Signal
Corps Successes How
Seven Signal OCS Graduates Built The
103rd Infantry Division’s Signal Company
– Part I of IV –
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continuing...
As for the kind of training the unit received before heading
to war, it began, as we said, in late 1942 at Camp
Claiborne, Louisiana, where the unit fell into step with the
IV, XV and III Corps of the Third Army. It ended a year
later, between late September and early November, 1943, when
the unit finished up its field training by taking part in
one of the largest field maneuvers ever held by the Third
Army. With their preliminary training now behind them, the
unit left Louisiana for Camp Howze, Texas, where they were
placed under the X Corps, Third Army, for another year of
advanced training, and to prepare for war.
By September, 1944, they were headed for Europe, and by
November they had already had their first taste of combat.
But we get ahead of ourselves.
Number of ASTP Graduates That Joined The
103rd Signal Company
Training University
Number Of Men
Texas A&M
10
Oklahoma University
7
North Texas State College
5
Oklahoma A&M
4
North East Junior College, Louisiana
1
Total:
27
One of the reasons it took so long to stand up the 103rd
Signal Company was because it was a communications company.
In those days finding qualified men to handle what was then
considered sophisticated electronics equipment was
difficult. In order to find and bring these men into the
service, the Department of War scoured the U.S., seeking
out young men of above average intelligence, and offering
them specialized training in a program called the Army
Specialized Training Program, or ASTP.
For the newly graduated Army Signal OCS Officers of the
103rd Signal Company the ASTP was a God-send, as it brought
into the unit men already trained in communication, needing
only training as to how the military functioned and what
role they played in it. For those EM that passed through
ASTP they could expect to receive training in fields such as
electronics and general engineering, specialized technical
skills, foreign languages, security, and even medicine.
For the most part, the men who graduated went on to serve as
Enlisted Men, at least that's what happened in the 103rd
Signal Company. However it was possible if a man showed
exceptional potential to be promoted to the rank of Second
Lieutenant. A program clearly intended to help meet wartime
demand, most ASTP training was conducted at American
universities throughout the country, but particularly in the
South Central states.
Slowly then, over the latter part of 1942 and into 1943, men
and materials began to trickle into the 103rd Signal
Company. Twenty one men came into the 103rd Signal Company
from the 85th Division Signal Company. Another couple of
men, newly promoted NCOs, showed up in November, 1942, from
the Midwestern Signal Corps School, one of the ASTP schools.
All told, by the end of 1942, there were 250 Officers and
men in the 103rd Signal Company, all being led by a newly
promoted Army Signal OCS graduate named Captain Bernard Beck.
As to what these men did, their duty lay in supplying to the
103rd Infantry Division itself all required radio,
telephone/teletype and messenger service communications,
from Regimental Headquarters up through Division HQ level,
to the 6th Corps. And for good measure, the boys of the 103rd
also built and maintained the communication networks that
formed the lateral backbone from Division Headquarters down
to the many attached support units, such as the heavy
artillery units, tank destroyers and anti-aircraft
operations.
All in all, the Company was composed of
5 normal Sections and 1 Special Ops Section: telephone,
telegraph, teletype, messenger, and radio communications,
plus cryptographic code services on the Special Ops side.
For a bunch of newly minted Second Lieutenants fresh out of
OCS, the new Officers that led this group had their hands full. As to how the
Company worked within the Division, while the bulk of it was
located at the forward Division Command Post, other elements
of the 103rd Signal Company were assigned to work within
various sections of the Regiments involved.[1]
By January, 1944, the 103rd Infantry Division was coming
along nicely in terms of preparing for its role in war, with
the 103rd Signal Company doing the same. Located at Camp Howze, Texas,
when graduates of the ASTP
programs arrived for their posting they were surprised to
find out that while upon entering ASTP training they had
been promised service in the Pacific, now, as members of the
103rd, they were heading to the ETO.
While few knew it, the reason for this was that bickering had
broken out between the U.S. and Britain as to how much
effort should be put into the North African Campaign.
