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Engineers in the European Theater
US Army, Europe
Looking for more information from military/civilian personnel assigned to or associated with the U.S. Army in Germany from 1945 to 1989. If you have any stories or thoughts on the subject, please email me (webmaster).

Early Years (1950s)

The 1960s
Engr Cbt Gp
 Engr Cbt Bn, Army
Float Brg Co
Panel Brg Co
Lt Equip Co

The 1970s
ADM units

The 1980s


 
The Early Years
1948
(Source: THE MILITARY ENGINEER, December 1948, Society of Military Engineers, Wash. D.C.)
Engineer Activities in Germany

 
On September 26, the 547th Engineer Construction Battalion, assisted by the 552d Ponton Bridge Company constructed a ponton bridge across the Rhine 2½ miles south of Oppenheim. The bridge, 1,000 feet long, was constructed between the hours of 8 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. It was dismantled the next day. In order to construct the bridge, the Rhine River had to be closed to traffic for the period. The Battalion had one day's practice in still water prior to the operation. The river is quite deep at the bridge site with rather rapid currents in the navigation channel. General Huebner and the staff of the European Command were highly gratified over the efficient manner in which the demonstration was executed.
     
  The Engineer Depot at Hanau has collected a vast volume of equipment and supplies left behind by Engineer units. The segregation and classification of the various items have been a tremendous job. The depot is now confronted with the problem of reconditioning the various items of construction equipment. In general thus is being handled by contract with German industrial firms. According to Colonel Martling, who was in command of the Granite City Depot prior to assuming command at Hanau, the Hanau Depot is the second largest Engineer Depot in our Army.
The Engineer School at Murnau is located in the Bavarian Alps, a short distance from the city of Oberammergau, famous for the Passion Play. The principal activity of the school at the time of a recent inspection was conducting enlisted specialist courses for soldiers and German civilians connected with repair and utility work. In addition, certain courses were being conducted for enlisted personnel of the Constabulary to fit them for positions in tactical units, inasmuch as the Constabulary is being converted from a general policing unit into combat units.

Brig. Gen. Don G. Shingler, Chief Engineer of the European Theater, and his officers and men are to be congratulated for their magnificent work, although handicapped by lack of adequate and sufficient personnel. An outstanding example of this is the construction of the runways in Berlin where all equipment and material are being transported by airlift. Working in co-operation with the Air Force, heavy pieces of construction equipment such as D-8's have been transported by air.
 

547th Engr Bn



 
 
The 1960s
(Source: FM 5-142, Nondivisional Engineer Combat Units, March 1961)
   
 
(Source: USAREUR Station List, 31 July 1963)
7th Army Engineer Groups

37th Cbt Engr Gp, Hanau, APO 165, V Corps
540th Cbt Engr Gp, Kornwestheim, APO 154, VII Corps

11th Cbt Engr Gp, Schwetzingen, APO 403, 7th Army Support Command
555th Cbt Engr Gp, Karlsruhe, APO 164, 7th Army Support Command
 
(Source: Email from Bill Hokanson)
As a start, since you are interested, in the early 1960's each corps had a combat engineer group hqs, in VII Corps it was the 540th Engr Gp. Not sure about V Corps, it may have been the 37th?

The 555th Engr Gp commanded non-divisional units that were under 7th Army rather than the corps. There may have been another such group hqs in the north.

The 7th Engr Bde, which had been a ComZ command, succeeded the 540th under VII Corps and the 130th Engr Bde succeeded a group hqs that was under V Corps. The non-divisional corps combat engr bns were,
in V Corps:
54th Engr Bn (Wildflecken)
317th Engr Bn (Eschborn)
547th Engr Bn (Darmstadt)

They stayed about the same whether under 130th Bde or its predecessor Gp, as they did in VII Corps.

In VII Corps:
9th Engr Bn (Aschaffeburg)
78th Engr Bn (Ettlingen)
82d Engr Bn (Bamberg)
168th Engr Bn (Nelligen -- returned to CONUS in 1963)
237th Engr Bn (Heilbronn)

The divisional engr bns were:
V Corps:
23rd Engr Bn (Hanau), 3rd Armd Div;
12th Engr Bn (not sure, near Bad Kreuznach), 8th Inf Div.

VII Corps:
10th Engr Bn (Bad Kissingen), 3rd Inf Div;
24th Engr Bn (Furth), 4th Armd Div.
3rd Engrs, 24th Inf Div, Munich (1).

The construction engr bns, later redesignated (Combat) (Heavy), well suddenly I can only remember the 94th, which was at Nellingen. There were three others, but they don't come to mind at the moment. One was in Ulm, another in Karlsruhe, and the last in the big training area west of the Rhine, which also has slipped out of the memory bank.

Ah yes, the big training area west of the Rhine was Baumholder, and I think the constr bn there was the 293rd Engrs.

CORRECTIONS:
(1) The 3rd Engineer Battalion HQ was at Munich (Henry Kaserne) - not Augsburg as initially reported, although there were two companies of the 3rd in Augsburg (Alpha and Echo).
 
Engineers - Float Bridge Company
 
(Source: FM 5-142, Nondivisional Engineer Combat Units, March 1961)
  Organization of an Engineer Company, Float Bridge, early 1960s

The following pages (below) provide the characteristics and methods of operation of a Float Bridge Company, typically assigned to a Field Army and attached to a Combat Engineer Group in the early 1960s. They also describe in more detail Company Hqs, Equip & Maint Pltn, Float Bridge Pltn and Support Pltn. (Some examples of FB companies in 7th Army are the 93rd and 814th Engineer Companies.)
 
