Where the Story Comes From

Primary family sources

• Discharge record · WD AGO Form 53-55

  Bandy family collection

  Official Honorable Discharge of Cpl. Nels J. Bandy, with family history. The original form, if held by the family, likely records his firing battery (A, B, C, or D) in box 6, the detail that would place him precisely during the Bulge and at Remagen.

• Obituary

  Dignity Memorial · Eternal Valley, Newhall CA

  dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/newhall-ca/nels-bandy-5427521

Unit records

• “Battalion from the Mojave,” Vols. 1 & 2

  The 535th’s own published unit history

  Self-published; copies surface on Amazon, AbeBooks, and eBay, and WorldCat can locate library holdings. Likely contains rosters, photographs, and day-by-day accounts in which Nels may appear by name. A local library copy has been located for this project.

• After Action Reports & unit journals · 535th AAA AW Bn

  National Archives, College Park · Record Group 407

  The battalion’s month-by-month positions from Normandy onward are preserved here.

• Morning reports

  National Archives, St. Louis

  Daily personnel records, searchable by name. With a confirmed battery, these allow near day-by-day reconstruction of an individual’s service.

• Official Military Personnel File (OMPF)

  National Personnel Records Center, St. Louis

  Note: the 1973 NPRC fire destroyed most Army personnel files of the era, but final pay records and morning reports usually allow full reconstruction of service.

Published & public history

• ABMC database · 535th AAA AW Battalion

  American Battle Monuments Commission

  535th men buried or memorialized overseas

• Order of battle · 99th Infantry Division & attachments

  EUCMH · Battle of the Bulge OOB, Dec 1944 – Jan 1945

  Lists the 535th AAA AW Battalion under the 99th. eucmh.com · OOB US Army BOB

• “The Remagen Bridgehead, 7–17 March 1945”

  U.S. Army, The Armored School

  Documents the corps order attaching the 535th to the 99th for the Rhine crossing of 10 March 1945. allworldwars.com

• Elsenborn Ridge & Remagen background

  National WWII Museum · Wikipedia · Britannica

  Battles of Elsenborn Ridge (WWII Museum) · Elsenborn Ridge · Battle of Remagen · Utah Beach

• 535th veterans & descendants community

  Military-Quotes forum thread (incl. a Cannington resident)

  “Representing the 535th AAA AW Battalion”

Image sourcing

U.S. Army Signal Corps, Coast Guard, and Navy photographs are in the public domain. Best sources, in order:

1. National Archives Catalog (catalog.archives.gov) · search “535th antiaircraft,” “Utah Beach June 1944,” “Elsenborn,” “Remagen bridge antiaircraft,” “40mm Bofors Normandy,” “99th Infantry Division Belgium.” Download the highest-res TIFF/JPEG; credit “U.S. National Archives” with the NAID.
2. The 535th puppy photo (4 Jan 1945, Belgium) · locate the original B/W Signal Corps scan via NARA rather than a colorized version (colorizations may carry restoration copyright).
3. National WWII Museum digital collections · 99th Division at Elsenborn (check terms).
4. Wikimedia Commons · Utah Beach, the Ludendorff Bridge, Bofors guns; use PD-USGov–tagged files.
5. Family photos of Nels · scan at 600 dpi.

Places of remembrance

• Utah Beach, Normandy · the Utah Beach D-Day Museum stands on the landing site.
• Church of St. Mary, Cannington, Somerset · memorial to the 535th.
• Elsenborn Ridge & Krinkelt-Rocherath, Belgium · the northern-shoulder battlefield.
• Remagen, Germany · the surviving bridge towers house the Peace Museum.
• Fort MacArthur Museum, San Pedro, California · the post where Nels was discharged.

For 535th Families · how to find your relative →