2nd Battalion, 604th Engineers Timeline (Based on Maj. Frank Sutton’s Report)

Monday, February 11, 2013

Battalion, 604th Engineers
 Companies D and E (Searchlight Troops), Company F (Surveying and Ranging)

Total of 34 Officers and 772 Men

 Timeline (Based on Maj. Frank Sutton’s Report) -

 August 14, 1918 - Sailed From Newport News, Virginia on Str. “Nederland” at 1:00 P.M. -
August 25, 1918 - Arrived at Brest, France at 8:00 P.M. -
August 26, 1918 - Disembarked at Brest, France at 7:00 A.M. and marched to rest camp beyond Pontanezen barracks where a shelter tent camp was established. -
August 27-28, 1918 - Furnished a working detail of 400 men to the Commanding Officer of Pontanezen Barracks. Topographical survey was started in the area used by the American forces as a camp site and was never completed due to marching orders that came in. -
 August 29, 1918 - Battalion entrained for Langres (hte. Marne) with the exception of three men left in the hospital. The train departed at 4:40 P.M. -
 September 3, 1918 - Train arrived at Langres at 4:00 A.M. with all Officers, Men, baggage, and equipment present except for a suitcase belonging to the Chaplain.

A quantity of surveying instruments belonging to the 29th Engineers found at Brest was also delivered to the organization at Langres. - Upon arriving at Langres, 2nd Battalion ceased to exist as an organization in accordance with General Order #135 G.H.Q., A.E.F., dated August 17, 1918. The necessary transfers of personnel being made almost immediately upon arrival at Langres. - Major Frank Sutton was attached to G-2-C (Topography) G.H.Q., A.E.F. to take charge of the map Section, D.M.E. & E.S., O.C.E., Hdqrs. S.O.S., and also to investigate and report on requests for topographic surveys of areas in the S.O.S. from October 3, 1918 until at least January 13, 1918.

Thanks Brett !

List of Engineer units



Norman Grotte 604th Soldier obit


604th Baseball


Death and burials of some 604th soldiers



Whistler, Clarence O.,
Company C, 604th Engineers 4th Division EC, WWI,
bur. Mar 4, 1968, Sec. E #57
d. Feb 23, 1968, Wagoner,
Custer National Cemetery Crow Agency, Big Horn County, Montana

Boheen, Orville
Co. A, 604th U.S. Engineers, 154th Depot Brigade; World War I
Born Oct. 6, 1888 N.Y.S.
Enlisted                June 1, 1918 Rochester, NY
Discharged June 30, 1919
Died Feb. 18, 1925 at Rochester, NY aged 36
Pittsford Cemetery

Lysle A. Griggs
439249, Maumee, Ohio, age 19 4/12 years, born in Maumee, Ohio, white, enlisted 2 April 1918, at Columbus Barracks, Ohio, in Engineer Training Regiment, Camp Humphreys, Virginia, to 19 July 1917, transferred to Company K, 56th Engineers to 25 July 1918, transferred to Company F, 604th Engineers to 5 September 1918, transferred to Company M, 29th Engineers to discharge, service at Somme Defensive, service with American Expeditionary Forces 14 August 1918-6 July 1919, honorable discharge 14 July 1919.
Letters: April 19, 1918; October 11, 1918; November 1, 1918; February 14, 1919; June 6, 1918

Irvin Johnson Company B

Brett great grandson of Ervin Johnson
writes ...

Hello, I recently came across your site and am very happy to have discovered it! My family and I just recently found out that my Great Grandfather Irvin (Ervin) Johnson served with this unit in Company B during World War 1 and we have been trying to gather more information on this unit.
  I went through some of your pictures and found the roster of the unit and was very happy to have discovered his name listed there. I was curious if you might have any further information on this unit that may not be up on your website? Do you happen to have a casualty list by any chance? According to some family stories, he was wounded by gas while over there and suffered some injuries to his head and face.
 Unfortunately he died in an accident in 1946 and his only child still living was only 6 at the time and she said they never talked about the war or what he did. The only thing they had and passed down was one photograph of him in the Army, his pocket watch he used over there, and the flag that covered his casket at his funeral. Unfortunately none of his uniforms or awards etc. have survived as far as we know.
We have been trying our hardest to figure out if in fact he was wounded and what his unit did over there. If you do happen to have anything else, we would be extremely interested in learning anything further. Thank you for creating such a great site to share and learn more information about these soldiers and their unit! It is really amazing to see such interest and so much information that has been preserved. If you would like the photograph of my Great Grandfather for your site, just let me know. Thanks again,
 

604th Experience Report Sutton

Monday, February 4, 2013

Post card to Frank Smith from sister

604th Candidate Report 1918

604th Candidate Report.pdf by Nancy

604th Engineers Mounted Unit

604th Engineer Roster

604TH ENGINEERS US ARMY WORLD WAR 1 1918 These digital photographs were made possible by Chris Ferrenz. His grandfather kept a wonderful scrap book during his service and Chris has inherited it and generously shares it! (The entire roster was photographed using a high end digital SLR camera - a Sigma SD10 w/18mm lens. Each page was divided into quarters, which means four .jpg files per page; each file is approximately 1.5MB for a total of about 65MB. The .jpg files were copied to a DVD and then I saved them as a jpg on my hard drive and linked them to the 604th web page )

604th Engineers U.S. Army WWI by Nancy

604th photos index: University of Tulsa

Special Collections at University Archives of McFarlin Library University of Tulsa has a set of photos like mine ( of Frank Smiths see photo link ) Here is text index to photos :

Fredrick William Marqueling

Charles writes about his Great Uncle ....

