Sergeant John McGraw of the 348th Engineer Combat Battalion
Sergeant John McGraw told us, that while at Singleton Park, Swansea, the troops would be transported, by bus, to the Brunswick Methodist Church in Swansea; after the services the people in the congregation would invite them home for dinner; then they would be taken back to the church for transport back to base.
When my Dad and I visited Swansea in 2007, we went to the church. My Dad wasn't sure we were in the right place, as the church had been rebuilt.
We spoke with one of the ladies in the church; she updated us on the history of the church, and then pointed us to an area that held scrap books, from the church's history.
My Dad was thrilled to "see" the church he remembered.
Brunswick Methodist Church
Veteran Sergent John McGraw, with Shrapnel
which hit his helmet and left a dent -
he kept as a Good Luck charm
John McGraw in Verginia, 2012
Sergeant John McGraw 348th Combat Engineer Battalion, 5th Engineer Special Brigade
Sergeant John McGraw DOB: 21 June 1921
Place of Birth: Adams, NY. Inducted: 26 August 1942 Discharged: 25 October 1945
In November 1943 my dad, John McGraw, left Camp Miles Standish, Mass.. and went to Halifax, Nova Scotia, where he boarded the H.M.S. Mauretania. He arrived in Liverpool, England on November 9, 1943.The next night, after dark, they loaded from the ship onto buses and went to the Caswell Bay Hotel.
On Nov. 18th 1943 they moved to Swansea.
While there they were based at Singleton Park; but, were also at Manselton and Scurlage Castle.
While at Scurlage Castle they went on manoeuvres.
They then went to camps: D 11, D 14, and D 16, all staging areas for the invasion of France.
All of these camps were in the area of Weymouth, England.
There they were briefed and given maps and instructions for D-Day.
On June 1st they boarded the L.C.T. 256 and headed across the English Channel for Normandy Beach. They landed on Omaha Beach, H-Hour Plus One Hour.
The only time he knew where he was landing was when he got there
His task on Omaha beach was to clear a minefield –they were wooden mines (shoe mine) and detectors were no good –so you went in sideways –some were booby-trapped
Then to bring in the boats with equipment
Our job was to get men & everything out of the boats and over the hill to be assigned a job
When the minefield was clear, we called the boats in
We were on the beach were three or four days before we saw the book about these mines. By then we could have written the book.
Went back to see the beach in about 2007
By - New York State Military Museum
duplicate sound below-
https://soundcloud.com/nys_military_museum/mcgraw-john
NYS_Military_Museum
John McGraw, Sergeant, US Army, World War Two
John McGraw and his family, 2009
A more detailed history of his unit
Travels of the American 348th Engineer Combat Battalion
from Nov. 2, 1943 to June 5, 1944
Selected passages from the Regimental History By: Keith Bryan
Part of the 5th Engineer Special Brigade
Extract
Transfer from Swansea, South Wales from the train to a fleet of double-deck buses. The buses carried the unit six miles to a small resort village with a quaint name Mumbles. The Companies were scattered at different locations around this village; Headquarters and a portion of "B" Company at Summerland, "A" Company at Newton, other elements of "B" at Singleton Park, and "C" Company at Caswell Bay Hotel.
During the first week of December, the entire Battalion moved to a new camp on the outskirts of Swansea Camp Manselton.