Shipment of US Divisions Overseas

January 1942 to 30 September 1944

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.

SHIPMENT OF DIVISIONS
DivisionDate of
Sailing
Port of
Embarkation
Initial
Destination
Date of
Arrival Overseas
Completion of
Overseas Movements [1]
1942
Philippine[2]----
24th[3]----
25th[3]----
34th15 Jan 42New YorkU.K.26 Jan 42May 42
Americal[4]----
27th10 Mar 42San FranciscoHawaii15 Mar 42 Apr 42
41st19 Mar 42San FranciscoAustralia7 Apr 42May 42
32d22 Apr 42San FranciscoAustralia14 May 42May 42
5th30 Apr 42New YorkIceland11 May 42May 42
1st Armd11 May 42New YorkU.K.16 May 42Jun 42
37th26 May 42San FranciscoFiji Islands10 Jun 42 Sep 42
1st2 Aug 42New YorkU.K.7 Aug 42 Aug 42
40th23 Aug 42San FranciscoHawaii1 Sep 42Oct 42
43d1 Oct 42San FranciscoNew Zealand23 Oct 42 Oct 42
29th5 Oct 42New YorkU.K.11 Oct 42 Oct 42
3d24 Oct 42Hampton RoadsNorth Africa8 Nov 42 Jan 43
2d Armd12 Dec 42New YorkNorth Africa25 Dec 42 Dec 42
9th12 Dec 42New YorkNorth Africa25 Dec 42 Jan 43
1943
36th1 Apr 43New YorkNorth Africa13 Apr 43 Apr 43
7th24 Apr 43San FranciscoAlaska30 Apr 43 Jul 43
82d AB28 Apr 43New YorkNorth Africa10 May 43 May 43
45th8 Jun 43Hampton RoadsNorth Africa22 Jun 43 Aug 43
1st Cav26 Jun 43San FranciscoAustralia11 Jul 43 Jul 43
33d7 Jul 43San FranciscoHawaii12 Jul 43 Jul 43
6th21 Jul 43San FranciscoHawaii29 Jul 43 Oct 43
3d Armd5 Sep 43New YorkU.K.18 Sep 43 Oct 43
101st AB5 Sep 43New YorkU.K.15 Sep 43 Oct 43
2d8 Oct 43New YorkU.K.18 Oct 43Oct 43
28th8 Oct 43Boston U.K.18 Oct 43Oct 43
8th5 Dec 43New YorkU.K.15 Dec 43Dec 43
88th6 Dec 43Hampton RoadsNorth Africa15 Dec 43Jan 44
85th24 Dec 43Hampton RoadsNorth Africa2 Jan 44 Jan 44
4th Armd30 Dec 43Boston U.K.11 Jan 44Jan 44
38th31 Dec 43New OrleansHawaii17 Jan 44Feb 44
1944
93d11 Jan 44San FranciscoGuadalcanal29 Jan 44Mar 44
4th18 Jan 44New YorkU.K.29 Jan 44Feb 44
2d Cav4 Feb 44Hampton RoadsNorth Africa28 Feb 44Mar 44
30th11 Feb 44Boston U.K.23 Feb 44Feb 44
5th Armd11 Feb 44New YorkU.K.23 Feb 44Feb 44
6th Armd11 Feb 44New YorkU.K.23 Feb 44Feb 44
31st13 Mar 44Hampton RoadsNew Guinea24 Apr 44Apr 44
90th23 Mar 44New YorkU.K.4 Apr 44Apr 44
77th24 Mar 44San FranciscoHawaii30 Mar 44Apr 44
91st 3 Apr 44Hampton RoadsNorth Africa21 Apr 44May 44
83d6 Apr 44New York U.K.16 Apr 44Apr 44
79th 6 Apr 44BostonU.K.18 Apr 44Apr 44
98th13 Apr 44SeattleHawaii19 Apr 44May 44
11th AB8 May 44San FranciscoNew Guinea29 May 44 Jun 44
35th11 May 44New YorkU.K.27 May 44May 44
7th Armd6 Jun 44New YorkU.K.14 Jun 44Jun 44
80th 1 Jul 44New YorkU.K.7 Jul 44Jul 44
81st3 Jul 44San FranciscoHawaii8 Jul 44Jul 44
96th23 Jul 44San FranciscoHawaii28 Jul 44Aug 44
94th 6 Aug 44New YorkU.K.11 Aug 44Aug 44
95th 10 Aug 44BostonU.K.17 Aug 44Aug 44
17th AB17 Aug 44BostonU.K.25 Aug 44Aug 44
9th Armd18 Aug 44New York U.K.1 Sep 44Aug 44
26th 27 Aug 44New York France7 Sep 44Sep 44
104th27 Aug 44New YorkFrance7 Sep 44Sep 44
44th5 Sep 44BostonFrance15 Sep 44Sep 44
102d12 Sep 44New YorkFrance23 Sep 44Sep 44
10th Armd 13 Sep 44New YorkFrance23 Sep 44Sep 44
12th Armd 20 Sep 44New YorkU.K.2 Oct 44Oct 44
84th20 Sep 44New YorkU.K.1 Oct 44Oct 44
92d22 Sep 44Hampton RoadsItaly16 Oct 44Nov 44
11th Armd29 Sep 44New YorkU.K.11 Oct 44Oct 44
99th29 Sep 44BostonU.K.11 Oct 44Oct 44

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.


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