424th Service Company / Headquarters Company

[cgrieve]

It seems my Grandfather Sterling Grieve played a part in the Headquarters Company or Service Company (are they one in the same? I dont know, Service Co is listed on his discharge papers but I found a comrade listing him as "Ammunitions Squad, A & P Platoon, Headquarters Company, 424th/106th - See Below)



I also have this picture of him shaving in what looks like warmer weather than what was experienced in the Ardennes during the battle of the bulge. He is with someone that I feel I have seen in other pics of his elsewhere while I was growing up:



Also, my papa with my grandma "Kay" Grieve and some friends. Not sure if they are on leave or if this is pre or post shipping out. I do know that my Papa and Grandma were married sometime between his draft and before he left for the Ardennes... 




Thanks to anyone who may recognize anything about these pictures and people!

[connie]

Hi,

I can be no help on photo identification, but I'll take a stab on the unit identity question you posed at the top of your post. I am somewhat limited here too. Like you, I am learning.

My father was an officer in a Service Battery of a Field Artillery Battalion. So just like your grandfather, he carried multiple identities at the same time. Within his Service Battery there were men who were part of an ammunition train. The Field Artillery Battalion's firing batteries fired their larger guns (howitzers) in support of the Infantry regiments. The list you have appears to show your grandfather's unit assignment identifies in ascending order from the smallest unit to the largest: "Ammunitions Squad, A & P Platoon, Headquarters Company, 424th/106th"


1. Reading it in the reverse order from largest to smallest unit, of course places him with about 14,000 other men (at the time) in the 106th Infantry Division. This you knew.

2. Collecting the next two unit identifications at once, it appears he was in Headquarters Company of the 424th Infantry Regiment
There were 3 Infantry regiments within the 106th Infantry Division -- 422, 423, and 424. Simplifying things (and not mentioning units in reserve within each of these, etc), these 3. regiments were lined up along the front in numerical order from north to south. So your grandfather was within the infantry regiment that was furthest south along the 27-mile front covered by the 106th Infantry Division.

As we go further down the line in the size of the units within an infantry regiment, my expertise grows increasingly more limited. I do know that there were lettered A, B, C, etc companies within each regiment and that there was also a Headquarters Company within each regiment.

3. Platoon: There are several platoons within each company. From what I can glean on some cursory searches I think A & P Platoon may be "Ammunition & Pioneer" Platoon

4. Squads It takes a number of squads make a platoon. The Ammunition Squad fits into the possible Platoon name.


I'll see if I can find someone with more expertise on WWII Infantry Regiment structure to chime in and perhaps verify or correct the platoon name and better define its purpose.

Ammunition of many types had to be picked up daily from various ammunition dumps at some distance from the troops. The ammunition train in my dad's (590th) Field Artillery Battalion Service Battery traveled daily to the vicinity Liége to pick up ammunition and store it in their own ammunition dump seven miles away from the troops firing the howitzers. In turn another ammunition team would pick up daily supply of ammunition from this location. So learning more about where your grandfather picked up his ammo and (and what size ammo it was) would be interesting...

[connie]

Hmm...

I just re-read your question.

The long answer above may have fit with the photo and caption of that published post, but it may have been more educational for me than anyone else.

It didn't really answer your question about Headquarters Company vs. Service Company that you stated (based on the discharge papers: 106thdivision.proboards.com/post/4566/thread
listing him in Service Company, not Headquarters Company.

I'll do some more sleuthing, but I'm hoping that the person with more expertise that I wrote to yesterday will chime in.

Connie

[cgrieve]

Connie, I’m blown away by your thoughtful reply and your research! I appreciate the way you can organize my thoughts and questions- I am very lucky to have found this group!

[connie]

Glad I could help a little. My interest in the stories of the men in the division only grows with time.

Please stay in touch!

Connie