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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 20th 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 91st 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 91st 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 91st
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 13th and 15th of January
1943. On the 27th 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 20th
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 15th 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 79th
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 314th Infantry
Regiment’s crossing of the Meurthe River. The
battalion crossed the Meurthe River and continued
their support of the 314th Infantry until
27 September, then the Battalion moved to positions
north of Luneville. From the 27th of
September to the 14th 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
26th 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 1st 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. |
