Right between the sound machine
On a cloud of sound, I drift in the night
Any place it goes is right
Goes far, flies near
To the stars away from here
We can find
Why don’t you come with me little girl
On a magic carpet ride
From a forwarded email:
Can you imagine the logistical and administrative challenges involved in this operation?!! And, all before any computers! Staggering! AND, once they were in the US, getting them to out-processing stations and eventually home!
Remember what Eisenhower said at the end of the war, “Take pictures of the dead Holocaust Jewish people, a generation or two will never believe it happened”!!!
Returning the troops home after WWII was a daunting task….
The Magic Carpet that brought everyone home.
In 1939, there were 334,000 servicemen, not counting the Coast Guard.
In 1945, there were over 12 million, including the Coast Guard.
At the end of the war, over 8 million of these men and women were scattered overseas in Europe, the Pacific and Asia.
Shipping them out wasn’t a particular problem but getting them home was a massive logistical headache.
Army Chief of Staff General George C. Marshall had already established committees to address the issue in 1943.
Soldiers returning home on the USS General Harry Taylor in August 1945.
When Germany fell in May 1945, the US. Navy was still busy fighting in the Pacific and couldn’t assist.
The job of transporting 3 million men home from Europe fell to the Army and the Merchant Marine.
300 Victory and Liberty cargo ships were converted to troop transports for the task.
During the war, 148,000 troops crossed the Atlantic west to east each month; the rush home (east to west) ramped this up to 435,000 a month over 14 months.
Hammocks crammed into available spaces aboard the USS Intrepid
In October 1945, with the war in Asia also over, the Navy started chipping in, converting all available vessels to transport duty.
On smaller ships like destroyers, capable of carrying perhaps 300 men, soldiers were told to hang their hammocks in whatever nook and cranny they could find.
Carriers were particularly useful, as their large open hangar decks could house 3,000 or more troops in relative comfort, with bunks, sometimes in stacks of five welded or bolted in place.
Bunks aboard the Army transport SS Pennant
The Navy wasn’t picky, though: cruisers, battleships, hospital ships, even LSTs (Landing Ship, Tank) were packed full of men yearning for home.
Two British ocean liners under American control, the RMS Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth, had already served as troop transports before and continued to do so during the operation, each capable of carrying up to 15,000 people at a time, though their normal, peacetime capacity was less than 2,200.
Twenty-nine ships were dedicated to transporting war brides: women married to American soldiers during the war.
Troops performing a lifeboat drill on board the Queen Mary in December 1944, before Operation Magic Carpet
The Japanese surrender in August 1945 came none too soon, but it put an extra burden on Operation Magic Carpet.
The war in Asia had been expected to go well into 1946 and the Navy and the War Shipping Administration were hard-pressed to bring home all the soldiers who now had to get home earlier than anticipated.
The transports carrying them also had to collect numerous POWs from recently liberated Japanese camps, many of whom suffered from malnutrition and illness.
U.S. soldiers recently liberated from Japanese POW camps
The time to get home depended a lot on the circumstances. USS Lake Champlain, a brand new Essex-class carrier that arrived too late for the war, could cross the Atlantic and take 3,300 troops home a little under 4 days and 8 hours.
Meanwhile, troops going home from Australia or India would sometimes spend weeks on slower vessels.
Hangar of the USS Wasp during the operation
There was enormous pressure on the operation to bring home as many men as possible by Christmas 1945.
Therefore, a sub-operation, Operation Santa Claus, was dedicated to the purpose.
Due to storms at sea and an overabundance of soldiers eligible for return home, however, Santa Claus could only return a fraction in time and still not quite home but at least to American soil.
The nation’s transportation network was overloaded, trains heading west from the East Coast were on average 6 hours behind schedule and trains heading east from the West Coast were twice that late.
The crowded flight deck of the USS Saratoga.
The USS Saratoga transported home a total of 29,204 servicemen during Operation Magic Carpet, more than any other ship. Many freshly discharged men found themselves stuck in separation centers but faced an outpouring of love and friendliness from the locals. Many townsfolk took in freshly arrived troops and invited them to Christmas dinner in their homes.
Still others gave their train tickets to soldiers and still others organized quick parties at local train stations for men on layover.
A Los Angeles taxi driver took six soldiers all the way to Chicago; another took another carload of men to Manhattan, the Bronx, Pittsburgh, Long Island, Buffalo and New Hampshire. Neither of the drivers accepted a fare beyond the cost of gas.
Overjoyed troops returning home on the battleship USS Texas
All in all, though, the Christmas deadline proved untenable. The last 29 troop transports, carrying some 200,000 men from the China-India-Burma theater, arrived to America in April 1946, bringing Operation Magic Carpet to an end, though an additional 127,000 soldiers still took until September to return home and finally lay down the burden of war.
Father GOD, BLESS THE GREATEST GENERATION (Above) and the Generations that have served this Great Nation since WW II !
A Veteran-whether active duty, retired, served one hitch, or reservist is someone who, at one point in his or her life, wrote a blank check made payable to “The Government of the United States of America”, for an amount of “up to and including their life.” That is honor, and there are too many people in this country who no longer understand it -Author unknown.
Amazing photos and numbers, Pat. I’d never thought about this aspect of WW2.
LikeLiked by 3 people
I was vaguely aware of it, but not the extent or the logistics involved.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Exactly my thoughts!
LikeLiked by 3 people
Thanks for commenting, Liz.
LikeLiked by 1 person
You’re welcome.
