242nd Field Artillery Battalion

From Camp White, Oregon  to  Kaufbeuren,  Germany

The 242d Field Artillery Battalion was activated at Camp White, Oregon, which is located near Medford, Oregon in August 1942.    On the 20^th of August, the same date the cadre arrived, Major Walker R. Goodrich assumed command. They were assigned quarters in the newly constructed Camp White.  By the 24th of August all officers except those attending school, had  reported for  duty.

The 76th Field Artillery Battalion furnished the original cadre.   The Cadre furnished consisted of 88 enlisted men and five Battery grade officers. The remainder of the officers were furnished by the 1X Army Corps, fifteen being 2nd Lieutenants direct from Officers Candidate School at Fort Sill.

The fillers arrived from 27 August to 3 September and were assigned to Batteries immediately. Most of the fillers were Selective Service men from Replacement Training Center, Camp Roberts, California; Reception Centers, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, Fort Logan, Colorado, Fort Snelling, Minnesota and Headquarters Service Command Unit, Fort Lewis Washington.  Immediately upon receiving fillers the Battalion began a period of intensive individual training, which was completed in early December and was completed by the unit-training phase.

Remembrances of Camp White 

Most of the days at Camp White were spent in hard work training for the EM as well as Officers to be soldiers and Field Artillery men. There were intense periods of physical conditioning and the men who established blisters on their feet from the long hikes were few and far between.  They were attached to the 91^st Infantry Division for a period of time for training, and later assigned to 1X Corp Special Troops.  No one in that Battalion will ever forget Maj. General Gerhardt’s horseback inspections of the Mess Halls and Classes.

During the first three months, their training was slightly handicapped by lack of equipment.  Instructors became adept at improvising, and by much borrowing managed to accomplish their mission.  They went to the Rifle range with the M1 Garand Rifles, which were borrowed from the 91^st Division as the carbine was not available.   All officers and men fired for record. They also fired .22 Caliber rifles for practice.

At the end of the second month at Camp White they began service practice with their Basic weapon, the 105mm howitzer.    They also fired the 37mm sub-caliber. During one of these service practices the officers were first under fire.  They were on the forward OP Baker Battery firing, when a Battery from the 91^st Division firing in another part of the range, bracketed our OP, it didn’t take them long to CSMO  (clear station & move out).

It wasn’t all work at Camp White as they went swimming and fishing in the Rogue River.  There were weekend passes in Medford, Grants Pass, Klamath Falls, Ashland, and Yreka, California.

They went for further training at Yakima Firing Range in Washington, departing Camp White, 11 January, 1943 at 0700 hours, by train and motor vehicle, arriving the 13^th and 15^th of January 1943. On the 27^th of February the Battalion loaded up on two trains for destination unknown.   The Battalion ended up in Fort Sill, Oklahoma on 4 March 1943.

On 11 March 1944, they again loaded their vehicles and headed for Camp Howze, Texas.  Then on to New York, July 1 the Battalion loaded on to the Ship Thomas H. Barry, it sailed on to Firth of Clyde then anchored 12 July.    Ushered on to trains and greeted by Scottish band dressed in “Kilts”.     Then on to Llantarnum, Wales, and Camp Blackbird where they received their Howitzers, Trucks and all of their equipment.     After Camp Blackbird, they boarded a liberty ship named U.S.S. Charles M. Hall the 20^th of August 1944, moving on to France. On the 14 & 15 of September 1944 the Battalions first rounds were fired at the enemy at Frenelle La Petit, France.  On the 15^th of September they displayed positions near Charmes. Shortly after occupation of this position, they experienced their first strafing by hostile aircrafts as two ME-109’s strafed “B” and “C” Batteries.  They remained in this position several days firing in support of the 79^th Division’s bridgehead across the Moselle River.

On the 19 of September they crossed the Mosell.    They stayed in Frambois for two days and fired over a thousand rounds supporting the 314^{th Infantry} Regiment’s crossing of the Meurthe River. The battalion crossed the Meurthe River and continued their support of the 314^th Infantry until 27 September, then the Battalion moved to positions north of Luneville.   From the 27^th of September to the 14^th of October they supported the 79th Infantry Division in the battle of “Foret de Parroy”.

This was the Battalion’s toughest battle of the entire war.    The Battalion suffered its first fatal casualties. The Battalion went on from battle to battle also doing their part in the Battle of the Bulge.   New Years 1945 was spent vigorously defending an offensive launched by the enemy from across the Saar River at Ludweiler, Germany. They started firing a couple hours before midnight and continued all night and most of New Years day.  The battle goes on, the 26^th of March, the Battalion occupied positions in the vicinity of Limburgerhof, Germany.   From here the Battalion was firing across the Rhine River into Mannheim , Germany. On 1 May the Battalion received orders to move out of the combat area to Kaufbeuren, Germany. 

On the 1^st of May 1945 they entered their 240th Consecutive day of Combat service in the European theater. During this time 73,062 rounds of 105mm ammunition were fired against the enemy on an average of 304.43 rounds per day.