Bedford in Bedford County, Virginia — The American South (Mid-Atlantic)

238th Engineer Combat Battalion

“Victoria per Construere”

— National D-Day Memorial —

238th Engineer Combat Battalion Marker image. Click for full size.

Photographed By Brandon D Cross, 2024

1. 238th Engineer Combat Battalion Marker

Inscription.

238th Engineer Combat Battalion. “Victoria per Construere”. 238th Engineer Combat Battalion “Victoria per Construere” . Activated on 13 June 1942 as the Second Battalion of the 51st Engineer Combat Regiment, the 238th Engineer Combat Battalion (ECB) saw its first action of the Second World War on D-Day, some two years later, while landing on Utah Beach. Coming ashore in general support of VI Corps, the 238th ECB had the broad charge to help get incoming troops off the beach and facilitate their movement inland. Assigned to operate in the Tare Green Sector of Utah Beach, the Battalion had the critical task of clearing and maintaining exit road U-5, the causeway the 4th Infantry Division would move along to link up with the forces landing on Omaha Beach and the paratroopers on the Cotentin Peninsula. Conducting route reconnaissance soon after landing, Lt. George Worth and Sgt. Donald W. Ray of B Company discovered and measured a 26-foot-wide crater left when a tank passed over an antitank mine. Joining three treadway bridge sections trucked inland by the 991st Treadway Bridge Company (TBC), they and the men of their platoon installed a 36-foot long steel bridge - the first of many treadway bridges that would go up between D-Day and VE Day. As the bridge spanned dry land, the platoon used the undeployed treadway floats to fashion a fortified .50 caliber machinegun position to defend it. For the next week, virtually every wheeled or tracked vehicle moving off Utah Beach crossed the bridge. As German batteries interdicted the route of advance, the 238th ECB, despite the incoming artillery, helped keep it open by manually loading rock, trucking it inland, and onloading it to fill new craters as they appeared. Landing 2,200 yards south of the intended position gave the 4th Infantry Division good proximity to the driest and best linkup road to Omaha Beach. The Douve and Insigny-Vire Rivers form the Banes da Grand Vey tidal flat separating Omaha and Utah beacheads. Colonel Mason J. Young, VII Corps Engineer, gave the 1106th Engineer Combat Group the task of bridging the Douve, and the specific assignment went to C Company of the 238th ECB, with the 991st TBC in direct support. Having emplaced the first bridge over land on D-Day, the 238th ECB emplaced the first steel treadway bridge over water on D+4. C Company's understated Morning Report for 10 June 1944 reads, "Built steel treadway bridge across Douve River,” an entry belying both the complexity and significance of the feat. A treadway bridge set has four H-shaped trestles that permit the bridge to rise and fall with the tide, it is 280 feet long. Lt. John B. Wong, leader of C Company's 1st Platoon, recalls that "the bridge was assembled by the single-float method," a process the flood tide helped, but as the river continued to rise, Headquarters and Service Company needed to weld additional lengths to the trestle's columns. Lt. Wong records the reaction of the mayor of Ste. Marie du Mont: "As soon as we saw this remarkable floating pontoon bridge erected in such a short time, we knew that the war was already won by our allies. We had no doubts about it whatsoever." The 238h ECB lived its motto, Victoria per Construere (Victory through Construction), by supporting VI Corps in five campaigns from D-Day through VE Day. Its soldiers earned 18 Silver Stars, 73 Bronze Stars, and 120 Purple Hearts. In lasting tribute to the 238th Engineer Combat Battalion’s devotion to duty and contribution to the success of Operation Overlord, 6 June 1944 - 25 August 1944. .

238th Engineer Combat Battalion
“Victoria per Construere”
Activated on 13 June 1942 as the Second Battalion of the 51st Engineer Combat Regiment, the 238th Engineer Combat Battalion (ECB) saw its first action of the Second World War on D-Day, some two years later, while landing on Utah Beach. Coming ashore in general support of VI Corps, the 238th ECB had the broad charge to help get incoming troops off the beach and facilitate their movement inland. Assigned to operate in the Tare Green Sector of Utah Beach, the Battalion had the critical task of clearing and maintaining exit road U-5, the causeway the 4th Infantry Division would move along to link up with the forces landing on Omaha Beach and the paratroopers on the Cotentin Peninsula.

