European Theater

442nd RCT with the 100th Infantry Battalion attached enters combat near Suvereto, Italy.

100th Infantry Battalion (Separate) attached to 442nd Combat Team as its “1st” Battalion in place of the original 1st Battalion left at Camp Shelby as a training cadre.

100th Infantry Battalion (Separate) is redesignated 100th Battalion, 442nd RCT. It is allowed to keep the 100th designation in honor of its outstanding combat record. The entire Combat Team is reorganized according to new tables of organization.

Rome is liberated by the U.S. 5th Army, with 100th Infantry Battalion paving the way by attacking and defeating the final Nazi defenses.

Travelling by truck convoy and rail boxcars, the 442nd moves from the south of France 500 mies to the battlefront in northeast France. The RCT is attached to the 36th Division and prepares to enter combat against the Nazi forces in the Vosges Mountains.

Most units of the 442nd arrive at Naples, Italy. Due to port congestion, some of the units arrive later. The last to arrive this day are the 522nd Field Artillery Battalion and most of 2nd Battalion, whose ships land at Brindisi and Bari on the east coast of Italy. They move by train boxcars to the Naples area to join up with the 442nd.

The 442nd boards troop ships at Hampton Roads, Virginia. They join a large convoy of ships and set to sea, bound for Europe. The soldiers have not been told were they are going, but get a good clue when Italian language booklets are passed out. Sealed orders are opened once at sea and confirm they are on their way to Italy.

Over several days, the 442nd sails by LST and LSI to the Anzio beachhead. Following closely on the heals of the breakout and liberation pf Rome, the 442nd convoys to an assembly area north of Rome near Citivitavecchia. Here they will have final combat training and make preparations to move to the front line.

442nd embarks on Navy transport ships Thurston, Dickman, Chase, and Henrico at Naples, Italy, and sails for southern France. On September 29 they debark at Marseilles and begin preparations to move to the battlefront in northeast France.

442nd is detached from the U.S. 5th Army and attached to the U.S. 7th Army. This is in preparation for movement to the front line in France.

442nd RCT is key to Allied success in breaching the Nazi’s Gothic Line in northern Italy. Intended as a diversionary attack, the 442nd climbs in secret at night to the ridgeline and mountaintop German defenses, attacks at dawn, and completely defeats the enemy positions. What follows is a series of continuing attacks by the 442nd, chasing the Germans north into the Po Valley. The diversionary attack becomes a full breakthrough of the Gothic Line in the west, successfully drawing off German units from the center of the Gothic Line, and then defeating them as well. By the time the German Army in Italy surrenders, lead elements of the 442nd are in Turin, Italy.

442nd RCT lands at the Anzio beachhead and convoys by truck through Rome to Civitavecchia. Here they will have final training and demonstrate their readiness for front-line combat.

The battles to drive the Germans from the Bruyères and Biffontaine region and rescue the “Lost Battalion” presented the 7th Army with an unexpected opportunity to flank their lines and force them in retreat. This was the first time in recorded history that an attacking force had broken through the Vosges Mountains. But the 442nd paid a very high price for this victory, with 140 men dead and about 1,800 in field hospitals. It was no longer battle-capable and was sent to man defensive positions on the French-Italian border in the Maritime Alps to the sea at Menton, France. Here the regiment rebuilds its strength and prepares for the final battles to win the war in Europe. The 442nd soldiers dub this the “Champagne Campaign.”

442nd RCT rescues 1st Battalion, 141st Infantry Regiment of Texas – the “Lost Battalion” – near Biffontaine.

First wave of 442nd replacements (mostly from Hawaii) to the 100th (Separate) in Italy depart Camp Shelby, Mississippi. The 10 officers and 165 enlisted men are sent to Fort Meade, Maryland, for shipment to Italy. They arrive at San Giorgio, Italy, on March 10, 1944.

Second wave of 442nd replacements for the 100th (Separate) depart Camp Shelby in February. Two months later they arrive at the Anzio beachhead in Italy: 18 officers and 261 enlisted men.

Third wave of 442nd replacements for the 100th (Separate) depart Camp Shelby in March. Two months later they arrive at the Anzio beachhead in Italy: 3 officers and 112 enlisted men. They arrive just in time to participate in the Anzio beachhead breakout.

522nd Field Artillery Battalion is detached from the 442nd RCT to fight in the Central Europe Campaign; it is the only Nisei unit in combat in Germany. They convoy by truck departing March 9, 619 miles north to reach the front lines on the German border. On March 13 they fire their first rounds in support of the attack to breach the Seigfried Line. By March 26 they are firing in support of the 45th Division crossing of the Rhine River.

522nd Field Artillery Battalion discovers one of the Dachau concentration sub-camps; liberation of Jewish Holocaust prisoners begins. On May 2 they encounter surviving prisoners of the Dachau Death March, liberating several thousand.

On April 30 the 522nd Field Artillery Battalion liberates a large number of French Army soldiers and captures their German Army prisoner of war guards near Moerlbach, Germany. It is likely that these French soldiers were captured in the failed attack on Moerlbach on 1-2 March 1945 by the 1st French Army Group.

442nd’s Antitank Company is detached and sent to Lido di Roma for glider training. It is attached to the 1st Airborne Task Force.

442nd RCT liberates Bruyères on October 18 and Biffontaine on October 23.

Battle of Monte Cassino begins; ends May 18; 100th (Separate) engaged; heavy casualties reduces the 100th from 1,300 soldiers to 521.

D-Day invasion at Normandy, France.

100th Infantry Battalion (Separate) lands at Salerno, Italy, and enters combat September 29. Sgt. Joe Takata of Hawaii is first Nisei killed in action in the war to defeat the Nazis. He is awarded Distinguish Service Cross posthumously.

German Army in Italy surrenders, ignoring Hitler’s order to fight on. The 442nd transitions from attack mode to processing surrendering German Army units.

442nd Antitank Company takes part in Operation Dragoon — the Allied invasion of southern France. It lands by glider behind the lines in support of the 517th Parachute Infantry Regiment. It does not return to the 442nd until the battle for the Vosges is underway.

Germany surrenders all forces unconditionally in Reims, France, on May 7. Victory in Europe is declared the next day, May 8. The 442nd in Italy becomes part of the occupation force, ultimately stationed in Livorno. In Germany, the 522nd Field Artillery Battalion also transitions to occupation duty. It is assigned responsibility for a district in Bavaria and headquartered in Donauwörth.