7th Cavalry Regiment (United States) - World War II

World War II

The 7th Cavalry Regiment was dismounted on February 28, 1943, and started packing up for deployment to the Pacific Theater, still part of 1st Cavalry Division. The 7th Cavalry staged at Camp Stoneman, California on June 18, 1943, and departed the San Francisco Port of Embarkation on June 26, 1943. It arrived in Australia on July 11, 1943, where it trained for combat, and then participated in the New Guinea campaign, which began on January 24, 1943, and did not end until December 31, 1944.

The regiment was relieved from duty in this campaign, and moved on to be reorganized under special Cavalry and Infantry Tables of Organization & Equipment on December 4, 1943, and then trained for combat and participated in the Bismarck Archipelago campaign, which started on December 15, 1943, and did not end until November 27, 1944.

The 7th Cavalry moved to Oro Bay, New Guinea on February 22, 1944, and moved by landing craft to Negros Island on March 4, 1944 to reinforce the units in the Admiralty Islands campaign, securing Lombrum Plantation.

The 7th Cavalry moved on to Hauwei Island, which it secured on March 12–13, 1944. The regiment continued on, and arrived at Lugos Mission on Manus Island on March 15, 1944.

The Leyte campaign started on October 17, 1944, and 7th Cavalry moved on towards the Philippines, and assaulted Leyte on October 20, 1944. 7th Cavalry reached the Visayan Sea in late December 1944, and reassembled with the 1st Cavalry Division near Tunga on January 7, 1945. Leyte did not end until July 1, 1945, but 7th Cavalry was needed for the Luzon campaign, which started on December 15, 1944.

Deploying again by landing craft, 7th Cavalry landed at Luzon on January 27, 1945, where the regiment engaged until the end of the Luzon campaign on July 4, 1945. 7th Cavalry again reorganized—this time entirely under Infantry Tables of Organization & Equipment, but still designated as a Cavalry Regiment, on July 20, 1945 to prepare for the invasion of the main Japanese islands. However, the invasion was not to be. 7th Cavalry Regiment was at Lucena, Batangas in the Philippines until September 2, 1945, when it was moved to Japan to start Occupation duty.