Conducting route reconnaissance soon after landing, Lt. George Worth and Sgt. Donald W. Ray of B Company discovered and measured a 26-foot-wide crater left when a tank passed over an antitank mine. Joining three treadway bridge sections trucked inland by the 991st Treadway Bridge Company (TBC), they and the men of their platoon installed a 36-foot long steel bridge - the first of many treadway bridges that would go up between D-Day and VE Day. As the bridge spanned dry land, the platoon used the undeployed treadway floats to fashion a fortified

Paid Advertisement

Click on the ad for more information.
Please report objectionable advertising to the Editor.

Click or scan to see
this page online

.50 caliber machinegun position to defend it. For the next week, virtually every wheeled or tracked vehicle moving off Utah Beach crossed the bridge. As German batteries interdicted the route of advance, the 238th ECB, despite the incoming artillery, helped keep it open by manually loading rock, trucking it inland, and onloading it to fill new craters as they appeared.

Landing 2,200 yards south of the intended position gave the 4th Infantry Division good proximity to the driest and best linkup road to Omaha Beach. The Douve and Insigny-Vire Rivers form the Banes da Grand Vey tidal flat separating Omaha and Utah beacheads. Colonel Mason J. Young, VII Corps Engineer, gave the 1106th Engineer Combat Group the task of bridging the Douve, and the specific assignment went to C Company of the 238th ECB, with the 991st TBC in direct support. Having emplaced the first bridge over land on D-Day, the 238th ECB emplaced the first steel treadway bridge over water on D+4. C Company's understated Morning Report for 10 June 1944 reads, "Built steel treadway bridge across Douve River,” an entry belying both the complexity and significance of the feat.

A treadway bridge set has four H-shaped trestles that permit the bridge to rise and fall with the tide, it is 280 feet long. Lt. John B. Wong, leader of C Company's 1st Platoon, recalls that "the bridge was assembled by the

238th Engineer Combat Battalion Marker (center) image. Click for full size.

Photographed By Brandon D Cross

2. 238th Engineer Combat Battalion Marker (center)

single-float method," a process the flood tide helped, but as the river continued to rise, Headquarters and Service Company needed to weld additional lengths to the trestle's columns. Lt. Wong records the reaction of the mayor of Ste. Marie du Mont: "As soon as we saw this remarkable floating pontoon bridge erected in such a short time, we knew that the war was already won by our allies. We had no doubts about it whatsoever."

The 238h ECB lived its motto, Victoria per Construere (Victory through Construction), by supporting VI Corps in five campaigns from D-Day through VE Day. Its soldiers earned 18 Silver Stars, 73 Bronze Stars, and 120 Purple Hearts.
In lasting tribute to the 238th Engineer Combat Battalion’s devotion to duty and contribution to the success of Operation Overlord, 6 June 1944 - 25 August 1944.

Erected by National D-Day Memorial.

Topics and series. This memorial is listed in these topic lists: Roads & Vehicles • War, World II. In addition, it is included in the U.S. National D-Day Memorial series list. A significant historical date for this entry is June 6, 1944.

Location. 37° 19.853′ N, 79° 32.157′ W. Marker is in Bedford, Virginia, in Bedford County. Memorial can be reached from Overlord Circle, 0.4 miles west of

Paid Advertisement

Click on the ad for more information.
Please report objectionable advertising to the Editor.

Burks Hill Road. The Marker is located on the grounds of the National D-Day Memorial. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 3 Overlord Circle, Bedford VA 24523, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. 320th Anti-Aircraft Balloon Battalion (here, next to this marker); Military Police (MP) Platoons (here, next to this marker); First Infantry Division (here, next to this marker); The Glider Pilot Regiment (here, next to this marker); Fifth Ranger Battalion (here, next to this marker); The United States Marines in the European Theater (here, next to this marker); Second Ranger Battalion (here, next to this marker); French Forces of the Interior (FFI) (here, next to this marker). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Bedford.

Also see . . .
1. Appendix F History of the 238th Engineer Combat Battalion. (Submitted on February 4, 2024, by Brandon D Cross of Flagler Beach, Florida.)
2. National D-Day Memorial. (Submitted on February 4, 2024, by Brandon D Cross of Flagler Beach, Florida.)

Credits. This page was last revised on February 4, 2024. It was originally submitted on February 4, 2024, by Brandon D Cross of Flagler Beach, Florida. This page has been viewed 82 times since then. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on February 4, 2024, by Brandon D Cross of Flagler Beach, Florida. • Andrew Ruppenstein was the editor who published this page.