The Army Preparing For WWII
41st Infantry Division, field uniform:
My uniform collection starts off with a WWI Uniform, but this is what our soldiers were wearing prior to, into the US. entry into WWII.
Coastal Defense Guns:
Coastal Defense Guns were deployed along the United States coastlines along the coasts of the Pacific and Atlantic, but not so much on the Gulf of Mexico. The weapons had been developed in 1917, and into the '20s and '30s.
By 1940 The theory of how to protect our shore from an invading enemy had been made clear, and a possibility of war in Europe, and Fighting in China with the Japanese a clear threat, the Coasts had to be protected- something like what the Germans were building along their coastline-at the West Wall, had to be made.
Here we see a clearer picture of a similar gun that was being somewhat restored, in the firing position. This is at Fort Casey in Washington, I guess. The Breach is missing (a Government /De-commissioning thing), too bad as they’re impressive.
Artillery Regiment of the 99th Inf. Div. :
New uniform here, serving with the 99th Infantry Division, Interesting thing is, he is also marked for Artillery. This like many of the Uniforms in this part of the collection, for the most part, came- as is, On the jackets, I try to add what is missing or push to shove, I have guestimated if a piece of insignia- fits the situation.
This uniform is from the Infantry support section I would guess, and if so, this means he served at a key time, with a small group of men with a canon in the middle of nowhere on what a quiet part of the front was, as history has it, the unit helped to stop the German advance, cold in its tracks, and putting a stop to their last big gamble...
The 99th Infantry had been assigned to the quiet place, far away from the heavier fighting, so they could break into the art of war.
The theory was shattered on 16 December 1944 when the German Heer Volkssturm and Waffen-SS Divisions started their "Wacht am Rhine" Operation, to get the Allied line to get to Antwerp.
The event became known as the Battle of the Bulge when these inexperienced US. Army’s troops held fast on the northern shoulder of the German advance, many surprised troops fled and were captured, but a small group refused them access to a vital northern road network that led threw Belgium.
This is what is interesting with unit patches, and uniforms you recognize them sometimes and don't know the unit’s stories or recognize a patch. and using the ribbons bar, and other insignia put a picture together of the individual who wore it.
They were involved in Sicily and Salerno in 1943 during the Italian Campaign. it was a slow advance through Italy, where again they fought in Anzio and then again at Monte Cassino. at which point he found his way to the Regular Army, and the 99th is unknown exactly.
His ribbons show his service in Italy with the 45th, with his European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with two battle stars on it. He was a good soldier, with the Army Good Conduct Medal, and he has a Bronze Star Medal, given for meritorious service.
In the Battle, these fellows would be introduced to the enemy and prove their weight in the face of battle. The Ruptured Duck insignia was rather hastily sewn on, in fact only 3 sides !!! although authentic, this was removed, and I set it up as a uniform as it looked in service.
The 99 Division path on the left sleeve, His prior outfit was The 45th Infantry Division, they were guardsmen They were the first National Guard units activated during World War II in 1941.
The 99th Infantry having been put together by combining the 393rd, 394th, and 395th Infantry Regiments landed in England in October of 1944, they went under the control of the V Corps, 1st Army. By the 3rd of November, they were in France at Le Havre, en route to Aubel Belgium, as new to combat as one can be.
The U.S. insignia was polished to impeccable shine when he wore the uniform, underneath, is the ruptured duck (represents Prior Service) and he is no longer a serviceman. The region starts in southeastern Belgium, the Ardennes form a large triangle extending north to Monschau, Germany, south to northern Luxembourg, and west to the high ground overlooking the Meuse River valley.
Some of the Artillery units assigned to the 99th Inf. were the 924th Field Artillery Battalion 371st FAB. and 370th (they all had 105 MM guns), he may have served with one of these outfits.
While the US. The army and its allies were trying to break through the western approaches that border Germany, The Germans launched their operation, it would be the last of the war.
Starting with a barrage of all-caliber artillery and rockets, at 0530 in the morning, firing the weapons for about an hour and a half. the US thought it was in response to a prior attack from them to the north, the 2nd Infantry Division advanced to the Siegfried Line.
The 99th Infantry Division entered combat on November 9, 1944, in a widely dispersed line in the 1st Armies defensive positions in the Ardennes near the Belgian-German border. His Hash Marks show he has 2 years overseas at war (6 months each gold), silver stateside-war duty, Powder Blue Chevron would be Overseas War Service for less than 6 months.