I was very happy to find your website on the 604 Engineers. I just returned from visiting the gravesite of my Great Uncle in Newman, California. While I had visited his gravesite before today and knew that he had served in WWI, I hadn’t written down the fact that he served as a Private with the 604 Engineers, which was on the gravestone. His name was Fredrick William Marqueling.  I’d like to add his name to the list of soldiers on your site that served with the 604 Engineers.

Fred Baxter

Cheryl writes about her her great great grandfather Fred Baxter...

Thank you for responding so quickly.  I was in a hurry this morning when I sent you the information on my great great grandfather Fred Baxter because I was late for work. But I just started doing a little research on Fred and when searching for his regiment/squadron I found your website.  What a neat site!  I'm going to spend some more time today reading about the 604th.  If your interested in more information on Fred (birth, death, parents, children) I can send you that also.

I decided I needed to send a request for his files to the National Archives in St. Louis but needed more information to fill out the request.  That is what started my investigation into Fred Baxter.  Discovered I know nothing about World War I!  So as I was looking for something to read before going to bed last night I discovered I have an article in an "American Heritage" magazine about The Battle of Argonne.  What an awful experience that must have been for our grandfathers!  The article says it was the worst battle in American history.  The little biography I found on Fred correlates with this article.  The American soldiers, 600,000 of them, were thrown into this huge battle with little or no training in 1918.  Fred enlisted in May, overseas in Aug, and was injured by Nov., all in one year, 1918.  But he was one of the lucky ones to survive this ordeal.  I know this is all stuff you already know, but I guess I just felt the need to let you know that I am also inspired by our grandfather's bravery and service to our country.
By the way, I forgot to send you the source for the picture and article I sent you on Fred Baxter.  I don't know if I am citing the source correctly, you can correct it any way you feel the need.

Title:  Williamson County Illinois in the World War 1917-1918
Author:  Hal W. Trovillion
Publisher:  The Williamson County War History Society
Publisher Location:  Marion, Herrin, Johnston City, Carterville, Hurst, Creal Springs, Williamson County, Illinois
Publisher Date:  1919
Call Number:  977.3993 B16w
Repository:  Internet Archive

Pages:  156 & 157

James Benda

Tombstone for James Benda Pvt from Iowa served 604th Engineers

Louis J. Patch

David writes ... My grandfather, from Hiram Rapids Ohio was a Private in Company C of the 604th Engineers.
Only “history” I can share is the story about his return from France. Louie was married to my grandmother Frieda shortly before he was deployed and she lived at home with her parents while he was overseas.

Due to slow mail and poor communications, he arrived home before any news of his return reached her. He simply showed up on her parent’s doorstep late one evening out of the blue. She apparently forgave him for the shock since I remember going to their 50th wedding anniversary in the late 60’s photo of his grave marker in Hiram Rapids.

Pvt. Edgar Lee West



Michael R. Grauer
Associate Director for Curatorial Affairs/Curator of Art
Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum

writes ... We have in our collection here nearly the entire “rig” of Pvt. Edgar Lee West (1893-1948) who served in Company B, 604th Engineers.


                Campaign hat (Smokey Bear hat)

                Dog tags

                Uniform coat and pants with all pins and etc.

                Leggings

                Garrison cap

                U.S. Army Shaving kit

                Ditty bag (non-regulation)

                Gas mask

                Map of France, Belgium, Switzerland, and the Rhine

                Binoculars

** photos coming soon ! 





Andrew G. Aldrin

Katherine , Andrew Aldrin's grand daughter writes... Born in Stjarnsfors, Varmland, Sweden 8-29-1889, Aldrin emigrated to the United States in 1911.

He settled in Minneapolis, MN where he became a US citizen. He was drafted and sent via Baltimore to fight in France. I must rely on "family legend" because I do not have much specific information about his time in the army. I do not know the date he joined the army, nor the date he was discharged. I do know that he was in Baltimore in August 1918 getting ready to ship out when my grandmother, Mabel Esther Lindberg, took the train to Baltimore and they were married.

My mother was born the next May, while he was still overseas.He appears in the 1920 census in Minneapolis, Minn, living with wife, baby daughter and mother-in-law. Aldrin; had three children and nine grandchildren. His daughter, Betty Hench Bentley, is still living and has possession of an album he made with postcards depicting life in the trenches. My aunt mailed me several snapshots of the album, and they depict the regimental colors of the 604th, a Col. Shultz, Lt. Col. Taylor and Major Young, headquarters at Camp Leach, Horses at Camp Leach, digging trenches, rifle range, pontoon bridge building and a Lt. Geary and his army.

