday but am not sure. Capt. Todd is going with us to Pickett so that is one thing good." From the return address, he is still in the Regimental HQ Battery of the 47th CA.

Next letter is from Monday, Feb 28, 1944. He has a return address of Det. A, Coast Artillery Section, 5th Hq & Hq Det., Special Troops, XIII Corps, U.S. Army, Camp Pickett, Virginia. It is the only letter I have from Camp Pickett, and he doesn't have much info. He just wrote, "As yet we haven't received our orders Mom, they were supposed to come today too."

Next letter is from Saturday, Mar 11, 1944. Return address is Service Battery, 528th F.A. Battalion, North Camp Hood, Texas. His note says they arrived in camp by train at "1:15 yesterday morning", so presumably 1:15am on Friday, Mar 10. He wrote, "they lined us up and assigned us to batteries right then and there.".

That's all I have about their movements from Pendleton to Hood. Hope it helps!

I have some info from that time but sadly there are big time gaps in the letters around then. Here's what I have: Jan 23, 1944 he wrote a letter from Camp Pendleton saying he still didn't know when/where they'd be moving.

Next letter is from a Sunday morning in Feb, 1944, but sadly there's no postmark date and it's one of the few letters he didn't write the date on. This is the last letter I have from Camp Pendleton. So it would've been either February 6, 13, 20, or 27th. I suspect it wasn't the 27th. In that letter he writes, "we are moving tomorrow morning at 9am. We are going to Camp Pickett, Va about 143 miles from here. It is a big camp that can hold 163 thousand men. It is so big that they have several busses just for transportation inside of the camp. It is sort of a replacement training center. From what I understand we will be broken up there on Thursday but am not sure. Capt. Todd is going with us to Pickett so that is one thing good." From the return address, he is still in the Regimental HQ Battery of the 47th CA.

Next letter is from Monday, Feb 28, 1944. He has a return address of Det. A, Coast Artillery Section, 5th Hq & Hq Det., Special Troops, XIII Corps, U.S. Army, Camp Pickett, Virginia. It is the only letter I have from Camp Pickett, and he doesn't have much info. He just wrote, "As yet we haven't received our orders Mom, they were supposed to come today too."

Next letter is from Saturday, Mar 11, 1944. Return address is Service Battery, 528th F.A. Battalion, North Camp Hood, Texas. His note says they arrived in camp by train at "1:15 yesterday morning", so presumably 1:15am on Friday, Mar 10. He wrote, "they lined us up and assigned us to batteries right then and there.".

That's all I have about their movements from Pendleton to Hood. Hope it helps!

Thanks, that return address should help me.  I found more morning reports from the 528th, Mar 1944.

Your grandfather is there:

https://catalog.archives.gov/id/465194385?objectPage=578

Hope it helps you too!

Christine

A bit of a tangent but in reading an April 24, 1944 letter he writes about a family friend who "is on the same island that the 47th is on. It is Oahu in the Hawaiians...The 47th isn't called the 47th anymore they are the 32nd and 34th C.A."

This doesn't affect either of us, but it was interesting to hear where the 47th Coast Artillery moved not long after they left for the 528th.

I went to your link above and noticed two pages before (page 576) is the order that reassigns our grandfathers to the 528th after leaving Camp Pickett. I see that same address (Special Troops, XIII Corps) listed on that page. You probably already noticed that but it was an interesting find.

Also came across this record set from March 1944 that mentions my grandfather:

catalog.archives.gov/.../465074543

Still trying to locate the February 1944 record of the 5th Hq & Hq detach that should mention my

Grandfather.  His unit, the 47th disbanded Feb 10 1944, and he was temporarily in this detach unit until he was sent to Camp Hood and placed in the 528th in March.  I know he must have been given a furlough during this time, just can't find that record yet.