Along with the 1st and 2nd Army Division Veterans, they held back the 6th Waffen-SS Panzer-Army the event held up, and upset the German timeline- that was all counting on the bad weather, forcing them to move south to the Town of Bastogne, which history was made.
The 99th Infantry Division went into action from Nov. 8 to the 19 of 1944. The area of contact with the enemy was over 30 kilometers over hills and through the forests between Hofen, in Germany, to Honningen, Belgium, along the national boundary of the Province of Malmedy. The 99th along the way found the German’s plans and objectives for their operation-thus, condemning it to failure.
The bitter fighting was some of the worst for the Western allies, in Bastogne, the 324th combat engineer battalion would make it impossible for the Germans to cross important bridges and roads, foiling the German advance and creating havoc for the enemy.
The German Army never recovered and from then on was in retreat, the Germans knew that there were no reserves and for all reasons finished...from then on they fought slowing actions trying to get as much equipment and infantryman back to Germany, at the cost of huge unnecessary losses. The Eisenhower-style jacket, or "Ike" jacket, is a type of waist-length jacket or blouse developed for the U.S. Army during the later stages of World War II.
It was intended to be worn as is, or an insulating layer beneath the M-43 Field Jacket, it was a highly prized item, and many were custom-made- a copy of the British Battle Jacket. A barracks uniform it came with a visor cap and side cap. In my research to get the scoop on this individual uniform, I ran across a fine website http://www.99thinfantrydivision.com/services-2/
And it brought to light the plight of the unit and what transpired- if you want further information, you may look here. Another site that is good for information is https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/99th_Infantry_Division_(United_States)
*6th Army Coastal Artillery:
It was in February 1901 in the US. Army Artillery Corps was divided into two types, field artillery, and coast artillery. They would try to protect all the US Coastlines and Coastal areas of the US. Territories.
By the time of the First World War, they were pretty much functional, and much time and money had been spent on the buildup of forts and camps all along the coast. Many 16-inch guns eventually replaced almost all previous coast defense weapons with newer (or remounted) weapons.
The WWII program came into play, The Japanese invaded the Philippines shortly after the Pearl Harbor Attack, and they attacked the Harbor Defenses of Manila and Subic Bay along with the other US and Filipino forces in the archipelago.
The 12-inch mortars of Battery Way and Battery Geary were probably the most effective coast defense weapons in the Battle of Corregidor but again were vulnerable to attack. The Japanese initially landed in northern Luzon, far from the defenses of Manila Bay.
Although they gave a good fight, the Coast Artillery, weapons were poorly positioned against an enemy still Facing out to sea. Air attacks and high-angle artillery attacks would be deadly. Eight 8-inch railway guns had been deployed to the Philippines by 1940, but six were destroyed by air attacks while still entrained, and the other two were placed in fixed mountings on Corregidor but lacked crews and ammunition.
The only time a fort in the Continental US was attacked was in June 1942. The Bombardment of Fort Stevens, Oregon was by the Japanese submarine I-25 against Battery Russell, the Submarine used its deck gun, but the fort's commander refused to return fire for fear of revealing the battery's position. There was no real damage to either force.
In 1944, with about two-thirds of the initially projected new batteries already complete, most naval threats had been neutralized already, so work was stopped on the remaining new batteries. When the war ended it was decided that few (and soon no) gun defenses were needed, and by 1948 almost all the seacoast defenses had been scrapped.
Those that went to Europe were in response to the need for Anti-Aircraft defense, and they would cover the airfields, as they were taken over, but I also think they were used at places of Allied interest and control, as bridgeheads, and the landing beaches.
The Endicott- and Taft-period guns were scrapped and the Coast Artillery positions were destroyed, as the Army was drawn down in size. The regiments were broken up into battalions in 1943-44, in line with an Army-wide policy for all units except infantry to be reduced.
The Coastal Defenses were deemed obsolete, and the forces were needed elsewhere, a new Army-wide policy for all units except infantry, was to downsize, and many of these forces retrained on Heavy Mobile Artillery or Anti-Aircraft weaponry. Prior deployment, the right shoulder patch represents prior service with, in this case, the 8th US. Army, as the patch is carried on his right upper sleeve, this unit served in the Pacific, they called themselves the Pacific Victors!
