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The 655th Engineer Topographic Battalion (655th ENG TOPO BN) was a technical support unit providing surveying, drafting, and map production activities for the US Army during WWII. Its wartime mission was to produce 4-color topographic maps primarily for use by the Ninth United States Army. The Battalion was first formed in December, 1943 and deactivated in December, 1946.

Formation

The 655th Engineer Topographic Battalion was activated at Fort McCoy, Wisconsin on December 17, 1943 as a technical unit for mapping and map reproduction activities. The Battalion was formed from personnel who had gone through the Army Specialized Training Program with experience in topographical survey and mapping processes, and photomapping and reproduction techniques, and was rounded out with civilian trained personnel with the desired qualifications. The Unit was assigned to the Second Army and subsequently attached to the 17th Detachment Special Troops. Major John E. Unverferth assumed command of the unit on January 2, 1944. The first substantial gain in personnel occurred with the arrival of Company "A" of the 30th Engineer Topographic Battalion. Along with additions of other support staff, the battalion eventually grew to approximately 450 men as the gaps in personnel were filled in. On March 31, 1944, the 655th furnished cadres for the formation of the 598th, 599th, 656th and the 657th Engineer Topographic Battalions. At the same time, the 655th received 104 new recruits to refill its ranks.

Basic training included the typical demolition, chemical warfare, and marksmanship drills, but during the winter in Wisconsin also included conducting troop experiments on newly released GI winter clothing. After undergoing their winter training in Wisconsin, the Battalion then transferred via troop train to Camp Livingston, Louisiana, arriving July 26, 1944. There, the battalion received summer training including additional weapons practice and combat maneuvers, as well as training in the preparation of Planimetric maps using photographic and control data, based on aerial photos as reference. On August 22, 1944, the 655th Engineer Battalion was reorganized under T/O & E5-55 Engineer Topographic Battalion (Army).

On November 28, 1944 the Battalion departed by troop train for Camp Shanks, New York for deployment. During the short stay there, 12-hour passes to New York were granted to the personnel for their last chance to see friends and family for many months.

Deployment

On December 8, 1944 the Battalion traveled to the New York City port and boarded the HMT Esperance Bay (NY774), an English ship that had been converted into a troop carrier. Two weeks later it landed in Avonmouth, England, and the troops then went by troop train and truck to their new camp at Nine Yews, Cranborne, East Dorset, England, arriving on December 22, 1944. Their first task was to reassemble the printing and drafting equipment and prepare their supplies for the next move to the Theater of Operations. On January 30, 1945, the Battalion Personnel arrived by motor transport at the Southampton Port of Embarkation, and loaded onto the New Zealand Transport Ship HMNZS Monowai (F59) for the Channel crossing. After landing in LaHavre, France they were transported by trucks to Camp Twenty Grand where they readied their equipment for rail shipment and awaited their assignment.

On February 8, 1945 the Battalion crowded into Forty-and-eights box cars for a 4-day rail trip to Visé, Belgium. From there, the Battalion Command Post and Headquarters and Service Company set up in a chateau in Altembrouck, Belgium, while Company A and B proceeded to Castle Mheer in Mheer, Holland that had previously been occupied by German Officers. Because the drawing and printing work of the 655th needed to be done out of the elements, locations were required to contain a suitable indoor space to work. Map Storage and Distribution moved to Maastricht, Holland to be near the Ninth Army Headquarters (to which the battalion was currently assigned).

Theater of Operations

As soon as the equipment was operational in Castle Mheer, the 655th began producing 4-color maps for the Ninth US Army headquarters). Working from aerial photographs and ground survey information, topography maps would be drawn up and printed showing waterways, roads, buildings, and enemy locations. Over 3,000,000 impressions rolled off the presses during the first month. This quick response was possible because the presses and the large format cameras were installed on trucks that only needed to be leveled and connected to portable generators to be made functional.

On March 1, 1945, as the Ninth Army participated in pushing the Germans back across the Rhine, the 655th was ordered to move forward to Hoensbroek, Holland, with Map Storage and Distribution moving to Maastricht, Holland to be near the Ninth Army headquarters. Then over the next two weeks, as the Allies again pushed forward, the 655th advanced to Mönchengladbach, Germany.

During the month of March 1945, the Battalion furnished survey teams to work on the Venlo Bridge site, the Julich German anti-tank gun emplacements, the Rhine River Wesel Railway Bridge building job, and other areas. In early April 1945, the Battalion again moved forward and set up operations in the Bielefield, Germany Langemark Kaserne Camp. In mid-April 1945 they moved forward again to the Siegfried Kaserne in Braunschweig, Germany. From here the survey and mapmaking work was continued, including the job of making quadrangle maps of Berlin.

Activities Post VE Day

Map showing the movements of the 655th Engineer Topographic Battalion during WWII.

Map production in connection with the Occupation of Germany continued after VE Day.

