Army · Last documented unit: Composite Company A, 564th Signal Aircraft Warning Battalion
Army · Service no. 33 642 605
Service Number
33 642 605
Highest rank shown on marker
Private First Class
Last documented unit
Composite Company A, 564th Signal Aircraft Warning Battalion
Last documented MOS
521
Theater
European Theater of Operations (ETO)
This timeline reconstructs Robert's World War II service from
his federal service indexes, Morning Reports, battalion orders and unit history, searched
by service number. Each entry cites its source; items marked
Newly discovered were recovered from the records.
Map of Service
Route reconstructed from Robert's records and his unit's documented stations. Unit-only movements are context, not proof of his exact location.
Stanlake Park, Eng.company station; Robert not named
Church Fenton, Yorkscompany station; Robert not named
Le Vast, Normandycompany station; Robert not named
Ozoir-la-Ferrierecompany station; Robert not named
Ermeton, Namurpersonally documented Nov 1944
Route notes
1 → 2by 22 Sept 1943
2 → 324 Sept 1943
3 → 4company movement, Jan 1944
4 → 5company movement, Jan-Feb 1944
5 → 6company movement, 1944
6 → 7company movement, Aug 1944
7 → 8company movement, Sept 1944
8 → 9company movement, Nov 1944
First time here?
How to read this service timeline
This page brings together records created for different purposes. The labels below tell you what kind of evidence supports each entry; open either guide when a record or military term is unfamiliar.
?
Confirmed — Service record
A personal military record supports the entry.
Confirmed — Unit record
A record created by his unit names him or documents the unit’s activity.
Context
Helpful background, clearly separated from personal evidence.
Newly discovered
Information recovered during this research, rather than supplied at the start.
How to read a Morning Report
Morning Reports were daily administrative records prepared by individual Army and Army Air Forces units. They generally recorded changes—such as arrivals, transfers, promotions, illness, or return to duty—not a complete list of everyone present.
MORNING REPORT · SAMPLE
1Organization Company A, 123rd Infantry
2Station or location Camp Example, Virginia
3Date 14 September 1944
4Section Personnel changes
5Pvt Smith, John A., 35123456 6asgd fr Hq Co per SO 187, Hq 123d Inf
In plain English
Private John A. Smith, identified by Army Serial Number 35123456, was assigned to Company A from Headquarters Company under Special Orders No. 187.
1Organization: the company, hospital, squadron, or other unit filing the report.
2Station or location: where that unit reported from on that date.
3Report date: the date of the report, which may differ from the effective date of a change.
4Section: the part of the form containing personnel changes or the unit’s record of events.
5Soldier entry: usually rank, name, and Army Serial Number.
6Change and authority: what happened and the order authorizing it.
asgd
assigned
atchd
attached
trfd
transferred
fr
from
aptd
appointed
EM
enlisted men
SO
Special Orders
GO
General Orders
orgn
organization
sta
station
Common military and research terms
Army Serial Number (ASN)
The unique service number used to distinguish one soldier from others with similar names.
Discharge or separation paper
The document issued when a service member left active service. For many WWII Army enlisted soldiers, this is WD AGO Form 53-55. It summarizes service but is not a day-by-day history.
Morning Report
An Army unit’s daily administrative report. It usually lists people whose status changed, not every person in the unit.
Unit record
A document created by a military organization. It may name the soldier directly or provide context about his unit; the timeline states which applies.
OMPF or “201 file”
The service member’s Official Military Personnel File. Many Army and Air Force files were damaged or destroyed in the 1973 National Personnel Records Center fire.
Unit and final unit
A unit is the organization in which someone served. The final unit is the organization shown at separation; it may not be the only unit in the service history.
Rank or grade
The service member’s level in the military hierarchy. A timeline may show changes in rank over time.
MOS
Military Occupational Specialty—the Army’s classification for a soldier’s primary military job.
Assigned and attached
Assigned means formally placed in a unit. Attached usually means serving with a unit temporarily while belonging administratively elsewhere.
Special Orders and General Orders
Official directives used to authorize personnel actions, awards, organizational changes, and other decisions.
