346 REUNION IN AMARILLO

THE FAIR-HAIRED BOYS OF WORLD-WAR II MEET AGAIN (2)

 

           The Company subsequently sailed for Scotland on the cruise ship Aquitania, which was the sister ship to the ill-fated Lusitania.  At the Firth of Clyde a large ferry, the Ben Macres, took the unit across the rough Irish Sea to Belfast in Northern Ireland, and from there they took a train to Upper Ballinderry.

          From there, at the end of February 1944, it was over to Scotland, thence to London and west to Cornwall to set up a field depot to equip the American Armed Forces for the invasion of Normandy.  The 346 was picked for the extra duties of supplying waterproofing kits for the vehicles that were to land on the beaches.  That fulfilled, the orders then came to correct a ‘snafu’ at a British ordnance facility in Cheltenham.  For some reason the boxes were mislabeled.  Each piece of material had to be inspected, identified and labeled correctly.