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Helpful ReplyQuestions about my dad's service in the Army Air Forces and Airborne Engineers

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cbidaughter
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Re:Questions about my dad's service in the Army Air Forces and Airborn (permalink)
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Scott,
Thanks for the convoy links.  I had previously looked at these sites, but went back and looked again today.
 http://www.convoyweb.org.uk/ shows convoy UGS 38 left Hampton Roads on April 3, 1944, and arrived Port Said, Egypt on April 28, 1944.  The destination for some ships was shown as Oran; no date listed for the arrival of these ships.
 
On fold3, I recently found the War Diary for the Commander, Naval Operating Base, Oran, which showed that convoy UGS-38 arrived at Oran on 4/19/44.  Listed by name were some of the same ships shown on the convoyweb site for UGS 38.
 
Dad's discharge papers show an April 2, 1944 departure for ETO, with an arrival of April 19, 1944.  He told me that he was at Oran, so it all fits, and I'm satisfied that UGS 38 was his convoy.  However, there are always more questions, such as which ship was he actually on?  Maybe that information can be found in the War Dairy of one of the ships in the convoy.  That project will have to wait its turn, though.
 
Thanks for the links! 
Melinda :-)
 
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25Kingman49
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Re:Questions about my dad's service in the Army Air Forces and Airborn (permalink)
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Melinda,
 
Glad you were able to find the information you were looking for, it is nice when the bits and pieces fit together with different sources pointing in the same direction. Finding individual ships in convoy UGS 38 could be challenging, but there always seems to be a way.
 
Scott
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25Kingman49
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Re:Questions about my dad's service in the Army Air Forces and Airborn (permalink) ☄ Helpful
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Melinda,
 
Well, it could be a shorter list of ships, but these are the ships from convoy UGS-38 as listed at: http://www.convoyweb.org.uk/ugs/index.html?ugs.php?convoy=38!~ugsmain destined for Oran. The ships that are shown not carrying troops I assumed were tankers or bulk cargo carriers, but this may not be true, see:  http://ww2troopships.com/knownships_gm.htm GRENVILLE M DODGE is listed as a possible troop carrier, but may not have been employed in that role in this convoy.
 
I believe these [attached list] to be your target ships, but have no idea how you might place your Dad on one of them. It’s still not clear to me who might be the caretaker of records for troop transport manifest records. There are four entities involved; Merchant Marines crew the ships, U S Army Transport Service owned and operated the vessels, U S Navy and U S Coast Guard supplying convoy protection and escort. Here is another link in the chain: http://www.usmm.org/victoryships.html This Merchant Marine website holds some details about ship designations, but seems to have no information on manifest of troops transported on any given ship.
 
Scott
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cbidaughter
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Re:Questions about my dad's service in the Army Air Forces and Airborn (permalink)
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Hi Scott.
I haven't tried to go through war diaries for individual ships in the convoy, but Dad said he was on a Liberty ship. For all I know, all of the troop ships may have been Liberty ships, but if any are not, I'll eliminate them from consideration.  Then, I'll see if there is any mention of airborne engineers among the troops on board, and look for any other clues pointing to a particular ship.  The list you provided looks short enough that I'll be able to search their war diaries, over a period of time.
 
As for troop transport records, I think I read somewhere that such records were destroyed, so I would be surprised to find any kind of roster.  But, I'm hoping it's possible to at least find out which units were on which ships.
 
Thanks again!  I do appreciate your help and interest.
 
Melinda
 
 
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25Kingman49
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Re:Questions about my dad's service in the Army Air Forces and Airborn (permalink)
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Melinda,
This is from: http://www.usmm.org/contact.html
Ship Movement Report Cards, WWII
These records consist of file cards for Merchant Marine ships having Navy Armed Guard on board, and some Army Troop Transports. Movement report cards detail the travel information of ships throughout WWII. They list ports of arrival, due dates, dates of arrival and departure, and convoy designations. Information you must provide: name of ship, dates of interest. Helpful Information: Convoy designation.
Records of Individual Convoys, WWII
Operations of convoys and independent ships including detailed records of each convoy and activities of individual merchant ships. Information you must provide: Convoy designation or name of ship(s) participating in convoy; and dates of convoy. Helpful information: places of departure and/or arrival of convoy and dates.
Armed Guard Reports
Reports usually include U.S. Navy Armed Guard crew lists, voyage reports, data relating to armaments and supplies provided by U.S. Navy, correspondence relating to recommendations for medals for members of the Armed Guard crew, orders, etc. Information you must provide: name of ship, dates of interest (spring 1942 to winter 1945). Helpful information. ship's former name, if any.
Write to:
Modern Military Records Unit
National Archives at College Park
8601 Adelphi Road
College Park, MD 20740-6001
They will respond with an estimate of the cost of the research. Include in your letter the full name, address, and telephone number of the individual making the request. Please note: When making a request, do not send payment until you receive a price estimate/order form.
National Archives ask that you limit your requests to 5 items per letter. Upon receipt of your request, they will survey the records and send you a price estimate/invoice for obtaining copies. Once you return the invoice with your payment, they will then send you the reproductions. You should allow at least 10-12 weeks for this process - from the date you send your initial request to the final receipt of reproductions.
 
The Modern Military Records (NWCTM) is new to me, but it appears they may hold the convoy records. Here is another Naval Records website with addition links that may aid in the search: http://www.mrfa.org/Navy.Records.htm
 
Scott
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