Chapter VIII
1 Stetson Conn and Byron Fairchild, The Framework of Hemisphere Defense, United States Army in World War II (Washington, D.C.: Office of the Chief of
Military History, Department of the Army, 1960), p. 410.
2 Conn et al., Guarding the United States, chs. 12, 13, 16; Terrett, Emergency, pp. 281-86; Thompson, Harris, et al., Test, pp. 93-102.
3 For a discussion of preparations for continental defense, see Conn et al., Guarding the United States, ch. 3. In March 1941 the War Department directed that the continental United States be divided into four strategic areas to be known as defense commands: Northeast, Southern, Central, and Western (to include the Alaska Defense Command, created in February 1941). In 1942 the corps areas were redesignated as service commands. (Conn et al., Guarding the United States, pp. 28, 39). See map in Kreidberg and Henry, Military Mobilization, p. 585. The Caribbean Defense Command was officially activated on 10 February 1941. (Conn et al., Guarding the United States, p. 330.)
4 Thompson, Harris, et al., Test, pp. 106-08; Conn and Fairchild, Hemisphere Defense, pp. 249f; Conn et al., Guarding the United States, pp. 322-26.
5 Terrett, Emergency, p. 280.
6 Thompson, Harris, et al., Test, pp. 103-04; Conn and Fairchild, Hemisphere Defense, p. 129; Conn et al., Guarding the United States, chs. 18 and 19. A former member of the 50th Signal Battalion later published his memoirs, which include a section about his service in Iceland. See John Brawley, Anyway, We Won (Marcelline, Mo.: Walsworth Publishing Co., 1988).
7 Thompson, Harris, et al., Test, pp. 126-27; U.S. Army, Alaska, Army's Role in Building Alaska, p. 96. Construction of Fort Greely began on 1 February 1941. Conn et al., Guarding the United States, p. 235; "Fort Greely" in Robert B. Roberts, Encyclopedia of Historic Forts (New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1988). This installation was closed in 1944; the present Fort Greely is located on the site of a World War II airfield near Delta Junction, Alaska.
8 Terrett, Emergency, pp. 277-78; Thompson, Harris, et al., Test, p. 125.
9 0n the war in Alaska, see Conn et al., Guarding the United States, chs. 10 and 11.
10 Stanley W. Dziuban, Military Relations Between the United States and Canada, 1939-1945, United States Army in World War II (Washington, D.C.: Office of the Chief of Military History, Department of the Army, 1959), p. 222. See also Conn and Fairchild, Hemisphere Defense, ch. 15, and Karl C. Dod, The Corps of Engineers: The War Against Japan, United States Army in World War II (Washington, D.C.: Office of the Chief of Military History, United States Army, 1966), pp. 299-318, 334. The literature on the Alaska Highway is fairly extensive and growing. Two of the more recent studies are those by Heath Twichell, Northwest Epic: The Building of the Alaska Highway (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1992) and K. S. Coates and W. R. Morrison, The Alaska Highway in World War II.: The U.S. Army of Occupation in Canada's Northwest (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1992).
11 Dziuban, United States and Canada, p. 237. The telephone line ran from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, to Fairbanks, Alaska, a distance of just over two thousand miles.
12 Stanley L. Jackson, Stringing Wire Toward Tokyo: A Brief History of the Alaska Military Highway Telephone Line, typescript [Washington, D.C.: Signal Corps Historical Section, Jan 1944], copy in CMH files; Thompson, Harris, et al., Test, pp. 136-41, 482-86. The Signal Corps also provided communications in conjunction with the Canadian Oil (Carol) project by which the United States developed the oil resources along the Mackenzie River in Canada and constructed several pipelines from the wells to Alaska.
13 This theater encompassed the area from eastern Borneo to western Australia. Pogue, Marshall, 2: 376.
14 D. Clayton James, The Years of MacArthur, 3 vols. (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1970-1985), 2: 80; Thompson and Harris, Outcome, pp. 239-43.
