Sunday, January 2, 1944. 32nd Infantry Division lands at Saidor.

Just two days after Adolf Hitler had warned the German people to expect more hardships and setbacks, one came.  The Red Army captured Radovel, placing themselves within 18 miles of the pre World War Two, and post Russo Polish War, Russian border.

Much of the attention in late 1943 had been on the war in Ukraine, but this frankly was more than a little ominous.  The Soviets were not only recovering lost ground, they were about to enter ground they had not been on since their 1939 invasion of Poland.

The US landed troops of the 32nd Infantry Division at Saidor in New Guinea in Operation Michaelmas, an operation which would ultimately involve 13,000 U.S. troops in an effort to cut off 6,000 Japanese troops.

The 32nd Infantry Division was comprised of National Guard units from Michigan and Wisconsin and had seen significant participation in World War One.  Immediately after the Japanese strike on Pearl Harbor, the unit was designated for shipment to Northern Ireland and ordered to move to embarkment locations, however, Japanese advances caused it to be redesignated for the Pacific, at which time, after having suffered some manpower losses due to restructuring, it was given only three weeks to make the cross-country trek and embark.  It was not fully equipped at the time.  Manpower shortages were filled out, however, by recent conscripts.  It was then sent to Australia.

Division patch.

While the unit's early commitment to combat was problematic, the unit achieved many first during the Second World War.  It was the first US division to deploy as an entire unit from the US and the first to be shipped in a single convoy.  The 128th Infantry Rgt, part of the division, was the first to be airlifted into combat.  It was the first US unit to launch a ground assault against the Japanese.  At Saidor, they became the first US division to make a beach landing in New Guinea.  They later became the first US division to supply eleven battalions at one time from the air.

They were one of the "last" units as well, in that they were fighting Japanese soldiers on the Philippines the day after the Japanese surrender.  They then went into occupation duty in Japan, and returned in 1946.

Scenes of August. Michigan National Guard at Camp Grayling

 

The 100 Days Offensive: The 32nd Division takes Juvigny

Insignia of the 32nd Division.

If you've been reading the posts here (and I know that darned few do), you will have been reading a fair amount the British Expeditionary Force, which comprised of units from all of the British Empire, advancing on the Allied left flank.

At the same time, you will have been reading of French advances, although I have not posted any of the campaigns in detail. Suffice it to say, the French were advancing as well, as the headlines indicated.

On this day, the U.S. 32nd Division, which was part of the French Tenth Army, took Juvigny, a strategically important location in the line of the French advance.  The 32nd was a National Guard comprised unit made up of units from Wisconsin and Michigan.  The unit compelled the Germans to withdraw in their sector and on September 9 the 32nd would become part of the U.S. First Army.

Juvigny is not a battle that's thought much of today, but the accomplishment of the 32nd was significant.  Moreover, the event demonstrates that while the U.S. First Army had only come into existence on this day, US units were engaged in the 100 Days Offensive already, attached to French and British commands.

A new revolt in Mexico? The Laramie Boomerang, February 7, 1918

Wyomingites in recent weeks had been increasingly reading, in their local papers, about food shortages and unrest in Germany and Austria.  It was beginning to seriously look like the war was devolving into a race.  Would the Central Powers be able to move enough troops off the Eastern Front prior to starving to launch a crushing spring offensive, or would starvation and revolution overtake them at home as American troops began to pour into France.

Today, however, the news was a bit different, and not at all settling, not that it had been otherwise.  German naval power, in the form of submarines, was more than adequate enough to continue to be a danger in the Irish Sea.  The loss of the American transport Tuscania came as unwelcome news on this day.  The loss of life wouldn't include Wyomingites, but it would include a lot of National Gaurdsmen as the ship was carrying Federalized Wisconsin and Michigan Guardsmen, as well as soldiers of the Regular Army.

Also on this day, at least in Laramie, Wyomingites were learning that things might be getting out of hand once again in Mexico.  Carranza's grip on power, it seemed, might not be as strong as had been supposed in recent months. . .

The Big Picture: Troop A, Michigan State Troops

Copyright deposit on this day, 1917.  Troop A, Michigan State Troops.