The 32nd 'Red Arrow' Veteran Association
	The 32nd Infantry Division in World War II "The Red Arrow" Part 5 Back to Australia for Rehabilitation and Training

Mr. Howard Kelley, a 32nd Infantry Division Veteran, has written a book describing his service during World War II. In Born in the U.S.A. - Raised in New Guinea, he shares some of his most personal experiences as a member of the 'Red Arrow's' 3rd Battalion, 127th Infantry. This book offers a rare, first-hand glimpse of the 32nd Infantry Division in World War II, as seen through the eyes of an enlisted GI. Click on the book cover to the left, it will take you to Mr. Kelley's web site, where you will find information about how to purchase this book.

The 32nd Division returned to Camp Cable, about 30 miles south of Brisbane, where it had been stationed before it left for the battle for Buna.

In February, BG Clarence A. Martin became the assistant Division commander. COL Robert B. McBride succeeded BG Albert W. Waldron as CG of Division Artillery after Gen. Waldron was promoted to major general. COL Joseph S. Bradley replaced COL Clarence M. Tomlinson as commander of the 126th Infantry. LTC Merle H. Howe was promoted to colonel and remained commander of the 127th. COL Alexander J. McNab became commander of the 128th Infantry after COL Martin was promoted to brigadier general.

CPL Clarence Jungwirth, Co. H, 127th Infantry, describes his unit's return to Australia:

    "We left Port Moresby by boat on Feb. 22, 1943 and arrived back in Brisbane, Australia on March 1, 1943. We were glad to be off the stinking island of New Guinea, and to be back in civilization. The first few days we were camped on a R&R area on the coast. The first night most of the troops went into town to get roaring drunk and try to forget what they had been thru. The Australian liquor joints were selling bottles of booze at $20.00 a bottle, quite a sum of money in 1943. The G.I.'s exhausted their stock. There were a lot of big hangovers the next day. I never drank much in those days and had stayed in camp, just glad to be away from the enemy.
    "Then we were trucked back to Camp Cable. There we were to get new clothing, new recruits to replace the wounded, KIA's and to retrain for the next operation in New Guinea." (Jungwirth 73)

He had served in France during World War I as a battalion commander with the 5th Division and was awarded the Silver Star during the Meuse-Argonne. He had been the XO and then commander of the 27th Inf. Regiment, a couple of years after MG (then COL) Harding had commanded that regiment. He had been chief of staff of the 8th Division, a brigadier in the 28th Division and commanding general of the 89th Division.

On 3 March the 107th Quartermaster Battalion was reorganized as the 32nd Quartermaster Company.

On 4 March the Red Arrow ordnance detachment was redesignated the 732nd Ordnance (LM) Company.

Somewhere around this time, the 121st Field Artillery Battalion's 155 mm howitzers were taken away and replaced with 75 mm howitzers.

CPL Clarence Jungwirth, Co. H, 127th Infantry, offers the following information about preparations for a VIP visit while the 32nd Division was at Camp Cable:

    "While at Camp Cable, we were told that Eleanor Roosevelt the wife of President Roosevelt, would be coming for a visit to our camp. We were given a few days to clean up the place. With much grumbling we tried to fix the camp up like new to the point of putting tents up over the garbage cans. This we thought was rediculous and to the extreme. We followed the old army adage when on 'Police Call' - 'if it ain't growing, pick it up, and if you can't pick it up, paint it.
    "On the day of Eleanor's visit, the camp was spic and span as she roared thru the camp in a black limousine. Very few of us caught a glimpse of her, We often wondered if she ever noticed the tents over the garbage cans." (Jungwirth 76)

"When bold and aggressive enemy invaded Papua in strength, the combined action of ground and air units of these forces, in association with Allied units, checked the hostile advance, drove the enemy back to the seacoast and in a series of actions against a highly organized defensive zone, utterly destroyed him. Ground combat forces, operating over roadless jungle-covered mountains and swamps, demonstrated their courage and resourcefulness in closing with an enemy who took every advantage of the nearly impassable terrain. Air forces, by repeatedly attacking the enemy ground forces and installations, by destroying his convoys attempting reinforcement and supply, and by transporting ground forces and supplies to areas for which land routes were non-existent and sea routes slow and hazardous, made possible the success of the ground operations. Service units, operating far forward of their normal positions and at times in advance of ground combat elements, built landing fields in the jungle, established and operated supply points, and provided for the hospitalization and evacuation of the wounded and sick. The courage, spirit, and devotion to duty of all elements of the command made possible the complete victory attained.

Elsewhere in the Pacific while the 32nd Division was being rebuilt in Australia: US forces had evicted the Japanese from Attu in the Aleutians; Guadalcanal was taken; during the Battle of the Bismarck Sea, a Japanese convoy bound for New Guinea was destroyed by Allied aircraft; General MacArthur had started a new campaign further up the coast of New Guinea and on New Britain; and there was further progress in the Gilbert Islands and Solomon Islands.

“This was a period of reorganization, re-supply, rehabilitation, and retraining. The troops had taken part in the Papuan Campaign and were in bad shape. I think somewhere in the records it will be shown that almost 8,000 had malaria; certainly the morale of officers and men was low. The men had to be cured in body and mind before any effective training for renewed combat could be accomplished. However, by October 1943 the Division was ready for combat and moved back to New Guinea. The remaking of the Division could not have been accomplished without the help of higher headquarters (Sixth Army and I Corps) who provided a place for rest and recuperation for the sick, assisted materially in securing replacements and equipment, and assisted in the retraining. It was a long hard pull and I can never thank adequately the fine officers and noncommissioned officers who proved themselves real leaders. Many times during this trying period, I must confess that I had grave doubts as to whether the Division would ever “come back.” But they did, and magnificently, as their victories in succeeding campaigns prove.” (MG Gill, qtd. in Blakeley 131-2)

From 16 to 30 October 1943 the 32nd Division was moved from Australia back to New Guinea. At Milne Bay and Goodenough Island they continued their training and prepared for future combat operations.
 

Blakeley, H. W., Major General, Retired. The 32nd Infantry Division in World War II.  The Thirty-second Infantry Division History Commission, State of Wisconsin, n.d.
Cannon, M. Hamlin.  Leyte: The Return to the Philippines.  U.S. Army Center of Military History, 1954.
Drea, Edward J.  New Guinea - The U.S. Army Campaigns of World War II.  U.S. Army Center of Military History, n.d.
Hill, Jim Dan, Major General, Retired.  The Minute Man in Peace and War.  Harrisburg: The Stackpole Company, 1964.
Jungwirth, Clarence J.  Diary of a National Guardsman in World War II.  Oshkosh, WI: Poeschl Printing Company, 1991.
Milner, Samuel. Victory in Papua.  U.S. Army Center of Military History, 1957.
Papuan Campaign - The Buna-Sanananda Operation.  Washington, D.C.: Historical Division, War Department, 1945.
The Red Arrow - 1955 - The 32nd Division, Wisconsin National Guard.  n.p., 1955.
Smith, Herbert M., Lieutenant Colonel, Retired. Hannibal Had Elephants II.  Eau Claire, WI: Rev. William A. Heins, 1995.

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