construction, road construction, mines and minefields, and
explosives and demolitions.
On 19 June 1944, the 51st loaded onto three Liberty
ships, cooled their heels aboard ship for a week, then
crossed the English Channel to Normandy on 26 June. For
the next four months the battalion provided combat
engineer support to the First Army. Most of the work con-
sisted of road repair and maintenance, engineer recon-
naissance, mine clearing, and water supply. During this
time, the battalion suffered casualties that included six
wounded from the explosion of stray artillery shells and
the strafing of a German plane.
On 4 September 1944, the battalion moved 152 miles
from the vicinity of Chartres, west of Paris, to an area
near Soissons, northeast of Paris. The Germans had been
retreating rapidly, destroying bridges and culverts and
cratering roads.
As a result, the major activity of the
5lst changed from road repair and maintenance to bridge
and culvert construction, replacing Bailey bridges and
other temporary bridges for reuse in forward areas.
On 17 September, the 51st moved to Germany, 110 miles
east of Soissons, almost to the Luxembourg border. Here
it built bridges for two weeks, then moved to Malmedy,
Belgium, where for three weeks the battalion kept busy
training as infantry. Then it began the job it would keep
until the German surprise, cutting wood for First Army
billets.
Just before the German Ardennes offensive, two men
arrived who would exert significant influence on the
battalion.
On 14 December, Major Robert Yates, now the
battalion executive officer, returned from several months
A day later, Lieutenant Colonel Harvey
in the hospital.
R. Fraser assumed command of the battalion. Less than six
years out of the Military Academy, the peripatetic Fraser
soon became known as "Hurry Up Harvey." He and the easy-
going Yates played key roles in the unit's efforts to hold
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