10-024 Garand Picture of the Day - Empress Augusta Bay on Bougainville

[Mark in Rochester]

Negro troops of the 24th Infantry, attached to the Americal Division, wait to advance behind a tank assault on the Jap[anese], along Empress Augusta Bay on Bougainville." 1944. 111-SC-202491



The 24th Infantry Regiment (one of the Buffalo Soldier regiments) was organized on 1 November 1869 from the 38th and 41st Infantry Regiments. All the enlisted soldiers were black, either veterans of the U.S. Colored Troops or freed slaves. From its activation to 1898, the 24th Infantry served throughout the Western United States. Its missions included guarding posts, battling Indians, and protecting roadways against bandits.

At the start of World War II, the 24th IR was stationed at Fort Benning as School Troops for the Infantry School. They participated in the Carolina Maneuvers of October - December 1941. During World War II, the 24th Infantry fought in the South Pacific Theater as a separate regiment. Deploying on April 4, 1942 from the San Francisco Port of Embarkation, the Regiment arrived in the New Hebrides Islands on May 4, 1942. The 24th moved to Guadalcanal on August 28, 1943, and was assigned to the US XVI Corps. 1st Battalion deployed to Bougainville, attached to the 37th Infantry Division, from March to May, 1944 for Perimeter Defense Duty. The Regiment departed Guadalcanal on December 8, 1944, and landed on Saipan and Tinian on December 19, 1944 for Garrison Duty that included mopping up the remaining Japanese forces that had yet to surrender. The Regiment was assigned to the Pacific Ocean Area Command on March 15, 1945, and then to the Central Pacific Base Command on May 15, 1945, and to the Western pacific Base Command on June 22, 1945.

The Regiment departed Saipan and Tinian on July 9, 1945, and arrived on the Kerama Islands off Okinawa on July 29, 1945. At the end of the war, the 24th took the surrender of forces on Aka Shima Island, the first formal surrender of a Japanese Imperial Army Garrison. The Regiment remained on Okinawa through 1946.




"SEMPER PARATUS" (Always Prepared).

Information

Warning: This is a relatively older thread This discussion is older than 360 days. Some information contained in it may no longer be current.