99th Signal Battalion, US Army

99TH SIGNAL BATTALION, US ARMY
IN AUSTRALIA DURING WWII

The 99th Signal Battalion was constituted on 3 November 1941 into the US Army. It was activated on 10 March 1942 at Fort Ord, California.

At 0800 hours on 14 April 1943, the 99th Signal Battalion, plus supporting troops, left San Francisco on board the U.S.A.T. Willard A. Holbrook, the former liner “President Taft” for an unknown destination. They were issued pamphlets on Australia after crossing the equator, giving them the first indication of their destination.

They docked in Brisbane in southeast Queensland at 11 a.m. on 2 May 1943 and marched one mile to the nearby Camp Doomben. They boarded trucks on 8 May 1943 and travelled about 20 miles to Camp Columbia at Wacol on the western outskirts of Brisbane. The 99th Signal Battalion stayed at Camp Columbia through to 20 May 1943 carrying out “usual garrison duties”.

A Detachment of the 99th Signal Battalion remained in Brisbane for 9 months. The October 1943 Military Telephone Directory for Brisbane shows Company “B” of the 99th Signal Battalion listed as a Miscellaneous Unit camped in Area “A” attached to Headquarters Sixth Army, which was based at Camp Columbia. So it would appear that Company "B" was the Detachment that stayed in Brisbane for 9 months.

At 6 a.m on 21 May 1943, the 99th Signal Battalion left Camp Columbia and boarded USAT “William Ellery Channing” at 8 am. They set sail for New Guinea at 10:30am. They docked at Gladstone Harbour in central Queensland at approximately 11 a.m. on 23 May 1943 after travelling 850 miles from Brisbane. A second group of men from the 99th Signal Battalion under Lt. F. J. Mueller sailed in an old Dutch “tub” with a team of 25 men bound for Port Moresby to operate a Sixth Army liaison radio station and message centre, in conjunction with General Douglas MacArthur’s GHQ SWPA in Brisbane.

Note:- The booklet “Overseas with the 99th Signal Battalion” says they left Brisbane in two groups on 23 May 1943, whereas the official “Morning Reports” state that they left Brisbane on 21 May 1943.

Some impressions of Australia from the men of the 99th Signal Battalion from the booklet “Overseas with the 99th Signal Battalion”:-

“But nearly all of us have been exposed to living in Australia while on furlough or leave in Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Townsville....These are most lasting impressions,... .With exception of Sydney and Melbourne, Australian cities are far behind American in progress, perhaps 20, 30 years... Five-story buildings are mammoth structures ’down under'...Very few good, large hotels as scarcity of 'commercial travellers', conventions, and so on...Houses built on stilts; no basement...prehistoric plumbing...People, not business-minded, close all shops, restaurants and cinema for holidays when they could make the most money....Pay scales extremely low by American standards....Few women in enterprise or politics, seldom in responsible position ...Food good - a 'meat and potatoes' country huge, low-priced steaks, garnished with fried eggs… No salads, no gravies, no dressings... Liquor closely guarded; whiskey doesn't taste like whiskey, wine fair, rum the worst of all possible beverages.... Beer quite heavy, rich, seems better than American (which by comparison suffers from anemia); & noggin of Aussie beer will separate the men from the boys.... Spirits rationed...Brisbane pubs open an hour at noon, an hour in evening; in larger cities 4 or 5 hours a day; Aussie bar-maids an added attraction...Aussie soldiers usually friendly but hardly devoted to Yanks, who dated their wives and mothers, monopolised their theatres and night-clubs, spent pounds like dollars, and over-dressed...Aussie women good-looking, "joy-loving" (yoiks!), appreciate Yank attention, informality as formerly much subdued... ...We learn a few new slang words and phrases 'Bloody' is a word not used in polite company and 'knocked up' means 'fatigued' and has no reference to sensitive condition. Bastard' - (pronounce ’barstud') connotes endearment... 'One-Pot-Screamer' is a gentleman of limited capacity.... one and only thing all Americans agree on is that Aussies are nearly as crazy as we are...They were glad to see us come but not exactly tearful when we left.”

The U.S.A.T. “Wm. Channing” docked at Gladstone Harbour approximately 850 miles north of Brisbane at approximately 11 a.m. on 23 May 1943. The U.S.A.T. “Wm. Channing” left Gladstone at about 1:30 pm on 24 May 1943. They arrived in Cleveland Bay off Townsville at about 2:15 p.m. on 26 May 1943 and stayed anchored there until 3 June 1943 when the ship weighed anchor at about 4 p.m. in some stormy weather.

The U.S.A.T. “William Ellery Channing” arrived at Milne Bay in New Guinea on 6 June 1943 and disembarked at about 10:30 pm in some rainy weather. They had travelled about 1,000 miles since they left Brisbane.

The 99th Signal Battalion was stationed at a number of forward locations after leaving Australia in late May 1943:-

Port Moresby	3 Jun 1943
Milne Bay	6 Jun 1943
Goodenough Island	25 Jun 1943
Kirwina Island	29 Jun 1943
Woodlark Island	29 Jun 1943
Lae	28 Sep 1943
Oro Bay	8 Nov 1943
Finschhafen	5 Dec 1943
Arawe	15 Dec 1943
Cape Gloucester	7 Jan 1944
Admiralty Islands	19 Mar 1944
Aitape	22 Apr 1944