15 Construction of the tunnel had begun under Brig. Gen. Charles E. Kilbourne, Jr., who commanded the harbor defenses of Manila and Subic Bays during the early 1930s. Kilbourne was one of the Signal Corps' Medal of Honor winners (see chapter 3). See Jonathan M. Wainwright, General Wainwright's Story (Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday and Co., Inc., 1946), p. 95, and Kilbourne's biographical file in DAMH-HSR.
16 Thompson, Harris, et al., Test, pp. 116-22. For detailed accounts of these events, see Louis Morton, The Fall of the Philippines, United States Army in World War 11 (Washington, D.C.: Office of the Chief of Military History, Department of the Army, 1953) and Wainwright, General Wainwright's Story.
17 Thompson and Harris, Outcome, pp. 271-75.
18 Thompson, Harris, et al., Test, p. 478.
19 For a complete account of the campaign, see John Miller, Jr., Guadalcanal: The First Offensive, United States Army in World War II (Washington, D.C.: Historical Division, Department of the Army, 1949). A recent comprehensive study is Richard B. Frank, Guadalcanal (New York: Random House, 1990). Briefer summaries are contained in Matloff, ed., American Military History, pp. 503-04; and Ronald H. Spector, Eagle Against the Sun (New York: Free Press, 1985), pp. 190-201, 205-14. The Signal Corps' role is outlined in Thompson, Harris, et al., Test, pp. 476-81.
20 Both AFHQ and the Signal Center later moved to Algiers. George F. Howe, Northwest Africa: Seizing the Initiative in the West, United States Army in World War II (Washington, D.C.: Office of the Chief of Military History, Department of the Army, 1957), pp. 84, 309. For a list of the duties of the Signal Section, AFHQ, see Thompson and Harris, Outcome, p. 28.
21 For a detailed discussion of the Signal Corps in the North African campaign, see Thompson, Harris, et al., Test, ch. 12, on which this section is based.
22 Such units were organized under T/O 11-517S, 9 Sep 1942. See the discussion of Joint Assault Signal Companies in the section on the Normandy invasion below.
23 Sidney L. Jackson, Tactical Communication in World War 11, Part 1: Signal Communication in the North African Campaigns, typescript [New York: Signal Corps Historical Section, Apr 1945], pp. 14-16, copy in CMH files; Ray S. Cline, Washington Command Post: The Operations Division, United States Army in World War 11 (Washington, D.C.: Office of the Chief of Military History, Department of the Army, 1951), pp. 183-87, discusses the confusion surrounding the unit's activation.
24 Thompson, Harris, et al., Test, pp. 353-64; Theodore F. Wise, "The SCR 299" (Fort Gordon, Ga.: U.S. Army Signal Museum, n.d.).
25 Thompson, Harris, et al., Test, p. 364; Jackson, Tactical Communication, pt. 1, ch. 3, discusses the problems and lessons learned from Operation TORCH.
26 Thompson, Harris, et al., Test, pp. 368-69, 457; Jackson, Tactical Communication, pt. 1, p. 154.
27 Thompson, Harris, et al., Test, pp. 371-73; Rumbough, "Radio Relay," pp. 3-12.
28 Thompson, Harris, et al., Test, pp. 377-79.
29 Ibid., p. 382.
30 As quoted in Thompson, Harris, et al., Test, p. 380.
31 Thompson and Harris, Outcome, pp. 30-35. For additional details, see Sidney L. Jackson, Tactical Communication in World War II, Part 2: Signal Communication in the Sicilian Campaign, typescript [New York: Signal Corps Historical Section, Jul 1945], copy in CMH files.
32 Thompson and Harris, Outcome, p. 43; Albert N. Garland and Howard McGaw Smyth, Sicily and the Surrender of Italy, United States Army in World War 11 (Washington, D.C.: Office of the Chief of Military History, Department of the Army, 1965), p. 419.
33 Though mine detectors bore Signal Corps designations, the Corps of Engineers had responsibility for their development. The Signal Corps, however, procured, stored, and issued them. The SCR-625 was developed for the Army by the National Defense Research Committee.
34 As quoted in Thompson and Harris, Outcome, p. 36. The Sicilian campaign is detailed in Garland and Smyth, Sicily and the Surrender of Italy. See also Matloff, ed., American Military History, pp. 478-80.
