World War II
Again, as in World War I the 92nd and 93rd Divisions and the 24th Infantry Regiments were among the key Black combat units. The 24th Infantry Regiment was deployed to New Hebrides in the Pacific in 1942 and the 93rd Division followed it to the Pacific Theater. For more on the 93rd Infantry Division see: Gailey, Harry A. Bougainville: The Forgotten Campaign, 1943-1945. Lexington, KY: University Press In Europe an advance unit of the 92nd Division, the 370th Regimental Combat Team arrived in Italy, followed shortly be the rest of the Division. The performance of the 92nd Infantry Division was affected largely by assumptions by the white leadership which became self-fulfilling prophesies. See Wilson, Dale E. "Recipe for Failure: Major General Edward M. Almond and Preparation of the U.S. 92nd Infantry Division for Combat in World War II." Journal of Military History (Jul 1992) An outstanding Black unit was the 761st Tank Battalion. The 761st left England and arrived at Normandy on October 10, 1944. The 761st was assigned to the 26th Infantry Division of the XII Corps, in General Patton's 3rd Army. General Patton had specifically requested the761st. On October 31, General Paul, the commander of the 26th Division told the assembled group of men: "I am damned glad to have you with us. We have been expecting you for a long time, and I am sure that you are going to give a good account of yourselves. I've got a big hill up there and I want you to take it, and I believe you are going to do a great job at it." (Trezzvant W. Anderson -Battalion Historian- Come Out Fighting The Epic Tale of the 761st Tank Battalion 1942-1945, Printed by Salzburger, Druckerel and Verlang, p. 21.) Two days later, the assembled group received a special visit from none other than General George S. Patton himself. He told them in the Patton directness: "Men, you're the first Negro tankers to ever fight in the American Army. I would never have asked for you if you weren't good. I have nothing but the best in my Army. I don't care what color you are, so long as you go up there and kill the Kraut sonofabitches. Everyone has their eyes on you, and is expecting great things from you. Most of all, your race is looking forward to you. Don't let them down, and, damn you, don't let me down." (Ibid.) At 0600 hours on the morning of November 8, 1944, the 761st went into battle at Athaniville, France. This was the beginning of their ordeal of 183 continuous days of combat in which they and their Sherman Tanks took on the armor and infantry of crack German units and their vaunted 88's. Before their ordeal was to come to an end, they would face the enemy in six European countries. During this period of time, they spearheaded many of Patton's drives, defeated a strong, skillful enemy, liberated Jews from concentration camps, burst through enemy lines on the refortified Maginot line, and captured more than 30 towns. Among other things, not counting their exploits in Task Force Rhine, they destroyed 58 pill-boxes; 381 machine gun nests; 64 (88mm) anti-tank guns; 23 (75mm) anti-tank guns; 34 tanks; 24 bazooka teams; 465 wheeled vehicles; and 3 army dumps. They killed 6,266 enemy soldiers and captured an additional 15, 818 of the enemy. As it was spearheading another of Patton's drive, the 761st received its most memorable order: "You will advance to the Enns River (in Austria), and you will wait there for the Russians." General Patton addressed the men with unbridled pride as he spoke to one assembled company at the war's end. The men of the 761st received 11 Silver Stars, 69 Bronze Stars, three certificates of merit and 296 purple hearts. In December 1943, the all black "555th Parachute Infantry Company (Colored)", later redisignated Company A, 555th Parachute Infantry Battalion (remembered by many as the "Triple Nickel"), arrived at Fort Benning for airborne training. This event marked a significant milestone for black Americans in the combat arms. The Triple Nickel did not see action in Europe, but was sent to the Pacific Northwest to serve as smoke jumpers to fight fires started by Japanese incendiary balloons. This unit did serve in combat in the Korean war, and continues to exist at Ft Bragg, NC. The legend of the black truckers of the Red Ball Express is well known in their hauling of food, ammunition and other conventional materials and supplies, but very little is even mentioned about dump truck, gasoline truck and ambulance companies. These men were not just truck drivers. There were times when black drivers had to stop their vehicles, get their rifles and other weapons and join combat troops in repulsing enemy attacks. This is also part of the legend of the Red Ball Express. The Red Ball Express had an auspicious beginning and it was rather short-lived. The Allied breakthrough in August of 1944 resulted in a need for significant tonnage of materials for American and other Allied forces in Europe. This was an acute imperative for the First and Third Armies, especially General Patton's Third Army. Since the retreating Germans had destroyed the French railroads, the troops of these advancing armies had to be supplied by truck. In order to meet this demand, the Red Ball Plan was devised by the Transportation Corps on August 21, 1944. The Red Ball Express became operational on August 25th, and its convoys operated trucks in endless numbers until November 13th of that year. The Red Ball Plan provided for two one-way reserved highway routes marked "Red Ball Trucks Only." The original route was from St. Lo to Paris and back. On an average day, 899 vehicles on the Red Ball Express traveled 1,504,616 ton-miles on the trip that took an average time of 54 hours. Approximately 73 percent of the truck companies in the Motor Transport Service were black. |
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Page last revised 02/22/2021 |
As
in World War I the majority of Black soldiers in World War II served in
Engineer, Quartermaster and other made an
outstanding contribution to winning the war. The famous Red Ball Express
which supplied the fighting front in France from the channel ports is a
typical example. They served in antiaircraft batteries and in port and
amphibious truck companies. They operated smoke generators at the front
and served in ambulance companies.