England – Wales
April 1944
May 1944
In the meantime the advance detachment had staged at Fort Hamilton, sailed aboard the "Queen
Mary" on 1 March and had arrived in Greenock, Scotland on the 6th. A Scottish band, complete with
bagpipes and kilts, had played ancient tunes and the ultra-modern "Deep in the Heart of Texas" as the
90th Division advance guard entrained for Birminghan in the midlands of England.
Initially stationed with the division headquarters group in the old "King Edward School" on
Bristol Rd. the advance detachment made plans and preparations for the reception, training and the
equipping of the battalion which was soon to arrive.
In the Mersey River channel off Liverpool, England, the "John Ericsson" arrived at 0800 on 8
April 1944. Debarkation was made on to the floating docks during 9-10 April and the companies
immediately entrained for their respective camps.
Upon arrival of the battalion in England Major Carlton L. Nelson, who had been with the
advance detachment, took over the command from Major Sibeck. Then, on 12 April 1944, Major
Nelson was transferred to the G-3 Section in Division Headquarters and Major Frank Gilchrist was
appointed battalion commander.
Division headquarters was located in Birmingham and the troops were dispersed in five tent
camps on an approximate 50 mile radius west of the city. Company A went to Davenport Hall in
Northern Shropshire with a portion of the division artillery. Company B was assigned to Kinlet Hall
near Kidderminster with a part of the 357th Infantry. Company C moved into Camp Stanage near
Knighton, Radnor, Wales. Battalion Headquarters, H & S Company and the Medical Detachment were
established with the 359th Infantry at Herrington Park in Herefordshire near Leominster.
Again the 315th Engineers became post engineers in addition to their other duties. Although
some of the camps bore fancy designations as parks, halls and commons, the living quarters for the
battalion were all of tentage. The names of Davenport, Kinlet and Berrington had all been adopted from
the titles of the old English estates on which the camps were situated. Ablution huts, kitchens, mess
halls, drying rooms and headquarters buildings were all of the prefabricated quonset or nisson type.
British and American troops and British contractors had done good jobs but again, as in the case of
Camp Granite in the desert, work had stopped prior to completion. The 315th Engineers again went into
the construction and utility business. Each engineer company did work at its respective camp and
special details were sent to Stuart Common, Camp Gatacre and King Edwards School, the other division
camps where no engineer troops were stationed.
But it was soon realized that the stay in England would not be long and the post engineer work
was restricted to the absolute essentials. The battalion continued its physical conditioning, received and
processed new equipment and supplies. Experimented with hedgerow breaching on Clee Hill near
Tenbury, constructed a floating bailey bridge on the river Severn [Figure 4-1] and some men and
officers observed the pre-invasion practice landings at Slapton Sands near Torqay on the channel coast.
By the first of May the entire battalion had been re-supplied with its full T/O & E allowances and
schools were conducted in the waterproofing of vehicles.
During the stay in England, the men were granted short passes to the nearby towns where they learned to
know their British Allies over the warm ale and beer of local pubs. The soldiers, however, were not here
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