Greeting—Researching my great-grandparents.

Hello,

Pardon any misuse of military terminology because I currently know only very little about World War II military history, and military operations, in general.

I've been conducting some genealogy research recently, and I've been particularly fascinated with the story of two of my great-grandparents. I recently received some records from the National Archives that have been very helpful in improving my understanding of my great-grandfather's time in World War II. From the information I have received, he entered into active service in May 1943, was a canvas cover repairer from about March/April 1944 to September 1945 (17 months), arrived in the European Theater of Operations in April 1944, participated in Operation Overlord and the campaign in Northern France, managed a post exchange from September 1945 to March 1946 (7 months), and returned to the U.S. and was honorably discharged in March 1946.

• His grade was technician fourth grade.
• His unit was the "993rd Ordnance Ham Company"
• His post exchange was "Depot A 83" in Valenciennes, France.

What I find even more fascinating is that my great-grandmother was a French war bride. Her family seems to have a long lineage in the French commune of Oissel, which is near the larger commune of Rouen, both of which are located in Seine-Maritime, Normandy. She was born in Oissel. From what I've been able to find, Oissel may have been liberated by the Canadians on August 29, 1944, while they were on their way to liberate Rouen on August 30, 1944. What's interesting is that my great-grandparents married in Oissel on August 30, 1945, which would've been the one-year anniversary of the liberation of Rouen, which I assume isn't a coincidence. I hypothesized that they must've chosen August 30th as their marriage date, either to commemorate the liberation of Rouen (and, by extension, Oissel) or to commemorate the day that they met, which may have been on the day of Rouen's liberation. Of course, I could be completely wrong about this since I don't know anything about the nature of the military marriages that took place during WWII. As I already mentioned, the Canadians were primarily involved in the liberation of these towns and I don't know which American units would've been in this area at that time. I also don't know where my great-grandmother would've resided during this chaotic time as surely there was a lot of internal displacement.

Nevertheless, soon after their marriage, my grandmother was born in Valenciennes, France in November 1945, which is where my great-grandfather was stationed at the time. My great-grandmother and grandmother eventually boarded the USAT Santa Paula to emigrate to the United States in May 1946 (I believe).

Now, I know that World War II is probably the most researched series of events in world history, but I don't know the extent to which I will be able to find answers to the questions I have regarding my great-grandparents whereabouts during this period of history. I would love any information, literature, websites, and tips that could aid me in my research.

Here are some topics of inquiry that I may or may not find answers for:

• Pardon any misuse of military organization terms: my great-grandfather was a part of "993rd Ordnance Ham Company" and there is no easily obtainable information regarding this unit. I'm interested in which larger units, e.g., the division, this smaller company was a part of, in hopes of discovering the activities and, perhaps, the locations of these units during the time my great-grandfather was in Northern France.
• American military activity during this time around Oissel, Rouen, and Valenciennes.
• Any information regarding Oissel, Rouen, and Valenciennes that can improve my understanding of these cities during this period of time.
• Any information regarding WWII military couples that can improve my understanding of the nature of my great-grandparents' relationship during this time.
• Any information regarding WWII post exchanges that can improve can help me locate and improve my understanding of the "Depot A 83" post exchange my great-grandfather managed in Valenciennes, France.

Thank you for any help you can provide me in these endeavors.

 

Welcome aboard.

The unit's full title is: 993rd Ordnance, HAM Company (Heavy Automotive Maintenance). From: TEC4 Roy Sesil Rains (1924-1945) - Find a Grave...

An online search with: "993rd Ordnance" + "Company" will find x3 other threads. Plus when adding HAM in full: Brownsville Herald Newspaper Archives | Nov 22, 1945, p. 9 behind a US$ barrier I think.

Another search with: "993 Ordnance" id'd a few more and a couple refer to them in the UK. This may appear in the later search: 993 Ordnance Heavy Automotive Maintenance Company (USA) . Note in the list of units that went to Europe after D-day it only shows two such units, rare type of unit!

