32nd Infantry Division (United States)
| U.S. 32nd Infantry Division | |
|---|---|
 32nd Infantry Division shoulder sleeve insignia | |
| Active | July, 1917 – May, 1919 October, 1940 – February, 1946 |
| Country |  United States of America |
| Allegiance |  United States Army |
| Branch | Army National Guard |
| Type | Infantry division |
| Role | Light Infantry |
| Size | Division |
| Garrison/HQ | (Inactive) |
| Nickname(s) | Les Terribles Red Arrow Division |
| Mascot(s) | Vicksburg |
| Engagements | World War I |
| Decorations | Presidential Unit Citation
Medal of Honor-11
AM-98.[1] |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders | Clovis E. Byers Edwin F. Harding |
Template:US Infantry The 32nd Infantry Division was an infantry division of the United States Army National Guard that fought primarily during World War I and World War II. It was formed with units from the states of Wisconsin and Michigan. With roots in the American Civil War, the division's ancestral units came to be referred to as the Iron Jaw Division. During tough combat in France in World War I, it soon acquired from the French the nickname Les Terribles, referring to its fortitude in advancing over terrain previous units could not.[2] It was the first division to pierce the famed German Hindenburg Line of defense,[2] and the 32nd then adopted its shoulder patch; a line shot through with a red arrow, to signify its tenacity in piercing the enemy line. It then became known as the Red Arrow Division.[3]
During World War II, the Division was credited with many "firsts". It was the first United States division to deploy as an entire unit overseas and among the first of seven U.S. Army and U.S. Marine units to engage in offensive ground combat operations during 1942. They were among the first to enter the war and were still engaging Japanese soldiers after the Armistice was declared. The 32nd logged a total of 654 days of combat during WWII, more than any other United States Army division.[4][3] The unit was inactivated in 1946 after occupation duty in Japan.
During 1961, the Division was called up for a one year tour of service in the state of Washington during the Berlin Crisis. In 1967, the 32nd Infantry Division (now made up completely of units from Wisconsin) was inactivated and partially reorganized as the 32nd Infantry Brigade, the largest unit of the Wisconsin Army National Guard.
Pre-World War I
Called the State Militia until 1879, the Wisconsin National Guard was appointed by the first adjutant general of the Wisconsin Territory in 1839.[5] The modern history of the Division originated in the spring of 1861 with the 1st Battalion, 128th Infantry and the 2nd Regiment, 1st Wisconsin Cavalry.[6] They were made up of independent companies recruited from throughout Wisconsin and was organized and activated into Federal service. The 2nd Wisconsin was joined by several other regiments to form the famous Iron Brigade, which soon became one of the most feared and respected units on either side in the Civil War for its performance in such battles as Antietam and Gettysburg.[6] It was nicknamed the Iron Jaw Division for its toughness in combat.
The 4th Infantry Battalion, Wisconsin National Guard, was organized on 25 April 1884 from Milwaukee companies.[6] They were expanded and in 1890 redesignated as the 4th Infantry Regiment which was activated for Federal service in the war with Spain. They were reorganized on 10 June 1899 as the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Infantry Regiments in the Wisconsin National Guard.
In 1913, Troop A was stationed at the Mexican border under General John Pershing to guard against the raiding bandit General Pancho Villa. Troop B was ordered to Camp Wilson near San Diego, California, and on arrival were assigned as the Divisional Headquarters Troop of the 12th Provisional Division until the final breaking up of that Division.
The 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Infantry Regiments were mustered into Federal service on 30 June 1916 for Mexican Boarder service. The Guard units' Troop A and Troop B were mustered out of Federal Service on 20 October 1916 and 6 March 1917, respectively. The regiments were mustered out at Fort Sheridan, Illinois, on 19 January 1917 (1st), 28 February 1917 (2nd), and 14 December 1916 (3rd).
World War I
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History during World War I
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Activation, organization and training
When the United States declared war on Germany on 11 April 1917, the Wisconsin Adjutant General ordered the Milwaukee Troops to add a squadron, and Troop C and Troop D were added. The Guard units' Troop A and Troop B had been been mustered out of Federal Service less than a year earlier on 20 October 1916 and 6 March 1917, respectively. The Adjutant General then directed the unit to add a new regiment, and the Second and Third Squadrons were formed as the First Wisconsin Cavalry, with units organized in various cities. Troop E commanded by Captain John S. Coney was formed in Kenosha on 10 May 1917, and the Division was officially formed on 29 May 1917.[8]
Only two months later, the 32nd Division was activated in July 1917 at Camp MacArthur, Waco, Texas of National Guard units from Wisconsin and Michigan. Wisconsin furnished approximately 15,000 men, and another 8,000 troops came from Michigan.[9] On 4 August 1917, Battery F, 121st Field Artillery regiment was the first unit to arrive at Camp MacArthur. The remainder arrived as soon as trains could be mustered for transportation.[10]
On 26 August 1917, Major General James Parker assumed command. General Parker had previously been awarded the Medal of Honor during the Philippine–American War. On 18 September 1917, General Parker left for France on special duty with his Chief of Staff, Lieut. Col. E. H. DeArmond. Brigadier General William G. Haan assumed command in his absence. When General Parker returned in December, he was almost immediately transferred to the 85th Infantry Division at Camp Custer, Michigan. General Haan assumed command once again. In keeping with the 1917 Army Tables of Organizations, he reorganized the Division during September to increase the number of men in each regiment.[10]
The 120th Field Artillery Regiment was organized on 22 September 1917 at Camp MacArthur, as a part of the 57th Field Artillery Brigade, better known as the Iron Brigade. The nickname originated with the 1st Wisconsin Cavalry and was traditionally given to crack artillery units in the Civil War.[11] Once at Camp MacArthur, the Division was resupplied for their overseas assignment. Shortly before the Division left for France, 4,000 National Army troops from Wisconsin and Michigan were transferred to the Division.[10]
Captain Alien L. Briggs returned to Camp MacArthur to assist with training. He had been an Aide-de-camp to General Parker and had been in Europe when the war broke out in 1914. He had observed the training methods used in military schools in France. As training intensified in preparation for leaving for France, five French and four British officers, along with several non-commissioned officers, joined the Division as instructors. A trench system was built outside the camp in which the Division practiced the techniques of trench warfare. There was a continual shortage of equipment that hampered training in the artillery and machine gun battalions. Additional training for junior and non-commissioned officers was implemented, and General Haan offered additional daily instruction to the Brigade, Regimental and Battalion commanders.[10]
By early December, it had received the equipment assigned to it, and was judged to be ready for deployment. War Department inspectors found the Division more advanced in its training than any other division in the United States. Orders were received in late December, and the first troops left Waco on 2 January 1918 for the Port of Embarkation at Hoboken, New Jersey. The infantry was moved first, arriving at Camp Merritt before the Division Headquarters sailed.[10] Brigadier General William G. Haan led the unit when it arrived in France.
