Appendix E
 
GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION OF ARMY STRENGTH IN OVERSEAS THEATERS
EARLY DECEMBER 1942
Statistical summaries for Army overseas strength a year after Pearl Harbor are found in a number of diverse sources, published and unpublished. There are certain discrepancies in strength figures and even in identity and number of units cited in the various sources used as a result partly of differences in time of reporting-varying from a few days to a few weeks-and partly of varying statistical bases of counting and reporting. Wherever possible, these data have been checked against one another and reconciled.
The strength figures in each of the following tables are taken from the OPD Weekly Status Map of 3 December 1942. Figures in the monthly Strength of the Army Reports for 30 November 1942 correspond roughly with the 3 December Status Map figures. Figures in the OPD Weekly Status Maps include ground service with ground troops and air service with air troops. The OPD Weekly Status Yaps do not necessarily correspond with other statistical records kept in the field or in Washington during the war, but they did provide the War Department with its most reliable detailed contemporary summary of over-all Army deployment for planning purposes. Rough as their statistics are, they still represent one of the most valuable sources available on total deployment, area by area, of personnel present, en route, and projected. The post-1945 reports of the Strength of the Army, issued by Office, TAG, Strength Accounting Branch, as part of its STM- ,30 series, contain revised and official monthly summaries on actual Army strength and ,deployment in theaters of operations and major commands during the war years.
The number and identity of divisions are taken from: ( 1 ) Directory of the Army of the U.S. Outside Continental Limits of the U.S. as of 7 December 1942; and (2) Combat Chronicle, An Outline History of U.S. Army Divisions, prepared by the Order of Battle Section, OCMH.
[389]
ARMY STRENGTH IN OVERSEAS THEATERS
 
Present En Route Projected
TOTAL 1       24, 640       

Ground   

  760,960 (17 Divs) 2        1,560,190 (30 Divs)

Air   

  202,100 (66 Groups) 2      420,610 (73 Groups)
EUROPEAN THEATER:
British Isles and Iceland: 3 Present En Route Projected

Ground   

  156,970 (2 Divs) 4        912,160 (21 Divs)

Air   

  50,190 (16 Groups)         214,500 (30 Groups)

Total   

      1,580       
French North Africa 5 (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia):               

Ground   

  127,980 (6 Divs) 6           

Air   

  12,600 (11 Groups)           
MIDDLE EAST-AFRICA:
Egypt-Levant States-Eritrea-Aden, Iran-Iraq, Palestine:    Present En Route Projected

Ground   

  6,590         36,560

Air   

  10,150 (7 Groups)         23,190 (9 Groups)

Total   

      8, 090       
Central Africa (Liberia Gold Coast Belgian Congo French Equatorial Africa, Kenya)               

Ground   

  2,760         4,030

Air   

  2,120         2,050
CENTRAL PACIFIC AREA:
Hawaii, Fanning Island Christmas, Canton, Midway, Johnston, Palmyra:    Present En Route Projected

Ground   

  122,540 (4 Divs) 7      120,510 (3 Dies)

Air   

  22,520 (4 Groups)      28,720 (5 Groups)

Total   

      2, 590       
SOUTH PACIFIC AREA:
Borabora, Fiji Islands, Efate Espiritu Santo, Tongatabu, New Caledonia, New- Zealand, Guadalcanal, Tongareva, Aitutaki:    Present En Route Projected

Ground   

  77,580 (3 Divs) 8      122,610 (4 Dies)

Air   

  13560 (5 Groups)      20,040 (3 Groups)

Total   

      6, 600    
SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA:
Australia, New Guinea, and the Philippines:    Present En Route Projected

Ground   

  77,280 (2 Divs) 9      128,340 (2 Dies)

Air   

  32,460 (10 Groups)      53,730 (11 Groups)
CHINA-INDIA:
  Present En Route Projected

Ground   

  4,770      8,270

Air   

  9,360 (4 Groups)      12,470 (5 Groups)

Total   

      2, 540    
[390]

WESTERN HEMISPHERE: 

  

 

 Present En Route Projected
Alaska:               

Ground   

  72,050         83,650

Air   

  13,950 (2 Groups)         14,740 (1 Group)

Total   

      1,260       
North America (Newfoundland, Greenland, Bermuda Bahamas, Eastern (Crimson Project) and Western (N.W. Service Command) Canada):               

Ground   

  27, 540         47,190

Air   

  2,560         6,550 (1 Group)
Latin America (South America: Ecuador, Peru, Chile, Brazil Venezuela: Caribbean Defense Command: Puerto Rico, St Thomas, St Croix, Jamaica, Antigua, Panama, Trinidad, Curacao, Aruba, St Lucia, Surinam British Guiana: Ascension; Guatemala: Galapagos; Cuba):               

Ground   

  84,950         96,870

Air   

  32,630 (7 Groups)         44,620 (8 Groups)

Total   

      1, 980       
[391]

Page created 10 January 2002
Endnotes
 
Return to the Table of Contents