289th Engineer Combat Battalion (United States)

The 289th Engineer Combat Battalion (United States) was a  combat engineer battalion of the United States Army during World War II. It served under XXI Corps of the Seventh Army in action in France and Germany in 1944 and 1945.

Its principal combat assignments included ferrying assault troops across the Saar River at Völklingen, leading to breaching the Siegfried Line at Saarbrücken; escorting an ambulance corps across the Rhine at Worms near Mannheim; and ferrying troops and equipment across the Neckar River in Heidelburg.

Overview
The 289th Engineer Combat Battalion was constituted at Camp Joseph T. Robinson, Little Rock, Arkansas, in December of 1942. A cadre from the 299th Engineer Combat Battalion was detached to Camp Robinson to form its core. Companies A, B, C, HQ and Service were established. After training, it left New York Harbor for the European Theater of operations (ETO) on October 22, 1944. Upon arrival at Bristol, England on November 1, it debarked for training in Weston-super-Mare. On December 28 it departed Southampton for Le Harve, landing December 31.

In the ETO the 289th was assigned to the XXI Corps of the Seventh Army. Upon arrival in France it traveled by rail in forty and eight railcars, stopping successively in Forges-les-Eaux, Lunéville, and Fort de la Mouche in Epinal. After two weeks frigid encampment there it was again on the move, arriving int St. Avold near Saarbrücken on February 1 after two intermediate stops. There it refined its training and acquired combat engineering materials before entering the combat zone near the German city of Saarbrücken. It's first significant contribution was supporting the crossing of the Saar there March 18-20; followed by support over the Rhine near Mannheim March 30; and ferry and pontoon bridge construction assistance over the Neckar near Heidelberg March 31. From there it moved successively eastward closer to Wurzburg through April 18.

The 289th then pivoted south through heavily contested Crailsheim in several short encampments over the next three weeks of diminishing German resistance in areas now falling well behind rapidly advancing front lines. VE Day was celebrated on May 8, 1945, while stationed in Goppingen, 20 miles southeast of Stuttgart.

Immediate occupation duty included rushing 80 miles southeast to secure the Kaufbeuren Air Base in southern Bavaria on May 14. Perceived crucial by TICOM, the U.S. intelligence and technology gathering organization, it revealed itself the final location of the Nazi Party's top secret FA signals intelligence and cryptanalytic agency; Neckarsulm, home of NSU Motorenwerke's SdKfz 2 production, on May 16; and Mosbach, site of an underground Daimler-Benz airplane engine factory, codenamed "Goldfisch".

After serving at Mossbach into August 1945, the 289th was ordered back to France to ship out for deployment to the Pacific Theater in preparation for the invasion of Japan. With the announcement of VJ Day in Europe on August 15, 1945, it was re-routed to the United States, departed Le Harve in September 1945, and demobilized at a camp in Georgia.

Services
Among the combat services the 289th provided were the deployment and operation of assault boats and the construction of various pontoon bridges, including M1 treadways, and modular steel truss Bailey bridges.

Actions
Principal combat actions involving the 289th Engineers include:
 * Ferrying troops of the 274th Infantry Battalion of the 70th Infantry Division in assault boats across the Saar River at Völklingen against the German 1st Army, followed by laying an infantry support bridge, which led to breaching the Siegfried Line and the Allied occupation of Saarbrücken.
 * Escorting an ambulance corps across a temporary bridge over the Rhine at Worms near Mannheim under duress of German artillery fire.
 * Ferrying troops and equipment of the 63rd Infantry Division across the Neckar River in Heidelburg while pontoon bridges were laid after the retreating German army had demolished the historic span across the river there.

Timeline


New York England France Germany France Germany
 * October 22, 1944 – Leave New York Port of Embarkation
 * November 1 – Arrive Bristol, England. To Weston-super-Mare
 * December 28 – Southampton
 * December 31 – Le Harve, France
 * January 2, 1945 – Forges-les-Eaux
 * January 9 – Lunéville
 * January 11 – Fort de la Mouche
 * January 24 – Landroff
 * January 30 – Merlebach
 * February 1 – St. Avold
 * March 18 – Krüghutte
 * March 20 – Gersweiler
 * March 23 – Bitche
 * March 24 – Pirmasens
 * March 27 – Edenkoben
 * March 28 – Rhinefield
 * March 31 – Mannheim
 * April 1 – Mudau
 * April 3 – Gissigheim
 * April 17 – Großrinderfeld
 * April 19 – Wallhausen
 * April 21 – Schrozberg
 * April 22 – Hengstfeld
 * April 23 – Dinkelsbuhl
 * April 27 – Goppingen
 * Post VE-Day Occupation Duty:


 * May 14 – Kaufbeuren
 * May 16 – Neckarsulm
 * May 18 – Mosbach

Campaign credit

 * Ardennes-Alsace Battle Credit
 * Rhineland
 * Central Europe