Subject: [Mil. History] Looking Back ...WWII (part 2)

Article: Memoirs by Col. AUSA

In July 1941, two other US military officers arrived in Suriname. One was a Colonel in the US Army Medical Corps and the other was a US Marines major. In August another colonel of the general staff arrived for a visit.

They came to inspect and to make arrangements in locating a camp site for a US Task Force. Queen Wilhelmina had invited the US government to send US troops to protect the bauxite mines. All expenses were to be paid by the Netherlands. In late November, 1941 part of the American Army Task Force arrived in Suriname. They came from the garrison in Panama by way of Trinidad. They were well received by the population.

Before the end of November 1941, the entire Task Force of 1000 men was in Suriname consisting of infantry units, artillery and the Army Air Force units. The Task Force Commander was Colonel Parley Parkinson. Reference: Memoirs by Col. AUSA Ret.


Met dank aan Albert Buys L. Hoffman, US Army Military History Institute Archives, Carlisle, PA. *Note- The date of the arrival of the task force might not be accurate based on other Army documnets (see previous postings in the list archives).

 


Met dank aan Albert Buys