Gallery #1 = WWII Before Pearl Harbor - May 1941 Photo Gallery by Bob Searl, Sr. at pbase.com

Gallery #1 = WWII Before Pearl Harbor - May 1941

GALLERY #1 of 5..........
The 56th Signal Battalion was stationed at Fort Jackson, SC for basic training and participated in the Carolina Maneuvers of 1941 with encampments in the area of Chester and Kershaw. Military Training for these May 1941 Selective Service "Citizen Draftees" was a strange adjustment and limited with outdated military equipment, wire placing and communications technology. Field wire and field telephones along with Morse code made up the extent of the contact between practice battle units.Shortly after the December 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii the Battalion was dispatched to Europe, in July 1942, to prepare for the allied Air assault and the landings on the coast of France. It would be three long years before most of the Battalion members would return home to the USA, at the end of the European War.

I have a new website! http://snapshotswwii.omeka.net/ Visit this site to learn more about the 56th Signal Battalion and my experiences during the war.

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Kershaw, SC	RationBook42.jpg	Carolina Maneuvers	Carolina Maneuvers
Carolina Maneuvers	Officers March42	Bob Searl May 1941

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Pat Ryan		24-Jul-2011 17:06
My dad Bob Ryan (Harrison,NJ) was with the 56th at Ft. Jackson and to this day his plaque he got there is still hanging at our shore home in Manahawkin NJ. He always marched with VFW post 340 on Memorial Day and my younger brother and I always wanted him to carry the rifle so he could fire it at the ceromomy. He told us there was no higher honor then to carry the colors of the American Flag. We never asked him again. He died in 1986.

Alan Priest		12-Dec-2009 21:55
Thank you for sharing these wonderful memories with us all. I was based at Norton Manor Camp in 1974 - 76 and i recognise some of the buildings in your fotos. My father in law served in the Royal Navy during ww2 and sailed from Weymouth on 6th June 44 to land the troops on Omaha beach, and told me some very poignant stories of the landings. Thanks again , we are indebted to you all.

Pat Layton		24-Aug-2009 08:45
My father (Lawrence J. Layton 10 Feb 1916 - 13 Mar 2005) was a member of the 56th Signal BTN during WWII. He received basic training at Ft. Lewis WA, then to Camp Crowder, MO and to NY. He did not land at Nornady on D-day but days later and served 31 months without a furlough. Just thought I would share. Pat Layton 1stSgt USMC (Ret) abit_of_the_past@hotmail.com

Tony Howell		23-Mar-2006 16:58
Very nice, thank you for sharing!!

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