LikeLike
These photos are overwhelming. I feel claustrophobic looking at them, yet happy, too, for all those people headed home.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Not how I’d like to travel but to be going home or to my new husband, it was probably worth it. At least you didn’t have to worry about submarines.
LikeLike
Great article. Something that we really don’t think about. Could you imagine if today’s Federal gov had to undertake such a task?
LikeLiked by 1 person
They have computers, now.
LikeLike
So if they were to do it 75 years later, maybe it would be easier?
LikeLike
It’s rather scary. But we did just launch two men to the International Space Station from American soil for the first time in almost a decade. Not the same scale of planning, and better than our COVID-19 response with ventilators and testing capability. I’m sure you heard FUBAR and SNAFU in your military career. (You can make it PG by using Fouled for the F word.) 🙂
LikeLike
Reblogged this on Pacific Paratrooper and commented:
Here is a superb article on getting our troops home after the war.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks, GP. I’m extremely flattered. Hope it gets the response it deserves.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Agreed! You did such a good job here, I hope you get some new readers who will now be introduced to your site!
LikeLiked by 1 person
So far it has been very gratifying and I’m getting some wonderful comments. Huge thanks to you. To do a Teagan riff, Hugs humping your way in a ruck sack.
LikeLiked by 1 person
One of the under-rated achievements of the war. I’m not sure what we did about it in the UK, but I do know we had problems in 1919 as troops didn’t feel they were being returned home fast enough.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Interesting to read. Thanks for commenting.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Love this – incredible! Those pictures – wow – the POW’s broke my heart. What an undertaking and the families that ‘adopted’ the ones that couldn’t get home for Christmas… Thanks for sharing.
LikeLiked by 3 people
My husband was on a ship in the late 70s that spent one Christmas in Australia. They had more people inviting the crew for Christmas dinner than they had sailors to send. Of course, Australia still had a warm spot in her heart for the American help during WWII. Thanks for commenting.
LikeLiked by 2 people
How sweet is that!
LikeLiked by 1 person
It was nice for the crew to have a bit of home away from home. Many of the sailors got married while the ship was in Australia.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Those photos are just amazing!
LikeLiked by 2 people
They are phenomenal, Joy. Thanks for commenting.
LikeLike
Imagine the feelings of those on the ships: joy, impatience, joy, frustration, joy, curiosity as to what it would be like when they got home, joy.
LikeLiked by 2 people
I’m sure they were full of emotions. I hope all got the welcome they expected and deserved. Thanks for commenting.
LikeLike
What a massive operation! Thanks for sharing this.
LikeLiked by 2 people
My pleasure. Thanks for reading and commenting.
LikeLike
Thank you for posting this bit of history, Pat. The pictures alone say so much!
LikeLiked by 2 people
My pleasure, Lavinia. I’m glad tha GP shared it on his site too so that more people could see it .
LikeLiked by 1 person
Great story, astonishing pictures. Thank you.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Glad you liked it.
LikeLike
A super article. I knew something was up when I saw the Steppenwolf Lyrics. Fine job.Thank you for reblogging, GP
LikeLiked by 1 person
Glad you liked it and the Steppenwolf lyrics.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I did, Thank you
LikeLiked by 1 person
👍😁
LikeLiked by 1 person
Reblogged this on Dave Loves History.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks. Appreciate it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Great photos and narrative. God bless America!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for commenting.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Wonderful photos. May we honor them in all things.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I totally agree. Thanks for commenting.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Those ships were certainly crowded but I’m sure the men didn’t mind as they were coming home. I never imagined so many traveling on one ship and then finding their way home after landing. Great pictures and story.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks very much. I guess you want to get home badly enough, a crowded transport is better than none. I wouldn’t want to be the next guy in line and told no more room.
LikeLike
Excellent post, both the narrative and great pictures depicting a tumultuous yet joyful homecoming.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you very much.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Amazing pictures 👌
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you for taking the time to comment.
LikeLike
I knew it was a massive undertaking, but this sure brought it home how much it was. Thanks.
LikeLiked by 1 person
incredible undertaking. Thanks for taking the time to comment.
LikeLike
I dread to think what the toilet arrangements were like! Can you think of how you would feel if you got on a cruise ship and got this? I haven’t ever slept in a hammock. Do you sleep okay or do you fall out a lot?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Toilet arrangements were probably not good. Maybe the men just peed over the side of the ship. I’ve sat and laid on a hammock tied to a stand or to a tree but never tried to sleep on a hammock on a rolling ship.
LikeLike
What a moving and powerful post about a subject I was not aware of. I wonder if the US still has that togetherness that we can get anything done left in it?
Bravo to you!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Since we have equated mask wearing with partisan politics and are facing a national health emergency, it doesn’t look like it. Maybe some day….
LikeLike
If you were to copy and paste this article onto a new post, I would like to reblog it again to follow my nest post of how the Japanese soldiers got back to Japan.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Per your request: https://equipsblog.wordpress.com/2024/03/12/repost-of-shipping-them-home-at-the-end-of-wwii/
Thanks, GP.
LikeLike
Very informative and opportune because I’m documenting my visit to the Queen Mary in Long Beach, CA.
Thanks for the post.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Very cool. Hope you enjoy your visit, Disperser.
LikeLike
Thanks for the mention.
LikeLiked by 1 person
[…] to my preparing this post, I came across THIS<<link post about the repatriation of soldiers at the end of WW II (Operation Magic Carpet). Well worth […]
LikeLike