The 431st AAA AW BN (M)

“Memories of Three Years Overseas”

This fascinating and uncommon booklet was published in Bad Reichenhall, Germany by Wiedemannsohe Buchdruckerei in 1945. It was issued to commemorate the efforts of the 431st Anti Aircraft Automatic Weapons Battalion (Mobile) during the European Theater of Operations in World War II.

Over sixty pages of text summarize the notable events and various engagements that took place from training in Georgia and England to victorious campaigns in North Africa, Italy, and southern France. It concludes with V-J Day and the following moving excerpt;

“THE WAR HAD ENDED! We were stunned – unbelieving. Were we to become civilians again? To once more regain the dignity of human beings? To wear what we damned well pleased, to look any man in the eye without a snappy salute, to say and do what we felt like saying and doing? It looked as though that day might come…our fourth year overseas was well under way. Our future looked bright.”

Two maps are included in a flap on the back cover, each credited to Bob Steffke and John Kuller in the introductory note. Their different artistic styles are evident, with one sheet (North Africa and Italy) presenting realistic scenes of desert warfare while the other (France and Germany) shows amusing pictorial vignettes.

WorldCat notes only 3 examples as of April 2024 – the University of Illinois (Urbana), Michigan University, and the Library of Virginia. OCLC# 5711856