My dad's WW2 Army discharge record shows that he sailed on Feb 21 1945 to destination ETO and arrived Feb 26 1945. His return began on Oct 20 1945, arriving on Oct 26 1945. I can;'t find an easy way to trace the names of the boats and the precis

Question

My dad's WW2 Army discharge record shows that he sailed on Feb 21 1945 to destination ETO and arrived Feb 26 1945. His return began on Oct 20 1945, arriving on Oct 26 1945. I can;'t find an easy way to trace the names of the boats and the precise destination. I know he was a weatherman (confirmed by discharge record) and he told us that he was stationed in Greenland. I'm looking to find where and when he was Greenland. Unfortunately. his service records were burned in the '73 National Archives Fire. Any help would be much appfreciated.

Jo Shipley · Answer

Below is a list of the October 26, 1945, Troop Ship Arrivals for various east coast ports. Unfortunately, the 8th Weather Squadron is not listed. I doubt that your father would have been on any of the ships departing from the Mediterranean (Livorno, Marseilles). For security reasons, troop departures prior to the end of the war were not published. 
 
 Below is some general information about Greenland and the 8th Weather Squadron. 
 The 8th Weather Squadron had 46 weather stations scattered throughout the US, Canada, the Azores, the Bahamas and Greenland. Some stations were associated with airfields that served as way stations for the Ferrying Command which flew planes from North American manufacturing sites to the European Theatre. Other stations helped develop weather forecasts for the ETO as much of the weather, including the critical D Day forecast, developed over the North Atlantic before moving east to the ETO. The code name for Greenland was "Bluie" which is used in much of the documentation.