Distinguished combat in France and Germany
The 32nd Division arrived in France in February 1918. The Division was the sixth U.S. division to join the Allied Expeditionary Force. Major General James Parker re-assumed command on 7 December 1917, leading the unit into Alsace in May 1918, attacking 19 kilometres (12 mi) in seven days. During the Battle of Marne, they captured Fismes. The only American unit in French General Charles Mangins famous 10th French Army, it fought in the Battle of Oise-Battle of Aisne offensive.[9]
Up to this point much of the war had been a stalemate, fought from static trench lines over the same few kilometers of terrain. Moving out of their trenches, the Division fought continuously for 20 days during the Meuse-Argonne Offensive and were the first Allied Army unit to penetrate the last German defensive stronghold, the Hindenburg Line at Kriemhilde Stellung, crossing the Meuse River. [9]
The Division was the front line element of the Third U.S. Army. Their next objective was to flank the Germans at Metz and they marched 300 kilometres (190 mi) to the Rhine River. There they occupied the center sector in the Koblenz bridgehead for four months, during which they held 400 square kilometers and 63 towns. The Division was in combat continuously from May through November of 1918, given only 10 days of rest.
Origin of nickname Les Terribles
The Division fought in three major offensives, engaging and defeating 23 German divisions. They took 2,153 prisoners and gained 32 kilometres (20 mi), pushing back every German counterattack.[9] During the drive to capture Fismes, they successfully attacked over open ground at great cost.[2]
The authorized strength of the 3rd battalion was 20 officers and 1,000 men, but by 4 August it had only 12 officers and 350 men on the line. As they advanced over 2,100 yards (1,900 m) of mostly open ground, the Germans targeted them with intense artillery and machine gun fire. They were reinforced by the 2nd Battalion, 127th Infantry, which was also understrength. The 127th Infantry finally captured Fismes, but they lost many men. By the end of the day, the 3rd Battalion had only two officers and 94 men; the 2nd Battalion had five officers and 104 men.[2]
General de Mondesir, the 38th French Corps Commander, which the 32nd served under, went to the front to observe the fighting. When he saw how the 32nd cleared the Germans out of their reinforced positions with unrelenting and successful attacks, he exclaimed, Oui, Oui, Les soldats terrible, tres bien, tres bien! General Charles Mangin heard of it and referred to the 32nd Division as Les Terribles when he asked for the Division to join his 10th French Army north of Soissons. He later made the nickname official when he incorporated it in his citation for their attack at Juvigny. The Division's shoulder patch, a line shot through with a red arrow, signifies its tenacity during World War I.[12][2]
Casualties and decorations
The division was still engaging German troops east of the Meuse River when the Armistice was finally signed. The Division suffered a total of 13,261 casualties, including 2,250 men killed in action and 11,011 wounded, placing it third in the number of battle deaths among U.S. Army divisions. The American, French, and Belgian governments decorated more than 800 officers and enlisted men for their gallantry in combat.[9]
All four infantry regiments, the three artillery regiments, and the Division's three machine gun battalions all were awarded the Croix de guerre by the Republic of France. The flag and standard of every unit in the division was authorized four American battle streamers.[9] The 32nd Division was the only American division recognized with a nom-de-guerre by an Allied nation during the war.[13]
Deactivation and reorganization
Following the war's end, the division served in the Army of Occupation in Germany, commanded by Maj. Gen. William Lassiter. The division was inactivated on 5 April 1919. On 24 July 1924, the 32nd Division was reorganized incorporating National Guard units from Wisconsin and Michigan. Its headquarters home was at Lansing, Michigan.[9]
World War II
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History during World War II
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Pre-World War II
In the period between the World Wars, the 32nd Division was largely a paper unit. During 1937 and 1938, the 107th Engineer Battalion trained at Camp Grayling in Michigan, with emphasis on boat drills and float bridging. The Regiment was short of men, had no vehicles, and what equipment it had was of World War I vintage.[14]
Its training left much to be desired, rarely leaving the local drill hall. Only the fall of France in June 1940 injected some urgency into their training operations, and in August 1940 President Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered 18 National Guard divisions activated, including the 32nd.
On 15 October 1940 the Division was activated and the units began a six-day motor march to Camp Beauregard. The unit then spent the next 16 months training in Louisiana, starting at Camp Beauregard.[15][11]
Unit Reactivated
When the unit was called to active duty on 15 October 1940, the division was made up of National Guard units from Michigan and Wisconsin. It was scheduled to receive a year of training.[14] It was authorized to have a peace-time strength of about 11,600 soldiers, but like almost all units in the National Guard and the Regular Army prior to World War II, was not at full strength nor was it assigned all of the equipment it was authorized. Training for many soldiers was incomplete. On 26 January 1941, the 32nd Division was moved to the recently completed Camp Livingston, about 15 miles (24 km) miles northeast of Alexandria, Louisiana.[14]
During the summer of 1941, the Division took part in the Third and Fourth Army maneuvers—nicknamed the Louisiana Maneuvers—which provided the army high command a good look at the preparedness of the regiment. The first test, which was held in the vicinity of Camp Beauregard, was conducted June 16-27 and included the 32nd Division as well as the 37th Division from Ohio. From August 16-30, the maneuvers expanded to include the 34th and 38th Divisions. During September, the largest maneuvers were held with the Seventh Corps of the Second Army, opposing the Fourth, Fifth, and Eighth Corps of the Third Army. The Grand Rapids Guard was part of the Fifth Corps. It was the largest maneuver of its kind in the history of the Army and included some 100,000 men.
During January and February 1942, the Division lost one of its infantry regiments when its "square" infantry division structure was reorganized into a triangular organization, centered around three instead of four infantry regiments. It was left with the 126th Infantry Regiment, 127th Infantry Regiment, and the 128th Infantry Regiment. The three existing artillery regiments (120th, 121st and 126th) were converted into four separate battalions (120th, 121st, 126th and 129th), and supporting units.[15] In early February 1942 it received a new commander, Major General Edwin F. Harding.[15]
Division ordered to Pacific Theatre
The division had been told it was to be deployed to England and the division moved to Fort Devens, Massachusetts, to prepare for transport to Ireland. The 107th Engineering Battalion left Camp Livingston on 2 January 1942, and was shipped by train to Fort Dix, New Jersey. The 107th was shipped ahead of the rest of the division as an advance party so they could prepare an overseas camp for the division's arrival.[16]
The rest of the division was to have three months to prepare for embarkation to the front in Europe. However, Japan had rapidly advanced into the South Pacific, progressively occupying an increasing number of islands. Japan was evidently intent on cutting Australia off from its American supply lines, and Australia feared that Japan was planning to invade. Prime Minister John Curtin demanded the Allies release Australian troops from the Mediterranean and North Africa front to defend their home. Though the 6th and 7th Divisions were released, the 9th could not be spared, so in a compromise the raw and unready 32nd Division was to be suddenly turned around and shipped west to the Pacific instead.[17]
On 25 March, shortly after Harding was placed in command, he received these new orders. He was told the entire unit was to be ready to board ships in San Francisco in three weeks. The 114th Engineer Combat Battalion, a National Guard unit from New England, was hurriedly matched up with the unit to replace the 107th Engineers, who were already in the middle of the Atlantic bound for Ireland.[16]
The division boarded 13 freight trains and 25 passenger trains at Fort Devens near Boston on 9 April 1942 and arrived five days later in Oakland, California. Portions of the unit were then transported by bus to Pier 7 in San Francisco, where they boarded the U.S. Army ferry General Frank M. Coxe for Angel Island in San Francisco Bay, which was utilized by the Army as Fort McDowell.[18][19] : 33 The remainder were housed at Fort Ord near Monterey, California, at the Dog Track Pavilion in Emeryville and at the Cow Palace, where the men slept uncomfortably in stadium chairs and in horse stalls.[19]: 38
On 22 April 1942, just before the division boarded ships in San Francisco bound for Australia, they received about 3,000 additional soldiers to fill in their incomplete ranks, most of whom had just finished basic training. The division was still missing about 1,800 men. The unit had to make do with whatever equipment was found in depots near San Francisco. It could not obtain any M1 Carbine rifles suitable for jungle fighting, and were equipped with the longer, heavier M1 Garand.[18] The traded in their World War I-era horse-drawn artillery pieces for new M108 Howitzers.
