Wooden Wall plaque of the 5th Engineer Special Brigade

The 336th Engineer General Service Regiment was activated at Camp Rucker, Alabama, on July 25, 1942, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel William D. Bridges. It was predesignated on April 7, 1943, the 1119th Engineer Combat Group, with its 1st and 2nd Battalions becoming the 336th and 234th Engineer Combat Battalions respectively. The 1119th Engineer Combat Group moved to Fort Pierce, Florida, on April 15, where the 348th Engineer Combat Battalion was assigned as the third battalion of the group on April 21. The group moved to Camp Pickett, Virginia, on June 16. The 234th Engineer Combat Battalion was detached on August 15, and replaced by the 37th Engineer Combat Battalion on August 22. The group staged for overseas movement at Camp Myles Standish, Massachusetts. It left the Boston Port of Embarkation on October 21, and arrived in the UK on November 1. It was predesignated the 5th Engineer Special Brigade on November 12, 1943, at Swansea, Wales. The following day, Colonel William M. Hoge assumed command of the brigade.

Unlike the brigades in the Pacific, those in the European Theater had no boat units, although they did have additional service units to handle cargo over the beaches. When Hoge stepped up to command the provisional Special Brigade Group, he was replaced by Colonel Doswell Gullatt. For the invasion of Normandy, the brigade had a strength of 6,756 men. It landed on Omaha Beach, where it was responsible for the eastern beaches, Easy Red, Fox Green and Fox Red. Gullatt was hospitalized due to illness in July 1944, and Bridges assumed command on July 31. The brigade operated Omaha Beach until it was closed on November 19, 1944. On January 4, 1945, the brigade was transferred to the Seine Section of Paris, where it supervised construction activities. It returned to the United States on July 11, 1945, and was inactivated at Camp Gordon Johnston on October 20 of that year.