From: Chapter 9: The Early Development of Air Transport and Ferrying, Army Air Forces in World War II Vol. I: Plans & Early Operations, January 1939 to August 1942 Wesley Frank Craven and James Lea Cate 
 "The principal need was to complete facilitie s along a more northern route than that originally put into service by the Canadians and the British in 1940--one that would take full advantage of the steppingstones provided by Newfoundland, Labrador, Greenland, and Iceland for the purpose of ferrying shorter-range planes to Europe. The British and Canadian governments had been the first to develop plans for such a far northern route..... 
 Between March and December 1941, the Army Air Forces had established the framework of a weather service from Maine to Iceland, into which organization were drawn a number of Canadian and Danish stations. ...Thereafter, as new bases were established along the far northern ferrying route, weather and communications men moved in and set up their observation and radio facilities. Ten enlisted weather specialists accompanied the American advance task force into southern Greenland in July 1941. Six of them proceeded at once to set up weather and radio facilities in a tent at BW-1. The other four and one communications specialist were transferred to the Coast Guard cutter Northland and voyaged up the east coast of Greenland to install new radio and meteorological equipment at a number of Danish stations scattered along the coast as far north as Eskimonaes. 127 The Danish stations became an integral and important link in the AAF weather network. Two other American weather stations in Greenland were opened, at BW-8 on the west coast and at B LUIE E AST 2 (BE-2) near Angmagssalik on the east coast during 1941." 
 and from CHAPTER 11 THE AAF WEATHER SERVICE: 
 "The many Atlantic storms originating in the Far North underscored the need for timely and reliable weather data from northern Canada and Greenland. To help fill this gap, six enlisted men accompanied the United States Marine Corps task force that landed at Narsarssuak (BLUIE WEST 1) on 6 July 1941 to assume protective custody of Greenland. Their mission was to establish a weather station and support flight operations at the air base to be built there. Three months later a weather detachment arrived at BLUIE WEST 8, on Greenland's west coast just above the Arctic Circle. This station provided a strategically located post for the observation of air masses moving out of the polar region. Before the end of the year, the third Greenland weather installation was established at BLUIE EAST 2, near Angmagssalik, on the east side of the big island. Danish stations in Greenland, with new American radio and meteorological equipment, became integral parts of the AAF weather net." 
 The following is a list of weather stations in Greenland. 
 From: https://www.warcovers.dk/greenland/units.htm and various brief descriptions of the stations from multiple sources. The web site also has photos of several of the weather stations. 
 CAPE ADELAER 
 CAPE DAN 
 CRUNCHER ISLAND 
 DANEBORG 
 EGEDESMINDE 
 FORT JABIP 
 GRONDAL moved to GREEN VALLEY 
 IVIGTUT 
 IKATEQ 
 IKATEK 
 KANGERDLUGSSUAK 
 MARRAK POINT 
 NARSAK POINT 
 NARSARSSUAK 4-man weather station. 
 July 10th [1945] (A.P.) Colonel Eugene Rice, Commander of the Greenland Base Command, said today a Coast Guard cutter would attempt this month to relieve and evacuate 11 American soldiers trapped in a bleak weather-radio outpost. 
 The men have been supplied by air since Jan 8, when a huge snow slide buried their stores, equipment and all but one of their buildings in Skjoldungen, tiny outpost on the east coast of Greenland. 
 A statement from the command said, "It is believed that the treacherous pack ice will have broken up sufficiently to permit the sturdy C.G. vessel to crash through about the middle or end of July". 
 PRINCE CHRISTIAN SOUND Nick-name: "Hells Corner" the men at this station are isolated, except for radio contact, depressions occur during the periods when ice blocks ship arrivals. They live in sturdy buildings, cabled to the rocks, to withstand high winds that have been recorded at times from 90 to 175 miles per hour. During the 1942-43 season three anemometers and two (weather) instrument shelters were blown away. When a slide damaged the buildings, new materials were flown in by a B-25 medium bomber. The plane made a hazardous 'bombing run' up the ravine, dropped a tightly wired bundle of lumber to the men, and climbed steeply up the face of a mountain to get out of the trap. 
 SIMIUTAK had perhaps 25 or 30 men, including one officer 
 SKJOLDUNGENCOMANCHE BAY 
 WALRUS BAY 
 KANGERDLUGSSUAK 
 SONDRESTROM 
 Other reports of conditions in Greenland: 
 ...EFFECTS OF THE WINDS OF WINTER AND THE MOSQUITOES OF THE SUMMER AT THE SITES. 
 PROBLEMS BECAUSE WEATHER MEN WERE REQUIRED TO PERFORM EXTRA DUTIES SUCH AS GUARD OR KITCHEN POLICE DUTIES ARE REPORTED. 
 MORALE REPORTED SUFFERING BECAUSE OF ISOLATION OF ASSIGNMENTS AND POOR SUPPLY OPERATIONS. SUPPLY SITUATION BAD ENOUGH THAT ONE DETATCHMENT REDUCED TO EATING BEAR MEAT. 
 SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVING EQUIPMENT FOR COLD WEATHER OPERATION OFFERED. 
 
 From: THE MEDICAL DEPARTMENT: MEDICAL SERVICE IN THE MEDITERRANEAN AND MINOR THEATERS by Charles M. Wiltse (Washington D.C. 1965): 
 In addition to the four bases themselves, there were a dozen or more weather observation and radio posts operating out of one or another of the BLUIES. 
 Although the climate was much more severe and the setting far more bleak than anything the men had before experienced, there were no adverse effects on health. There were no indigenous diseases. The native Eskimos suffered heavily from tuberculosis, but contacts between the natives and the U.S. troops were so infrequent as to remove the hazard. The only venereal cases were among those who had been infected outside of Greenland. Respiratory diseases made up the largest item in the disease category, with newly arrived troops the most frequent victims. On the whole, however, the incidence of disease in Greenland was very low. Injuries, directly related to the treacherous and rugged terrain, ship loading and unloading, and construction work accounted for the largest number of patients admitted to hospitals, as well as about a quarter of all those evacuated to the zone of interior. The second largest group returned to the zone of interior, accounting for about 18 percent of the total, were the neuropsychiatric cases, stemming from the prolonged service in an isolated, unpleasant environment, combined with constant monotony and a complete lack of normal social contacts. A general apathy, called by the men stationed in Greenland, "The Arctic Stare," developed in a majority of troops after a years stay on the island. It was notable, however, that even in the most difficult year, 1944, neuropsychiatric cases constituted only about 4 percent of hospital admissions. The suicide rate was also relatively low. Admissions for all causes to the main hospital of the command, the 188th Station Hospital, numbered 1,821 in 1943 and 2,137 during 1944. Greenland Base Command had become primarily an Air Transport Command stopover and a weather forecasting center a year before the ATC assumed full responsibility for all U.S. activities on the island in January 1946. 
 8th Weather Squadron