Some went to the Pacific, and some to Europe, and were absorbed in the big picture of the Armies fighting these campaigns, in this case, the 8th, and 6th Army in the Pacific. This is the 6th Army Insignia. The theory of the island-hopping operations of the central Pacific, basically the object was to attack specific islands, establish a garrison and build an airfield that could support the next strike, and then move on, hoping over the useful, and smaller Japanese garrisoned islands- and starve them out.
Only Seven Coast Artillery Groups (with 155mm Gun) were activated, and three saw combat in the Pacific, they served in New Guinea, at Luzon, and Okinawa. But the dropping of the A-Bombs on Nagasaki, and Hiroshima's surrender helped to change that operation, it would have been a sort of battle of annihilation, as it turned out it was bad enough, a very brutal way of war.
In case he did in fact do his overseas "Combat Tour" with the 8th U.S. Army, we'll provide a story on that time. It was first activated on 10 June 1944. And in command, Lieutenant General Robert Eichelberger. The Eighth Army took part in many of the amphibious landings in the Southwest Pacific Theater as well in World War II, the fact is there were no less than sixty of them.
This cap is unusual in the way it uses black leather rather than the typical brown. The first mission of the Eighth Army was in September 1944, was to take over from the U.S. Sixth Army at New Guinea, in New Britain, and the Admiralty Islands then Morotai, in order to free up the Sixth Army to engage in the Philippines Campaign (1945). (Note: This is the cap I think is appropriate for this early uniform, the others came later- but bought with the same-Coastal Artillery in mind).
Once again we have the cap they say they say they wore, as opposed to what came with the uniform, and/or what you see in pictures...The prominent and domed brass on this cap is an interesting item, not absolutely certain it matches with the uniform, but looks right to me.
I have never seen this type of insignia before, olive green with dark green backing. It is odd and interesting at the same time, perhaps made overseas, or dyed by himself.
In September 1944, the Sixth Army was relinquished from operations in New Guinea, and it was over to the Eighth U.S. Army. On the 20th of October 1944, the X Corps and XXIV Corps, under the Sixth Army, invaded Leyte in the Philippines.
The United States Army authorizes one stripe for each three-year period of service. Each Yellow, horizontal stripe was for 6 months in a combat zone. It wasn't till December, that Leyte was secured, then the Sixth Army was relieved again by Eighth Army to prepare for the invasion of Luzon.
As a prelude to that invasion, the island of Mindoro was invaded by the Western Visayan Task Force comprising the 19th and 503rd Regimental Combat Teams. Sixth Army would then take part in the Invasion of the Lingayen Gulf on 9 January 1945 with the subordinate units of I and XIV Corps. Sixth Army units fought south until they met up with the troops of the Eighth Army advancing from around Manila. Sixth Army then continued to clear the north of Luzon until the end of the war.
In the South Pacific Campaign, but from what I've read, it was often the same as the infantryman's, and the firing was point-blank, not all the artillery was 155mm howitzers for instance- some were 37 and 75mm guns- and they were right up front. The 6th Army was reactivated again in 2007. The uniforms are not complete, but we have a good idea of how to fill in the missing parts., there is some mothing and the material getting quite fragile, but it still holds good to represent the unit. The Sixth Army was geared up, and proceeding in training for the final battle, they would provide the ground forces for the first phase of the invasion of Japan and expected to lose much of the outfit to become casualties.
I 6th Army (Field Artillery Rgt.):
In the South Pacific Campaigns, but from what I've read, it was often the same as the infantryman's, and the firing was point-blank, not all the artillery was 155mm howitzers for instance- some were 37 and 75mm guns- and they were right up front. The 6th Army was reactivated again in 2007. The uniforms are not complete, but we have a good idea of how to fill in the missing parts., there is some mothing and the material getting quite fragile, but it still holds good to represent the unit. The Sixth Army was geared up, and proceeding in training for the final battle, they would provide the ground forces for the first phase of the invasion of Japan and expected to lose much of the outfit to become casualties.
Half of these men would be used in the Anti-Aircraft role, using 20mm Bofors weapons, and up to the 90mmm radar-controlled and configured heavy weapons systems to good effect, but in the end much of the Air attacks were let loose on the Naval fleets sitting off the coasts.
*Note: There has been interest shown here from a museum for this uniform, and may end up going there.