 
 
     

93rd Engr Co (FB)

139th Engr Co (FB)

541st Engr Co (FB)

814th Engr Co (FB)
 
 
Engineers - Panel Bridge Company
 
(Source: FM 5-142, Nondivisional Engineer Combat Units, March 1961)
  Organization of an Engineer Company, Panel Bridge, early 1960s

The following pages (below) provide the characteristics and methods of operation of a Panel Bridge Company, typically assigned to a Field Army and attached to a Combat Engineer Group in the early 1960s. They also describe in more detail Company Hqs and Bridge Pltn. (Some examples of PB companies in 7th Army are the 516th, 530th and 552nd Engineer Companies.)
 
 
     

38th Engr Co (PB)

516th Engr Co (PB)

773rd Engr Co (PB)

809th Engr Co (PB)
  
 
Engineers - Light Equipment Company
 
(Source: FM 5-142, Nondivisional Engineer Combat Units, March 1961)
  Organization of an Engineer Company, Light Equipment, early 1960s

The following pages (below) provide the characteristics and methods of operation of a Light Equipment Company, typically assigned to a Field Army and attached to a Combat Engineer Group in the early 1960s. They also describe in more detail Company Hqs, Equip Pltn and Maint & Spt Pltn. (Some examples of LE companies in 7th Army are the 535th and 568th Engineer Companies.)
 
 
 
     

503rd Engr Co (LE)

535th Engr Co (LE)

568th Engr Co (LE)

807th Engr Co (LE)
 
 
The 1970s
(Source: FM 5-1, Engineer Troop Organizations and Operations, July 1971)
   
Atomic Demolition Munitions
Early 1970s
DIVISIONAL CBT ENGR UNITS
V Corps
Special Weapons Platoon (ADM), HHC Company, 12th Engr Bn, 8th ID(M), Dexheim [--> 6th Pltn, 567th Engr Co (ADM)?]
Special Weapons Platoon (ADM), HHC Company, 23rd Engr Bn, 3rd AD, Hanau [--> 3rd Pltn, 567th Engr Co (ADM)?]
unit had a special weapons bunker a couple of klicks away from Hanau
VII Corps
Special Weapons Platoon (ADM), HHC Company, 10th Engr Bn, 3rd ID(M), Kitzingen [--> 5th Pltn, 275th Engr Co (ADM)?]
Special Weapons Platoon (ADM), HHC Company, 16th Engr Bn, 1st AD, Fürth [--> 1st Pltn, 275th Engr Co (ADM)?]

NON-DIVISIONAL CBT ENGR UNITS
V Corps
567th Engr Co (Svc)(ADM), Darmstadt
509th Engr Pltn (ADM), Eschborn
529th Engr Pltn (ADM), Darmstadt [--> 2nd Pltn, 567th Engr Co (ADM)?]
ADM Platoon, HHC, 54th Engr Bn, Wildflecken
ADM Platoon, HHC, 317th Engr Bn, Frankfurt [--> 7th Pltn, 567th Engr Co (ADM)]
ADM Platoon, HHC, 547th Engr Bn, Darmstadt
ADM Pltn, 58th Engr Co, Fulda
VII Corps
275th Engr Co (Svc)(ADM), Heilbronn
525th Engr Pltn (ADM), Heilbronn [--> 6th Pltn, 275th Engr Co (ADM)?]
ADM Platoon, HHC, 9th Engr Bn, Aschaffenburg [--> 4th Pltn, 275th Engr Co (ADM)?]
ADM Platoon, HHC, 78th Engr Bn, Ettlingen [--> 7th Pltn, 275th Engr Co (ADM)?]
ADM Platoon, HHC, 82nd Engr Bn, Bamberg [--> 3rd Pltn, 275th Engr Co (ADM)?]
ADM Platoon, HHC, 237th Engr Bn, Heilbronn [--> 6th Pltn, 275th Engr Co (ADM)?]
ADM Pltn, 84th Engr Co, Bamberg [--> 2nd Pltn, 275th Engr Co (ADM)?]
SETAF (Italy)
62nd Engr Co (ADM), Vicenza, Italy
Mid-1970s
(Source: USAREUR Station List, 1 June 1976)
V CORPS
567th Engineer Company (Svc)(ADM), Hanau, APO 09165, prob attached to HHC, 130th Engr Bde
509th Engineer Platoon (ADM), Eschborn, APO 09757
529th Engineer Platoon (ADM), Darmstadt, APO 09175

VII CORPS
275th Engineer Company (Svc)(ADM) , Kornwestheim, APO 09165, prob attached to HHC, 7th Engr Bde
525th Engineer Platoon (ADM), Heilbronn, APO 09176

SETAF
62nd Engineer Company, (ADM), Vicenza, Italy, APO 09221, attached to SETAF
 
MILITARY OCCUPATIONAL SPECIALTIES (MOS):

12E -

55G - Nuclear Weapons Maintenance Specialist
Major duties: Supervises or performs organizational, direct support, and general support maintenance and surveillance of nuclear weapons, nuclear weapons trainers, and associated components.
(Source: FM 5-26, Employment of Atomic Demolition Munitions (ADM), August 1971)
   
 

ADM Pltn, 9th Engr Bn (C)

ADM Pltn, 54th Engr Bn (C)

ADM Pltn, 58th Engr Co ?



ADM Pltn, 78th Engr Bn (C)

ADM Pltn, 237th Engr Bn (C)

ADM Pltn, 317th Engr Bn (C)
  
 
The 1980s
1980s
 
 
 
 
 
Related Links:
567th Engineer Company and ADM Reunion web site - page is dedicated to veterans and their dependents who served as MOS 12E's [Atomic Demolition Munitions Specialist] and 55G's [Nuclear Weapons Maintenance Specialist] in ADM units in Europe