Eisenhower was against the campaign, on the whole, while
Churchill was ready to bet his life on it. The problem, as
Eisenhower saw it, was that the campaign was a draw on the
men and machinery he needed for OPEREATION OVERLORD. Because
of this, there was an urgent need to find more men… to
support both the campaign in North Africa, plans for the
crossing of the English Channel, and the invasion of Sicily
and Italy. As far as Eisenhower was concerned, if Churchill
was going to keep running around starting his own little
campaigns, then the war in the Pacific was going to have to
wait. He needed men and materials for his own tactical
operations, and if Churchill was going to rob him of some of
those men, then he was going to get what he needed from the
PTO.
By February 1944, the
103rd Infantry Division, and its Signal Company, were ready
to join the war. The only question was when and where. As it
turned out, with the invasion of Sicily and Italy underway,
and elements of the US 7th Army stuck on Anzio beach, and
the continuing head butting between U.S. and British
political and military leaders over how to prosecute the
war, where and when to insert the 103rd into the equation
kept changing. Rather than send them out to land, say, in
Italy, only to be shuttled up the coast to France, or back
to England to be held in readiness for some other operation,
it was decided to simply leave them where they were, in
Texas, sharpening their skills. Not surprisingly, the 103rd
wasn’t the only unit kept on a hot plate. A number of other
divisions sat around waiting for tactical decisions to be
made on the battlefield in Europe.
With this being the case,
the 103rd simply carried on with its training, accepting in
mid-March 1944 another complement of signal trained ASTP
recruits.
Finally, on 6 June 1944, the Normandy Invasion
took place, causing the European field of battle to begin to
firm up in terms of where units like the 103rd Infantry
Division could be best used to press the Germans. On 15
August 1944, the ANVIL invasion of Southern France kicked
off, adding a bit more certainty to the fact that the 103rd
was needed, albeit whether it should be sent to Normandy or
Southern France was still a toss-up.
By October 1944, the
decision had been made. The 103rd Infantry Division, along
with its Signal Company, were combat loaded… along with
several other Infantry divisions… and told that they were
heading to Europe. While it was supposed to be a secret, it
didn’t take long for the men on board to pass the word
around… they were headed for Marseille, a port secured back
in August. Needless to say, the men of the 103rd Signal
Company were keyed up and excited to finally be on their way
to do their part.
Crossing the Atlantic was uneventful, with the
men of the 103rd Signal Company sighting land for the first
when the Strait of Gibraltar came into view. As they entered
the Mediterranean Sea, everyone that could crowded the
rails, staring off at the coast of Africa, pointing to the
cities of Tangier and Oran, and babbling on about the
campaigns that had just come to a conclusion in North
Africa. For men without any combat experience, these early
days were filled with awe and trepidation.
Their vessel, the
Henry Gibbons, arrived in Marseilles on the evening of
October 20, 1944. A mostly flat head of land, Marseille
slowly wends its way from the ocean front on up and into a
set of surrounding hills.
Across the intervening space
factories could be seen, while the hill itself was topped by
a cathedral (Church of Notre Dame du Garoe) with a large
golden statue on it. As noon of the 21st of October passed,
the vessel anchored, while alongside of them a huge convoy
headed out to sea, on its way back to the U.S.
All about,
the harbor was chaos, with new breakwaters being
constructed, leftover German direction signs pointing in
every direction, British ships plying the inner harbor
unloading their own troops, 5 scuttled French ships blocking
the shore line, piles of recently recovered water mines
littering the shore, and on and on. For the Signal OCS
Officers so recently out of Fort Monmouth’s training, there
could not have been a more stark difference… Fort Monmouth
and its East Coast bungalow housing, to the flatland of
Minnesota and Texas, to the war torn shore of Southern
France.
As the men unloaded via L.C.I. (Landing Craft,
Infantry), something they had not trained for, air raid
sirens sounded, anti-aircraft flashes lit the sky, and
planes buzzed the harbor, laying down a smoke screen. It
wasn’t until midnight that the men of the 103rd Signal
Company were all assembled on shore. Standing uneasily in
the softly lit dark, on ground that didn’t swell up and down
with every wave, they looked around. Training was over. This
was what
war looked like, and they were now part of it.
What kind of war they would face, they didn’t know. That
would be determined by someone named Lt. General Devers,
the Commander of the 6th Army Group, under whose authority
the U.S. XV Corps and VI Corps served, which in turn
contained the 7th Army and the 1st French Army, and now the
newly arrived 103rd Infantry Division. General Devers was
under orders from his boss, General Marshall, to use the American forces
under his command, including this new unit that he watched
unloading at Marseille, to take the field in northeastern France,
and occupy the center of what was to be a strong,
coordinated push towards the German border… and beyond to
the Rhine.