35 Mussolini was killed by anti-Fascist partisans in April 1945.
36 For a detailed account of the Fifth Army's operations in Italy, see Chester G. Starr, ed., From Salerno to the Alps: A History of the Fifth Army (Washington, D.C.: Infantry Journal Press, 1948). It is based on the nine-volume official Fifth Army history.
37 Department of Defense, Office of Public Information, News Release no. 1255-56 (4 Dec 1956), "Pigeon Training Activity to be Closed at Army Signal Corps Post Soon," copy in author's files; "Pigeon that Saved a Brigade," Parade (28 Jun 1981), p. 16; Phillips, Signal Center and School, p. 310.
38 Fifth Army History, 9 vols. (Florence, Italy: L'Impronta Press, 1945 [vols. 1-4]) 3: 60; W. W. Keen Butcher, 34th Signal Company chronicle, typescript in unit files, DAMH-HSO; Thompson and Harris, Outcome, pp. 49-55.
39 Thompson and Harris, Outcome, p. 57.
40 Starr, ed., Salerno to Alps, ch. 5; Thompson and Harris, Outcome, pp. 55-60.
41 Butcher, 34th Signal Company chronicle, p. 55.
42 Starr, ed., Salerno to Alps, chs. 9-11.
43 The strength figure in the United Kingdom includes both air and ground forces. Roland G. Ruppenthal, Logistical Support of the Armies, 2 vols., United States Army in World War II (Washington, D.C.: (Office of the Chief of Military History, Department of the Army, 1953-1959), 1: 231-32. This volume contains a detailed discussion of the buildup. See also Pogue, Marshall, 2: ch. 14.
44 Thompson, Harris, et al., Test, p. 105; Thompson and Harris, Outcome, pp. 75-76.
45 Thompson, Harris, et al., Test, p. 313; Thompson and Harris, Outcome, p. 79.
46 Until February 1943, when he became commander of the new North African Theater of Operations, Eisenhower continued to serve as commander of ETOUSA in addition to leading the Allied forces in North Africa. Lt. Gen. Frank M. Andrews replaced Eisenhower as commander of the European theater. After Andrews' death in a plane crash in May 1943, Lt. Gen. Jacob L. Devers assumed command. Ruppenthal, Logistical Support, 1: 36-37, 43, 113, 123, 162; Thompson, Harris, et al., Test, p. 339; Thompson and Harris, Outcome, pp. 75-77. Matejka was promoted to colonel on 24 December 1941 and to brigadier general on 2 August 1942 ("Matejka, Jerry V.," biographical files, DAMH-HSR).
47 Thompson and Harris, Outcome, p. 88.
48 Signal Division, SHAEF, Report of Signal Division, Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force, 7 vols. (n.p.: n.d.) 1 and 2 [bound together]: 6-7, 66; Thompson and Harris, Outcome, pp. 86, 88-89. The combined board included representatives from the Allied navies, Allied air forces, ETOUSA, 21st Army Group (British), and the 1st Army Group (American). The board dated from the ARCADIA conference held in Washington, D.C., during December 1941 and January 1942.
49 Upon the launching of the invasion the Services of Supply was redesignated as the Communications Zone, and Rumbough then became chief signal officer, Communications Zone. To avoid possible confusion, the Communications Zone is defined as "all the territory in the theater outside of the combat zone." Compare to the term "Line of Communications" used during World War I (see chapter 5). Ruppenthal, Logistical Support, 1: 204, n. 22, and p. 206.
50 With the formation of SHAEF, the ETOUSA and SOS staffs were consolidated. On the somewhat complicated command relationships, see Ruppenthal, Logistical Support, 1: ch. 5. Lanahan became chief signal officer, SHAEF, in March 1945.
51 Bates and Fuller, Weather Warriors, pp. 88-95; Ruppenthal, Logistical Support, 1: 374-75. GOLD, JUNO, and SWORD were the code names for the beaches on which the British and Canadians landed.
