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Re: Seeking records of Headquarters & Headquarters Company, 1st Engineer Special Brigade
Rebecca Collier
Nov 17, 2020 7:56 AM
Dear Chris Parris,
Thank you for posting your request on History Hub!
We searched National Archives Catalog and located the World War II Operations Reports, 1940-1948 in the Records of the Adjutant General's Office, 1917-1985 (Record Group 407) that includes records of the 1st Engineer Special Brigade. We also 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) that includes a 1st Engineer Special Brigade History. For access to these records, please contact the National Archives at College Park - Textual Reference (RDT2) via email at archives2reference@nara.gov. We were unable to locate specific records of the Headquarters and Headquarters Company. Records of lower echelon units sometimes were incorporated into the files of the brigade.
In addition, we located the series World War II War Diaries, Other Operational Records and Histories, ca. 1/1/1942 - ca. 6/1/1946 in the Records of the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations (Record Group 38) that includes the ARMY, 1ST ENGINEER SPECIAL BRIGADE, HDQTRS - Report of operations in the invasion & occupation of the Okinawa Gunto, Ryukyu Islands, 4/9/45 - 5/31/45. The report is digitized and available using the Catalog.
Next, we located the series U.S. Army Signal Corps Photographs Of Military Activity During World War II and The Korean Conflict, 1941 - 1954 in the Records of the Office of the Chief Signal Officer (Record Group 111) that includes 11 file units of 1st Engineer Special Brigade.
The photographs are digitized and available using the Catalog. For non-digitized photographs that may include the 1st Engineers, please contact the National Archives at College Park - Still Pictures (RDSS) via email at stillpix@nara.gov.
Lastly, we located the series Moving Images Relating to Military Activities, 1947 - 1964 in Record Group 111 the includes the digitized film 82ND AIRBORNE COMES HOME AGAIN, ST. ERME, FRANCE (?) ; 1ST ENGINEERS SPECIAL BRIGADE DEDICATION CEREMONY, UTAH BEACH, NORMANDY, FRANCE. The film is available using the Catalog. For possible non-digitized films, please contact the National Archives at College Park - Motion Pictures (RDSM) via email at mopix@nara.gov.
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, RDSS & RDSM. We apologize for this inconvenience and appreciate your understanding and patience.
We hope this is helpful. Best of luck with your research!