Distinguished Military Units: 252nd Combat Engineer Battalion

The US Army Corps of Engineers is the oldest branch of military service with roots that reach back to the Revolutionary War. Over time, large-scale construction projects have given visibility for the Corps' existence, but little more is known about specific roles and responsibilities. With the onset of World War II, this void grew even larger when battlefield complexity, strategy, and tactics gave rise to a new brand of soldier, the Combat Engineer. Equipped with extensive training and specialized skills these soldiers perform the broadest range of duties in the Army. In 1943 the fledgling 252nd Combat Engineer Battalion steeled themselves for war and through 1945 undertook every form of wartime mission, serving with distinction and earning commendations spanning the Normandy invasion through VE Day and beyond.

The 252nd Engineers (code name 'Cloudburst') were activated July 1943 and over the next six months grew to 31 officers and 740 enlisted men across four companies.  Following extensive training at Camp Gruber (Oklahoma), the Louisiana Maneuver Area, and Camp Howze (Gainesville, TX) the unit was attached to Ninth Army and would remain so through VE Day. In April 1944, elements of the battalion were transferred to a provisional unit who would be the first to experience combat while clearing beach obstacles and mines at Omaha Beach on D-Day. In August 1944, the bulk of the battalion embarked from Camp Shanks (Orangeburg, NY) for a difficult eight-day Atlantic crossing on the liberty ships Howard Gray and Rollins Victory.   
 
One soldier recounted, "despite all our training and preparation we were immediately reduced to learning how to remain seated on the toilet with twenty-foot waves washing over the decks". Finally arriving at Liverpool in the north of England on September 1, the engineers received training in Bailey Bridge construction and on September 18 were ready for deployment from Southampton into the European Theatre of Operations (ETO).

Entering Europe through Omaha Beach the 252nd moved quickly through St. Lo to a rain-soaked Le Pieux, France on the west side of the Cotentin Peninsula, the heart of hedgerow country. Almost immediately the battalion was faced with its first task - clearing mines from the beach and adjoining hedgerows, a duty that would become routine across Europe. It was here the 252nd suffered its first casualties, four engineers killed and twelve wounded before their mission in Normandy was finished. In the midst of this baptism, two Commendations for Heroism were earned from XVI Corp.

Operation Cobra and the eventual taking of Caen by the British enabled the Allies to break out from Normandy and the cursed bocage. With lead US forces racing east across France, Ninth Army took up position protecting the northern US flank while the British turned north toward Belgium. September 1944 brought the failure of Operation Market Garden, leaving the low countries in enemy hands and the 252nd Engineers moving rapidly across France to the front line in Belgium (in the vicinity of Rosmeer), advancing more than 450 miles in two days. The battalion was immediately put to work supporting the Red Ball Express to secure Allied supply routes in addition to the full breadth of other support missions: clearing mines, road repair, building, and hospital repair, felling trees and saw-mill operation, material transport, light demolition, and water purification. However, directly opposing Ninth Army were five German divisions: 176th Infantry, 183rd Infantry, 246th Infantry, 3rd Panzergrenadier, the 49th Infantry Division, and at least one armored division in local reserve. Being on the front line meant the Engineers were routinely under artillery and small arms fire while V-1 bombs passed overhead.

In mid-November 1944, the battalion advanced into Holland (in the vicinity of Valkenburg) and had the distinction of conducting operations in three countries simultaneously: France, Belgium, and Holland. Meanwhile, the port of Antwerp opened, easing tensions surrounding the Allies' supply routes and accelerating the build-up of men and equipment at the front. For the engineers, this created unprecedented demand for bridges in the wake of German demolition and retreat. Spanning November and December the 252nd constructed three separate bridges, one of these to accommodate traffic competing with an armored division. Thinking outside the box, Company B (1st Platoon) built a second bridge beneath the primary roadway with armored vehicles passing a mere three feet overhead and put into service with only a forty-five-minute interruption in traffic flow.

