Just had dinner with my father in law, he too was in a CA (costal
Artillery) unit, started out of Hawaii, hit everything you can think
of, Fiji islands, Bouganville, on and on. He does now tell some of
the bad stories, where the Japanese were eating our GI's for lack of
food, and the fun stories, like when he was ordered to use the
spotlight to illuminate a jap position on the mountain which of
course makes a great beacon for bombers.. heh.. and about the
technique used to remove the stench form the latrine (diesel fuel)
and how that one guy let it sit for too long before lighting it off,
and about the "snowflakes" that fell on the Colonel.. heh
Lester
> I suspect one or more of the folks in the Spridget group are WW2
> history
> buffs. I'm looking for help.
>
> My father passed away in 1965 at age 46 when I was in my early-teens.
> Recently an uncle wrote a 4 page history about my dad for my younger
> brother and me. That just got me more interested in my dad's
> history. I
> know he was in the army during WW2 - I have his discharge papers.
> He was in
> Battery A- 744th C.A. (AA). I think he was in the first group of
> GI's that
> went overseas on the Queen Mary and I think he might have been at the
> battle of Milne Bay in Papua New Guinea. The web history of that
> battle is
> strongly oriented toward the Australians part in the battle. The
> battle was
> significant because it showed that the Japanese could be beaten -
> there was
> some doubt up to that point. My dad's unit was harassed by "Washing
> Machine
> Charlie" a Jap pilot who ran his engines out of sync to frighten the
> troupes - as if dropping bombs on them wasn't enough!
>
> I'd be interested in leaning of a document that tells of the
> locations and
> engagements of the 744 during WW2. Anyone know of a good source. I
> have
> requested my dad's service records from the outfit in St Louis MO,
> but I
> suspect that won't be much different than his discharge papers.
>
> Pls reply to me directly - this request is enough non LBC clutter.
> Thanks!
>
> Tim Collins
> Midland, MI
> 1966 AH Sprite
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