96th Engineer Battalion (United States)

96th Engineer Battalion
96th Engineer Battalion coat of arms
Active	1941–1946
Country	United States
Branch	United States Army Corps of Engineers
Type	Engineer battalion
Motto	"Ecce Signum" (Latin: Behold the Sign)
Engagements	Dutch East Indies campaign Kokoda Track campaign New Guinea campaign Philippines campaign

The 96th Engineer Battalion was a military engineer unit in the United States Army. The battalion, which was composed mainly of African-American troops, served during World War II and was also known as the 96th Engineer General Service Regiment.

History

The 96th Engineer Battalion was activated as the 9th Engineer Battalion (Separate) at Fort Bragg on 1 June 1941. It embarked at New York on 4 March 1942 and arrived in Australia on 9 April 1942, and at Port Moresby on 28 April.^[1] On 29 July 1942 it was redesignated the 96th Engineer General Service Regiment. It moved to the Philippines on 22 April 1945, and was inactivated there on 15 February 1946.^[2]

Notes

^ Stanton 1984, p. 570.
^ Stanton 1984, p. 542.

References

Hall, Gwendolyn (1995). Love, War, and the 96th Engineers (Colored) The World War II New Guinea Diaries of Captain Hyman Samuelson. Urbana: University of Illinois Press. ISBN 9780252021794.
Stanton, Shelby (1984). Order of Battle: U.S. Army World War II. Novato, California: Presidio Press. ISBN 089141195X. OCLC 10727063.