Description

SURF AND SAND
The Saga of the 533d Engineer Boat and Shore Regiment
and 1461st Engineer Maintenance Company
1942 – 1945
414 pages scanned

Published in 1947 and printed by The Andover Press of Andover, Massachusetts, Surf and Sand is the unit history of the 533d Engineer Boat and Shore Regiment — an amphibious engineer outfit that supported seven Army and Marine divisions across the Southwest Pacific from 1942 to 1945, participating in landings from New Britain and New Guinea to the Philippines and Japan. The book combines first-hand narrative history with comprehensive rosters, commendations, decorations, equipment records, and a full set of campaign maps.

PART ONE — HISTORY
Origins of the Engineer Amphibian Brigades 10
Massachusetts 13
Florida 20
California 39
At Sea — Outward Bound 54
Company B in Australia 60
Cape Cretin, Goodenough Island and Milne Bay 63
New Britain 77
Saidor 94
Aitape 104
Luzon 125
Mindanao 161
Japan 205

PART TWO
Statistics 228
Commendations 230
Other Amphibian Engineer Units 250
Chronology 260

PART THREE
Tables of Organization and Equipment 272
Boats 276
Engineer Equipment 296
1461st Engineer Maintenance Company 307
Communications 319
Medical Detachment 328
The Paper War 334
163d Ordnance Detachment 338
Chaplains and Chapels 340

PART FOUR — PERSONNEL
Chain of Command 346
The Regiment 350
In Memoriam 398
Decorations 400
Editors’ Note 407

MAPS AND CHARTS
Southwest Pacific Area — Inside Front Cover
United States of America — Inside Back Cover
Cape Cod and Vineyard Sound, Massachusetts — 14
Carrabelle, Florida, and Adjacent Waters — 23
California — 40
Northeast New Guinea and the Bismarck Archipelago — 64
Western New Britain — 76
New Guinea — Huon Peninsula to Madang — 96
New Guinea — Aitape to Wewak — 110
The Philippine Islands — 127
White Beach, San Fabian, Luzon — 135
Luzon — Northwest Coast — 156
Mindanao — 162
Mindanao River and Iliana Bay — 165
Japan — Western Honshu and Kyushu — 206