United States Constabulary
Army of Occupation
1946
Austria
Junior Ray Ward
I served in the 24th US
Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron - Troop C (Mechanized Cavalry) and later the
unit changed to the 24th US Constabulary Squadron. My troop was in the VE
Day parade that took place on May 8, 1946 in Salzburg, Austria. We were also
called the DC (District Constabulary). Before the parade the color of our
vehicles was changed from a flat olive drab color to a shiny green
color.
When I first arrived in Austria my troop and I were
placed in the town of Bad Shallerbach. We stayed in an old hotel building. Later
we were placed in Enns, Austria and lived in the SS-Baracks. We were most of the
time stationed in Bad Shallerback and Enns but we went back and forth to many of
the towns doing work and guard duty. We were in Steyr a lot of the time doing
work that needed to be done. The headquarters was in Linz.
My unit guarded the bridge in Enns and Linz that
crossed the Danube River. The Americans were on one side of the river and the
Russians were on the other side. The US soldiers were not allowed to go over into
the Russian zone.
We worked with the Austrian police. In Steyr we
destroyed the small arms weapons. We were at many of the DP camps in
Steyr, Linz, Enns and the surrounding towns and were in contact with many of the
Displaced Persons.
I am attaching a photo of myself taken in Austria
during my stay.
Junior
Ray Ward
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