Roster

On June 24, 1945, T/4 James J. Sirmans, who was one of the 841st, published a "History of the 841st Ordnance Depot Company from its activation until May 8, 1945".  It was 103 original pages typed. As you will notice on each page there were obvious typos, and some not so obvious.  I've attempted to correct any that I found in my transcriptions.   Included at the end of the company History, were 10 pages (original pages # 81 - 90) listing all of the Awards and Commendations for the company.  Following that was a Roster of the company's members (original pages # 91- 98), with addresses as of that date; and then there were 4 pages (pages 99 - 102) of a Chronology of the company's Operations and Movements, with dates from landing at Utah Beach 1944, until V-E Day, May 8, 1945 and German surrender.   The very last page, # 103, had the popular song/poem "Goin' Home".

He (Sirmans) shares his gratitude to S/Sgt Charles Marks, T/Sgt Michael Caffey, and to T/5 Harry Perun for assisting with the composition, and to every member of the company, "without whose contributions our history could not have been recorded".

I have now posted a transcription of both the History and the Roster.  See the link to the "Company History" in the Left Sidebar.

The original "Roster" was just a typed list of the men and their addresses. Some town names couldn't be located, or were listed for the wrong state. I have made a few corrections for spelling and typos, and transcribed it into Excel.  It is accessed using the link at the bottom of this page.  There are a few names that had originally been questionable and now corrected, like Capt. Fuller's first name was Lenard, not Lenars.   I've highlighted those few in a different shade of green in the cell.   I will continue to make corrections and update as needed. (Just updated the roster: 11 Nov 2023).

And for a group photo of the men of the 841st, Oct. 1944, see Photos 11.  (This is another "work in progress" where I'm attempting to identify some of  the men and link them to other photos on this website, or with any photos that relatives may have sent to me.)  Over the past year (2022-2023) I've been in touch with a granddaughter of Jerry Steenwyk, who had this group photo in his "army" album and he had listed the last names of each man, row by row!  There are a few inconsistencies between the names in the "Roster", and Steenwyk's names listed with the group photo in his album.  (How correct was his memory in matching a face to a name?).  I discuss this more below.   I will post that list and connect it to my copy, where I have added numbers to each man, row by row.  For me, the easiest way to connect and attempt to identify each man, was to place a number on the group photo, row by row, left to right. For example, my Dad is #99, and found on Row #4 (from bottom row #1 to top row #6.  (Jerry Steenwyck is #134, as identified by his family.) 
I discuss all of my 'numbering by rows' further below, with enlarged and cropped photos for each row.  Remember, there were 206 men listed in the official "Roster", and only 171 faces in the group photo taken in October 1944.
I still have a huge job to do.

Having access to Sgt. Sirmans's Roster of the members of the 841st was especially significant, and important to me.  In his opening paragraphs in his History,  he states this company was attached to the 350th Ordnance Battalion under the command of Major Hughes and officially activated June 24, 1943, as the 841st Ordnance Depot Company in Fort Knox, Kentucky, with commanding officer, 1st Lt. Lenard C. Fuller and his "young 2nd Lts." (Reynolds, Robertson, Orton, Lanham, (and then Prendergast and Petrone).  He then references how those officers would be receiving and making the "destinies of 150 raw new initiated recruits" to make up the company. (I think the number, 150, was just an estimate of how many men they thought would be arriving.)  And he mentions the others who were key staff members: Warrant Officer Calvin Semple, T/Sgt Stanley Kacaba, M/Sgt Wayne McCabe, S/Sgt Michael Caffey.  The History certainly gives a general idea of the size and makeup of the company. But it doesn't clearly give an exact list as does the Roster. Sgt. Sirmans does tell us that the men arrived in 2 groups from Fort McPherson, in Atlanta Ga. The first arrived Oct 3rd, and the second (and last) arrived four days later on  Oct 7th, 1943.

A bit of confusion is added in comparing names and ranks in the History with the Roster because there were some promotions and transfers during this period. (Early during these first months, 1st Lt. Fuller became a Captain, and 2nd Lt. Reynolds became 1st Lt. while in France, etc.)  The History doesn't mention any enlisted men actually joining or being transferred into the 841st during their history.  However, it explains that orders were received late in 1944  to transfer 10% of the company's total over to the U.S. Infantry. 18 enlisted men were transferred in Dec 1944, nine on Dec 16th, and nine on Dec 19th. Three 3 men volunteered and the other 15 were selected by the Captain and his officers.  Of those, Sgt. William F. Malone, from Connecticut, became a member of Company K of the 328th Infantry, and was then killed in action Jan 4, 1945.  See Photos-14 (from the Left menu) for his memorial and further information.

So, we now know that some men were part of the 841st from the beginning when it was formed and activated.  Some were transferred temporarily to another base while they were still in England, to serve with the French, and then returned weeks later. Per my Dad, one guy broke his arm, and may have left for a while. Lt. Orton was transferred in mid-Oct 1944 and replaced by Lt. Prendergast.  18 men went to the Infantry (with one killed).  In April 1945,  W.O. Semple and Lt. Robertson were transferred to other companies.  And about May 1st, near the end of the war, Lt. Petrone joined the 841st while in Regen, Germany.

The Roster is a list of 206 men. It was compiled by Sgt. Sirmans in May, 1945 and included all (as far as I knew) who were ever part of the 841st.  There are no names mentioned in the History that are not found in the Roster.  There were a few names or cities that are questionable, either by spelling or just a typo.  I've highlighted some of those in my EXCEL version in yellow. I have resolved some of these. (Since first writing this I have now been provided a copy of the 1944 group photo, with a list of last names for each person, row by row.  This is from the Jerry Steenwyk family      photo album.  Jerry was one of the 841st men.  I have posted these photos in the later Photo Pages.  Jerry's lists have several spelling errors, and  ) 

The first 8 names listed in the Roster are the officers. This is followed by 180 enlisted men. And finally, the 18 men who were transferred to the Infantry.

The other reference for comparison of numbers in the Company is the "group" photo of the 841st taken in Oct 1944, in Dombasle, France. There are 171 men in that photo, both officers and enlisted. That's a difference of about 35 men. And this is before the 18 were transferred in December.  Perhaps some were on duty or working in other positions that day. And some may have been "on leave", allowing some to visit nearby towns.  We will probably never know the story there. But we know we have some "missing faces" in that crowd.  And recently, we have access to the "Steenwyk" list of names for the group photo, which indicates a few unknown names not on the roster. And we also know that Frazier Phillips (# 161 )  has verified there really were two men named Phillips in the group, but we are unsure of the other's first name  (ID'd by Steenwyk as # 11). 

Does anyone recognize a face? If so, please let me know.

My thanks to all those who were members of the 841st and those who maintained a record of the history of the company. 

Without their efforts and their memories, most of us would not know this story.  I am grateful to be able to share it here for others and later generations.

The following first attached file shows the original pages of the Roster, as typed by the company staff. You will find several typos (i.e., Captain Fuller's first name was Lenard, not Lenars, etc.).      Click on the box and scroll through the pages.)  

The second file is my version as transcribed into EXCEL.  Click on the box and scroll through the list.
Anyone with this link should be able to VIEW and scroll thru either file.  Let me know if there's a problem.