IX Engineer Command

UNITED STATES

The 833rd Engineer Aviation Battalion was constituted by the War Department on 24 March, 1942; and the Commanding General of the Fourth Air Force was directed to activate the unit at McChord Field, Washington, at the earliest practicable date using cadre from the 813th Engineer Aviation Battalion.

Accordingly, on 3 April, 1942, Major General Kenney, commanding the Fourth Air Force, activated the 833rd Engineer Aviation Battalion at McChord Field, Washington, effective 10 April, 1942. The Commanding Officer, McChord Field, was directed to assign an Engineer officer to the new unit to handle the details of activation and administration; and the Battalion was assigned to the Fourth Air Force Base Command.

On 1 May, 1942, at McChord Field, Washington, with a cadre of one officer and fifty enlisted men from the 813th Engineer Aviation Battalion, Captain Henry S. Sanderson Jr. formally activated the 833rd Engineer Aviation Battalion.

On 3 May, 1942, the commanding officer of the new unit, Captain George W. Beeler, arrived and assumed command of the Battalion.

By 4 May, 1942, one hundred and twelve recruits had arrived from various reception centers such as Fort Lewis, Washington, and Fort Douglas, Utah; by 8 May, approximately one hundred and three men had been received who had completed basic infantry training at Camp Robinson, Arkansas; and on 9 May, one hundred and sixty-nine replacements arrived from the Engineer Replacement Training Center at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri.

Company activities and administration were carried on primarily by non-commissioned officers since the majority of the officer personnel of the Battalion did not arrive until several weeks later. As a matter of fact, as a result of this lack of commissioned officers, at retreat parades during this early period the men became accustomed to hearing Captain Sanderson make the following pronouncement: “Attention to orders. Details for the day: Officer of the Day—Captain Beeler, by order of Captain Beeler!”

Directives were immediately published setting forth the mission of the Battalion and the training contemplated to prepare the unit to accomplish that mission:

The mission of the 833rd Engr Bn (Avn) is to organize an effective combat engineer organization trained to a high degree to fight as infantry capable of carrying the attack to any enemy troop attempting to wrest control of airdromes and at the same time be capable of performing the necessary engineer operations connected with construction, maintenance and defense of airdromes. It is contemplated that at the end of this basic training period the battalion will be able to take to the field, perform effectively as infantry in combat, be able to operate effectively on the simpler engineer missions and be capable of supplying and maintaining itself in the field under combat conditions. It is desired to point out that the finest troops the enemy has; those trained to the highest degree and having the greatest amount of firepower, are the Airborne and Parachute Troops. Since such troops are our most probable opponents in combat; every member of this command must reach the highest state of combat efficiency possible and peak physical condition and maximum endurance must be obtained.

Since sufficient instructors were not available to carry on separate training programs for recruits and replacements, the entire Battalion was launched on a program of basic training which aimed to train the recruits “more quickly and effectively through intimate association with previously trained men;” which would result in a higher degree of combat training from the added training given to the replacements; and which would secure “unity through common effort, which is so essential to high morale…thereby welding the battalion into an ‘outfit’ more quickly.”

An eight weeks’ training program was drawn up and put into operation on 11 May, 1942, under the direct supervision of the Battalion staff officers. In addition to basic military subjects, NCO schools were conducted; specialist training was given to operators as soon as equipment became available; marches were conducted every Wednesday afternoon; retreat parade was held four nights each week; and a Battalion review and inspection were held every Saturday morning. Officers’ school was commenced as soon as sufficient officer personnel had joined the organization.

Despite the insufficiency of instructors and the lack of training materials, from an official point of view the Battalion was rapidly whipped into a working unit; and although the training was not all that could be desired, the Battalion Commander succeeded in instilling into the organization an enthusiasm which was to carry it successfully over the road ahead.

The Battalion was not called upon during this training period for combat duty or field engineering operations, but practice alerts were conducted intermittently; for, inasmuch as the unit was located in the combat zone of the Western Theater of Operations, it had to be ready to participate in the defense of that area, particularly the vicinity of McChord Field and Puget Sound. The necessity for such preparations was clearly indicated when Japanese forces landed in the Aleutians.

Meanwhile, the basic pay of privates was hiked from twenty-one to fifty dollars per month. The men kept at ease so far as possible—they stood in line for movies at the post theater; they had a look at Spanaway Lake, Tacoma, and Seattle; and they listened to the rumors…

Foot lockers were turned in; the Medical Section was inoculating men left and right; equipment was loaded on railway cars; rifles were turned in. On 16 July, 1942, military censorship was imposed on all outgoing personal mail, and the men were informed that their new address would be APO 1252, c/o Postmaster, New York, New York.

Then, on the morning of 18 July, 1942, the company commanders formed their companies in the company streets and announced in hushed voices: “Well, men, this is it…”

That same afternoon the entire Battalion, composed of twenty-eight officers and five hundred and nine enlisted men, entrained and moved out of McChord Field.

Proceeding by train through Seattle, Spokane, Kalispel, Great Falls, Billings, Sheridan, Edgemont, Grand Island, Lincoln, Omaha, Council Bluffs, Fort Dodge, Chicago, Pittsburgh, and Philadelphia, the Battalion, on 24 July, 1942, entered the Staging Area at Fort Dix, New Jersey.

There additional enlisted personnel (mainly from Fort Belvoir, Virginia, and Camp Wheeler, Georgia) and officers were received which brought the Battalion up to strength. Final items of equipment (including the new US Rifle, Cal .30, M1) were issued; and preparations for overseas movement were rushed to completion to the newsboy’s cry of “Yoho, papo!”

On 4 August, 1942, the Battalion, for security reasons called Force 6681-D, was ordered to proceed that date to the Port of Embarkation. Consequently, on the evening of the same day, the 833rd Engineer Aviation Battalion, composed of thirty officers and seven hundred and seventy-five enlisted men, strapped on their musette bags, left Fort Dix by train, proceeded from Jersey City by ferry, and the same night went on board the troop transport USS Uruguay at Brooklyn Navy Yard.

Early on the morning of 6 August, 1942, the convoy put out to sea.

Travelling northeastward for three days, the convoy, on the afternoon of 8 August, 1942, put into port at Halifax, Nova Scotia, where it lay at anchor until the middle of the following morning when it again put out to sea.

Although the submarine warfare was critical at that time, the passage proceeded without incident. For the most part the Ocean was calm. The greatest inconvenience experienced was due to the fact that the vessel was considerably overloaded with troops so that the Battalion was compelled to spend half of its time below deck and the other half outside blotting up rain.

But that was taken as a matter of course; and meantime all hands fell to with alacrity and consumed prodigious quantities of candy bars, crackers, sardines, and fruit juices, clung tightly to their blessed life preservers, and at the same time kept one ear cocked for the following announcement which issued twice daily from the ship’s loud speaker: “Sixty-six eighty-one D…D as in Denver…line up on the port and starboard sides for chow…” Before the announcement could be repeated a second time, the entire Battalion was off down the passageways toward the mess hall like a pack of scalded dogs!