Thus, unbeknownst to the 103rd Signal Company, they and the
infantry they were tied to would find themselves in the
middle of this effort. To help them gain their foothold and
acquire a taste for war, they in turn would receive support from both
British and French forces that would fight alongside of them. Specifically, to the north of the
103rd, British forces under the control of General
Montgomery would protect their left flank as they headed for
Germany. To the south of them,
the previously mentioned French forces, serving as part of
the U.S. 7th Army, would protect their right flank as they
fought their way east.
Over the next day or so the
103rd Signal Company slowly moved inland, bivouacking at a
convenient and secure place a few miles inland. There they
set about doing all needed to support a Signal Company in
the field, as it prepared to go to war… as did the rest of
the 103rd I.D., as it went about its own tasks.
Across the
Division each unit concentrated on the specific tasks most
important for its preparation. Infantry units got their
weapons ready… cleaning and sorting out rifles, machine
guns, mortars and ammunition as it came off of the boat and
was piled ashore. When this was sorted out and everyone
armed, units assembled and began practicing firing these
newly cleaned and readied weapons. As far as they knew, from
this point forward, the next time they found themselves
firing a weapon, it would be at an enemy. That being the
case, it was crucial that whatever preparation was needed
was done now, and done right. One’s first taste of combat
was no time to find out that their weapon was not properly
prepared.
For the service companies, and the 103rd Signal
Company in particular, their major task was readying for
combat roles the new vehicles that had been shipped over and
unloaded for their use. Since each Section outfitted their
vehicles to support the particular job that Section did,
each vehicle signed-for had to be rebuilt to meet that
Section’s needs. Thus, Wire Construction Sections outfitted
their mostly new 3/4 and 1-1/2 ton trucks with the wire
laying gear they needed. The same could be said of trailers…
Sections and groups that were assigned trailers stocked them
so that everything was ready when
communication was called for.
One thing the men of the Radio Operating Section found quite
pleasant was that they now had a 3/4 ton Weapons Carrier
truck of their own… something they never had back in
training. With a truck of their own, they could now mount
all of their radios and auxiliary equipment, as well as a
machine gun to protect themselves.
One of the first
complaints the 103rd’s Signaleers had was that the 3/4 ton
trucks they were issued did not have all-steel enclosures.
Instead, the top of the cab was covered by a flimsy canvas
top. The back window portion too was little more than a
piece of tarp that flapped in the wind. This being the
winter season, the men soon learned that inside the cab of their
vehicles was just as cold, wet and covered with dirt and snow as
the outside. Being unable to solve the problem, the Signal
OCS Officers commanding these men simply looked the other
way, as a few industrious E.M.’s raided a local farm, begging,
borrowing and stealing plywood and other materials to
enclose their cabs. As far as our OCS grads were concerned,
diverting their eyes was an expedient of war, as it was more
important that the communications equipment and
cryptographic machines be protected from the elements than
the local farmer’s chickens. And it’s well they did this, as
during the early days of combat in the Vosges Mountains of
France, the weather would turn nasty, piling snow and ice on
the men, while whipping them with wind and rain on those few
occasions when the
temperature made it above freezing.
Ready for war and as
fully equipped as they would ever be, it was time for the
103rd Signal Company to move out, leaving their peaceful
staging area near Marseille for another, much closer to the
combat zone they were headed for. To manage this, the
Company was further broken down into groups and sections,
this time not on the basis of operational needs, but on the
basis of how long it would take each group to prepare to march.
Because the preparation time for each element differed, a
master plan was developed to see that the entire Company
eventually found its way to the Vosges Mountains they were
heading for, in eastern France. This entailed combining
groups into newly defined sections, not on the basis of
whether they normally worked together or not, but on the
basis of when they would be ready to join the march, and how
important it was to get each particular group to the front
line.