After eight days waiting for transit, the division returned to San Francisco and boarded a convoy of seven Matson Line ships, including the S.S. Lurline and USS Hugh L. Scott at Pier 42. The convoy (SF 43) was escorted by the cruiser USS Indianapolis and two corvettes. Four days out of San Francisco, the Lurline ship's crew discovered the Division's mascot, a dog named Vicksburg. She was named for the town she was born in and the location of the final major campaign of the American Civil War. (Vicksburg was killed in a road accident in Southport, Australia on 8 October 1942)[20] A monument to the dog still exists at the former entrance to Camp Cable.[21]
Taking a southerly route to avoid the Japanese Navy, they arrived in southern Australia at Port Adelaide on 14 May 1942, having traveled 9,000 miles in 23 days.[18] They were the first American division in World War II to be moved in a single convoy from the United States to the front lines.[19]: 38
Training in Australia
When the division arrived in the port of Adelaide three weeks later, the 126th Infantry Regiment was send to Camp Sandy Creek (north of Adelaide), and the 127th and 128th went to Camp Woodside, east of Adelaide and 30 miles (48 km) from Camp Sandy Creek.[19]: 41 Their initial training was oriented around a defense of the Australian mainland. Less than two months later, in July 1942, the unit was moved 1,223 miles (1,968 km) northwest to Camp Tamborine, near Brisbane on Australia's east coast. The majority of the division and its equipment was split up and shipped by railroad, while some were transported on five liberty ships. Each Australian state had a different rail gauge (or width), and the equipment and men had to offloaded at each state's boundary and reloaded onto a new train. The division's trains crossed four states before it reached Brisbane.[16]
Once the unit arrived in Australia, rather than begin combat training, the division was forced to build the new camp from scratch. Instead of learning the basics of patrolling and maneuvering, they cut down trees and dug latrines. The division did not begin training again for several weeks.[19]: 50–51 Although the unit had spent considerable time training in Louisiana with considerable swamp close at hand, their destination at that time was Europe. They had little additional training for jungle conditions while in Australia and had limited practice with live fire training.
On 30 August, Camp Tamborine was renamed Camp Cable, in honor of Sergeant Gerald O. Cable, a soldier in Service Company, 126th Infantry. Sergeant Cable was the sole casualty when his Liberty ship, enroute from Adelaide to Brisbane, was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine, giving him the distinction of being the first soldier of the 32nd Division to die in combat during World War II.[22]
Japanese assault on Port Moresby
The Battle of Coral Sea in early May followed by the Allied victory at the Battle of Midway in early June foiled Japan's plans to capture Port Moresby by sea. The Japanese were undaunted. A Japanese convoy conveyed Maj. Gen. Tomitarō Horii with about 4,400 troops onto the beach at Gona during the night of 21-22 July 1942 on the north-eastern shore of Papua New Guinea. They proceeded inland to Popondetta and then south-westward onto the Kokoda Trail with the object of capturing Port Moresby. By 13 August, the Japanese had landed about 11,100 men, which the object of securing a base to dominate the south Pacific. The Allies commonly believed the Japanese intended to invade Australia, whose Cape York Peninsula was only 340 miles (550 km) from the New Guinea. Unknown to the Allies, the Chief of the Imperial Japanese Naval General Staff, Osami Nagano, had proposed an invasion, but this plan was rejected in favor of a decision to occupy Midway Island with the intention of cutting Australia off from United States supply lines, eventually forcing Australia to surrender.
General Willoughby continued to believe that the Japanese only intended to build airfields on the northern coast with the intent to attack Port Moresby and Australia by air. But the Japanese fought up the northern side of the Owen Stanley Mountains and in the middle of September, after weeks of fighting, descended the southern slopes to Ioribaiwa Ridge, within 32 miles (51 km) of Port Moresby. At the peak of their effort, the Japanese had 16,000 troops in the region.[23] Japanese engineers remained on the coast to fortify the beachhead and build a system of reinforced and cross-linked bunkers.[19]: 48
The Allied air forces relentlessly attacked the Japanese supply lines over the Owen Stanley Mountains that connected the Japanese forces to Buna, Sanananda, and Gona. The weakened Japanese forces, attacked from the air and on the front and flanks by Australian forces, were finally stopped on 17 September at Imita Range, south of Ioribaiwa.
Japanese withdrawal from the Kokoda Track
On Guadalcanal, Lieutenant General Harukichi Hyakutake's initial thrust to re-take the island's Henderson Field had been badly defeated. He decided that he only had sufficient troops and materiel to defeat the Allied forces there. Hyakutake prepared to send more troops to Guadalcanal in another attempt to recapture the airfield. With the concurrence of the Japanese command staff, he ordered General Horii to withdraw troops on New Guinea, who were within 32 kilometres (20 mi) of Port Moresby, to the Buna-Gona beachheads until the issue at Guadalcanal was decided.[24]: 162–193
General Horii and his troops were disheartened to learn their sacrifice and those of their dead companions was to be for nothing. On 28 September, they began to hastily withdraw northward over the Owen Stanley Mountains to Kokoda and then to Buna-Gona. This was the first time a Japanese advance had been stopped in the Pacific.[25]
Of key strategic value to both armies was a landing field at Buna, built before the Japanese arrived. During their occupation they lengthened it to 1,300 yards (1,200 m), and added aircraft dispersal bays. Japanese planes used the field until the end of September, when the U.S. Air Force in successive raids bombed the field, finally rendering it unusable.[26]
While General Horii had attacked southward, Japanese engineers had been busy along the Buna, Sanananda and Gona coast building up a 20 kilometres (12 mi) long line of in-depth, mutually supporting defensive positions, built on the only available solid ground. These were constructed of coconut tree logs, concrete, and steel drums, and were disguised by rapid-growing jungle vegetation, and defended by an estimated 6,500 Japanese.[23] The Allies had no intelligence on the defensive positions that Japanese had been constructing.
