48th DUINon-Divisional Units Inside Dachau Concentration Camp  
         April 30 to Midday May 1, 1945

Above Left: Unit Insignia of the 48th Engineer Combat Battalion with motto "Open the Way"

The U.S. Army Center of Military History (CMH) defined a 48 hour window of liberation for camps and subcamps. For Dachau that would have been from the mid afternoon of April 29 to mid afternoon of May 1, 1945.

Most of the additional units would have been non-divisional units. The CMH and the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) limited liberator recognition to the divisions of the units that were inside the Dachau concentration camp. Non-divisional units were excluded from recognition.

Telling the complete and accurate history of the liberation of Dachau includes identifying the location of those soldiers and units from the afternoon of April 29 to afternoon of May 1, 1945.

While we may be unable to to change the CMH and USHMM recognition of liberating units, the WWII 45th Infantry Division family feels that all units that were inside the concentration during the CMH defined 48 hour window of liberation deserve some form of recognition. Therefore we are listing them on our website. We continue to research the liberation of Dachau and add other units as we find them. We will advocate that institutions such as the CMH and USHMM find ways to recognize all units that were inside Dachau during the CMH defined 48 hours of liberation.

48th Engineer Combat Battalion, VI Corps, Seventh Army.

At the time of April 29, 1945 liberation of Dachau the 48th ECB was in Furstenfeldbruck about 16 miles southwest of Dachau.

On May 1, 1945 the 48th ECB joined the liberated Dachau prisoners for the observance of May Day.
May Day Celebration at DachauMay Day Celetration at Dachau
Public domain photo from
We the 48th, the 48th ECB unit history
Photographer unidentified.

In 1945 no official definition of a liberator existed. The 48th ECB legitimately self-identified as Dachau liberators.


On May 3, 1945. the 48th ECB with the 101st Airborne Division advanced to Berchtesgaden.

In the 1980s, as a non-divisional unit, the 48th ECB was not included in the U.S. Army Center of Military History definition of a liberating unit and therefore not included in among the recognized liberators of Dachau by the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum

Sources: National Archives: Enlistment record and Morning Reports for Corporal Howard Joel, Communications Section, Headquarters Company, and We the 48th, the 48th ECB unit history.  Corporal Howard Joel is the father of singer, songwriter and pianist Billy Joel.

Cpl.
            Howard Joel
Corporal Howard Joel, Communications Section, Headquarters Company

Text and photos of the 48th ECB at Dachau from We the 48th

Viewer Page/text page:

Text: 270/265; 273/268

Photos 275/270; 276/271
; 316/311

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All items not in the public domain c 2026
The 45th Infantry Division in World War II: An Unofficial Guide to Resources

Administrators: Leonard H. Cizewski & Judy Erwin Branham

Posted: January 7, 2026
Last Reviewed:
Update,Revision & Correction History:
January 10, 2026
January 11. 2026


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