Family Tree Story: WW2 Pics

My Grandpa Meinz was enlisted into the Army during WW2. His service was with the 728th Railway Operating Battalion. I was recently sent these pictures from another family member. Most of them aren't labeled, but they're still pretty interesting.

These pictures were sent to me as pdf files. I simply took a screenshot of each picture for these images.

Some sites for further reading:

https://usmrr.tripod.com/728index.htm

The following info comes from David Matthew Wilkins' Thesis at Western Kentucky University Titled: The L&N's Battalion: The Story of the 728th Railway Operating Battalion, sponsored by the Louisville and Nashville Railroad Company during the Second World War

Each of the Railway Battalions was sponsored by an American railroad. That railroad would send its people and equipment overseas as a part of the US Army to support the war effort. The 728th was sponsored by the Louisville and Nashville Railroad Company.

Camp Harahan, in Louisiana near New Orleans, was where the enlisted personnel trained. There they completed 6 weeks of basic training. They then traveled to Camp William C. Reid in New Mexico where they completed 11 weeks of technical training with their officers. From there they moved to Fort Snelling in Minnesota for two months. Then they moved to Camp Miles Standish in Massachusetts to await orders overseas. They arrived at Gurock, Scotland in December 1943.

The 728th worked all over Great Britain to support the war effort and to prepare for the D Day invasion. They embarked from Cardiff, Wales on two ships in June 1944, had to wait at anchor for 30 days, then arrived at the port of Cherbourg, France in July.

The port had been badly damaged as well as some of the railways, and both of these had to be repaired. They also had to get ammunition, gas, and other supplies to the front. By December 1944, French crews were operating the trains. In April 1945, the line was turned over to French control.

The 728th left for Germany in May. Before they arrived, the European war ended with VE on May 8th. Their new home was Fuerth, Germany, near Nuremberg. Their goal was to transport troops and material back to the ports. In October, operations were turned over to German workers. Most of the battalion was home by the end of 1945.