Aldrin was mustard gassed in France and spent (I think) from 1920-1922 recuperating in Prescott, Arizona, where my Aunt Betty was born.  He later moved his family to Los Angeles where he attended Otis Institute of Art and devoted the rest of his life to fine art. You can view his paintings at his website http://www.aldrin.org/ or at the gallery in Santa Barbara that carries his estate: http://www.sullivangoss.com/.

Also of interest is his cousin, Buzz Aldrin, second man to walk on the moon.

604th Officers Florent, France Dec 8, 1918

604th Officers Florent, France Dec 8, 1918

604th artillery going into action...


604th dugouts


Camp Leach


604th Roadwork France



Training bridge building Camp Glenburnie MD



604th marching Newport News , VA


Day in Camp


The Range Finder : on board newsletter USS New Hampshire World War 1

The Range Finder : on board... by Nancy on Scribd

Combat and construction: US Army Engineers in World War I

Combat and construction: US Army Engineers in World War I by Nancy

USS New Hampshire Troop Transport ( home )



USS New Hampshire (BB-25)

The USS New Hampshire off New York City
Career (US)       
Laid down:          1 May 1905
Launched:           30 June 1906
Commissioned:                 19 March 1908
Decommissioned:            21 May 1921
Fate:      sold for scrap
General characteristics [1]
Displacement:   16,000 tons (14,500 tonnes)
Length:                 456.3 ft (139.1 m)
Beam:   76.9 ft (23.4 m)
Draft:    24.5 ft (7.5 m)
Speed: 18 kn (21 mph; 33 km/h)
Complement:    850 officers and men
Armament:        

    4 × 12 in (300 mm)/45 cal Mark 5 guns
    8 × 8 in (200 mm)/45 cal guns
    12 × 7 in (180 mm)/45 cal guns
    20 × 3 in (76 mm)/50 cal guns
    2 × 1 pounders (37 mm, 1.47 in)
    4 × 21 in (530 mm) torpedo tubes

Armor:

    Belt: 6–11 in (152–279 mm)
    Barbettes: 6–10 in (152–254 mm)
    Turret Main: 8–12 in (203–305 mm)
    Turret secondary: 7 in (178 mm)
    Conning tower: 9 in (229 mm)

Firing a broadside circa 1918

The second United States Navy New Hampshire (BB-25) was a Connecticut-class battleship. New Hampshire was the last American pre-dreadnought battleship, though she was commissioned two years after HMS Dreadnought.

She was laid down on 1 May 1905 by New York Shipbuilding Corporation, Camden, New Jersey; launched on 30 June 1906; sponsored by Mrs. John A.(Hazel E. McLane) Clark, daughter of Governor John McLane of New Hampshire; and commissioned on 19 March 1908, Captain Cameron M. Winslow in command.
Contents


Pre-World War I

After fitting out at New York, New Hampshire carried a Marine Expeditionary Regiment to Colón, Panama on 20–26 June 1908, then made ceremonial visits to Quebec, Portsmouth, New York, and Bridgeport. Overhaul at New York and Caribbean exercises were followed by participation in the Naval Review by President Theodore Roosevelt in Hampton Roads on 22 February 1909, welcoming home the "Great White Fleet".

Through the next 18 months, she exercised along the east coast and in the Caribbean, then departed Hampton Roads on 1 November 1910 with Battleship Division 2 (BatDiv 2) for Cherbourg, France and Weymouth, England. Leaving England on 30 December, she returned to the Caribbean until arriving in Norfolk, Virginia on 10 March 1911 to prepare for a second European cruise which took her to Scandinavian, Russian, and German ports. The squadron returned to New England waters on 13 July.

New Hampshire trained United States Naval Academy midshipmen off New England in the next two summers, and patrolled off strife-torn Hispaniola in December 1912. From 14 June-29 December 1913, she similarly protected United States' interests along the Mexican coast, to which she returned on 15 April 1914 to support the occupation of Veracruz. New Hampshire sailed north on 21 June, was overhauled at Norfolk, and exercised along the east coast and in the Caribbean until returning to Veracruz in August 1915.
World War I

Arriving Norfolk on 30 September 1915, New Hampshire operated in northern waters until 2 December 1916, when she sailed for Santo Domingo, where her commanding officer took part in the government of the revolt-torn country. She returned to Norfolk in February 1917 for overhaul, where she lay when the United States entered World War I. For the next 18 months, she trained gunners and engineers in northern coastal waters, and on 15 September began the first of two convoy escort missions, guarding transports from New York to a rendezvous point off the French coast. On 24 December 1918, she sailed on the first of four voyages bringing veterans home from France to east coast ports. This duty completed on 22 June 1919, she was overhauled at Philadelphia, then on 5 June 1920 sailed with Academy midshipmen embarked for a cruise through the Panama Canal to Hawaii and west coast ports. She returned to Philadelphia on 11 September.
Inter-war period