Campaign credit
Official recognition for service connected with a named campaign. It does not, by itself, describe a service member’s individual actions.
Station or location
The place from which a unit filed a report. It does not automatically prove that every member was physically present there.
Source citation
The note beneath a timeline entry identifying the record or records that support it.
The Rappahannock Record lists Robert Leland among the Lively School seniors expected to receive diplomas on June 3. His age, Lancaster County ties, and enlistment record's four years of high school support identifying him as this Robert Leland, but the article does not give a middle initial or military identifier.
On his eighteenth birthday, Robert Stokeley Leland registered with Local Board No. 1 in Lancaster County. He reported that he was born in Mollusk, lived there, and worked there for Alexander Leland. The registrar described him as 5 feet 11 inches tall and 145 pounds, with blue eyes, brown hair, and a light complexion.
Front and reverse of Robert's registration card. The number at upper left is a Selective Service serial, not his Army service number.
The Army enlistment index records Richmond on this date and classifies Leland as a selectee, supporting this as his induction processing.
Source: World War II Army Enlistment Records (NARA AAD), record 4113664, ASN 33642605
Confirmed — Service record
July 14, 1943
Entered active service
BIRLS records this as the beginning of his active Army service. The surviving record does not state where he reported that day.
Source: U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs BIRLS Death File, entry for Robert S Leland (active service began July 14, 1943)
Confirmed — Unit record
September 23, 1943
Ordered to Information Center Operator School
Special Orders No. 196 transferred Private Leland from Basic Training Center No. 10 at Greensboro to the Aircraft Warning Unit Training Center at Drew Field, Florida, for training at the Information Center Operator School.
Special Orders No. 196 names Robert S. Leland and ASN 33 642 605. The yellow is ours — it marks his name and service number on the sheet.
Source: Morning Report — Headquarters, Basic Training Center No. 10 — NARA Roll 502, image 139 (September 23, 1943)
Confirmed — Unit record
September 24, 1943
Transferred from Greensboro to Drew Field
The 1186th Training Group dropped Leland from its rolls at 0800 for transfer to the Aircraft Warning Operator Division at Drew Field.
The transfer entry identifies him by name and service number. The yellow is ours — it marks his name and service number on the sheet.
Source: Morning Report — 1186th Training Group — NARA Roll 502, image 1823 (September 24, 1943)
Confirmed — Unit record
September 26–27, 1943
Two short aircraft-warning training assignments
Special Orders No. 85 assigned him to Company B, 1st Signal Aircraft Warning Training Battalion, effective September 25. The next day's orders transferred him to the 2nd Signal Aircraft Warning Training Battalion. Both orders list specialty code 521.
Special Orders No. 85, naming Leland, ASN 33 642 605, and code 521. The yellow is ours — it marks his name and service number on the sheet.Special Orders No. 86 transferred him again the following day. The yellow is ours — it marks his name and service number on the sheet.
Source: Morning Reports — NARA Roll 380, images 168 and 188 (September 1943)
Confirmed — Unit record
October 3, 1943
Joined Headquarters Company at Drew Field
He was assigned to and joined Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Signal Aircraft Warning Training Battalion, among nine enlisted men.
The Morning Report lists Leland by name with specialty code 521. The yellow is ours — it marks his name and service number on the sheet.
Source: Morning Report — Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st SAW Training Battalion — NARA Roll 358, image 360 (October 3, 1943)
Confirmed — Unit record
October 14, 1943
Joined Company A, 564th Signal Aircraft Warning Battalion
After an administrative transfer through the 5th Signal Aircraft Warning Training Battalion, Leland joined Company A of the 564th at Drew Field at 1700. This is his last personally documented unit.
Special Orders No. 101 transferred Leland to the 5th training battalion. The yellow is ours — it marks his name and service number on the sheet.Company A's report records his arrival later that day. The yellow is ours — it marks his name and service number on the sheet.
Source: Morning Reports — NARA Roll 358, image 371; Roll 359, images 85–86 (October 14, 1943)
Confirmed — Unit record
December 26–31, 1943
Five-day furlough from Drew Field
Company A's morning reports name Private Robert S. Leland by service number and record him beginning a five-day furlough at 0600 on December 26, then returning to duty at 0800 on December 31.
