3250^th SIGNAL SERVICE COMPANY

[Editor - This is only a partial history of the 3250^th as was contained in the "Histories Of Radio Intelligence Units, European Theater, September 1944 to March 1945, Volume II" as declassified by the NSA in 1983 and provided to us by Edward H. Ioanes (137^th SRIC - WW-II.) The 3250^th Signal Service Company was the only SIGINT unit to be "awarded assault landing credit for the Normandy invasion, 6 and 7 June 1944."]

The 3250^th Signal Service Company was activated on the 14^th of March 1944 at Camp Brockley, near Bristol, England; assigned to First United States Army, and attached to V Corps. The company had the mission of obtaining intelligence from the transmissions of enemy tactical radio traffic and passing said intelligence to the Assistant Chief of Staff, G-2.

Operations in England began the middle of April 1944 and continued, with the exception of time spent on practice invasion exercise "Fabius I", until the Company entered the marshaling area to await the invasion of the Continent.

The company landed on 7 June 1944 on beach "Omaha", Easy Red Sector, as a part of Task Force "O" [U. S. Assault Force "O"] and maintained operations in support of V Corps from that date to the completion of the mission of V Corps in Europe. During the actual Assault Landing, a Detachment of the Company, monitoring American tactical radio nets, provided up to the minute information of the progress of assault units to the Corps G-3 Section.

During the progress of Continental operations the Company was able to provide accurate information as to disposition of enemy units, strength, Order of Battle, and intentions, troop movements, and state of supply; as well as information as to the progress of allied units from enemy sources which, as such, was far in advance of such reports by our own units through normal channels.

On numerous occasions, units of V Corps were able to advance with a minimum of resistance to certain points by knowing in advance enemy defense intentions and dispositions. In Normandy, by close liaison with Corps artillery, it was possible to eliminate a number of enemy artillery observers. When the breaking out from the Normandy Beachhead was in progress, the Company, with the assistance of other, similar units, was able to give advance notice of the German intention to split the First and Third Armies at Mortain, France, in time for the application of countermeasures. Before the Siegfried Line, in October, the movement of a German Panzer division to the Corps front was reported well in advance. On the occasion of the German "Ardennes" offensive, the up to the minute location, movement, and intentions of the northern German spearhead was reported.

Although not a combat unit, the Company had its share of casualties, with 5 men killed, 1 missing in action, and 15 wounded; a total of 18% casualties. Elements of the Company mopped up several small enemy groups of stragglers in the latter phase of operations in Germany, killing one, wounding 9, and taking 186 Prisoners Of War.

[Editor - the only other narrative history contained in the aforementioned document covers the period of April 1945, just prior to the end of hostilities, as follows:]

At the beginning of April, the Company was in the midst of supporting the operations of its Corps which was that of rapid pursuit of the enemy, and an encircling movement in conjunction with the two other Corps of First Army, to assist in closing the Ruhr Pocket.

.......since the entire month was characterized by rapid, continuous, and relatively long movements, the Company was broken up into four groups: Reconnaissance, with the Commanding Officer, Wire Section and one section of the Security Platoon; First Operational Group, with the Traffic Analysis Section, half the Intercept Section, a radio truck, a Message Center Group, and a section of the Security Platoon; the Second Operational Group, with the other half of Intercept, a radio truck, a Message Center Group, and half a section of the Security Platoon; and the Company train, with the Executive Officer and the remainder of the company and Security Platoon. This system enabled movement without interruption of operations, and continuous communication with the other concerned intelligence units and within the Company.

The two Direction Finding teams which were equipped with German equipment mounted in American vehicles were attached to the 2^nd Infantry Division and the 9^th Armored Division, which insured that they would always be in a relatively satisfactory position for operations and close to the Front. This was particularly true of the team attached to the 9^th Armored Division, although some of the time the Division Headquarters moved during the day and bivouacked at night which was, unfortunately, just the opposite of the method needed for most efficient direction finding operations. This was the first time the Company had ever placed a Direction Finder with an Armored Division.

The third Direction Finder, mounted in the German trailer, was kept with the Company and operated throughout the period with very good results.

About the 8^th of April our Corps swung East with Leipzig as its objective and advanced rapidly against light resistance. The rest of the First Army was divided between reducing the now closed Ruhr Pocket, and swinging East also. This necessarily made communication very difficult. Radio communication was maintained by using directional antennas cut to frequency, but even then, for a period, we were only able to contact our adjacent Corps (VII Corps) by radio. Whenever the trunk lines came in from Corps, to Army, the Company had teletype to the Army unit, but this was rather erratic. VII and V Corps, however, concentrated principally on units to the East, while the remainder of our system was concerned with units in the Ruhr Pocket, so available communication proved sufficient to meet the needs of the situation.

About the fifteenth, Leipzig fell and our mission was one of waiting for the Russian Army, and holding ground taken up to this time, generally along the Mulde River. During the period from the fifteenth until the 25^th, the Company serviced equipment, devoted some time to recreation and rest, maintained operations, and particularly, awaited the appearance of Russian radio traffic which would herald the coming of the Russian Army. On the 25^th April V Corps (69^th Infantry Division) linked up with the XXXIV Russian Corps (59^th Guard Division.)

During the entire month, the company captured 158 Prisoners Of War. Most of these were taken in civilian clothes, having 'soldbuche' (pay-books) and some having concealed weapons. The Company did, however, have two firefights with small groups of enemy in full uniform, killing 1, wounding 9, and taking 24 prisoners with one of the Security Platoon wounded. In addition to the Prisoners Of War counted, many other enemy civilians were apprehended for Counter Intelligence Corps investigation.

Between the 21^st and 24^th of April, part of the Company was engaged in attempting to find a "Werewolf transmitter", which was reported operating in the vicinity of Leipzig. Although the general area of operations was determined, and three suspected sites were raided by the Security Platoon, the transmitter was not found, and was not heard after the 24^th of April.

On the 28^th of April, the V Corps sector was shifted to the South, so as to be facing East, centered on Kemnath, 70 miles wide, with the front lines generally along the old Czechoslovakian border. The Direction Finders were recalled, and the Company made the longest one day move in its history (140 miles), redisposing the direction finders with the 1^st and 97^th Infantry Divisions.

At the end of the period, the advance of our Corps into Czechoslovakia had begun. Company Operations located at Gossenreuth.

Route of the 3250^th Signal Service Company:

7 June 44 Saint Laurent-sur-Mer, France

11 June 44 Bernesq

20 July 44 La Bazoque

3 August 44 St. Amand

8 August 44 Hte. Rairie

14 August 44 Vire

17 August 44 La Chartrie

23 August 44 Chartres

26 August 44 Morangis

30 August 44 St. Denis

2 September 44 Haramont

6 September 44 Tournes

9 September 44 St. Eloi, Belgium

11 September 44 Bastogne

15 September 44 Wilwerdange, Luxembourg

4 October 44 Mirfeld, Belgium

28 October 44 Eupen

23 December 44 Limbourg

12 February 45 Kalterherberg, Germany

9 March 45 Gehn

15 March 45 Bachem

25 March 45 Irlich

29 March 45 Weilburg

30 March 45 Homberg

31 March 45 Neustadt

2 April 45 Wolfhagen

9 April 45 Knickhagen

11 April 45 Gunterode

12 April 45 Weissensee

15 April 45 Flemmingen

29 April 45 Gossenreuth

8 May 45 Lobes, Czechoslovakia