Engineer Training
            SchoolTechnician 5th Grade Rudolf B. CahnXVth Corps

LEFT: Engineer Training School; RIGHT: XVth Corps

Rudolph B. Cahh
July 28 1921 - May 1, 1979
2947th Technical Intelligence Engineer Team (C)
XV Corps Headquarters Engineer Section
(C) stands for "collection"
Service: February 1, 1943 to December 30, 1945



Unit Campaigns: Rhineland; Ardennes-Alsace (Battle of the Bulge); Central Europe

Occupation of Germany: May 2 to August 14, 1945

Unit and Personal Chronology

1921


Born July 28 in Barmen Germany

Undated after 1933:

Fled to the Netherlands after the family was warned that the Gestapo was gathering up men and boys. Lived in Scheveningen, the Netherlands.

1938

Emigrated with his parents from the Netherlands to the United States. Passenger List

1942

February 15: Registers for the draft

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Draft Card

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Rudy
Undated photo of Rudy

1943

February 1: Enlisted

August: In Company F 3310th in engineering at Virginia Polytechnic Institute,  part of the.Army Specialized Training Program (ASTP)

We are researching the identify of his unit from this return address:

Return Address

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Ursula and Rudy
Undated photo of  Ursula Hirsch with her future husband Rudy Cahn

Rudy's letter while in training

1944

Undated: Assigned to the
2947th Technical Intelligence Engineer Team (C)

(C) stands for collection.

A WWII Technical Intelligence Engineer Team (Collection) was responsible for collecting information and reporting information on facilities such as water treatment plants.

As is reported below, the 2974th also served as a XVth Corps non-divisional engineer combat unit.

June 15:
2947th Technical Intelligence Engineer Team constituted

June 26:
2947th Technical Intelligence Engineer Team activated at Fort DuPont, Delaware

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Rudy with
        colleagues and jeep
Undated photo at unknown location of Rudy (CENTER) with two colleagues and jeep

T/5 Rudy served in a technical intelligence engineer team.

His duties included those of a combat engineer in front of infantry locating minefields and disarming booby traps.

He was under enemy fire and suffered a gun shot wound.

June 6, 1945 letter: Includes details of mine clearing and disarming booby traps in advance of infantry, gunshot wound, and coming under Nazi fire.

1945

April 29: Dachau.

T/5 Rudy Cahn states that he and possibly other soldiers of the 2947th Technical Intelligence Engineer Team were assigned to serve with Task Force Sparks into Dachau.

They may have been in the role of combat engineer to clear mines and disarm booby traps.

T/5 Rudy Cahn's description of his experiences and his photos are consistent with a soldier who was present on April 29, 1945.
Dachau Extract from T/5 Rudy Cahn's June 6, 1945 letter

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Dachau
                  Letter Extract
Letter and Photos of Dachau (Graphic)


2947th Technical Intelligence Engineer Team was an non-divisional XVth Corps unit that served with Task Force Sparks but was not attached to the 45th Infantry Division.

The U.S. Army's Center of Military History only recognizes divisions as liberating units of camps and subcamps.

Therefore
Rudolf B. Cahn's presence at Dachau on April 29 or 30 would not qualify 2947th Technical Intelligence Engineer Team as a liberating unit of Dachau for recognition as a liberating unit of Dachau.

Lack of recognition by
U.S. Army's Center of Military History does not mean that Rudolf B. Cahn or the  2947th Technical Intelligence Engineer Team did not have a role in the liberation of Dachau or the care of the liberation inmates after liberation.

October 6: 2947th Technical Intelligence Engineer Team inactivated in France

December 30: Discharged

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Rudy
Undated photo of Rudy

1946

September 4, 1946 Ursula and Rudy obtain their marriage license.


1979

May 1: Passed away

Rudolf's grave (LEFT) in New Montefiore Cemetery, West Babylon, Suffolk County, New York next to his wife's Ursula's (RIGHT)

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Rudolf and Ursula Graves
Photo from Find a Grave by Marie M Bennett
Successor Unit

316th Engineer Detachment, 377th Engineer Company, 412th Theater Engineer Command, U.S. Army Reserve, Butler, Pennsylvania


Facebook Group

Sources:

Unit Campaigns:  Unit Citation and Campaign Participation Register (UCCPR), July, 1961 (DA PAM 672-1). 

Successor Unit: 316th Engineer Detachment
, 377th Engineer Company, 301st Regional Support Group, Butler, Pennsylvania United States Army Reserve Center

https://history.army.mil/html/forcestruc/lineages/branches/eng/0316endet.htm

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All items not in the public domain Copyright 2021 Lauren Volkes and
The 45th Infantry Division in World War II: An Unofficial Guide to Resources

Administrators: Leonard H. Cizewski & Judy Erwin Branham

Last Major Update: June 1, 2022
Correction and Minor Revisions: January 9, 2022
Last Reviewed:
Posted: April 17, 2021
hosted by ibiblio Page Sources and Acknowledgements:

Researchers:
Rudolf B. Cahn's granddaughter Lauren Volkes.

Larry Fleishman provided the information that (C) in Rudolf Cahn's meant "collection" and provided details of that responsibility.

Govan Yee for information on non-divisional units serving in support of divisional units without being attached to the division.

Website Permission and Acknowledgements:

Please contact the administrators for instructions on how to acknowledge the source including public domain items.

Many volunteer researchers at their own expense obtained many of these public domain items from sources such as the National Archives.