Description

745th Antiaircraft Artillery Gun Battalion
• World War II •

110 pages scanned. Instant PDF download.

Document Overview
Printed in Sydney by Angus and Robertson in 1944 and published solely for the members of the battalion, this pictorial record tells the story of the 745th AAA Gun Battalion “Down Under.” The battalion began as the First Battalion, 208th Coast Artillery (AA), Connecticut National Guard, formed in 1940 from cavalry units of the 21st Cavalry Brigade, and was among the first antiaircraft troops to reach Australia. Moving forward to New Guinea at the time of the Kokoda fighting, it became the first American antiaircraft unit to engage the enemy in the theater with large-caliber guns, firing in thirty-two raids and receiving credit for eleven Japanese planes destroyed and nine probables. The book includes messages from the brigade commander and Lt. Col. Donald W. Shive, a historical sketch, an In Memoriam page, campaign credits and a Papuan Campaign citation, staff and former-officer portraits, wartime photos and cartoons drawn by the men, a soldier’s poem, and rosters of every battery. This is a digital download of a scanned copy of the original book.

Campaigns: East Indies; Papua; New Guinea

Commanders: Lt. Col. Donald W. Shive (battalion commander); Brig. Gen. Robert H. Van Volkenburgh (brigade commander)

Unit newspaper: unknown

Table of Contents
Editorial Note
Message from the Brigade Commander
Historical Sketch
In Memoriam
Citations and Campaigns
To the Men (Lt. Col. Donald W. Shive)
Former Members of the Battalion
Battalion Staff
Roster: Headquarters Battery
Roster: Medical Detachment
Roster: Battery A
Roster: Battery B
The Artilleryman’s Lament, or “Where Did That Last Round Go?”
Roster: Battery C
Roster: Battery D

“The thunderous challenge your guns have sent forth to the enemy on every occasion has brought assurance and a feeling of security to those who could not fight back.”
— Message from the Brigade Commander, 745th AAA Gun Battalion, 1944