Ejecting the Japanese from Papua New Guinea was essential to the defense of the Australian mainland, and the 32nd Division's mission was suddenly shifted to jungle warfare. Their training in Australia had been severely hampered by lack of time and equipment. Sites for jungle training were not readily available, and due to the long supply lines back to the United States, the weapons and equipment suitable for jungle fighting were few or non-existent. In addition, the United States was unfamiliar with Japanese fighting techniques and they had no heavy guns for attacking the reinforced Japanese emplacements.[16]
Transport to New Guinea
The U.S. Army typically required divisions to train as a unit for a full year before being entering combat.[27] Nonetheless, on 13 September 1942, after less than two months of training, General Douglas MacArthur ordered parts of the 32nd Division to Papua New Guinea. This was the opening ground offensive against Japanese troops in the Southwest Pacific Area, and MacArthur expected the Americans to quickly and easily advance on and capture the Japanese forward base at Buna.[28] From September 15-29, the unit's Divisional Headquarters and its two Regimental Combat Teams, formed around the 126th and the 128th Infantry Regiments, were moved to Port Moresby, New Guinea. The first elements of the 32nd were transported by air. Other elements arrived on 28 September by sea and on 2 October by air. When the division was committed to combat, it was still not adequately prepared for its mission. It initially had only two of its infantry regiments (one of which was subsequently taken away).[28]
As the Southwest Pacific Area of operations was still in its organizational stages, there was insufficient transport available to ship the division’s personnel and heavy equipment at the same time. As a result, most of the unit’s heavy 81mm mortars and artillery were left behind. In addition, the combat engineers that were available were deployed without basic equipment such as axes, shovels and block and tackle. The assumption was that coastal barges would later carry those items along with their heavy construction equipment forward to Buna by sea. Because of the last-minute switch from their original destination of Ireland and the European Theater of Operations, and because of inadequate supply lines, the American soldiers had not received specialized clothing and equipment that were essential to the Pacific battlefront. The men had no insect repellent; although they were entering a rain forest, they had no waterproof boxes or pouches in which to keep their malaria tablets and other medicine; once in the field, they found the daily tropical rain fouled cooking fuel, and their diet was quickly reduced to unheated tinned rations eaten from unwashed mess kits.[28][16] Portions of New Guinea receive an average of 10 inches (250 mm) of rain every month, year-round.[29]
Kapa Kapa Trail march
The Australian Army units on New Guinea were under increasing pressure from the Japanese forces who had advanced within 30 miles (48 km) of Port Moresby. Anxious to blunt the Japanese attack, and although no white man had crossed using that route since 1917, General Douglas MacArthur issued orders for United States forces to take the Kapa Kapa Trail running parallel to the Kokoda Track.
MacArthur believed based on available intelligence that the U.S. forces could guard the right flank of the Australian forces and entrap the Imperial Japanese troops between the two allied forces.[30] Beginning on 14 October, 900 troops of the 2nd Battalion, 126th Infantry, 114th Engineer Battalion, 19th Portable Hospital, and the 107th Quartermaster Company, commanded by Lt. Col. Henry A. Geerds, departed in stages from Karekodobu, nicknamed "Kalamazoo" by the GIs who had a hard time pronouncing the local name.
Over the next five weeks, the poorly trained and ill-equipped men found themselves utterly unprepared for the extremely harsh conditions found in the jungle. The Kapa Kapa trail across the Owen Stanley divide was a "dank and eerie place, rougher and more precipitous"[31] than the Kokoda Track on which the Australians and Japanese were then fighting. Chiggers, fleas, sand flies, leeches, and mosquitoes found every inch of exposed skin. "It was grueling march on a line paralleling the Kokoda Trail, and the men who made it will remember it forever as a living, wide-awake nightmare. For forty-two days they climbed, scrambled, clawed and suffered—many times cutting their own trail through some of the most awesome territory in the world."[32]: 46–7
So precipitous was the terrain, that at one point a group lost its footing and slid 2,000 feet (610 m) downhill in 40 minutes; it took them eight hours to climb back to where they began.[33] On 25 November 1942, after 42 days on the trail, the first troops reached Jaure, many of its men suffering from malaria, dengue fever, and dysentery. Lt. Col. Henry A Geerds suffered a heart attack enroute and was evacuated overland to Port Moresby. Major Herbert Smith, the supply liaison officer, became Battalion commander. After a short rest at Jaure, the soldiers resumed their trek to the coast. On 20 November 1942, after five weeks of crossing exceedingly difficult terrain, including hogback ridges, jungle, and mountainous high-altitude passes, they reached Soputa.
Upon hearing of the condition of the 2nd Battalion after its crossing of the Owen Stanleys via the Kapa Kapa Trail, the 32nd Division commander, Major General Edwin F. Harding requested that the rest of his troops be airlifted over the Owen Stanleys to Fasari and Pongani.
Attack on Buna
The remainder of the division was flown to the Buna area, to join Australian units in an assault on the main Japanese beachheads in eastern New Guinea. General Harding was nearly killed before the attack began. On 16 November, he was on board a coastal trawler with his headquarters company when it and its convoy carrying important artillery and supplies was attacked by Japanese fighter-bombers. Harding saved himself by diving overboard and swimming to shore. The attack destroyed all five vessels and the supplies Harding was relying on for the upcoming attack.[34] More were sunk over the following days or ran aground on reefs or sandbars. Harding accepted MacArthur's decision to go ahead with the attack and to rely on direct air support in place of tanks or heavy artillery.
Japanese defenses
The Japanese were now commanded by Maj. Gen. Kensaku Oda, succeeding General Horii, who had been drowned in the Kumusi River while retreating from their initial attack on Port Moresby. The area around Buna was about 3 feet (0.91 m) above sea level. Unable to dig trenches or shelters due to the high water table, the Japanese had instead built hundreds of coconut log bunkers. These were mutually supporting and organized in depth. Some of the larger bunkers were protected with steel beams and 50 gallon barrels filled with sand. A few pillboxes near the abandoned airstrip about a mile from Buna Mission were made of steel and concrete. Blockhouses covered in earth could holding upwards of 20 or 30 men. They were covered with earth and fast-growing jungle vegetation. Many smaller fortifications were placed in perimeter positions that were thick with trees or jungle vegetation. Firing slits were a few feet above grade. The bunkers rose only a man's height, 6 feet (1.8 m) to 8 feet (2.4 m), so that the emplacements were virtually invisible until the Japanese unleashed their weapons on the unsuspecting Americans.[28]
Buna was General Douglas MacArthur's first ground offensive campaign against Japanese troops in World War II. He received intelligence from Brigadier General Charles Willoughby, who told MacArthur before the operation that there was "little indication of an attempt to make a strong stand against the Allied advance."[28] Other intelligence he received him to believe that Buna was held by about 1000 sick and malnourished soldiers. Unfamiliar with the state of Japanese defenses, Lt. Gen. Richard K. Sutherland, MacArthur’s chief of staff, glibly referred to these fortifications as "hasty field entrenchments."