Once these new section assignments were determined for the
103rd Signal Company, Captain Beck issued a route of march
and orders for each group and section, telling them where
they fit into the convoy and when to move forward. At the same time, he assigned
to each of his fellow OCS grad Officers "route of march
sections", to be overseen as the convoy progressed. In doing
this he attempting wherever he could to match each section
Officer to the group he normally commanded. However, this
didn't always work as sometimes groups had to be split
across multiple sections, simply because the time it took
individual squads in each group to prepare for the march
might be longer than the group as a whole, again due to the
difference in the equipment a squad had to make ready. The
result of this mismatch in required prep time soon became
evident, as some elements of the Division descended into a
mild form of chaos, while others breezed along quite
smoothly, as each tried to pull together the groups they
needed to join the route of march. In the end, the confusion
that ensued made a mockery of the fine planning that
preceded the effort.
As we think of this today, it is useful to remember
that the 103rd Signal Company was not operating on its own.
It was part of a 15,000 man Division, which in addition to
having to be served with communications each and every day,
had its own logistical problems to deal with in getting the
Division to the Vosges Mountains. All of this required close
coordination, as well as lots of time and energy to make
sure everyone was where they were supposed to be when they
were supposed to be there. Unlike the kind of Division
movements we saw in Vietnam, large unit movements in WWII
did not have helicopters to shuttle men around. At best they
had trains, at worst the men’s feet would serve the purpose.
Add to this the need to send small search and clear groups
out, along with survey teams to chart the route, and Command
and Control Officers to keep everything moving, and you had
the makings of a nightmare.
In
spite of the occasional SNAFU, for the 103rd Infantry
Division everything worked surprisingly well. Advanced
teams hit the road as required, followed by Division Staff
Officers, then MP traffic control men, Quartermaster corps
staff, mobile mess units, and finally convoy after convoy of
vehicles from the service companies themselves. In all of
this, the men of the 103rd Signal Company both led the
charge—moving along in front of the Division, laying wire to
provide communication along the route—and following up in
the rear, with their own logistical elements, as well as a
group of men to police up the wire that was laid or the
repeaters that were set up along the route.
The 103rd
Division’s infantry soldiers however mostly escaped this
motorized march. Instead of falling in line and riding the
entire way in trucks… or marching by foot… they were packed
into old, rickety, French “40 by 8” (for their ability to
carry 40 men or 8 horses) railroad box cars—just as had been
done in WWI— and carted off to the next stop.
Sunday,
November 5, 1944, saw the 103rd Signal Company officially
push off for the Vosges Mountains. Covering about 160 miles,
they moved by truck until their first stop, just before dark,
at a large park in Dijon. There they lined up for dinner at
a field kitchen set up to provide them with a hot meal.
Unfortunately, well meaning as it was, a cold drizzle tinged
with sleet and rain washed out the hot meal, as well as the
men. But no one complained… at least they had not been shot
at yet.
From there, over the next day or so, from November
5th to November 11th, the 103rd Signal Company travelled on,
crossing the Moselle River before entering the town of
Docelles, where they settled into a muddy field amongst
houses clearly wrecked by artillery shelling. Having covered
about 475 miles they knew they were getting close to their
goal. Rumor quickly spread around the Signaleers that they
were only 16 miles from the 7th Army Front. The meaning was
clear: they were now in the Vosges Mountains: combat was
coming, soon.[2]
It is worth noting that unbeknownst to a number of
the men, there was a long standing military theory that said
that no army could advance through the Vosges Mountain area
during the winter months. Napoleon had tried and failed, as
well as other commanders down through the ages. Each had
despaired, and pulled back in defeat. So widely held was
this view that when the French command reviewed the Army’s
plans to take the Vosges Mountains before the campaign
started, they predicted utter failure.
Apparently someone forgot to tell the 103rd, as it took the mountains in
stride. Rather than fear what had brought others to their
knees, the 103rd proudly followed in President Truman’s
footsteps, as in an earlier period the then Captain Harry Truman, in command
of a horse-drawn artillery battery in WWI, faced and
succeeded at combat in the same Vosges Mountains the 103rd
now occupied.
Having arrived at the front lines, the 103rd
Signal Company set about fulfilling its duties during this
first month of combat, in November, 1944. Specifically it
established and operated a set of fully integrated Division
and support level radio nets, assuring continuity of service
with all of the elements that participated in the net, for
100% of the time that the net was in operation. This the
Signaleers of the 103rd did even as they learned how to
install and defend relay stations on the peaks of mountains, something they found necessary in order to get
signals up and over the mountainous terrain. At the same
time they learned how to lay cable in
the snow, something they had not
practiced in sunny, humid Louisiana.
