I am still trying to figure out which part of the Army grandpa Ivo was in. I’m doing this based on the few locations that he listed in his journal, combined with the dates that he listed. Then I’m searching through historical documents of different divisions and corps to discover which coincide with the dates and locations in the journal. It is rather arduous and may turn out to be impossible. I think my biggest problem is that I don’t understand Army terminology. Division, group, battalion, brigade, unit, company… very confusing. I think I could find much more information if I could just figure this part out.
I’ve always loved maps; sometimes I spend my lunch break looking at maps of places I would like to travel. So my first thought was to open up Google Maps and plot the locations that were listed in grandpa Ivo’s journal. Unfortunately there aren’t many places listed. Most of his journal is about his take on things, not about the locations of where things happened. I wish I knew which part of the Army he was in so that I could find other references to his journey. You can find the interactive map here. I have much to add, so keep your eye on the map.
I hadn’t read my grandfather’s journal for several years. I had read it twice in the past – once when we found it after he passed away, then again a few years later. My cousin had a request from a journalist in the UK who wanted to include it in a story for the 70th anniversary of D-Day. Since I had the only copy of the journal, I decided to scan it into my computer. While I was scanning it, I started to read it once again. This time was different somehow, because clues about where he had been during the war started popping out at me. This made me wonder – would it be possible to trace his journey?