A Japanese machine-gunner hastily scribbled in his diary on 17 November: "Our food is completely gone. We are eating tree bark and grass." On 19 November, he wrote, "In other units there are men eating the flesh of dead Australians. There is nothing to eat."[28] But there were still about 5,500 Japanese army and navy troops in and around Buna. Opposite the 126th Infantry was the Yokosuka 5th Special Naval Landing Force, comprised of about 400 tough naval infantrymen with an additional 600 naval construction troops. As recently 17 November, Japanese destroyers had delivered 2,300 troops fresh from Rabaul, New Britain. These included the veteran 3rd Battalion, 229th Infantry Regiment, 38th Division, which had fought in China, Hong Kong and Java.[28]
Battle for Buna
With the only artillery support provided by a single 25 pounder battery with limited ammunition, the division began its attack on 19 November and were immediately met by strong resistance from well-entrenched and camouflaged Japanese positions manned by fresh soldiers. For two weeks, they tried to attack frontally and to flank the Japanese lines. Flanking the Japanese meant crawling through the swamps, unable to see more than a few yards in any direction. The division repeatedly failed to make any progress against the Japanese positions, and a stalemate ensued.
Harding relieved of command
When the 32nd Division failed to advance, MacArthur sent two staff officers to evaluate the situation. Their reports were extremely negative, and MacArther ordered US I Corps commander, Major General Robert Eichelberger, to relieve Maj. Gen. Edwin F. Harding of command. MacArthur famously said to Eichelberger, "Bob, I want you to go out there and take Buna, or don't come back alive". He paused for a moment and then, without looking at Brigadier General Clovis Byers, pointed a finger. "And that goes for your chief of staff, too."[35]
Upon arrival at Buna, Eichelberger noted the men's very poor morale and on 1 December 1942 relieved Harding of command. Eichelberger also sacked the regimental commanders and most battalion commanders. He replaced Harding with the division's artillery commander, Brigadier General Albert W. Waldron. On 2 December, the 32nd attacked again with equally fruitless results.
Even before the attack on 2 December, our troops were tired and dispirited, and this last repulse reduced their confidence to a low ebb, probably the lowest of the entire campaign. Two weeks of fighting had not even dented the Japanese line. Rations had been so short that troops sometimes received only one-sixth of a "C" ration per day. Torrential rain alternated with jungle heat. The insects seemed as determined as the enemy. Casualties from disease and wounds had reduced all battalions to approximately half-strength.[36]
Eichelberger utilized his rank to order increased supplies, including improved food and medical supplies, the same things that Harding had been requesting, and he also halted operations on the Buna front for two days to allow units to reorganize.
On 5 December, Waldron was shot in the shoulder by a Japanese sniper, and Eichelberger placed his chief of staff Brig. Gen. Clovis E. Byers in command. Eichelberger moved the I Corps command to the Buna area, running his HQ with a batman and radio operator. "Some of the 32nd's officers privately denounced Eichelberger as ruthless, Prussian. The men of the 32nd...called their division cemetery 'Eichelberger Square.'"[37]
Japanese lines split
On the same day, the Allies split the Japanese lines. Staff Sergeant Herman Bottcher, Platoon Commander G Company, 126th Infantry, led 18 men against the defending and heavily entrenched Japanese forces. He stood up and threw hand grenades at the enemy in their emplacements and was able to drive a wedge between the Japanese positions in Buna and Buna village. Forty Japanese soldiers were killed on the beach; a dozen were wounded. They fought off attacks for seven days, taking over enemy machine guns for their own use. Bottcher was wounded twice before he was relieved. His unit had killed 120 Japanese, and his successful defense of the beach enabled the rest of the division to advance to the beach.
A plaque was placed at the entrance to Buna Village memorializing his actions that day.
...With 18 men, one machine gun, and 'sheer guts under fire' SSgt Bottcher held off a Japanese force that flanked him on two sides and numbered in the thousands. Despite being out-gunned and out-numbered, Bottcher and his men so effectively fought the enemy that they were never able to launch a coordinated attack and secure the narrow beach of Buna, New Guinea. When the enemy finally grew impatient and attacked, Bottcher 'mowed them down like wheat in a field'. For bravery under fire, he was awarded the battlefield commission of Captain. Two year later, Captain Bottcher was killed in combat fighting in the Philippines. With grateful appreciation The American Legion remembers Capt. Herman J. Bottcher and 'G' Company Erected on behalf of the American Legion by Dominic D. Difrancesco National Commander April 1992.[38]
The tide of the battle of Buna turned and Bottcher was awarded the battlefield commission of Captain and his first of two Distinguished Service Cross Medals.
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The 32nd Division, reinforced by the 18th Brigade and finally assisted by tanks, took Buna on 2 January 1943. Two members of the division were awarded the Medal of Honor for their gallantry during the battle. From 14 October 1942 to 3 January 1943, during less than seven weeks in New Guinea, the division's total battle casualties were 2,520, of which 586 were killed. The casualties from disease and sickness which far greater, totaling 7,336 among a division strength of about 9000 men.[15] Among the 126th Infantry Regiment, which had marched over the Kapa Kapa Trail only six weeks earlier, the percentage of losses was even higher. When the troops arrived in the Buna area had gone into action during on 21 November, they including 1,400 troops in their ranks. When they were relieved by the Australian 2nd Division 7 Cavalry on 9 January, only 165 men remained, the majority of them scarcely able to walk.[39] Of the 16,000 Japanese who had been landed on New Guinea, an estimated 6,500 were defending Buna-Gona. When the fighting ended, only six Japanese were captured. The remainder of the garrison had escaped northward into the jungle or were annihilated.[23]
Casualties and refitting
Of the 9,825 men of the 32nd Division who entered combat, 7,125 (66%) were casualties due to illness (with 2,952 requiring hospitalization), 586 were killed in action, 1,954 were wounded in action, and 100 more died from other causes. The total casualty count of 9,956 exceeded the Division's entire battle strength.[40] The 32nd returned in April 1943 to Australia and Camp Cable for rest, training, and refitting. They remained there until they were deployed once more into combat in January 1944 for Operation Cartwheel.
Operation Cartwheel
On 2 January 1944, the 32nd Division took part in Operation Cartwheel, part of MacArthur's "leap-frog" operational plan to take strategic points to use as forward bases. MacArthur sent Allied forces westward along the 1,500 miles (2,400 km) northern coast of New Guinea in a sequence of operations against selected locations that would provide landing fields for aircraft. This was designed to provide his ground forces with continued close air support and deny the enemy sea and airborne resupply, effectively cutting the Japanese forces off as they were under attack.[41][42]
Elements of the 32nd's 126th Infantry Regimental Combat Team landed at Saidor on the north coast of New Guinea and helped to end enemy resistance there on 14 April 1944.[43] On 23 April, elements took part in the landing at Aitape, the division arriving on 3 May. After meeting slight initial resistance, the 32nd had to withstand savage counterattacks in the Driniumor River area.[44]
By 31 August, Aitape was secured and the division rested. Elements landed on Morotai on 15 September. The 32nd's command post opened at Hollandia, Dutch New Guinea on 1 October, setting the stage for the advance into the Philippines.
