270th FA Bn.  ETO. WWII

Dear Mr. Nicely,

Thank you for posting your request on History Hub!

The document included in your post is a copy of an index card from the series titled Index to World War II Operations Reports, 1940 - 1948 in the Records of the Adjutant General's Office, 1905-1981 (Record Group 407). The card lists the records of the 270th Field Artillery Battalion that are available in the series titled World War II Operations Reports, 1940 - 1948 also in RG 407. For access to and copies of these records, please contact the National Archives at College Park - Textual Reference (RDT2) via email at archives2reference@nara.gov.

We also searched the unit records in the Records of U.S. Army Operational, Tactical, and Support Organizations (World War II and Thereafter) (Record Group 338) but were unable to locate additional records of the 270th.

We hope this information is helpful. Best of luck with your research!

Thank you very much for the info.  This will be very helpful when I visit Archives. 

Over the last year or so, I have been able to come up with a decent amount of information about the 270th FA Bn, but seem to have come to a stand still.

I am interested in any info someone may have about the unit, but am most interested in compiling a roster of service members that were assigned to the 270th during its short life.   I have accumulated 237 names so far. (I am not a professional at this, and would love for someone to double check my handy work).   I have gathered names from AARs, google searches, newsletters, etc...

Below are some of the places that have helped me out with my research.  If anyone has any additional places to look, please let me know.

I have visited the Archives in College Park and the websites associated with it.

Controvich Library

Eisenhower Library

Field Artillery Museum at Ft Sill OK

Ft. Benning Library (Donovan I think)

Ft Bragg Library

NC State Historical Archives ( Camp Butner timeframe)

Camp Butner Museum

Of course a lot of Google searches

I have a copy of the book "240" by Elmer Totsch

I have a copy of a pamphlet labeled "The 270th FA Bn in the ETO (Controvich Library)

I have copies of a newsletter they published while at Camp Butner (G.I. Hokum)

I have copies of the AARs the Archives had for pretty much the whole time it was a unit

I have a copy of the Medical Detachment post war AAR

Some random info I got from my mother (her father was assigned to the 270th)

More than happy to share this info with whomever may be interested in it.

Dear Mr. Nicely,

Thank you for posting your request on History Hub!

In case you haven’t already requested them, copies of most of the monthly rosters from November 1912 - 1943 and 1947 - 1959 for Army units are in the custody of the National Archives at St. Louis, MO. For access to these records, please write to the National Archives at St. Louis, ATTN: RL-SL, P.O. Box 38757, St. Louis, MO 63138-0757 or via email at stl.archives@nara.gov. Rosters for units serving in World War II from 1944 - 1946 were destroyed in accordance with Army disposition authorities.

We hope this is helpful. Best of luck with your research!

Brian:

My father was in the 270th FAB, Battery "C" on the survey team.  I've been slogging through the unit history and would appreciate getting access to the AARs that you have.  Are they something you could email to me?

One item I would point out to you that you may not already have seen; the 270th FA Btn  was attached to the 144th FA Gp for most of the month of August, 1944, so from the time that they were activated for combat on 5-Aug-1944 through the Falaise Gap and supporting the 79th ID Seine River crossing at Mantes-Gassicourt.  The California Military Museum has a few good pieces of the history of the 144th FA Gp and, by connection, the 270th.  You can find them at the link http://www.militarymuseum.org/HistoryWWII.html .  I found the personal memoir by Charles Seneteney particularly interesting, especially for the month that the 270th was attached.

I've also found reading the histories of the units the 270th was supporting to be good for providing background and context into their movements.

Best of luck to you, feel free to reach out with any questions or comments.

Bill O'Brien

Thanks for the link, and the tips.   What was your fathers name?   I have accumulated 250ish out of the 450ish names for the Battalion so far, but do not have an O'Brien.  I still have a long way to go with that. I can try to scan in the AARs once I go back to work.  I just don't have the equipment to do it at the house. I will be happy to send you some of the things I have digitized.

Brian, thanks for your response.  Hope you are able to safely return to work very soon.

My dad's name was James O'Brien.  He joined the 270th in February 1944 at Ft Bragg and, other than a couple detachments to the 243rd FAB, was with the 270th until July 1, 1945 when he was transferred to the 243rd.

I am spending this time going through my Dad's letters to my Mother (fiance at the time) and have come across a few other names of soldiers who were with him in his Survey Section for Battery "C" in August 1944:

Sgt Patterson

Cpl Jim Graves

Cpl Spradlin

Cpl Dan Bloom

Pfc Jim Kidwell

Pfc Parker

Also mentioned (not sure if these individuals were in Survey) are Lt Roslund and Sgt Lidgard.

Here's a couple photos with caption on the back:

First picture is "Early Dec, 1944 - Furweiler, Germany  Oszusrulri (sp?) radio, JJ (My Father James J O'Brien), "Little Porky" and Venerable".  My Dad is 2nd from the left, looks like he left one name off. 

2nd photo is "Betting France, Jan, 1945  Sgt Wolny posing with a 240 projectile"

I'll pass along any other names I come across in my readings.

Best of luck,

Bill O'Brien

Bill

Thank you for the info and the photos.   I am truly thankful for the help.

Some things that may be of interest to you.

LT Roslund is   1LT Iver Roslund   He was the Asst Battalion S-2 (Intel section)

SGT Lidgard was Wounded in Action Aug '44 by enemy aircraft strafing.  He was C Btry crane operator

Staff Sgt Jerome Wolney

I have a August Oprzadek listed as a cook for the Battalion.  Wonder if that is him in the photo next to your dad with the knife and the pig.  Maybe prepping dinner?  LOL

if you would like, I can e-mail you my history document I have been working on. Its not very well organized, but has a lot of information about the Battalion. Its still a work in progress too.    I am headed into work tomorrow and hopefully will find some time to scan the AARs.

v/r

Brian

Brian:

Your response is very interesting, thanks for fleshing these gentlemen's names out. No doubt you're right, August Oprzadek is the man with the knife and, like you say, they ate well that evening!  Below find my Father's captions on the back of these photos.

I would love to see your "history document", I'm also working on one that is, to put it mildly, a mess.  I am attempting to put the Battalion's movements together with my Dad's letters to my Mom, along with any other detail from the 270th ETO pamphlet, "240", XX Corps docs, and any other pertinent histories like the 144th FA Gp info.  With the censorship in effect my Dad's letters during the "Somewhere in ___" phases are light on details.  But he put together a 16 page letter that goes from joining the 270th in Feb '43 through July 1, 1945 when he was transferred to the 243rd FA Bn.  I would be happy to share what I have with you as well. 

Cheers!

Bill O'Brien

Bill

If you want, shoot me an e mail and I will push some things I have digitally to you.

between your stuff and mine, we may be able to piece together a pretty neat story.

v/r

Brian