Similarly they
established and maintained both scheduled and special
messenger service to all of the Division elements, as well
as at Corps level, and for each and every attached unit. All
totaled, the distances covered by the 103rd Signal Company’s
messenger service averaged 390 miles per day, in both combat
conditions, as well as blackout night conditions.
Supplementing this, in November the Company installed
communication centers in LesRouges Laux, Nompatelize, La
Pecherie, Provencheres, Lubine, Fouchy, St. Martin and
Dambach laVille. Finally, they set up and operated
communication centers at the Forward Command Posts, Rear
Echelon Post, at Bruyere and at St. Dié. By the time the
month had ended—the first month of the 103rd Signal
Company’s entry into war—the Commanding Officer of the Rear
Echelon Group had personally commended the men of the 103rd
Signal Company for the type of service rendered and the
manner in which they performed their routine duties.
Clearly, our original 7 Second Lieutenants must have been
paying attention while in OCS, or things would not have gone
as well as they did on this, their first command.
Dates are
confusing as to when the 103rd Signal Company received its
initial combat experience, some say it was on 12 November,
others on 16 November. Working in the vicinity of Les Rouges Eaux, France, the Company was busy doing what it had been
trained to do: furnishing telephone, telegraph, radio and
messenger service for all of the command and administrative
elements of the 103rd Infantry Division, and their attached
units, when the enemy appeared. As the men moved about their
duties, they heard the first sounds of action.
Moving down,
out of the forest and into the valley containing the Taintrux River, one of
the wire men in a small squad saw a village on the far
side of the river. Thinking it might have trunk lines to
which they could connect, they planned
to cross a bridge that lay in front of
them and enter and scout the town.
However, it was too dangerous for them
to do so by day, so instead the Signaleers sat back for most of the
day and waited for dark. As the evening sky darkened and
night fell, they approached the river. What they saw was that the bridge across
it had been
partially destroyed, yet it was still in good enough
condition to support them if they were careful in crossing
it. Rather than get wet, they took to the bridge.
Moving
quickly, they worked their way, house by house, through the
village when in an instant a sniper put a bullet into a door-beam 6 inches above the lead scout’s head. Before
the sniper could
be located and eliminated, another shot rang out, with
another member of the squad catching the shot just above his
eye. Since the village did not appear to be held by a strong
force, the men set about moving their way along the few
houses and buildings that they found along the main road,
searching for the sniper while clearing
any outlying structures they came across. Not bothered
by the
situation they found themselves in, they acted with great
caution but still proceeded. In doing so they used the most basic of fire and movement
tactics to clear the village, something that they had learned in field training in Louisiana. Seeing how determined they
were, the sniper must have decided that it was better for
him to withdraw than stand and fight.
It is interesting to
note that several of the Signaleers who participated in the
Company’s drive through the Vosges Mountains commented after
the war that what struck them most about their first
engagement was not the combat itself, but the tactile feel
of the sound that filled the area, and the stark sights they
saw within the forest itself. Apparently, more impressive to
them than the skirmish with the German sniper was the
strange surroundings of the forest itself.
Filled with
shattered trees and recently abandoned foxholes, most of the
time the woods were eerily silent, yet while no sound filled
the air, the deafness was overwhelming. Old German horse
blankets littered the ground, as did scattered items of
soldiery. Breaking up this surreal environment was the
occasional sound that floating up from the valley below.
Sounds like small arms fire and burp guns, something most of
them had never heard. Add to this the 24 hourly peeling of
church bells throughout the district, and the overhead
whistle of artillery shells at night, and the men were
getting a taste of what war was really like.
Captain Beck,
our graduate from OCS Class 42-06, took these early days of
the unit’s campaign in stride. At only 25 years old, he
seemed not to be bothered by the enormous weight on his
shoulders that command of the 103rd Infantry Division’s
Signal Company brought him. As far as he was concerned,
locked in a position near the 45th Division, the 3rd
Division and the 36th Division, the 103rd Signal Company was
well protected, even though the onset of serious combat
engagements was just a matter of time.