Philippines battles
Battle of Leyte
The Battle of Leyte was the invasion and conquest of Leyte in the Philippines by American and Filipino guerrilla forces under the command of MacArthur. They fought against Imperial Japanese Army forces in the Philippines led by General Tomoyuki Yamashita. The battle took place from 17 October to 31 December 1944 and launched the Philippines campaign of 1944-45, the goal of which was to recapture and liberate the entire Philippine Archipelago and to end almost three years of Japanese occupation. The 32nd Division landed on Leyte on 14 November, and went into action along the Pinamopoan-Ormoc highway, taking Limon and smashing the Yamashita line in bitter hand-to-hand combat. The division linked up with elements of the U.S. 1st Cavalry Division in the vicinity of Lonoy, on 22 December, marking the collapse of Japanese resistance in the upper Oromoc Valley.
Battle of Luzon
From Leyte the Division moved to Lingayen Gulf, Luzon, on 27 January 1945. It pushed up the Villa Verde Trail, on 30 January 30, and after 119 days of fighting, it took Imugan.[45] Four men were awarded the Medal of Honor during its six-week fight up the 20 miles of the Villa Verde Trail: William R. Shockley, David M. Gonzales, Thomas E. Atkins, and Ysmael R. Villegas. It took American troops until the end of June to seize the Cagayan Valley and its food supplies.
On 28 May it met the 25th Infantry Division near Santa Fe, securing Balete, Aklan Pass, the gateway to the Cagayan Valley. While elements of the division continued mopping-up activities near Imugan, other units moved to rest and rehabilitation centers. Active elements secured the Baguio area, wiped out Japanese forces in the Agno River Valley area, and opened Highway 11 as a supply route. They captured General Tomoyuki Yamashita, the "Butcher of Bataan", who surrendered on 2 September 1945, in Kiangan. "It was a great moment for the 32nd," wrote Maj. Gen. William H. Hill, commanding general of the Red Arrow Division, "a glorious finish to this long bitter struggle."[45]
End of the war
Operations officially ceased on 15 August 1945 when Japan surrendered, although A Company beat off a banzai charge during the morning that killed one soldier and wounded two others, and another 18 hours later in which another soldier died and seven were wounded.
On 9 October the 32nd Division left Luzon for Japan and occupation duty in a convoy of 31 ships. They arrived on 14 October at Sasebo, Japan on the island of Kyushu. The 32nd stayed in Kyushu until the Division was inactivated on 28 February 1946.[15] Among the very first to enter combat, and the very last to cease fighting, the 32nd was in combat for 654 days, more than any other unit during World War II, and eleven of its men were awarded the Medal of Honor.[46][47] It was estimated the Division had killed over 32,000 Japanese soldiers during the war.[48]
Many notable firsts
The 32nd Division was the first division to deploy as an entire unit from the United States and the first division to be shipped as a single convoy overseas. Once in the South West Pacific Area, portions of the 128th Infantry were the first to be airlifted into combat, from Australia to Port Moresby, New Guinea. Once in New Guinea, they became the first U.S. forces to launch a ground assault on Japanese forces during the war.[1] The Guadalcanal Campaign preceded the attack on Buna, but it was an amphibious operation.
The other United States to engage in ground combat operations during the summer and fall of 1942 were the 41st who followed them into New Guinea, the 1st Marine and the Americal on Guadalcanal, Carlson's Raiders on Makin Island[49], and the 3rd Infantry, 9th Infantry, 1st Armored and the 2nd Armored Divisions in North Africa.[50]
In another first, the four gun sections of Battery A of the 129th Field Artillery became the first howitzers flown into a war, first carried to Port Morseby by a B-17 bomber. Then one-half of Battery A, 129th Field Artillery, a single 105mm howitzer, was air-lifted in pieces by three Douglas Dakota aircraft over the Owen Stanley Range to Buna, becoming the first U.S. Army artillery flown into combat in World War II.[1]
On the island of Saidor, they became the first U.S. Division to make a beach landing in the New Guinea Campaign. They were the first to employ General MacArthur's "by-pass strategy," leaving some Japanese units alone and attacking behind them to cut them off from their lines of supply. In the battle for Aitape, they were the first division to simultaneously supply 11 battalions in combat in one action completely by airdrop. Later on, in the Battle of Leyte, they were the first to supply four infantry battalions for two days from artillery liaison "Cub" planes. They were the first to publish an American servicemen's letterpress newspaper in the Southwest Pacific. Finally, elements of the 32nd Division were among the first American occupation troops to land in Japan.[1]
Division march
During training in Australia, members of the Division wrote the words to a march song about the unit's origins and tenacity:[15]
Look out! Look out! Here comes the Thirty Second The mighty thirty second The fighting thirty second Look out! Look out! They led the way in France Red Arrows never glance Though hell burn in advance Yea! On Wisconsin On Wisconsin Michigan My Michigan We fight for liberty For justice and equality We are the Badgers and Wolverines
Decorations and citations
At the conclusion of the Buna Campaign in April, 1943, the Division was sent to Australia for recuperation, replacement, and re-training. On 6 May 1943, the 32nd Division was awarded the Distinguished Unit Citation, a streamer embroidered Papua, for "outstanding performance of duty in action during the period 23 July 1942 to 23 January 1943." The citation read:
When [a] bold and aggressive enemy invaded Papua in strength, the combined action of ground and air units of these forces, in association with Allied units, checked the hostile advance, drove the enemy back to the seacoast and in a series of actions against a highly organized defensive zone, utterly destroyed him. Ground combat forces, operating over roadless jungle-covered mountains and swamps, demonstrated their courage and resourcefulness in closing with an enemy who took every advantage of the nearly impassable terrain. Air forces, by repeatedly attacking the enemy ground forces and installations, by destroying his convoys attempting reinforcement and supply, and by transporting ground forces and supplies to areas for which land routes were non-existent and sea routes slow and hazardous, made possible the success of the ground operations. Service units, operating far forward of their normal positions and at times in advance of ground combat elements, built landing fields in the jungle, established and operated supply points, and provided for the hospitalization and evacuation of the wounded and sick. The courage, spirit, and devotion to duty of all elements of the command made possible the complete victory attained.[51]
It was also recognized by the Philippine government for its efforts in the battles for Leyte and Luzon with the Philippine Presidential Unit Citation, the streamer embroidered, 17 OCTOBER 1944 TO 4 JULY 1945.
Recent history
On 6 September 1961, with the heightening of the tensions due to the Berlin Crisis, the 32nd Infantry Division of the Wisconsin National Guard was alerted to an impending call-up. Commanding officer Major General Herbert A. Smith was notified a few days later that the Division was to report on 15 October 1961 to Fort Lewis, Washington for active duty. This was exactly 21 years after their activation date for World War II, at which time then Lt. Col. Herbert A. Smith had been commander of the 2nd Battalion, 128th Infantry. The Division was directed to report to Fort Lewis, Washington on 15 October 1961 for one year's active duty. This was 21 years to the day that the Division was activated for World War II. The unit served until August 1962 at Fort Lewis, Washington, and was assigned to the Strategic Army Command. The Division began training as replacements for the 4th Infantry and the 2nd Armored Divisions at Fort Lewis, Washington, and Fort Hood, Texas, in case they were deployed overseas as reinforcements for the Seventh Army in Germany. They returned to Wisconsin without being deployed overseas.[52]
The 32nd Division (as were all U.S. infantry divisions at the time) was organized in a Pentomic Division, comprised of Battle Group consisted of five line (rifle) companies, a combat support company, and a Headquarters company. From 1940 until 1959, divisions had contained three regiments. This divisional structure was found unwieldy and was eliminated in 1963.
