Entering The War

On 26th January 1942, 4508 American soldiers stepped ashore at Dufferin Quay to join the struggle against Adolf Hitler's Nazis.

They were greeted by a British military band in Northern Ireland, playing the unrehearsed tune of "The Star-Spangled Banner" as the arrival of the American ground troops had been kept secret.

After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour, Hitler allied Germany with Japan, the United States lost no time in entering the war and sending troops to the European theatre of operations with the British.

The 34th 'Red Bull' Division of the US Army arrived in Belfast, on two transport ships: the Chateau Thierry and the Stratford, with most of the personnel from small towns in Iowa, South Dakota, Minnesota and Wisconsin.

In all, over 300,000 US troops were stationed in Ulster during the Second World War, where they were provided with a handbook called 'A Pocket Guide to Northern Ireland', which gave them comprehensive advice all about the two Irelands and how best to get on with the people, how to drive on the left-hand side of the highways, how to use the British currency, and importantly which subjects to avoid bringing up in conversation.

This first wave of Americans trained throughout the summer of 1942, being deployed for the battlefront of North Africa between September and October 1942. The second wave began to arrive in mid October 1943 when the 2nd US Infantry Division arrived, followed by several more divisions. The north of Ireland became one vast training camp, with the mountains and hills, villages and narrow country roads all providing the ideal ‘battle conditions’ for what lay ahead in various campaigns in Italy, France and Germany.