52 For a list of the types of units, see Thompson and Harris, Outcome, pp. 94-95.
53 Ibid., pp. 231-33.
54 In addition to engineer and signal units, the special brigades also contained transportation, quartermaster, ordnance, medical, military police, and chemical troops. A flexible organization, the engineer special brigade additionally comprised other components as needed. Ruppenthal, Logistical Support, 1: 284.
55 For the organization of the JASCO, see TOE 11-147S (21 October 1943). See also Thompson and Harris, Outcome, pp. 231-33; Vincent W. Fox, The Role of the JASCO [1947], typescript in file of 592d Signal Company, DAMH-HSO; Ruppenthal, Logistical Support, 1: 282-85 and ch. 8.
56 The foil was called British Window or American Chaff. The length of the strips depended on the frequency of the radar to be jammed. Thompson and Harris, Outcome, p. 297, n. 63. For an illustration of how it works, see Outcome, p. 304. On countermeasures in general, see Outcome, ch. 10.
57 Thompson and Harris, Outcome, pp. 115, 318.
58 Ibid., pp. 97-98, 101. The award citations were published in WDGO 83 and 89, 1944, dated 27 October and 28 November, respectively.
59 Thompson and Harris, Outcome, pp. 100-101, 112-13; Clarke, Army Pictorial Service, pp. 36-37; Interv, Rebecca Raines with Herman Wall, 3 Jul 95. After the war, Wall enjoyed a highly successful career as a commercial photographer.
60 Thompson and Harris, Outcome, pp. 101-04, 107.
61 Ibid., pp. 104-07.
62 Ruppenthal, Logistical Support, 1: 442, 520; Thompson and Harris, Outcome, pp. 144-45.
63 Thompson and Harris, Outcome, pp. 115-21, 124-26,131-38.
64 Martin Blumenson, Breakout and Pursuit, United States Army in World War II (Washington, D.C.: Office of the Chief of Military History, Department of the Army, 1961), pp. 351-54.
65 Thompson and Harris, Outcome, p. 126.
66 Ibid., pp. 93; 106, n. 135; 126-27; Brawley, Anyway, We Won, p. 197.
67 Thompson and Harris, Outcome, pp. 118-19; Charles B. MacDonald, The Mighty Endeavor: American Armed Forces in the European Theater in World War II (New York: Oxford University Press, 1969), p. 293; Blumenson, Breakout and Pursuit, pp. 43-44; Richard S. Faulkner, "Learning the Hard Way: The Coordination Between Infantry Divisions and Separate Tank Battalions During the Breakout from Normandy," Armor 99 (Jul-Aug 1990): 26-27.
68 Treadwell, Women's Army Corps, p. 318; Thompson and Harris, Outcome, pp. 138-43.
69 Thompson and Harris, Outcome, p. 156.
70 Ibid., pp. 157-58.
71 As quoted in Thompson and Harris, Outcome, p. 163.
72 Ibid., pp. 162-63. For the award citation, see WDGO 89, 28 Nov 1944.
73Thompson and Harris, Outcome, p. 171.
74 Maurice Matloff, Strategic Planning for Coalition Warfare: 1943-1944, United States Army in World War II (Washington, D.C.: Office of the Chief of Military History, Department of the Army, 1959), p. 32.
75 Treadwell, Women's Army Corps, pp. 318, 410, 478; Thompson and Harris, Outcome, p. 218.
76 Carroll A. Powell, "Communications in Pacific Ocean Areas," Military Review 25 (Jan 1946): 34. Colonel Powell served as the chief signal officer for the Central Pacific Area. According to the 1940 census, South Bend's population was 101,268. For the South Bend metropolitan area, the census counted 147,022 residents. See The World Almanac and Book of Facts for 1944 (New York: World-Telegram, 1944), p. 448.