Textual Reference Branch, Archives II · Answer

Kipman 
 Thank you for posting your request on History Hub! 
 We invite you to continue the conversation with community members on History Hub, but should you have follow up questions for the staff at Archives II, please email us at archives2reference@nara.gov so that we can assist you further. 
 We hope this is helpful. Best of luck with your research! 
 Sincerely, 
 Textual Reference Archives II Branch (RR2RR) 
 [24-21459-REC]

Jo Shipley · Answer

He may have taken a Warrant Officer test. Below are a couple of definitions of the Warrant Officer rank and responsibilities. Both are from documents shortly after WWII but I don't think the role changed that much. Rather, far fewer warrant officers were needed in the post-war Army. 
 "The Warrant Officer is a highly skilled technician who is provided to fill those positions above the enlisted level which are too specialized in scope to permit effective development and continued utilization of broadly trained, branch qualified commissioned officers." 
 Warrant Officers in the Post-War Military Establishment. 
 (1) General. (a) In the post-war Army-, warrant officers will be used in positions requiring technical or administrative skill, and for which the use of commissioned officers is not consistent with economy and efficiency. They will constitute a corps or career specialists. The overall number of warrant officers in the post-war military establishment will be determined on the basis of need, rather than on any percentage basis. 
 Technical qualifications will be determined by written examinations, (AR 610-10) 
 
 TM (Technical Manual) 12-260 Personnel Classification Tests, 1942 
 
 by US War Department 
 
 49. Warrant officer examinations: 
 a. Purpose. &mdash; Applicants for appointment as warrant officers in the various branches of the service are required to pass written examinations as well as service requirements and physical examinations. 
 b. Content . &mdash; The written examination consists of two parts as follows: 
 (1) A general educational examination tests the applicant&rsquo;s judgment and reasoning, powers of comprehension, and knowledge of English, United States history, and contemporary affairs. This examination requires 3 1/2 hours and contains 278 questions. 
 (2) The technical examinations test the applicant&rsquo;s knowledge and technical qualifications for the particular position for which he is applying. Separate examinations are given for each of the various classifications of warrant officers. The scopes of the various warrant officer examinations are given in AR 610-10. Each of these technical examinations requires 1 hour and 45 minutes. They contain different numbers of questions ranging from 16 to 150. 
 c. Scoring . &mdash; All of the examinations, except those for weather , topography, and auditing and accounting, may be scored by machine. The score is always the number right. 
 
 MOS 787: 
 WEATHER FORECASTER (787) 
 Makes or supervises the making of weather observations and forecasts. Supervises the preparation of weather studies, and maps, and prepares forecasts covering particular geographic regions using the latest modern methods of analysis. Prepares climatological studies indicating the probability of occurrence of specific weather phenomena such as ceiling, precipitation, and visibility conditions. 
 In Army Air Forces, instructs air crews in weather observation and interpretation and in proper use of weather service and may assist in briefing flight. 
 Below is an Air Force History Index Search for AFHRA related to SQ-WEA-8-HI, i.e. the 8th Weather Squadron arranged by reel numbers and first and last pages that will hopefully make it easier to find info regarding your father's unit. 
 Greenland 8th Weather Squadron afhi-2024-02-02-02-20-12.csv

My dad's WW2 Army discharge record shows that he sailed on Feb 21 1945 to destination ETO and arrived Feb 26 1945. His return began on Oct 20 1945, arriving on Oct 26 1945. I can;'t find an easy way to trace the names of the boats and the precis

Top Replies

TM (Technical Manual) 12-260 Personnel Classification Tests, 1942

TM (Technical Manual) 12-260 Personnel Classification Tests, 1942