45 PatchCare of Liberated Dachau InmatesDistinctive
            Unit Insignia of the Company C, 700th Brigade Support
            Battalion (BSB), Successor Unit of the WWII 700th Ordnance
            Light Maintenance Company

The 4501 Trucking Company

RIGHT: Distinctive Unit Insignia of the Company C, 700th Brigade Support Battalion (BSB), Successor Unit of the WWII 700th Ordnance Light Maintenance Company

After the surrender of the Nazis on May 7, the 45th was on occupation duty in and around Dachau until their July 15 when they were sent to France to be redeployed to the Pacific and the war with Japan.

The 4501 Trucking Company

Prior to their redeployment, the men of 45th transported liberated Dachau inmates from the main and subcamps in truck convoys to Ljubljana, Yugoslavia,  Bolzano, Italy, Pilsen, Czechoslovakia, and Linz, Austria.
Units Involved in The 4501 Trucking Company

Service Company, 179th Infantry Regiment

Headquarters Battery, 171st Field Artillery

700th Ordnance Light Maintenance Company

45th Quartermaster Company:
Clayton Brown, son of of the late Clayton H. Brown, 45th Quartermaster Company states that his father shared in his oral history that he was one of the drivers in the convoy to Pilsen, Czechoslovakia

Article
"45th Trucks DPs Home" "45th Division News", Vol. 5, No. 37, June 28, 1945

Early July Convoy of Liberated Subcamp Slave Labor Slovenian Women to Ljubljana, Yugoslavia

In early July prior to their redeployment, the men of the 45th transported an unknown number of Yugoslavian women who had been liberated from a Dachau slave labor subcamp to Ljubljana, 273 miles (479 kilometers) away in what was then Yugoslavia and is now Slovenia.

The convoy was commanded by an officer of the 700th Ordnance Light Maintenance Company, an infantry officer and two field artillery officers. It was an unusually large convoy of trucks.

One member of the 700th who was assigned to the convoy came down with appendicitis and had to be left behind for emergency treatment. That may have been Kenny Von Hoffman.  He may have been from the 700th's automotive section and may have been one of the convoy's drivers.

The convoy carried a document in Serbo-Croatian (BELOW LEFT) authorizing  the convoy's safe passage in Yugoslavia. The letter was issued under the authority of the 45th's commander Maj. Gen. Robert T. Frederick and signed by the 45th Adjutant General Lt. Col. Henry B. Roach.  

Sgt. Kenneth A. Billings and Sgt Charles Penoi of the 700th were typists in the office with the Adjutant General. Sgt. Billings may have typed the document.

Kenny Von Hoffman carried a copy of the document in his wallet for over 50 years wanting someone to translate it.

Through the reunions of the 700th, Kenny Von Hoffman met to Mrs. Olga Blevins, wife of Roy Blevins of the 700th

In 1998, Mrs. Olga Blevins sent it to Serb World USA and received an a letter of explanation (BELOW RIGHT) for it.

In 2017, the late Sgt. Kenneth A. Billings's son Mark donated his copy of the document and Serb World USA's explanation to the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center (IHMEC).

The 45th and Care for Liberated Inmates

Sources state that the liberating troops and troops on occupation duty assisted in the care of the liberated Dachau inmates.

This is the first artifact that documents care of liberated inmates by soldiers he 45th Division.

Sharing the Story of the 4502 Trucking Cmpany

The IHMEC has created a high resolution scan which will be shared with the 45th Division Museum in Oklahoma City, the Dachau Archives, and Yad Vashem in Jerusalem.

Sources:

The late Mark Billings's recollections of his late father Sgt. Kenneth A. Billings's oral history, oral histories of other veterans of the 700th Ordnance Light Maintenance Company,

"
45th Trucks DP Home", 45th Division News" Vol. V, No. 37, June 28, 1945, pages 1, 4.
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The 45th Infantry Division in World War II: An Unofficial Guide to Resources

Administrators: Leonard H. Cizewski & Judy Erwin Branham

Last Major Update: April 28, 2021
Minor Revisions: December 18, 2020
Posted: January 10, 2018
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