Corps
Prelude to the 720th MP Battalion Activation
~~~~~ 720th Military Police Battalion Reunion Association History Project ~~~~~
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.
The world is at war!
January 1942
Click on radio tower or record icons to play any of the audio files on this page
7 December 1941 CBS News broadcast, "Japanese attack Pearl Harbor."
8 December 1941 President Roosevelt addresses the Congres and the American People, "A date which will live in infamy."
8 December 1941 President Roosevelt asks Congress to declair war on Japan.
"Praise The Lord And Pass The Ammunition," was a popular song at the time. This audio file page also includes the history and origin of the song inspired on 7 December 1941 during the attack Japanese at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
   
        The United States Armed Forces until that time were concentrated in fighting the combined German Nazi and Italian forces in North Africa, and training and stockpiling men and materials in England preparing for a major offensive in Europe (D-Day).

       The Southwest Pacific Theater of War in early 1942 at best could be described as a speed bump operation. The undermanned and under equipped allied forces were attempting to slow down the surge of the Imperial Japanese Military Forces throughout the Southwest Pacific. However in January 1942, when the Japanese war machine posed a serious threat to Australia, and New Guinea the U.S. Armed Forces had no options but to become serious about taking an offensive posture and fighting the “second front” in the Pacific.

       During the early months of 1942 the Japanese were on the offensive everywhere in the Southwest Pacific and their armies seemed to be invincible.

10 December 1941 Japanese forces landed in the Philippines overrunning the U.S. and allied forces.

10 January The 720th Military Police Battalion was constituted by letter, War Department, file AG 320.2. Subject; Activation of Military Police Units, dated 10 January 1942.

20 January The 720th Military Police Battalion was activated at Fort George G. Meade, Maryland, Third Army.

15 February 1942 The British Forces at Singapore fell; within a month the Netherlands Indies were conquered. Then the attack shifted farther to the southeast, and from Rabaul in New Britain, which had been occupied on 23 January, the Japanese High Command planned a two-pronged drive.

     One prong was to strike for control of southeastern New Guinea; the other was to thrust through the Solomon Islands to cut the supply line from America to Australia.

Thus begins the proud history of the 720th Military Police Battalion.

 
Use Browser Button To Return