Maj. Gen. Elbridge G. Chapman and General McNair inspect the 13th Airborne Division. 13 May 1944for the North African campaign and reactivated the 2d Cavalry Division early in 1943 as an all-black unit split between Camp Clark, Texas, and Camp Lockett, California.[1]
Deployment of cavalry divisions, however, proved to be a thorny problem. The units remained unpopular with theater commanders because of the shipping space they required and the logistical nightmare they presented, given their horses and equipment. The need for units in the Southwest Pacific Area, however, led MacArthur to accept the 1st Cavalry Division as a dismounted unit. The division turned in its horses and associated gear in March 1943 and left for Australia in June. Many of the horses of the 1st Cavalry Division found a home in the 2d Cavalry Division.[2]
In Australia the division was reorganized partly under infantry and partly under cavalry tables. Each cavalry squadron was allotted a heavy weapons troop similar to the weapons company in the infantry battalion. The veterinary troop in the medical squadron became a collecting troop, and the reconnaissance squadron was reduced to a troop similar to the unit in the infantry division. Some of the personnel and equipment of the reconnaissance squadron were used to create a light tank company. The addition of a 105-mm. howitzer battalion gave the artillery two 105-mm. and two 75-mm. howitzer battalions. Along with the reorganization, the adjutant general redesignated the unit as the 1st Cavalry Division, Special, because of its unique organization under infantry and cavalry tables and the desire to retain the cavalry "name" among the divisional forces. Having completed all changes by 4 December 1943, the division moved to New Guinea for combat. More organizational changes took place thereafter, particularly in the artillery, which eventually included four tractor-drawn 105-mm. howitzer battalions and an attached 155-mm, howitzer battalion.[3]
Personnel shortages dictated a different fate for the 2d Cavalry Division and the 56th Cavalry Brigade. The Mediterranean theater needed service troops, and in September 1943 the War Department decided to use the personnel of the 2d Cavalry Division in that role. Leaving the country in February 1944, the division was inactivated shortly thereafter in North Africa and its men reassigned to a variety of service units. Army Ground Forces eliminated the 56th Cavalry Brigade when no use for it developed overseas. Its headquarters troop became the
- ↑ Ltr, AGF to CGs, Third Army and IX Corps, 12 Sep 42, sub: Activation of Elements of the 1st Cavalry Division, 322.13/1 (1st Cav Div) (R)-GNGNT (9–12–42), 1st Cav Div file, and Ltr, TAG to CGs, Services of Supply and other addresses, 23 Nov 42, sub: Activation of 2d Cavalry Division, AG 320.2 (11-212) OB-I-GN-M, 2d Cav Div file, both DAMH-HSO.
- ↑ Greenfield et al., Organization of Ground Combat Troops, p. 336; Ltr, TAG to CG, Third Army, 2 Mar 43, sub: Reorganization of 1st Cavalry Division, AG 320.2 (2–28–43) OB-IGNGCT-M, 1st Cav Div file, DAMH-HSO; James W. Hinds, Second Cavalry Division (no publisher, 1987), pp. 60–61.
- ↑ Ltr, TAG to CinC, Southwest Pacific Area, 17 Sep 43, sub: Reorganization of Units in Southwest Pacific Area, AG 322 (14 Sep 43) OB-I-GNGCT-M, and Ltr, TAG to CinC, Southwest Pacific Area, 13 Nov 43, sub: Redesignation and Reorganization of 1st Cavalry Division, AG 322 (9 Nov 43) OB-I-GNGCT-M, both AG Reference files, DAMH-HSO; Wright, The 1st Cavalry Division in World War II, p. 240.
