(above insignia)13th Airborne Division Shoulder Patch
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129th Airborne Engineer Battalion
Unit History
 he 129th Airborne Engineer Battalion was constituted on 13 May 1943. It was activated
on 15 July 1943 at Fort Bragg, NC under the command of Lt Col Allan A. Blatherwick. (picture right)
The Executive Officer was Major Elbert C Wallace. A month later, on 13 Agust 1943 the battalion became part of the 13th Airborne Division. After forming two glider companies and a headquarters and
service company the 129th was moved to the North area of Camp Mackall N.C. where it remained until alerted for
deployment oversea. At the end of September, 1944 Lt Col Blatherwick was transferred and the XO Major Elbert C Wallace
assumed command.
On the 19th of January 1945, the 129th moved from Camp Mackall NC to Camp Shanks, NY for
overseas deployment. Six days later the battalion arrived by train to New York and embarked on the U.S.A.T.
George Washington and landed in LeHarve, France on February 7th. On that same day the regiments were
packed into 40 and 8s bound for the staging area called Camp Lucky Strike, 200 miles SE of Le Harve in the town
of Auxerre, France.
In February, 1945, a new T/O was received by the battalion that authorized 2 parachute companies
and 1 glider company with 3 platoons. On March 1, 1945 the 596th Airborne Engineer Company of the 517th RCT
was incorporated into the battalion as Company B, 129th Airborne Engineer Battalion and commanded by 1st Lt.
Raymond Hild. Also, during this time the 13th Airborne Division was alerted
several times for possible operations, however each time the fast moving Army ground forces preempted the need for
an airborne operation.
After the German surrender on May 7, 1945 the 13th and 101st Airborne Divisions were notified
of their reassignment to the Pacific. In June, 1945 Major Wallace was transferred to the 17th
Airborne Division and Lt Col Stanley T.B. Johnson of the 139th AEB, 17th Airborne assumed command of
the 129th. The dropping of the atomic bombs on Japan in August, 1945 cancelled the redeployment of the 129th to the Pacific.
That same month the regiment was shipped home aboard the U.S.A.T Thomas Barry.
The 129th AEB arrived in New York Harbor on August 20th and was deactivated soon after at Camp Kilmer, NJ.
(picture above right: The staff of the 129th AEB - June, 1945. They are (left to right):
Lt. Montogomery,
Capt C Pope S-2, Capt Kreml, Maj Sollenberg, Maj Kross, & Capt Lee.
 (^^ Click Picture to Enlarge ^^) )
books
R E L A T E D B O O K S
Ambrose, Stephen E D-DAY June 6,1944:
The Climatic Battle of WW II. 6/93, Simon & Shuster ISBN: 0671673343
Ambrose, Stephen E Citizen Soldiers:
The U.S. Army from the Normandy Beaches to the Bulge to the Surrender of Germany, June 7, 1944-May 7, 1945.
Simon & Schuster, (Nov 1997) 528 p. ISBN: 0-684-81525-7
Blair, Jr, Clay Ridgway's Paratroopers:
The American Airborne in WW II. New York: Doubleday, 1985 588 p. ISBN: 0385278888
Breuer, William B Geronimo! American
Paratroopers in WWII. New York: St. Martin Press, 1989 621 p. ISBN: 0-312-03350-8
D'Este, Carlo
Patton: A Genius for War 1024 pp ISBN: 0060927623
De Trez, Michel
At the Point of No Return : Pictorial History of the American Paratroopers in the
Invasion of Normandy 7/98, D-Day Pub, 200 p. ISBN: 2960017617
Devlin, Gerard S
Paratrooper! St Martin's Press, (P) c1976 ISBN: 0312596529
Eberle, Henrik & Matthias Uhl (editors)
The Hitler Book: The Secret Dossier Prepared for Stalin November 14, 2005, PublicAffairs Pub, 416 p. ISBN: 1586483668
Francois, Dominique 507th Parachute Infantry Regiment: A Forgotten Regiment Heimdal (Aug 2002), 120 p. ISBN: 2840481642
Gavin, James M.
On to Berlin : Battles of an Airborne Commander, 1943-1946 ISBN: 0670525170
Hastings, Max Overlord: D-Day and the Battle for Normandy Simon and Shuster(JUV), 396 p.
ISBN: 0671554352
Inglesby, Leo C A Corporal Once Xlibris
2/2/2001, 108 p. ISBN: 0738838209
Ingrisano, Michael N. Jr And Nothing is Said:
Wartime Letters, August 15, 1943 - April 21, 1945 Sunflower
University Press, Sept 2002, 540p. ISBN: 0897452631
Irwin, Will (Lt. Col [RET.])
The Jedburghs: The Secret History of the Allied Special Forces, France 1944 Sept 6, 2005, PublicAffairs Pub, 323 p. ISBN: 1586483072
Keegan, John The Second World War Penguin
(P), 708 p. ISBN: 014011341X
Keegan, John Six Armies in Normandy: From D-Day to the Liberation of Paris Penguin USA(P), 365 p.
ISBN: 0140235426
MacDonald, Charles B A Time For
Trumpets: The Untold Story of the Battle of the Bulge Wm Morrow & Co
(P), 720 p. ISBN: 068151574
Nordyke , Phil All American All the Way: Combat History of the 82nd Airborne Division in World War II Zenith Press, April 2005. 880 pgs ISBN: 0760322015
O'Donnell, Patrick K. Beyond Valor
Free Press, 2001, 384 p. ISBN: 0684873842
Ruggero, Ed
Combat Jump: The Young Men who Led the Assault into Fortress Europe, July, 1943
HarperCollins, 10/21/2003. 388 p. ISBN: 0060088753
Ruggero, Ed
The First Men In: US Paratroopers and the Fight to Save D-Day
HarperCollins, 6/13/2006. 368 p. ISBN: 0060731281
Ryan, Cornelius
The Longest Day Touchstone Books (P), 350 p. ISBN: 0671890913
Verier, Mike
82nd Aiborne Division in Colour Photographs (Europa Militaria, No 9) ISBN: 187 200 4857
Wildman, John B All Americans 82nd
Airborne. Meadowlands Militaria, 6/83 ISBN:091 208 1007
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