HAM what?A WWII ordnance HAM company followed combat units around a theater of operations (such as Europe) repairing vehicles (usually cars and trucks rather than tanks or planes). HAM Cos. were mobile and could perform difficult repairs such as frame straightening under adverse conditions.
This site updated 2008-07-06.
Welcome!This WWII history site commemorates the 897th and 3562nd Ordnance HAM Companies and is maintained by
Gary Gocek,
son of 897th veteran Julian Gocek. I love to hear from veterans and their
families, current service people, and history buffs.
Click the
photo for a roster & enlargement.
Read the history of the 897th and 3562nd by
William E. Lake.
Tuesday, July 25, 1944: Cerisy Forest, France.
The company suffers its first non-battle casualty on 1944-07-24. T/5 William F. Roberts is burned, resulting in evacuation to England. The Co. is involved in priority production of tank gadgets for breaking through the hedgerows (see the separate article on this web site).
Over 80 photos from veterans' private collections. Browse around!
WWII Memorial DedicationThe old man and I and other family members attended the dedication of the WWII Memorial in Washington in May, 2004.
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The companies trained for several months in the United States.
Camp Lee, VA, 1941
Camp Shelby, MS, 1941
Lake Charles, LA, 1941
Camp Murray, WA, 1942
Train Trip, 1942
Camp Young, CA, 1942
Palm Village, CA, 1943
Camp Haan, CA, 1943
The Battle of StavelotOur boys found themselves in the thick of it, in 1944.
More Stavelot and
more Europe.
The Way it WasAnecdotes from the war years.
More....
More...In memory of 897th vet David Lewis, passed away July 3, 2008.
Bocage, fromage, it's Greek to me...Even tanks had trouble with Normandy hedgerows, but a "scrappy" ordnance soldier found a solution.
More...Other WWII stories on the web.
More...Notes and contact info for this site.
More...The Reader's Digest wrote this sweet piece about the interactions between American GIs and British citizens during the war.
More...