Training mortar units

Infantry and chemical battalion commanders on Bougainville indicated that they were unfamiliar with each other s organization, tactics, and procedures and recognized the need for joint unit training. This reciprocal unfamiliarity continued to be a problem whenever a mortar unit was committed for its first engagement or a division had a chemical mortar unit attached to it for the first time. ... 

The elements of Reckless Task Force had chemical mortar support for the Hollandia operation, but this support came from a rather odd source. Because of a shortage of mortar units in the zone of interior the War Department in February 1944 authorized the SWPA to convert a tank destroyer battalion to a chemical mortar battalion at the earliest practicable date. Almost immediately the theater reorganized the 641st Tank Destroyer Battalion which, after a brief period of training, participated in the Hollandia operation, under command of Lt. Col. Alexander Batlin. But redesignation waited until Jime 1944, producing the anomalous situation of a so-called tank destroyer unit firing 4.2-inch chemical mortars. ... 

The 98 th Battalion encountered some of the same tribulations on New Guinea that had marked the fighting in the South Pacific Area. These included the unfamiliarity of infantry commanders with the capabilities and limitations of the weapon, the inadequate training of mortar personnel in infantry tactics and procedures, the excessive length of time firing personnel remained in the line without relief, and the deleterious effects of dampness on mortar shell components and their containers. The disadvantages of attaching mortar units to artillery... 

The Central Pacific Area lacked adequate mortar battalion support throughout the entire war. Despite the efforts of Colonel Unmacht, theater chemical officer, the only mortar unit available prior to May 1944 was the 91st Chemical Company (Motorized) which had been stationed in Hawaii under various designations since 19 0. This unit was used in field tests, demonstrations, and joint training exercises, including amphibious assaults with several infantry divisions. 

The armies were moving rapidly forward in September when Rowan and the United Kingdom section of his office moved into the new COMZ headquarters in Paris. Supply of fast-moving items was by then on a hand-to-mouth basis. General Rowan personally visited the ports to expedite the distribution of chemical mortar shell which was finally arriving from the United States. Shortage of docking facilities frequently made it difficult to unload ships. But, when he could get shells ashore, he got the theater chief of ordnance to allot railway ammunition cars for his use and he had these cars included in priority supply trains. Usually no more than one day s reserve of shell was available in forward areas.""... 

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