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69th ENGINEER TOPOGRAPHIC COMPANY IN WWII
The 69th Engineer Topographic Company was a United States Army company that served in the Asiatic/Pacific Theater during World War II. It was very specialized and unlike any such United States military group of it's type at the time to serve in the Pacific. The 69th formed in 1 June 1940 at Ft. Lewis, Wa, under G.O. 13 dated 28 May 40, to provide the invasion planning tools of the South Western Pacific Area (SWPA), and post invasion surveys of island land forms all under the direction of General Douglas MacArthur. It formed with the latest equipment, the latest production methods, and it's highly skilled men were brought together to form an extremely effective and critical mission for the SWPA high command. The company was consisted of Photomapping, Reproduction, and Survey platoons. The additional support function of administration, postal, mess, supply, electrical, and motor vehicles was generally operated by the Headquarters platoon. The company's mission statement was a "Work Together Policy."


 * The Organization

This group of highly technical engineers provided the Allied military leaders with maps during the preliminary phases to the "all out" total war that developed in the Southwestern Pacific Area. The process starts in the Photomapping platoon when Army Air Corp, Navy, Marine, and Allied reconnaissance airplanes deliver aerial film for developing. Once developed, the many pictures were laid out in a mosaic. Terrain features were delineated using a sterocomparagrah. Other information was added using intelligent information from military and civilian sources. Draftsmen executed detailed drawing, legend data, contour and color separations maps were ready for reproduction.

The Reproduction platoon made negatives that were given to Strippers who masked off and laid out the negatives for plate makers. These negative images were placed on printing plates making the images ready for the pressmen to copy using a litho-offset process. The images were translated into topographic colored maps with great detail. The Southwestern Pacific Area Supreme Allied commanders and their staff could then begin planning invasions of island strongholds held by the Japanese Armed Forces.

The Survey platoon goes into action with early assault waves of various task forces. The primary task supplies artillery with fire control data. Solar and celestial observation and transit traverse points were checked with maps of the area forming a triangulation net. The computations are returned to Photomapping and Reproduction platoons for revisions. This work needed was done in the most rapidly possible manner in order to keep up with invasion developments. The Survey platoon was frequently involved in other engineering projects for hospitals, airfields, roads, pipelines, supply dumps and host of other installation needs as bases were completed. The Survey platoon teams were often dispatched separately from the main company.

The nerve center is the Headquarters platoon that provided all other support. The men of this platoon worked at the same break-neck speed to keep up with all the other very complex support and administrative needs. The company was commanded, often by a Captain, and the senior Non-Commissioned Officers lead by the 1st Sergeant. During it's time in the Pacific about five Commanding Officers rotated in and out, but the senior NCO's remained only to rotate out due to illness or having gained enough overseas points to go back home. One notable 1st Sergeant was James N. Campbell. He started in Fort Lewis with the initial organizing and training of the company. He devised it's first inventory system and came to understand the uses of all equipment and supplies. Promoted rapidly he spent approximately half of his three years overseas as the company's first sergeant.

The men of the 69th Topographic Engineer often work continuously for days at a time all within their "Work Together Policy," for they were, in the early years, the only topographic unit in the SWPA.


 * The Traveling 69th

After twenty two months of assembly and training at Fort Lewis, Wa., and in May 1942, the 69th Engineer Topographic Company shipped out of Oakland, Ca. with a destination of Brisbane, Australia. It aligned itself with the Australian Armed Forces and came under the command of General "Tom" Blamey. Their first task was mapping certain areas in northeast Australia. With destination Port Moresby, the company of approximately 120 officers and enlisted men assembled equipment and trained men to provided the most critically needed mapping of New Guinea where the Allied forces were to take a foothold at Port Moresby, New Guinea. The 69th received it's first letter of Commendation, Australian Military Forces, New Guinea Force Headquarters, dated 16 July 1943. General Sir Thomas Blamey expressed his appreciation for the material aid rendered through the conclusion, January 1943, of the Buna campaign that had started on 16 November 1942. The 69th received it's second letter of commendation, by Command of General MacArthur, explaining the wearing of the Distinguished Unit ribbon for it's actions from 23 July 1942 through 23 January 1943, W.D. G.O. 21-43.


 * Summary

The best summary, of the absolutely essential work this little known Army Corp of Engineers unit had done, is found in it's second unit award, the Meritorious Service Unit Plaque, dated 22 January 1946. It reads:

69th Engineer Topographic Company

For meritorious achievement in connection with military operations against the enemy on New Guinea and the Philippine Islands, from 15 April 1943 to 1 June 1945. This Company was assigned the mission to act as the topographic agency for all mapping and other reproduction requirements of Sixth Army, fulfilling a Battalion's job. It was the only topographical unit in the combat zone of the Southwest Pacific Area for more than one year. In addition, since no survey units were available for airdrome and base surveys and layout planning, the survey platoon was required to perform these heavy duties in addition to it's topographic work. With only K-rations and survey instruments the platoon was repeatedly a part of the D-day and H-hour component and served in direct support of the combat troops by establishing base reference points for artillery control. This topographic company pioneered standard procedures and many of the changes in equipment and types of supplies necessary for amphibious jungle warfare. Handicapped by shortages of normal supplies and burdened with missions of mapping, surveying, and reproduction far in excess of the scope and volume of work for which it was organized, through maximum effort it accomplished assigned missions with great initiative and courage. During operations in New Guinea where the climate was so humid that reproduction and photographic supplies rapidly deteriorated they ingeniously designed and constructed from salvage machinery, an air conditioning unit which increased work efficiency within mobile plants as well as preserved valuable supplies. The speed of advance up the coast of New Guinea and the remoteness of the theatre reproduction plant at Melbourne, Australia, frequently threw the entire mission of mapping new a areas on the Company. No maps larger than 1:900,000 were available, and existing maps were inaccurate and misleading, and were practically useless in the preparation of required maps at 1:50,000. Between operations the Company had no opportunity for reverting to a normal daily work routine for two years, until the capture of Manila. The continuously heavy and exacting work under tropical conditions exacted a heavy toll of casualties while replacements of highly skilled technicians were not available. Nevertheless the fine esprit de corps of the unit imbued all ranks with a team spirit and interest in training new men so that losses could be sustained and the company's mission accomplished. In Leyt a critical loss of key men occurred from a direct bomb hit on the unit camp following previous losses from an aerial bombing of the LST on which the Company was enroute to Leyte. Nevertheless, with exemplary spirit, the company rebuilt its camps, repaired its damaged equipment and began its arduous task of revising the few highly unsatisfactory sheets to meet the urgent needs of the combat troops. By their professional skill, outstanding devotion to duty, and pride in their unit under extremely adverse conditions, the officers and men of the 69th Topographical Company made a major contribution to the success of Sixth Army operations.

BY COMMAND OF GENERAL KRUEGER