133rd Infantry Regiment

On 26th January 1942, the first elements of 133rd Infantry Regiment, 34th Infantry Division, US Army landed in Belfast, Co. Antrim. Under the command of Colonel Howard J Rouse of Sioux City, Iowa, they entered the European Theatre of Operations. On 10th February 1941, they were reinducted into Federal Service as war loomed closer.

After training at Camp Claiborne, Louisiana, the regiment travelled to Fort Dix, New Jersey on 1st January 1942. At around 1000hrs on 15th January 1942, 1st Battalion, an Anti-Tank Company, and a Service Company departed from Brooklyn, New York. On board HMTS Strathaird, an order went out for the 2,501 troops to go below decks as the vessel set sail. This should have been a secretive affair but as 34th Infantry Division history notes state:

The secret seemed to be more closely kept from the troops themselves than it was from the general public, for around the bars and restaurants of New York, talk had the 34th destined for Ireland.

Also on board Strathaird was an Advanced Command Post of Headquarters Company and 151st Field Artillery Battalion. The American-built USAT Chateau Thierry accompanied the Strathaird. It carried the remainder of the complement of troops bound for Northern Ireland.

Among the troops of 133rd Infantry Regiment was Private First Class Milburn H Henke. This soldier from Baker Company of the regiment went down in history. Officially, he was the first American GI to step into the ETO during World War Two.

The remaining units of 133rd Infantry Regiment left the United States on 19th February 1942. They arrived in Belfast, Co. Antrim on 2nd March 1942. On board USS Barnett was 34th Infantry Division Headquarters and elements of 2nd and 3rd Battalions, 133rd Infantry Regiment. Barnett sailed in a convoy of 21 vessels plus escorts across the North Atlantic.

In the same convoy was Duchess of Atholl. On board was the remaining parts of 2nd and 3rd Battalions, 133rd Infantry Regiment, parts of 168th Infantry Regiment, an Ordnance Company, and 34th Quartermaster Company.

During its time in Northern Ireland, 133rd Infantry Regiment undertook intense training. Alongside 151st Field Artillery Battalion, they trained with small arms weaponry. With the artillery battalion’s 105mm guns still at Fort Dix, they made do with British issue 8-pounder guns. While the physical side of the training was tough, the regiment suffered from a lack of combined arms training.

Everything was in short supply, except manpower, but what use was that if there weren’t adequate training facilities and modern weapons and equipment? The training we were getting was good physical training, but since our division was split up all over Ulster, we just were not getting the type of training needed by a division. An infantry unit must have good artillery support at all times, but our 151st Field Artillery Battalion, which was supposed to be the support for our 133rd Infantry Regiment, was equipped with British 25-pounder guns because there was a shortage of the normal 105-mm guns, which were US made.

From ‘The White Mule’ by Jack D Graham.

From camps across Northern Ireland, 133rd Infantry Regiment departed for Operation Torch in North Africa.