Seeking records of 164th Engineer Combat Battalion

Dear Mr. Wittwer,

Thank you for posting your request on History Hub!

We searched the National Archives Catalog and located a series titled Unit Histories, 1943 - 1967 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 records of the 164th Engineer Combat Battalion during WWII.

The World War II Operations Reports, 1940-1948 in the Records of the Adjutant General's Office, 1917-1981 (Record Group 407) may contain after action reports for the 164th Engineer Combat Battalion during WWII. For more information about these records, please contact the National Archives at College Park - Textual Reference (RDT2) via email at archives2reference@nara.gov.

Photographs of various U.S. Army, Navy, and Marine Corps activities dating from 1940 to 2007 are in the custody of the National Archives at College Park - Still Picture (RDSS). Please contact RDSS via email at stillpix@nara.gov and their web site is https://www.archives.gov/dc-metro/college-park/photographs-dc.html.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and pursuant to guidance received from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), NARA has adjusted its normal operations to balance the need of completing its mission-critical work while also adhering to the recommended social distancing for the safety of NARA staff. As a result of this re-prioritization of activities, you may experience a delay in receiving an initial acknowledgement as well as a substantive response to your reference request from RDT2 and RDSS. We apologize for this inconvenience and appreciate your understanding and patience.

We also searched the Library of Congress’s Veterans History Project and located the following collections related to the 164th Engineers. Some of these materials have been digitized and can be viewed online through their website, to include a 5-page history of the unit in the first collection.

• https://memory.loc.gov/diglib/vhp-stories/loc.natlib.afc2001001.00649/
• https://memory.loc.gov/diglib/vhp/bib/62374
• https://memory.loc.gov/diglib/vhp/bib/54517

In addition, we located the U.S. Army’s Center of Military History’s publication The Corps of Engineers: War Against Germany which contains several mentions of the 164th. We also searched the Ike Skelton Combined Arms Research Library Digital Library and located Report of Rhine River crossings, First United States Army and  Action report - Rhine River crossing which reference the unit.The U.S. Army Engineer Museum may have information about the unit as well.

Finally, we located a newspaper article about a veteran of the unit at https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/05/28/d-day-engineer-built-and-blasted-across-europe/9670071/.

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

The following link is to a pdf file at the Combined Arms Reference Library.  The document, Report of Rhine River crossings, First United States Army., mentions the the 164th Engineer Combat Battalion 4 times

http://cgsc.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p4013coll8/id/3201

see p 87

see p 106

see p 111

The birthplace of the 164th Combat Engineering Battalion is North Dakota. The First Regiment of the Dakota National Guard was created in 1883. In 1917, the First North Dakota Regiment was ordered into federal service and was rename the 164th Infantry Regiment. In 1941, the 164th was mobilized again for WWII. In 1942, the 164th landed on Guadalcanal. The regiment was the first US Army unit to take offensive action against the Japanese in WWII. I could not find the exact year, but sometime between WWII and about 1950, the 164th was changed from Infantry to Combat Engineering.

From 1898 to 1950 (Spanish-American war through the Korean Conflict), the 164 was mobilized for every major war. After those wars were over, the 164 always came back home to North Dakota. John Tuff was the Captain of M Company in the 164th in WWII. After the war was over, he farmed in North Dakota. I grew up on a farm 2 miles away from his farm. I got to know him and his wife Edith very well. They were great people, very kind and wise. He did not talk much about WWII, but the few times that he did bring it up, I got the impression that island hopping in the South Pacific was a difficult and brutal war to fight.

I enlisted in the ND National Guard in the 80's and was a Combat Engineer in the 164th for about 9 years. Because the 164th is so tied to North Dakota, I wonder if maybe the National Guard Headquarters at Fraine Barracks in Bismarck, ND can help you out. If they cannot help you directly, they might be able to point you in the right direction. I hope you find the information about your father that you are looking for. You may want to check out this link:

https://web.archive.org/web/20100812183019/http://www.ndguard.ngb.army.mil/history/164WWII/Pages/default.aspx