In 1967, the 32nd Division—by then made up entirely of Wisconsin units—was deactivated and reorganized as the non-divisional 32nd Separate Infantry Brigade. In 1971, the brigade was converted to mechanized infantry. In 1997, the 32nd reorganized from a separate to a divisional brigade, reducing in the process the staff of its headquarters from 300 down to 85.
After it is was converted back to light infantry, Army officials designated the 32nd an "enhanced" brigade, eligible for a higher level of funding and other resources than most National Guard brigades receive. Changing the brigade's shape to fit the profile of a light brigade also meant significant benefits for the unit and for the state, including more than USD$6 million a year in additional federal funds to operate units and provide training and logistics support. This also meant an increase in the number of physical assets, such as trucks and scoop loaders, which are available to the state in an emergency.
Major changes in the structure of the 32nd Infantry Brigade included:
- One new infantry battalion—the 2nd Battalion, 128th Infantry—was formed to fill the brigade's three-battalion infantry complement.
- The 173rd Engineer Battalion and the 1st Battalion, 632nd Armor, were deactivated. Similar or related missions were assigned to new, smaller units—the 32nd Engineer Company and Troop E, 105th Cavalry, a light reconnaissance unit.
- The 1st Battalion, 120th Field Artillery converted from the 55,000 pounds (25,000 kg) 155 mm self-propelled howitzer to the more easily transported 4,475 pounds (2,030 kg) 105 mm towed howitzer.
- The brigade added an intelligence unit, the 232nd Military Intelligence Company.
- New detachments were formed in the 132nd Support Battalion to provide transportation support to the brigade's three infantry battalions.
The 32nd Brigade headquarters moved from Madison to Camp Douglas and Wausau, locations more central to the brigade's statewide units.
The changing mission of the 32nd Separate Infantry Brigade (Mech.) from mechanized to light infantry also brought many changes for the Maneuver Area Training Equipment Site (MATES) at Fort McCoy. The 32nd is part of the Wisconsin Army National Guard. MATES is owned and operated by the State of Wisconsin and the Wisconsin Army Guard so it is tasked to support the 32nd's equipment needs. MATES was required to bring 32nd equipment not necessary for light infantry, such as M-1 Tanks and the M113 Armored Personnel Carriers (APCs), up to Army standards so they can be re-distributed to other units.
In January of 2009, the 32nd Brigade prepared to send 3,300 members on a fourteen month deployment to Iraq, its largest deployment since World War II.
Legacy
Several people who served in the division gained notability during and after their time in the division. In World War I, PFC Joseph William Guyton (1889–1918), became the first American killed on German-held territory, earning him the French Croix de guerre. During World War II, notable members of the division included Captain Herman Bottcher, winner of two Distinguished Service Cross Medals, Captain William "Bill" Walter Kouts and Private John Rawls winner of a Bronze Star who later became a political philosopher.
Additionally, eleven men were awarded the Medal of Honor while serving with the division, all for action during World War II. They include PFC Thomas E. Atkins, Private Donald R. Lobaugh, PFC David M. Gonzales, Staff Sergeant Ysmael R. Villegas, PFC Dirk J. Vlug, Staff Sergeant Gerald L. Endl, Sergeant Kenneth E. Gruennert, First Sergeant Elmer J. Burr, Sergeant Leroy Johnson, PFC William A. McWhorter, and PFC William R. Shockley.
For its efforts in World War II, the division has been honored and memorialized by communities throughout the United States and Phillipies for its actions. Some of these memorials include:
- Wisconsin Highway 32, as well as a portion of former U.S. Route 12 in Michigan, are named in honor of the 32nd Infantry Division.[53] A memorial plaque describing the division is located at southern end of WI-32 on Sheridan Road in Kenosha County, Wisconsin.[54]
- The Lowell High School, (Michigan), was nicknamed the Red Arrows in honor of the 32nd Infantry Division shortly after their return.
- A memorial to the Red Arrow Division was built in San Nicolas, Pangasinan, Philippines. It is inscribed, "Erected by the officers and men of the 32d Infantry Division United States Army in memory of their gallant comrades who were killed along the Villa Verde Trail 30 January 1945-May 28, 1945".
- The Red Arrow Elementary School in Hartford, Michigan is named for the Division
- The Red Arrow High School in San Nicolas, Pangasinan, Philippines was named in honor of the division
- Following World War I, Milwaukee built the Red Arrow Park dedicated to the men of the 32nd Red Arrow Division who came from Wisconsin. When the North-South Freeway (I-43) was built over the site, the park was relocated to a site just north of City Hall at E. State Street and N. Water Street. On 11 November 1984, the city dedicated a red granite monument at the park. The base of the monument is inscribed 32nd Red Arrow Division Les Terribles.
- The Red Arrow Park in Menominee, Michigan was built in memory of the 32nd Division.
- The Red Arrow Park in Kenosha, Wisconsin was dedicated to the division.[55]
- A memorial to the Division was built in Arcadia, Wisconsin. It bears the inscription:
The 32nd Red Arrow Division was first formed in July 1917 at Camp McArthur, Waco, Texas of National Guard units from both Wisconsin and Michigan. Its 27,000 men arrived in Europe in January and February 1918. It was the first division to pierce the famed German Hindenburg line of defense. From a French general, then all French troops, it was given the fearsome name "Les Terribles." This is the division whose shoulder patch is the Red Arrow, shot through a line denoting that it pierced every battle line it ever faced. The 32nd division was inactivated and retired in 1967."
References
- ^ a b c d e "Highlights of the 32nd Infantry Division "The Red Arrow" in World War II". The 32nd 'Red Arrow' Veteran Association. Retrieved 2009-02-22.
- ^ a b c d e "The 32nd Division in World War I: From the "Iron Jaw Division" to "Les Terribles"". The 32nd 'Red Arrow' Veteran Association. Retrieved 2009-02-17.
- ^ a b "Remembering Wisconsin's citizen soldiers". Retrieved 04-04-2009.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help) - ^ "Wisconsin Army National Guard Museum". Retrieved 04-04-2009.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help) - ^ "Wisconsin National Guard". Wisconsin Historical Society. Retrieved 2009-04-30.
- ^ a b c "2-128". Globalsecurity.org. Retrieved 04-04-2009.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help) - ^ "Division History". Retrieved 2009-02-22.
{{cite web}}: Text "32nd Infantry Division" ignored (help) - ^ "1st Battalion, 126th Field Artillery". 2005-05-23 1. Retrieved 2008-11-18.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ a b c d e f g "World War I". Retrieved 2009-01-31.