The December 26 report includes Leland among ten men beginning five-day furloughs. The yellow is ours — it marks his name and service number on the sheet.
Source: Morning Reports — Company A, 564th Signal Aircraft Warning Battalion — NARA Roll 129, image 1836 (December 26, 1943) and image 1844 (December 31, 1943)
Confirmed — Unit record
January 21–27, 1944
New York staging and a brief hospital stay
Company A was at the New York Port of Embarkation on January 21. Leland's own lines record that he went from duty to a hospital at station code NY 36 on January 22 and returned to duty on January 27. The unit later appears in England, placing its crossing in late January or early February, but the records found do not establish Leland's sailing date or ship.
Leland went from duty to hospital on January 22; no diagnosis is stated. The yellow is ours — it marks his name and service number on the sheet.He returned to duty on January 27. The yellow is ours — it marks his name and service number on the sheet.
Source: Morning Reports — NARA Roll 715, images 2497, 2499 and 2504 (January 1944); Roll 613, images 3497–3564 (February 1944)
Confirmed — Unit record
April 1944
Personally documented with the 564th in England
An April company roster names Leland in the temporary-duty column for St. Alban's Head. Other company elements were at Beaulieu, Bitteswell, and Corfe Mullen; those locations should not be read as his personal itinerary.
The April roster names Leland; the unit's several sites should not be read as his personal itinerary. The yellow is ours — it marks his name and service number on the sheet.
Source: Morning Report — NARA Roll 682, images 920 and 941 (April 1944)
Context
June–October 1944
Company A moved from England through France to Belgium
Company A's reports trace the unit from Church Fenton to the Cherbourg Peninsula, the Paris region, and Belgium. Leland is not named on these movement pages, so they establish the company's route rather than his exact location on every date.
Source: Company A Morning Reports — NARA Roll 702, images 2024–2049 (June); Roll 563, images 3055–3080 (July); Roll 511, images 624–654 (August); Roll 567, images 3752–3776 (September); Roll 727, images 1103–1124 (October 1944)
Confirmed — Unit record
November 1944
2nd Platoon, Composite Company A — Ermeton, Belgium
A special roster at Ermeton names Private Robert S. Leland, ASN 33 642 605, in the 2nd Platoon. Its specialty column is vertically misaligned; two independent orders establish his code as 521, not the 514 printed beside his visual row.
The special roster confirms his name, number, rank and platoon; its shifted MOS column requires corroboration. The yellow is ours — it marks his name and service number on the sheet.
Detached to the 52nd Antiaircraft Artillery Brigade
Special Orders No. 174 placed the 2nd Reporting Platoon on detached service with the 52nd AAA Brigade for an indefinite period. Leland's line gives rank Private, ASN 33 642 605, and specialty 521.
The first page states the detached-service order and destination.The continuation page names Leland and gives code 521. The yellow is ours — it marks his name and service number on the sheet.
Detached service overlapped the opening of the Ardennes campaign
The German offensive began while Leland was detached to the 52nd AAA Brigade, and he remained detached through January 3. The surviving orders do not establish his precise location, duties, combat exposure, or personal entitlement to an Ardennes-Alsace campaign star.
Relieved from detached service with the 52nd AAA Brigade
Special Orders No. 5 relieved the same platoon from detached service with the 52nd AAA Brigade. Leland was still a Private with specialty code 521. The order does not state when or where he physically rejoined the 564th. This is the last wartime record found that names him.
Special Orders No. 5 relieved the platoon from detached service.The continuation page names Leland as Private, ASN 33 642 605, code 521. The yellow is ours — it marks his name and service number on the sheet.
The 564th served in Germany during the final months of the war
The battalion history documents the 564th at Reichartshausen and later Aulhausen, Germany, during the spring and summer of 1945. It also records substantial personnel transfers as the unit was reduced. Leland may have remained with the battalion as it moved into Germany, or he may have been reassigned during those transfers. The surviving records located so far leave both possibilities open.
BIRLS records his release from active duty on this date. The character, place and unit of separation are not established without his separation paper. His later government marker records Private First Class as the highest rank attained.