The Allies continued to devise and debate offensive operations into December 1944, but all that would change with the Ardennes offensive on December 16th (the Battle of the Bulge). Scrambling to stem the enemy advance, support units were converted to infantry and rushed into the front line. From January 19th to January 28th the 252nd Engineer Battalion relieved the 102nd Infantry Division at two locations: Lieffarth and Wurm, Germany. For ten days the engineers manned foxholes and pillboxes, conducted reconnaissance patrols, assaulted Wehrmacht positions, and delivered harassing fire on the enemy, allowing the 102nd Infantry to regroup and attack again through those positions. The mission was unexpectedly made more difficult by the loss of mortar covering fire by the infantry and record cold. One soldier recounted, "there were several feet of snow and it was so bitter cold you could walk across the top without ever breaking the surface". Ultimately, five engineers were killed and fifteen wounded.
   

Following the German retreat, the Allies launched a campaign in February 1945 with the goal of US and British forces advancing to the Rhine. Operation Veritable and Operation Grenade would form a pincer movement and trigger Operation Flashpoint in March, the Rhine River crossing. Once again, elements of the 252nd were transferred to a provisional unit, serving with distinction in support of the assault and bridgehead. Meanwhile, the bulk of the battalion was on the move again, building three trestle bridges during February and March near German strongholds (Venlo, Holland; Geilenkirchen and Munchen-Gladbach, Germany).
  
Leveraging the Allies' success, the 252nd and 250th Combat Engineers partnered to construct a bridge that would prove a pinnacle event, the Venlo Bridge crossing the Maas River. Venlo, Holland was itself a major communications center and a strategic location on the VenIo-Wesel highway. Despite its size, the bridge was constructed in record time of thirteen days and earned a Letter of Commendation from the British 21st Army Group, the principal beneficiary.
    
The general collapse of German resistance was becoming widespread, increasing the engineers' assignments to include guarding prisoners, construction of POW compounds and cemeteries while clearing enemy rearguards, snipers, and booby traps.
In April 1945, the 252nd and 250th Battalions again teamed up to construct the Roosevelt Memorial Bridge over the Rhine near Wesel, Germany. The finished bridge was nearly a mile long and required only 21 days, earning both battalions a Letter of Commendation from General Simpson, Commander US 9th Army.
   
May began with the battalion moving to Magdeburg, Germany for construction of an autobahn bridge over the Weser-Elbe Canal, but more, the meeting of US and Russian forces. The bridge construction took only seven days and opened the route to Berlin, while select multilingual engineers (most notably those speaking Polish) also served as interpreters with Russian forces.
   
With Germany's surrender, the battalion moved to Herford, Germany, where it performed security duties and built an airstrip. In the background, the battalion was reassigned to Seventh Army and ordered to prepare for deployment to Japan, orders that were fortunately rescinded in June. Instead, the engineers undertook a final mission together with two other units, the Railway Bridge at Jossa, Germany. Despite a failed attempt by others in 1944 to repair the bridge and lacking training in its design, the engineers nonetheless completed construction in August 1945. As a tribute to these engineers, the bridge continues in service over seventy-five years later. 

The battalion continued occupation duty until deactivated in May 1949 at Swetingen, Germany.

Typical of units activated during World War 2 the 252nd Combat Engineer Battalion was formed with individuals from diverse backgrounds and locations: transfers, volunteers, and draftees. But despite these differences, there was, perhaps, a shared devotion to duty that compelled exceptional innovation and achievements throughout their mission in the ETO, earning them the right to go home. After more than thirty years of nightmares and other indications of PTSD, reflection by one of these citizen soldiers through tear-filled eyes may say it best, "I witnessed the best and worst of mankind and did a lot of killing I'm not proud of, hoping only that God forgives in time of war. But I love this country and if it is ever threatened I would willingly do it all over again tomorrow."

Alfred W. Konczak (Pfc), 252nd Combat Engineer Battalion, Company B, 1st Platoon, 2nd Squad passed away in 1979.