{{cite web}}:|first=missing|last=(help) - ^ a b c d e "Birth of the Thirty-Second Division". Retrieved 2009-02-12.
- ^ a b "1st Battalion - 120th Field Artillery Regiment". Retrieved 2009-02-07.
- ^ "32nd Infantry Division". The National Guard Education Foundation. Retrieved 2009-01-31.
- ^ "Brief History of the "Red Arrow" From the 32nd Division to the 32nd Infantry Brigade". The 32nd 'Red Arrow' Veteran Association. Retrieved 2009-02-22.
- ^ a b c Frederick Stonehouse. "Combat Engineer! The History of the 107th Engineer Battalion (1881-1981)". Retrieved 2008-10-21.
- ^ a b c d e f "Remembering the war in New Guinea: 32nd U.S. (Red Arrow) Infantry Division". Retrieved 2008-10-21.
- ^ a b c d e "The 32nd Infantry Division "The Red Arrow" in World War II". Retrieved 2008-10-20.
- ^ "The Kokoda Track: Ghost to coast". Retrieved 2009-02-14.
- ^ a b c Bagley, Joseph. "My father's wartime experiences: Francis G. Bagley, Company B, 114th Combat Engineers, 32nd US Infantry Division". Remembering the war in New Guinea. Retrieved 2009-02-08.
- ^ a b c d e f Campbell, James (2007). The Ghost Mountain Boys: Their Epic March and the Terrifying Battle for New Guinea—The Forgotten War of the South Pacific. Three Rivers Press. p. 378. ISBN 978-0307335975.
- ^ "Suburban histories: Yarrabilba". Logan City Council. October 01, 2008. Retrieved 2009-04-28.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Dunn, Peter (7 August 2000). "Camp Cable". Australia at War. Retrieved 2009-04-28.
- ^ "Camp Cable near Logan Village, south of Brisbane". 7 August 2000. Retrieved 2009-02-22.
- ^ a b c "Buna". Retrieved 2008-10-29.
- ^ Smith, Michael T. (2000). Bloody Ridge: The Battle That Saved Guadalcanal. New York: Pocket. ISBN 0-7434-6321-8.
- ^ "Papaun Campaign". Retrieved 2008-10-27.
- ^ "Part I - Buna - Background of the Buna Operation". Retrieved 2008-10-29.
- ^ "U.S. Army Divisions in World War II". Retrieved 2008-10-21.
- ^ a b c d e f g "World War II: Buna Mission". Retrieved 2009-02-04.
- ^ "Papua New Guinea Climate". Retrieved 2009-02-17.
- ^ Samuel Milner (1957). "United States Army in World War II, The War in the Pacific. The Japanese Offensive Collapses". Retrieved 2008-11-15.
- ^ Samuel Milner (1957). "United States Army in World War II, The War in the Pacific. Victory in Papua". Retrieved 2008-11-15.
- ^ Blakeley, Herbert W., Major General, Retired (n.d.), The 32nd Infantry Division in World War II, The Thirty-second Infantry Division History Commission, State of Wisconsin
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ "Papua -- The U.S. Army Campaign of World War II". U.S. Army. Retrieved 2009-03-28.
- ^ Budge, Kent G. "Harding, Edwin Forrest (1886-1970)". The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2009-02-04.
- ^ "Robert Lawrence Eichelberger, General, USA". Combined Arms Research Library, Command and General Staff College, U.S. Army. Retrieved 2009-02-04.
- ^ "Papuan Campaign he Buna-Sanananda Operation 16 November 1942 - 23 January 1943". Center of Military History, United States Army, Washington, D.C. 1990. Retrieved 2009-02-07.
- ^ "Uncle Bob". Time Magazine. 10 September 1945. Retrieved 2009-02-04.
- ^ "Buna: Buna American Memorial". Retrieved 2009-02-22.
- ^ Clearing the Track Junction
- ^ "Table of Strengths and Casualties during the Battle of Buna-Sanananda". The 32nd Infantry Division in World War II "The Red Arrow": The Papuan Campaign - The Battle of Sanananda. 15 March 1999. Retrieved 2009-03-10.
- ^ Miller, John, Jr. (1959). "Cartwheel: The Reduction of Rabaul". United States Army in World War II: The War in the Pacific. Office of the Chief of Military History, U.S. Department of the Army. p. 418. Retrieved 2006-10-20.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ *Shaw, Henry I. (1963). "Volume II: Isolation of Rabaul". History of U.S. Marine Corps Operations in World War II. Retrieved 2006-10-18.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - ^ Miller, CARTWHEEL: The Reduction of Rabaul, p. 296
- ^ Robert Ross Smith. "The US Army in World War II: the approach to the Philippines (Chapters V to VIII)". Retrieved 04-04-2009.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Unknown parameter|publishdate=ignored (help) - ^ a b Ramos, Pedronio O. "San Nicolas, Pangasinan: Our Kind Of Town". Retrieved 2009-02-16.
- ^ "32nd Infantry Division". Retrieved 2009-02-16.
- ^ "U.S. Army Divisions in World War Ii". Retrieved 2009-02-22.
- ^ "Red Arrow Division Sets Combat Record". Red Arrow Division. August 6, 1945. Retrieved 2009-02-26.
- ^ "Pearl Harbor To Guadalcanal, History Of The Marine Corps Operations In World War II, Volume I , p. 284". Retrieved 04-04-2009.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help) - ^ "US Army history of the operation". Retrieved 04-04-2009.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help) - ^ Blakeley, Herbert W., Major General, Retired (6 May 1943), The 32d Infantry Division in World War II (General Orders Number 21, War Department), p. 130, 131, retrieved 2008-11-14
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ "Organization of The 32nd 'Red Arrow' Infantry Division During the Berlin Crisis". The 32nd 'Red Arrow' Veteran Association. Retrieved 2009-02-07.
- ^ "Red Arrow Highway Morning". Star. 21 May 2006. p. 12. Retrieved 2009-02-12.
- ^ ""Thirty-second Division Memorial Highway" Waymark". Retrieved 2009-02-23.
- ^ "A Little Bit of History" (PDF). p. 37. Retrieved 2009-02-23.
Sources
- The Army Almanac: A Book of Facts Concerning the Army of the United States U.S. Government Printing Office, 1950 reproduced at CMH.
- Anders, Leslie (1985). Gentle Knight: The Life and Times of Major General Edwin Forrest Harding. Kent, Ohio: Kent State University Press. ISBN 0873383141.
External links
- The 32nd 'Red Arrow' Veteran Association
- Wisconsin Military History Co. D, 2/128th Infantry
- 32nd Infantry Brigade (Light) (Separate)
- The History of Nº 435907 U.S. 2½ Ton 6x6 Trucks of World War II
- Henry's answers about his time during WWII
- The 32nd Division in the First World War
- Heroes: the Army Personal story of Donald C. Boyd
- Interview With Michael A. Catera Rutgers Oral History Archives, New Brunswick History Department
- Kokoda Trail
- The 32nd Division in World War I
- Grand Valley State University Veteran's History Project digital collection