Forums - Thread Details
  • State Suggested Answer
  • Replies 17 replies
  • Answers 1 answer
  • Subscribers 15 subscribers
  • Views 31091 views
  • Users 0 members are here
Thread Options
Options
Related

Seeking information about the 528th Field Artillery Battalion

Christine Damato

I'm researching my grandfather's WWII military service, and I'm trying to find information about the unit he was with.

He was a lineman in the 528th Field artillery battalion, Hq & Hq battery.  He arrived  in Liverpool Europe with the unit on

November 13 1944 and  left for the USA on Aug 6 1945 on the Pierre Soule troopship, from Le Havre.

Does anyone have any information on this unit or battery that you can share with me?

Thank you,

Christine

Parents
  • 0

    Hi, Christine. Sorry to be so .one getting back to you. My wife had surgery last week and I have not had time to get back to you. A couple of things:

    I was talking to my younger brother a couple of days ago about you and your grandfather. He has, among other things, a log book of our dad’s entitled “Men Present for Duty”. Your grandfathers name appears at least twice in it. He took a photo of the two pages (and zoomed in on one of the two) and texted them to me. I seem to be unable to attach them here so if you provide your e-mail address through your profile as I have, I can start sending things to you.

    e -mail address that you shared with me in you last post was deleted by the administrator so I have added my e-mail address to “Shared e-mail Address” in my Profile and then clicked on your page to “Follow”. We should be able to communicate directly once you have done the same.

    Just for some background, I was an Army paratrooper with the 101st Airborne Division from 1961 to 1962 as an enlisted man. My younger brother was an a helicopter pilot, Vietnam veteran and retired after serving 22 years as a Lieutenant Colonel. We are very interested in our father’s service so it is wonderful to us that you and I have connected.

    i Have a footlocker full of dad’s papers and memorabilia and I will find time to look through it this weekend. I’m sure I’ll find more about your grandfather and will share it with you. In the meantime, here is a photo of my dad.

    Y ouri I look forward to hearing back from you.

  • 0 in reply to Robert Torrence

    Hi Robert, good to hear from you!  I added my email to my profile so hopefully we can email each other.

    I’m excited that we made contact and that you found something on my grandfather!  Have you ever searched old newspapers for stuff on you Dad!  Newspapers.com has some Ohio newspapers digitized

    and I found a few mentions of your Dad, and I think I found your birth announcement!  I clipped them and you should be able to go to the website and see them!

    here is a picture of my grandfather Peter.

    take care,

    Christine

  • 0 in reply to MikeRust

    Hi Mike, my grandfather Peter D'amato from New Haven CT also served with the 528th.  I too hired Golden Arrow research to locate the unit history of the unit!  I shared it with Robert.  Do you have any other unit histories, from Camp Pickett VA, or any others you can share? My grandfather was in the 240th Coast artillery unit in Fort Levett, Portland Maine, and than the 47th unit, Camp Pendleton, and than Camp Pickett.

    Thanks,

    Christine

  • 0 in reply to MikeRust

    Hi Mike,

    I've recently started digging into my grandfather's WWII history with the 528th and after reading your reply, I think I have a picture of your grandfather from the summer of 1944. My grandfather thankfully wrote everyone's name on the back, and he shows a "Buddy" DiPietro - Cook. I don't have the original photo right now but have a phone pic of it which I'll attach. I'm hoping others might have additional info on my grandfather, Robert W Perse. Thanks!

  • 0 in reply to nhelmick

    Hi, do you have information on your grandfather's military training information, like what camps he did his training before he was placed with the 528th?  My grandfather Peter DAmato was at Fort Levett Maine, Camp Pickett and Camp Pendleton Virginia before being sent to Camp Hood Texas.

    Thanks,

    Christine

  • 0 in reply to Christine Damato

    Hi Christine,

    Unfortunately we haven't gathered his military records yet, but we hope to go to the archives this year. All I have is a return address on a letter to his mom. It was from "Regl. Hq. Battery - 47 CA, Camp Pendleton, VA". So from the 47th Coast Artillery.

    He was from Toledo, Ohio, enlisted in November 1942 with his brother. I don't have all the photos with me, but I did look at all the pictures I have of them and didn't see your grandfather listed unfortunately. I don't think there are many more photos from the military but I'll certainly check them for his information the next time I see them.

    Our family is also traveling to Wales in July where we'll get to visit his first "home" outside of Llanybydder at Highmead. We'll also get to visit Aberystwyth on the sea, a place he wrote about several times and kept a few postcards. Apparently due to a lack of equipment (I think), they had a liberal pass policy when they landed in Wales, so he'd taken a few trips there which he discussed in his letters. In a letter to his mother written New Year's Eve 1944, he tells of a Christmas meal he was invited to eat at a Welsh family home in Aberystwyth with a fellow soldier. He even included their family name and address, so we're trying to track down the family - we've seen a few obituaries of course, but still trying to find surviving family.

    I'll be sure to update to this page when I have more of his military records. Thanks for writing!

  • 0 in reply to nhelmick

    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

  • 0 in reply to Christine Damato

    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.

  • 0 in reply to nhelmick

    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

  • 0 in reply to Christine Damato

    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

  • 0 in reply to nhelmick

    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

Reply Children
  • 0 in reply to Christine Damato

    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.