77 Thompson and Harris, Outcome, pp. 205, 236.
78 Ibid., pp. 219-25, 231-33, 261.
79 Ibid., pp. 206-09.
80 Thompson, Harris, et al., Test, p. 138; Thompson and Harris, Outcome, pp. 185-92.
81 The AN/PRC-1 was a lightweight, high-powered set with a range of 200 to 2,000 miles. Instead of batteries, it required power generation by laborious hand cranking. The SCR-177, weighing 700 pounds, had to be carried by mule. Its range was 30 to 100 miles. The SCR-284, also adapted for pack transport, weighed about 100 pounds and had a range of from 5 to 20 miles. The SCR-300, the improved walkie-talkie, had a range of about 5 miles. Historical Division, U.S. War Department, Merrill's Marauders (February-May 1944), American Forces in Action (Washington, D.C.: 1945), pp. 29-30; Thompson and Harris, Outcome, p. 193.
82 Thompson and Harris, Outcome, p. 192; comments on draft manuscript, 21 Feb 1992, by Lt. Gen. Thomas M. Rienzi. As a captain, Rienzi commanded Headquarters Company, 96th Signal Battalion, in Burma. The 988th Signal Operation Company was redesignated in 1945 as the 988th Signal Service Battalion. In 1948 the 96th Signal Battalion became the 320th Signal Battalion.
83 Charlton Ogburn, Jr., The Marauders (New York: Harper & Brothers, Publishers, 1959), p. 33.
84 As quoted in Thompson and Harris, Outcome, p. 198.
85 Spector, Eagle Against the Sun, pp. 455-57; Thompson and Harris, Outcome, p.241.
86 Edward J. Drea, Defending the Driniumor: Covering Force Operations in New Guinea, 1944, Leavenworth Papers no. 9 (Fort Leavenworth, Kans.: Combat Studies Institute, 1984), pp. 9-11 and ch. 3. See also Edward J. Drea, MacArthur's ULTRA: Codebreaking and the War Against Japan, 1942-1945 (Manhattan: University Press of Kansas, 1992).
87 James, Years of MacArthur, 2: 538-39; Thompson and Harris, Outcome, p. 270.
88 The Signal Corps had earlier used makeshift communications ships during the fighting in New Guinea, but had had to return them to the Transportation Corps. Rumbough, "Radio Relay," pp. 11-12; Thompson and Harris, Outcome, pp. 259-65, 275-80,283-84.
89 M. Hamlin Cannon, Leyte: The Return to the Philippines, United States Army in World War 11 (Washington, D.C.: Office of the Chief of Military History, Department of the Army, 1954), p. 185.
90 Walter Krueger, From Down Under to Nippon (Washington, D.C.: Combat Forces Press, 1953), p. 244; Thompson and Harris, Outcome, p. 285.
91 On signal operations, see Sixth United States Army, Report of the Luzon Campaign, 9 January 1945-30 June 1945, 4 vols. (1945), vol. 3, "Reports of the General and Special Staff Sections," pp. 133-54. On the campaign in general, see Robert Ross Smith, Triumph in the Philippines, United States Army in World War II (Washington, D.C.: Office of the Chief of Military History, Department of the Army, 1963); Matloff, ed., American Military History, pp. 516-21; Spector, Eagle Against the Sun, ch. 22.
92 Thompson and Harris, Outcome, p. 289, n. 44.
93 The Tenth Army comprised four Army and three Marine divisions.
94 Thompson and Harris, Outcome, p. 292.
95 The casualty total is for Army, Navy, and Marine personnel. Roy E. Appleman et al., Okinawa: The Last Battle, United States Army in World War II (Washington, D.C.: Historical Division, Department of the Army, 1948), table no. 2, p. 489. For signal operations on Okinawa, see Tenth Army Action Report Ryukyus, 26 March to 30 June 1945, 3 vols. (3020th Engineer Topographic Company, 1945), 1: ch. 11, sec. 12; Thompson and Harris, Outcome, pp. 288-98.
96 Matloff, ed., American Military History, pp. 521-22, 525-26.
97 Thompson and Harris, Outcome, pp. 600-601; "Surrender on the Air, An Official Signal Corps History of Message Traffic on the Japanese Capitulation," Military Review 26 (May 1946): 31-39; ARSO, 1946, pp. 3-4, 472-73.
98 Thompson and Harris, Outcome, p
. 300.
Return to Table of Contents
Return to Chapter VIII
 |
|
Last updated 3 April 2006 |