132nd Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment - World War II

World War II

The 132nd Infantry Regiment was inducted into federal service on March 5, 1941, at Chicago, Illinois as part of the 33rd Infantry Division, and participated in divisional maneuvers at Camp Forrest, Tennessee. It was relieved from the 33rd Division on January 14, 1942, and assigned to Task Force 6814, an assemblage of units gathered for immediate transfer to Australia to defend against threatened Japanese invasion. On January 20, 1942, it sailed from New York and arrived in Australia on February 27. On March 6 it sailed again, arriving in New Caledonia, where it became an infantry component of the newly-created Americal Division on May 24, 1942.

The 132nd Infantry arrived on Guadalcanal on December 8, 1942, where it engaged in combat in the Guadalcanal campaign, including fierce fighting to capture Japanese positions in the Battle of Mount Austen. The Regiment was relieved and sent to Fiji with the rest of the Americal Division to rest and refit.

The 132nd next fought in the Bougainville campaign. It arrived at Cape Torokina on January 9, 1944, and relieved the 3rd Marine Parachute Battalion, the 3rd Marine Raider Battalion, and units of the 145th Infantry, which then reverted to the 37th Division. The 132nd Infantry took over that portion of the perimeter paralleling the Torokina on the extreme right flank and engaged in patrolling and in strengthening defensive positions. On April 5, 1944, after establishing patrols along Empress Augusta Bay, the 132nd successfully launched an attack to capture Mavavia Village. Two days later, while continuing a sweep for enemy forces, the Regiment encountered prepared enemy defenses, where they destroyed some twenty Japanese pillboxes using pole charges and bazookas. Later, the 132nd secured the heights west of Saua River in fierce fighting that lasted until April 18, when the last of the Japanese defenders were killed or driven off.

In 1945, the 132nd participated in the retaking of the Philippine Islands. On March 26, 1945, preceded by a heavy naval and aerial bombardment, troops of the 3rd Battalion, 132nd Infantry waded ashore across heavily-mined beaches during an amphibious invasion of Cebu Island, at a point just south of Cebu City. Elements of the 132nd later secured Mactan Island and Opon Airfield in Cebu province. On November 26, 1945, the 132nd was inactivated at Fort Lewis, Washington.

The 132nd was relieved on July 5, 1946, from assignment to the Americal Division and re-assigned to the 33rd Infantry Division. It was reorganized and federally recognized on February 11, 1947 at Chicago as a component of the Illinois Army National Guard. It consolidated on March 15, 1954, with the 131st Infantry and the consolidated unit was designated as the 131st Infantry, an element of the 33rd Infantry Division.