World War II
1941-1945
1941-1945
(c) 152nd Field Artillery Association, 2009
152nd Field Artillery Association
In February, 1941, the 152nd Field Artillery Regiment
was inducted into federal service at Bangor, Maine
as part of the 43rd Division, for a one-year
mobilization.
Advance elements of the Division reached the 43rd's
base camp at Camp Blanding, Florida, on March 9,
1941, and the movement of the bulk of troops by rail
and truck was completed by March 19.
At the end of July, the Division convoyed 850 miles westward to Louisiana, where during August and September as part of the Third Army, it engaged in the greatest peace-time maneuvers this nation has ever staged. For two months the soldiers underwent hardships and discomforts, were toughened and learned field discipline.
General Hester led the Division north to the Carolinas in late October where the 43rd, as part of the Fourth Army Corps, participated in the GHQ maneuvers of November. The Division was one of three divisions in the Army of the United States to take part in the two great maneuvers of 1941.
In February of 1942, the division and all it's units were reformed in the "triangular" configuration. For the field artillery units this meant the regiments were broken up and battalions formed. The 1-152nd reformed as the 1-203rd Field Artillery (later as the 203rd FA) and was relieved from the division; the 2-152nd reformed as the 152nd Field Artillery Battalion and remained with the 43rd. The 152nd FA Regimental HQ became the 203rd FA Group HQ. And they each went their separate ways.
The 203rd Group HQ and 203rd FA Battalion ended up, separately, in the European Theater. The 152nd FA Battalion fought in the Pacific with the 43rd Division.
At the end of July, the Division convoyed 850 miles westward to Louisiana, where during August and September as part of the Third Army, it engaged in the greatest peace-time maneuvers this nation has ever staged. For two months the soldiers underwent hardships and discomforts, were toughened and learned field discipline.
General Hester led the Division north to the Carolinas in late October where the 43rd, as part of the Fourth Army Corps, participated in the GHQ maneuvers of November. The Division was one of three divisions in the Army of the United States to take part in the two great maneuvers of 1941.
In February of 1942, the division and all it's units were reformed in the "triangular" configuration. For the field artillery units this meant the regiments were broken up and battalions formed. The 1-152nd reformed as the 1-203rd Field Artillery (later as the 203rd FA) and was relieved from the division; the 2-152nd reformed as the 152nd Field Artillery Battalion and remained with the 43rd. The 152nd FA Regimental HQ became the 203rd FA Group HQ. And they each went their separate ways.
The 203rd Group HQ and 203rd FA Battalion ended up, separately, in the European Theater. The 152nd FA Battalion fought in the Pacific with the 43rd Division.
Video of elements of the 152nd heading to the train station in Bangor,
boarding the trains, and arriving at Camp Blanding, Florida.
This photo is from a scrapbook of 1941-vintage newspaper clippings donated to the 152nd Field Artillery several years ago.
Few if any of the clippings indicate a date or the newspaper in which they were published.
This and other videos found on
our You Tube page are excerpts
of nearly an hour of "home
movies" believed to have been
taken by Chaplain Corwin Olds,
the first and only Chaplain of the
Regimental Headquarters. The
original film and containers were
on hand at the battalion
headquarters for decades, and at
some point in the 1980s or early
90s were taken somewhere to be
professionally transferred to VHS
tapes. One of the VHS tapes
survives and is on hand at the
Association office.
See the Leroy Adams page for some vignettes of his experiences at Camp Blanding in the early days of the federalization,
including a story about the Louisiana Maneuvers. Leroy "Roy" Adams joined the 152nd Field Artillery in 1923, and mobilized with the
Battalion in 1941. He wrote this series of memories in 1988-1989 while living at the Maine Veteran's Home in Augusta, for publication in
their bi-monthly magazine. These articles have been donated by his son, MG (Ret) Earl Adams. Roy Adams passed away in 1994.