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. Box 6 of the discharge form does not record the lettered battery itself; Nels served in B Battery per the roster in the appendix of “Battalion from the Mojave,” Vol. 2, and with it confirmed, unit records can 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. The Vol. 2 appendix roster lists Nels by name in B Battery, the source for that detail throughout this site. A personal copy has been located for this project, and a private digital edition of Vol. 1 built — see the book page.

• 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 →