Instead he worried
about his men. At the time every Officer was allowed to
receive one ration of whiskey, or more accurately, he could
purchase one for 105 Francs. Good stuff, the whiskey was
American, and just about any brand you wanted to buy could
be had. Enlisted men however weren’t allowed any. Captain
Beck thought this a bad idea, and while he saw to it that
none of his men drank, he nevertheless bought a quart of the
best whiskey he could afford, through what was called the
Army Agency, and stored it away in the company safe, for
safekeeping until Christmas. His intention was to issue a
ration to each E.M. that worked in his office. And, to make
sure that no one was slighted, he approached the other
Signal OCS Officers that came through 42-06 with him, and
asked them to do the same for their men. They did, and soon the other officers in the unit fell into line too, doing the
same for their own men.
On November 23rd the 6th Corps ordered
the 103rd Infantry Division to continue its drive deeper
into the Vosges Mountains, and advance eastward toward
Ville, an important road junction. From there they were to
drive toward Barr, on the Alsatian plains, about eight miles
northeast of Ville. The 103rd Signal Company moved out as
part of this action, with the men encountering heavily mined
roads, well defended road blocks, and more artillery and
mortar fire than they had ever seen. Along the full length
of their drive they met heavy resistance. Nevertheless, they
progressed, eventually crossing the Meurthe
River and taking St. Dié.
St. Dié was a milestone for
the 103rd, as when the town fell the men were less than
seven weeks from their final "Pass In Review" ceremony at
Camp Howze, Texas. Yet here they were, standing on the
heights, commanding St. Dié, like a bunch of old pros.
From there they moved on to
capture Diefenbach on the 29th of November, and Selestat on
the 4th of December. At this point they were only 29 miles
south of Strasbourg,
on the left bank of the Ill
River. For all practical purposes, they were in Germany,
having traversed the infamous Vosges Mountains.
At the same
time as the 103rd Infantry Division settled on the western
edge of the Ill River, French General le Clerc, commander of
the French 2nd Armored Division, along with elements of the
U.S. 79th Infantry Division, drove into Strasbourg itself.
Two days later the German commander of Strasbourg
surrendered to him, along with 6,000 of his
soldiers. Recognizing that a hole had been punched in
Germany’s line of defense, Reichsfuhrer SS Heinrich Himmler
hurried to Alsace, in an effort to organize the German
defenses as part of a last gap, massive counterattack
(Operation Norwind), which was to be made in conjunction
with another German offensive in the Ardennes Forest (the
Battle of the Bulge).
Himmler established his headquarters
in Colmar, an area within the Allied western front that
still remained in German control. The men of the 103rd had
made advances, but the war was not yet over. Worse, they
were about to lose Strasbourg as the Germans rallied to push
the front line back.
Join us again next month when we offer
you Part II of this four part series, Signal Corps Successes
– How Seven Signal OCS Graduates Built The 103rd Infantry
Division’s Signal Company. In Part II we will follow the
103rd Signal Company as it pushes its way deeper into
Germany. Stay with us as we follow them to the
Siegfried Line, the
Sauer
River, the Rhine Valley, Dachau, the Danube
River, into Austria and on to
Victory in Europe Day.
Footnotes
[1] Technically, the Division was split into a rear Division
Command Post and a forward Division Command Post. The
Generals and their staff officers were in the rear Division
Command Post, as was Captain Beck, his Company
administration, Support and Supply elements. Forward
Division Command Post mostly entailed what were called
"operating section officers” of the 103rd Signal Company,
as well as senior NCOs, the unit’s Message Center, what was
called the “wirehead”, and the wire construction and radio
operating teams. Naturally, as a Company, the unit also had
its own mess, supply, Motor Maintenance, Headquarters, and
Division Signal Supply and Repair groups.
- To return to your place in the text click here:
[2] The Vosges Mountains are composed of the lower Vosges Mountains, and
the higher Vosges Mountains, followed to the East by a wide
plain leading to the Rhine river .
- To return to your place in the text click here:
Additional Sources
103D Infantry Division Signal
Company Remembrances, William F.
Barclay, various online sources.
Papa's War, Evans, Pierce;
Limited Publication, 1995; various
online sources.
Report After Action: The Story of
the 103rd Infantry Division;
Mueller, Ralph; Turk, Jerry; Printing
Office, Innsbruck, Austria.
Captain Bernard Beck, various personal
remembrances provided to William F.
Barclay et al, various online sources.
Index of /Sexton/103rd; deep
web sourcing.
103D Infantry Division Signal
Company History, online as a
Pierce-Evans.org project.
103rd Infantry Division,
Wartime Press.
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courtesy Class 09-67.
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