WORKIN' ON THOSE AIRDROMES: An Overseas Report from the 923rd Engineer Aviation Regiment: 827th Engineer Battalion, 829th Engineer Battalion, 847th Engineer Battalion, 859th Engineer Battalion
923rd Engineer Aviation Regiment IX Engineer Command, 1945. Wraps. The 923rd Engineer (Aviation) Regiment was a segregated African American unit activated August 1, 1942, at Eglin Field, Florida, under the command of Colonel I.D. Brent. Sent to the United Kingdom to construct vital airfields for the American strategic bomber offensive, the regiment arrived on August 14, 1943, establishing its headquarters at Eye, Suffolk. The 827th, 829th, 847th, and 859th Engineer (Aviation) Battalions were joined to the regiment, giving it a total of approximately 3,200 black enlisted men and 130 largely white officers, and making it the largest African American unit stationed in the United Kingdom during World War II.
According to this unit history, "The two greatest accomplishments of the men of this Regiment were the construction of Eye and Debach airdromes in England. The men of this organization worked long hours, learned new trades and skills, and gave up much treasured off-duty time to meet the exacting completion dates which were imposed upon us. On D-Day, 6 June 1944, the first flight of Liberators took off from Debach; these planes together with those from Eye which had already been bombing Germany for several days, dropped many hundreds of tons of bombs on the invasion beaches of Northern France in support of the invading Armies."
Following the successful Allied invastion, the 923rd built airfields in France for the First Tactical Air Force supporting the 7th Army and the First French Army advancing from the south. "In one case, the Battalions joined together for the quick construction of a field for French fighter-bombers at Luxeuil, finishing the runway in record time just as the first planes arrived. Later we maintained and built new facilities for Ninth Air Force fields. After V-E Day the Regiment took its part in the Occupational Air Force Program, and completed two of the first fields which are to be used in policing Germany and enforcing the peace which we have won."
This visual record of the 923rd Engineers includes images of the regiment's activities throughout the war. A photograph of the regiment drilling on Organization Day (September 21, 1944) is captioned: "the largest assemblage of colored troops in the ETO." There are also snapshots of boxer Joe Louis visiting the troops and a rehearsal by the famous U.S. Army Negro Chorus, which was comprised of 200 members of the 923rd Engineers, who performed at the Royal Albert Hall in September 1943 with tenor Roland Hayes and the London Symphony Orchestra, and subsequently went on tour to Liverpool, Manchester, Glasgow, and Edinburgh. The images are accompanied by a brief unit history, a detailed description of the Eye and Debach airdromes, a list of the airfields constructed, improved, or maintained by the 923rd Engineers, and an "In Memoriam" listing the names of those who had died in service during the war.
Oblong quarto: [41] p. with numerous photographic illustrations. Regimental insignia is reproduced in color on two pages and on the wrappers. Bound with staples in the original printed paper wrappers, which are a bit edgeworn with some some general toning. Scarce, OCLC locates only three holdings: University of Illinois, U.S. Army Service Academy (Missouri), and U.S. Army War College. Item #77632
Price: $2,000.00