Google indicates (AI) indicates there is very little historical information on the unit. So, you may need to seek help from the United States Army Ordnance Corps, headquartered at Fort Lee, Virginia.

If you search the ABMC site it may show how many unit members died in WW2. See: Home - American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC)

 

Found Some info

Source: Fold3.com

Looking for more

 

Thank you so much for the information. These will definitely prove useful.

 

Your welcome. Still looking for you

 

Found information on the Organization that 993 Ord HAM was part of

 

Would you mind sharing their names? If I had them I may be able to find more information on all of your great grandparents?

If you want to keep the info private, you can also Private Message me on this site and I’ll see what I can find and send it back to you be PM

Man reason I’m asking as the USAT Santa Paula (looking for records) made many trips in 1946 carrying war brides, try to find the records that may apply to you family

Cheers

EDIT: I found two sailing of Santa Paula in May 1946, arriving 1st May and arriving 29th May 1946

 

Temujin,

Kyle has only x2 posts, so cannot create a PM yet. If you PM her she can reply.

 

Or him.

 

Kyle, have you also seen our sister site, which is focused more on the US side of things? Welcome aboard, by the way, I can see you’re already in good hands.

https://ww2f.com/

 

Thanks guys, will do. I’ll send him a PM

Kyle:

Just to review Post #6 above:

Here is the hierarchy of who the 993 Ordnance Heavy Automotive Maintenance Company belonged to:

993rd Ordnance HAM Company

Was part of - 258th Ordnance Battalion

Which was part of - 227th Ordnance Group

Which was part of - 233rd Ordnance Base Op

Which report to - Ordnance Officer Advance Section

And during some of this time, it operated as part of Shop C-109

So, if you want to search for more of the history of the 993rd Ordnance HAM Company, I would suggest you also search for the History of the 258th Ordnance Battalion and up the chain, and any history of Shop C-109

Cheers

 

More location information for the 993rd Ordnance HAM Company, 258th Ord Bn and the 227th Ord Group

Info as the 1 Jan 1945

Source for all is NARA, from Fold3.com











Sorry, the next one isn’t very clear, but confirming 993rd location near Rouen

 

Information as of 15 May 1945

NOTE: the source for most of the information above is from Fold3.com (a subscription base service) and are from the National Archives:

Title: Page 639
Series: Historical Reports and Monographs - Miscellaneous Reports
File Number: 604
File Name: Ordnance Section, ETO Monographs, Planning and Organization, May 1941-May 1945
Conflict Period: World War II
Roll Name: MP63-9_0134

Fold3.com “search engine” is good, but doesn’t find a LOT of the files, so most of the files above I found be “manually searching” what I thought were relevant files, which takes time

And if you do get or have Fold3.com, a link to information below (and most of the other files I have posted for you)
Page 639 - US, WWII European Theater Army Records, 1941-1946 - Fold3

 

I believe your note above “Depot A 83” might have been the USAAF Advanced Landing Group A-83, located about four kilometers south of the city of Valenciennes.

Let me check further on this to see if I can find more info

 

A bit of info on A-83. I’ve posted the front page of the source. A-83 Advanced landing grounds (ALGs) originally was a British airfield and was renumbered from USAAF use.

Note, USAAF was part of the US Army at that time, so Army ground units could be also stationed at the airfield location

 

I haven’t found any evidence that Depot A-83 was located at ALG A-83…….so I can’t confirm its location

Valenciennes-Denain Airport Explained

 

Location of 993 Ordnance HAM Company, 258th Ordnance Battalion and 227th Ordnance Group in UK











Source: 449 - Installations and Operating Personnel Booklets, ETOUSA, Jan 1944-Oct 1945, for page below

Info below is dated 1 Jun 1944

 

Welcome to the forum.

 

More documents showing their that they have left the UK and are “on Continent” (France)

Source: Fold3.com - National Archives 449-Installations & Operating Personnel Booklets ETOUSA 1 Aug 1944

 

I’m going to stop for now……lots of info for you to digest. A lot of these documents are hard to read, when you upload them to this site the resolution decreases. If you wish to have better rez documents, let me know and I can share them directly to you.