THE BEGINNING

Chapter 4

So now that I was able to confirm that my grandfather was indeed at Normandy and I had some data to expand my search regarding his travels throughout Europe, let’s start at the very beginning. Let’s trace his steps from start to finish.

As noted earlier from Larry’s research, the 2487th was originally designated as the 820th Quartermaster Platoon assigned to Duncan Airfield in Texas in March of 1942. They were there until October 1942 when they were moved to Stinson Airfield, Texas. On January 13, 1943 while at Stinson they were redesignated as the 2487th Quartermaster Platoon. August 9, 1943 they were shipped to Camp Patrick Henry in Virginia and on September 5, 1943 loaded on the General John Pope and shipped to Greenock, Scotland.

According to the records that I acquired from Carlisle, Larry’s information was indeed correct. They were at Duncan Airfield in Texas, sent to Stinson Airfield in Texas, sent to Camp Patrick Henry in Virginia and then shipped off to Europe. The timeline from the Carlisle records gives a general location list of each of the platoons. 1st Platoon with Larry’s dad had arrival in England on September 13, 1943 and then traveling to France, Belgium, Holland, back to France, Holland, and then ending in Germany until the war was over. My grandfather’s 2nd Platoon (Detachment A) was stationed in England, France, Belgium, and then Germany. That makes sense because my grandfather would always tell my mom that he was in France and Belgium mostly. The records state that they arrived in England on September 13, 1943 aboard the “HR-489” per water transportation report dated September 22, 1943. I tried to find pictures of the “HR-489” but nothing came up. From my research, the ports that the military left out of the United States by the thousands were designated Ports of Embarkation. Not only did the military leave on military ships, but hundreds of civilian passenger ships and cargo ships were utilized in the transportation effort. Camp Patrick Henry in Virginia was near the third largest Port of Embarkation and that port was called the Hampton

Roads Port of Embarkation (HRPOE or HRPE). My guess is that the ship they left on was coded “HR-489”, meaning “Hampton Roads” ship 489 for secrecy and coded movement. Thanks to Larry’s information, it turns out that the ship “HR489” was actually the newly commissioned ship, the General John Pope. Even though Larry’s information stated that my grandfather’s and his father’s platoons arrived in Greenock, Scotland, the Carlisle records made no mention of their arrival location. Maybe another example of classified material. However, I was able to verify that the General John Pope did arrive in Greenock, Scotland, with soldiers from Hampton Roads, while researching the history of the ship which is noted later.

Some history on the Hampton Roads Port of Embarkation and Camp Patrick Henry should be noted here. As mentioned, Hampton Roads was the third largest United States Army Transportation Corps Port of Embarkation in terms of passengers and second in terms of cargo tonnage on the East coast of the United States during World War II. Until June of 1942, Hampton Roads was a sub-port of the New