On May 18, 1945, while in the vicinity of Bremen, Germany one of the survey party's vehicles hit a concealed mine wounding four men, the first casualties of the unit. As the American Zone was established, the unit relocated to it in Kirchhain, Germany, while surveying work continued.

On June 15, 1945, as the Battalion began preparing for redeployment to the Pacific Theater, control for the 655th moved from the Ninth US Army to the Seventh Army. On June 25, 1945, the Battalion traveled again by train in "Forty and Eights" boxcars, and arrived in Camp Baltimore, near Suippes, France on June 28, 1945. Upon arrival, the Battalion was relieved of Seventh US Army control and assigned to Assembly Area Command.

On July 10, 1945, the Unit prepared and dispatched the press trucks and photo making equipment to the Marseilles Port for disembarkation to the Pacific, and the personnel were at readiness for embarkation to the Pacific by August 20, 1945. The troops began orientation on Japan and Japanese Tactics.

On August 5, 1945, the unit organizational equipment, less what was to accompany the troops on board ship, was loaded on trains in Suippes, France for shipment to the staging area in Arles, France.

Activities Post War End

The sudden end of the war in the Pacific brought a halt to the Battalion's embarkation. The Battalion remained in the Camp Baltimore Assembly Area for several months while the plans continued to change. Originally the unit was to be redeployed directly to the Pacific, then indirectly to the States and then to the Pacific, and finally to remain as occupational troops. On October 6, 1945, GIs with 45 VE Day points or more were moved towards discharge, while those with fewer points were subject to transfer to service as occupational personnel. Passes to Paris and other areas were freely given to the occupational personnel while they awaited further orders.

As the Battalion shifted to its occupational force role, its control was transferred to the Third Army. Its new function focused on producing Berlin town and other GSGS maps, with greater detail on places, names, and coordinates. Because most of its original mapmaking and printing equipment had been shipped out, replacement press and photographic equipment had to be re-requisitioned and reinstalled.

By January,1 1946 a printing plant had been established in Zwingenberg, Germany and was in full operation. However, by the end of March the survey platoon was reallocated elsewhere due to the lack of survey projects, and as the redeployment of troops in Europe continued, most of the technically qualified men were being redeployed or demobilized and their replacements were without the appropriate skills. Many of the GIs to be repatriated were transferred to Camp Lucky Strike, located near Saint-Valery, France, and from there they sailed back to New York on the USS General A. E. Anderson (AP-111) . The Battalion size dropped to approximately 200 men. The photomapping company had to cease all technical operations and instead set up training for the replacement personnel. Several German reproduction technicians were hired to fill in some of the skill gaps.

At the beginning of April, the only technical section in operation was the reproduction company due to shortages of parts, materials, and trained technicians. However, with the influx of a four experienced Master Sergeants, it was possible to revive the Photomapping and Drafting schools, and start a Surveying school. By the end of June productive work was being turned out again after a lapse of four months. Mapping work included work on Berlin and Frankfort town plans, and various GSGS projects in Bavaria and Germany.

Both the Photomapping and Reproduction platoons continued in production through the end of September 1946, however, there were no assigned projects for the Survey platoon, so they continued on with their training program.

During the period from October 1, 1946 to November 30, 1946, the unit experienced increasing rumors of inactivation. The Battalion continued to supply personnel for the Casey Jones Project (post-hostilities aerial mapping of Europe) and other assignments, even though the overall amount of work accomplished by the Battalion during this time was greatly lessened due to the lack of trained personnel. Most of the existing troops' time continued to be spent in training.

Shortages of diesel oil and coal caused slow-downs in the technical work areas. Spare parts for the vehicles were not available, and as a consequence many of the vehicles were sidelined. The rapid turn-over of enlisted personnel was felt to be responsible for causing large amounts of loss and damage of government property. Lower moral and efficiency was observed among the remaining regular army men awaiting return to the United States.

On November 26, 1946, Col. Unverferth was relieved from assignment from the Battalion and assigned to the 1681st Engineer Survey Team. Command of the Battalion was assumed by the executive officer Captain Wayne W. Walters.

The unit was officially inactivated in December 1946.

Notes

655th Engineer Topographical Battalion General Orders and Battalion History documents, reproduced for the Unclassified / Declassified Holdings of the National Archives, acquired from the National Archives at College Park, 8601 Adelphi Road, College Park, MD, 20740

External links

• Definitions and examples of topographic maps
• The Story of the Bay Ships war service including the HMT Esperance Bay (2)
• The U.S. Army "Cigarette" Camps in the La Havre Area
• A Brief History of Camp Baltimore, one of the U.S. Army's WWII Redeployment Camps,
• A short review of the Casey Jones Project that produced wide-scale operational maps of western Europe

[[Category:Military units and formations established in 1943]] [[Category:Military units and formations disestablished in 1943]] [[Category:Topography]]