by Russ Lockwood
There is a vast amount of detailed information on the shipment of divisions overseas in World War II, but a simple table with precise dates and brief explanatory notes for the main phases in the movement of divisions overseas during this period has not been found in Department of the Army files. The sources of information on which the following table and the accompanying notes were based are scattered in diverse Army files and publications. Further detailed information can be secured by consulting official division records now located at the Field Records Division, Kansas City Records Center, Kansas City, Missouri. The most useful sources consulted were: (1) division headquarters history data cards of the Organization and Directory Section, Operations Branch, Adjutant General's Office; (2) "Combat Chronicle, An Outline History of U.S. Army Divisions," prepared by Order of Battle Section, OCMH: (3) MS, "Order of Battle in the Pacific," prepared by Order of Battle Section, OCMH, for the U.S. ARMY IN WORLD WAR II series: (4) "Order of Battle of the U.S. Army, World War II, European Theater of Operations," prepared by the Theater Historian (Paris, 1945); (5) Strategic Plans Unit Study 4; and (6) division histories published by division associations. It was necessary to rely most heavily on the history data cards maintained by The Adjutant General's Office. These history data cards were compiled during the war from whatever sources were available-water transportation reports, strength reports, station lists, postal reports, and AG letters-and are therefore not entirely accurate. The discrepancies, however, are minor and the margin for error usually falls within a 1-3 day spread. There are a number of explanations for the discrepancies: scheduled departures might be changed or delayed; availability of shipping might send units of the division in different convoys; time of arrival of a ship might be reported as a different day from that of debarkation of the troops; and ships arriving at one harbor might be diverted to another harbor for unloading. The time factor might also account for differences of one day, depending on the use of the Washington or the local overseas date, or on the hour before or after midnight. The dates given in this table represent the closest possible adjustment of the conflicting data found in the records and are reliable within a very small margin of error. In the study of the phases of movement of those divisions shipped overseas during this period, it appeared that, unless the movement was made on a ship the size of the Queen Mary or Queen Elizabeth, a division's movement would usually be divided into shipments of an advance detachment, followed at a later date by the division headquarters and the main body of troops, and frequently by a rear-echelon movement of units held in port-of-embarkation backlog. If the destination was in a combat area, a regimental combat team would often comprise the first echelon of a divisional movement. In the light of piecemeal movements of the elements of a division, it was found most practicable in establishing dates to chart the movement of the division headquarters. The procedure was also followed in determining the location of the division as Of 30 September 1944. These dates and locations do not necessarily coincide with the movement or position of other elements of the divisions. For a more detailed consideration of the movement of the divisions and their elements during 1942, the reader is referred to Matloff and Snell, Strategic Planning for Coalition Warfare, 1941-42, Appendix F. In regard to campaign credits, only the divisional credits are listed, although in many cases individual divisional units were given campaign credits not accorded the division as a whole.
The dates and destinations, except where otherwise noted, refer to division headquarters. Subsequent movements are not shown. [1] The dating is that given for "Completed Overseas Movement" in the chart, "Estimated Status of Divisions" as of 30 November 1945, as prepared by the Logistics Group, OPD. [2] Activated in Philippines. [3] Activated in Hawaii. [4] Organized and constituted in New Caledonia on 24 May 1942 from units of Task Force 6814, which sailed from New York on 22 January 1942 and reached New Caledonia on 12 March 1942. Source: US Army in World War II: Strategic Planning for Coalition Warfare 1943-1944 by Maurice Matloff. Department of the Army. 1959. p. 550-552. Back to War Lore: The List Back to Master Magazine List © Copyright 2002 by Russ Lockwood. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com |