720th
July 1942 Battalion Time Line
~~~~~ 720th Military Police Battalion Reunion Association History Project ~~~~~
3rd
This Page Last Updated 8 January 2007  Click on thumbnail photographs to enlarge
If you were a veteran of the 720th MP Battalion or any of its subordinate units, and recognize any of the events listed on this page, or you are a surviving family member of a Battalion veteran from this era and would like to contribute Information, personal stories, documents, media articles or photographs, please take a moment to contact the History Project Manager at the Email Link provided above for instructions or assistance. Your contributions are extremely important to the Battalion history and always welcomed.
Zone Of The Interior (ZOI) / Continental United States
3 July HQ Detachment, A and B Company traveled on the first train with C and D Company on the second. Both trains departed East Liberty, Pennsylvania in route to Camp Stoneman, California by way of Chicago, Kansas City, El Paso, Phoenix, Yuma, Los Angeles, and Bakersfield.

7 July The Battalion arrived at  Camp Stoneman, Pittsburgh, California, 40 miles north of San Francisco. At Camp Stoneman the Battalion personnel were housed and fed during processing for embarkation, they received their final medical and dental examinations and any required corrective work was done. Their clothing, equipment and records were put in proper order, and any final training and theater orientation that was needed was provided.

     From Camp Stoneman they boarded the Army ferries Catalina, Cabrillo and Yerba Buena that carried them to San Francisco Harbor to board their waiting troop ship.
In transit, South West Pacific Ocean
23 July The Battalion boarded the USS Mount Vernon (AP 22), (formerly the SS Washington) and sailed from San Francisco Harbor, California into the southwestern Pacific Theater of War with their destination being Sidney, Australia.
CLICK ON PHOTOGRAPH FOR SHIPS HISTORY
     Stops along the way were made at the ports in Wellington and Auckland, New Zealand, where the men were given passes.