Which American units fought in both the Pacific and Europe?

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EwenS
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Re: Which American units fought in both the Pacific and Europe?

#16

Post by EwenS » 07 Jan 2021, 11:04

Thinking about the USN for a moment what do you mean by “fought”? Many USN ships served operationally in the Atlantic but never saw the enemy (e.g. many destroyer escorts) or saw combat in the Atlantic but served in second line, but equally important, roles in the Pacific (e.g. escort carriers as ASW ships in the Atlantic but transport carriers in the Pacific, or Ranger which after Atlantic service became a training carrier out of Pearl Harbour for the rest of the war).

Those I can immediately think of that saw operational service in both the Atlantic/Med and the Pacific theatres include:-

Battleships - Washington, South Dakota, Alabama, New York, Texas, Arkansas.
Carriers - Wasp CV-7
CVE - All 4 Sangamon class
Cruisers - Wichita, Tuscaloosa, Boise, Birmingham, Cleveland, Quincy

Below that they become too numerous to list. From the beginning of 1945 many DD/DE that had seen service in the Atlantic/Med began to be refitted for service in the Pacific and this accelerated after May 1945 in anticipation of the invasion of Japan. While many arrived in the Pacific before the end of the war far fewer saw combat.

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Sheldrake
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Re:

#17

Post by Sheldrake » 07 Jan 2021, 11:29

timman19 wrote:
01 Apr 2005, 21:22
Although it never happened, many U.S. units were designated for transfer to the Pacific region after Germany surrendered. I know that the 101st Airborne was one of those units. Obviously, the droppings of atomic bombs made the transfers unncessary. My uncle was a RAF squadron commander at the end of the war in the European Theatre. He was sent home on leave and told that he and his unit would be transferred to Asia. A few days before they left, Japan surrendered.
British servicemen were very aware of the possibility of fighting the Japanese after defeating Germany. The British contingent of the Allied forces in North West Europe were officially termed the British Liberation Army. (The term British Expeditionary Force used in WW1 and France, Norway and Greece had been dropped because BEF had become known as "Back Every Friday). BLA was quickly discredited as meaning Burma Looms Ahead....

There were quite a few commonwealth units that fought the Germans, Italians and Japanese. The 7th Armoured Brigade was one of the original parts of the 7th Armoured Division that delivered a drubbing to the Italians in 1940. It was dispatched to Burma after the Japanese entered the war and returned to service in Italy 1944 in time for Op Diadem. The Australian 6 and 9th Divisions were returned to Australia.

It made less sense to transfer US Troops until the end of the war in Europe as shipping was the main logistic constraint and it was easier to send troops from the continental US.
Last edited by Sheldrake on 07 Jan 2021, 18:34, edited 1 time in total.


EwenS
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Re: Which American units fought in both the Pacific and Europe?

#18

Post by EwenS » 07 Jan 2021, 16:27

The US 97th Infantry Division also redeployed from Europe to the USA in June 1945 and then on to the Japan at the end of Aug 1945. Two armoured divisions, 13th and 20th, were also scheduled to move from Europe via the USA, and new equipment, to the Pacific by March 1946.

In terms of British troops, the 5th Parachute Brigade went to India in July 1945 and was to have been followed by the rest of 6th Airborne Div. 35th Armoured Brigade and 61st Inf Div were also scheduled for India along with many troops as replacements for those units in India/Burma who were seeing personnel being sent home under the Python Scheme. 3rd Infantry Div was earmarked for the Commonwealth Corps in the Pacific in 1946.

2 RAF Dakota squadrons went to India as planned in Aug/Sept 1945 to replace 435 and 436 Canadian squadrons. More Dakota and Halifax transport squadrons would have gone to India to support the Airborne Corps to be created there. Then there was Tiger Force whose initial elements arrived in the Pacific as the war ended.

A large part of the RN was earmarked for service with the East Indies and British Pacific Fleets. Most of the 1945 reinforcements however were just arriving as the war was ending. For example Duke of York, Anson and Nelson, 11th ACS, Belfast, Bermuda, and Cleopatra which all took part in the surrender of Japanese forces in various places.

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Re: Which American units fought in both the Pacific and Europe?

#19

Post by daveshoup2MD » 11 Mar 2021, 07:56

Panzerfaust XxX wrote:
26 Mar 2005, 22:41
I read about how the "Devil's Brigade" took Alaskian islands from the Japanese and then fought in Italy and Southern France. How many units fought in both Pacific and Europe and what is the unit history of these units?
If by "fought" you mean saw combat against the Axis in the MTO/ETO and the Pacific (or vice-versa), and ground forces, there aren't many... if you're willing to include units that deployed outside of the ZI (CONUS) into the Pacific or Atlantic and then were moved to the other theater, an interesting example was the US Army's 159th Infantry Regiment. The regiment, a California National Guard unit, was federalized (i.e.. activated) in March, 1941, as part of the 40th Division, detached and assigned to the 7th Division in September, and remained part of the 7th until August, 1943 - including going to the Aleutians in July, 1943.

The regiment was detached from the 7th but remained under the Alaska Department until August, 1944, including garrisoning Attu from July, 1943 until August, 1944. From August to March, 1945, the regiment served at various points in the US, at which point it went to the ETO, landing in France in March, 1945, and was attached to the 106th Division to rebuild it after the Ardennes. The 159th entered Germany in April, 1945, and didn't get back to the US until November.

In the opposite direction, the 6th Marines regiment was in Iceland from July, 1941, along with the 2/10 Marines (field artillery), 5th Defense Battalion, and various company elements to build up the 1st Marine Brigade; they stayed until March, 1942, when the last elements of the brigade were back in the US, where most were re-assigned to the 2nd Marine Division and went to the South Pacific in October, 1942.

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Re: Which American units fought in both the Pacific and Europe?

#20

Post by Kingfish » 18 Mar 2021, 10:57

EwenS wrote:
07 Jan 2021, 11:04
Battleships - Washington, South Dakota, Alabama, New York, Texas, Arkansas.
Carriers - Wasp CV-7
CVE - All 4 Sangamon class
Cruisers - Wichita, Tuscaloosa, Boise, Birmingham, Cleveland, Quincy
You can add Massachusetts, who unlike her sisters did fire a war shot in both the Atlantic and Pacific theaters.
The gods do not deduct from a man's allotted span the hours spent in fishing.
~Babylonian Proverb

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