World War I II Corps was organized on 24 February 1918. Initially it consisted of the 27th, 30th, 33rd, 78th and 80th Divisions. In June 1918, the individual divisions of II Corps, which was commanded by Major General
George W. Read, were assigned to British and Australian corps for familiarization training. On 4 July, elements of the 33rd Division (Major General
George Bell Jr.) took part in the
Battle of Hamel, while attached to the
Australian Corps. (The Australian commander, General Sir
John Monash, was said to have deliberately chosen the date as a gesture and motivator to the American infantry attached to his corps.) Individual platoons, from four companies of the 131st Infantry and 132nd Infantry, were distributed among Australian battalions, to gain combat experience. This, however, occurred without official approval as there was controversy regarding the battlefield command of US troops by junior officers from other countries. Thus, while Hamel was a relatively minor battle by the standards of World War I, it was historically significant as the first major offensive operation during the war to involve US infantry, the first occasion on which US units fought alongside British Empire forces, and a demonstration that the previously inexperienced American troops could play an effective role in the war. The battle was also historically significant for the use of innovative assault tactics devised by the Australian general John Monash. As a result of Pershing's dissatisfaction with the use of US troops the 78th, and 80th Divisions were reassigned and on 23 August 1918 the 33rd Division was moved to the Toul sector. This left just the 27th and 30th Divisions in II US Corps assigned to support the British Expeditionary Force if required. The Divisional artillery brigades of these divisions were also removed and on operations these divisions were supported by Australian or British artillery. It first saw significant action in Europe in August 1918, in the
Hundred Days Offensive, as part of the
British Third Army. The 33rd Division was in reserve behind the British 4th Army at the opening of the August offensive. With the British III Corps attack stalling on the Chipilly Spur feature the 131st Regiment of the 33rd Division was sent to assist on 9 August, which it did with distinction. The following day the Regiment was attached to the 4th Australian Division and remained there until 12 August. From 12 August until 20 August it was combined with the 13th Australian Brigade in what was called the Liaison Force commanded by Brigadier General E A Wisdom. This was designed to hold the front from the Somme to the Bray-Sur-Somme-Corbie road to relieve the 4th Australian Division from the operation. After this it returned to the 33rd US Division. Advances made during a secondary assault by the
Australian Corps (
Battle of Albert) on 21–23 August, were exploited by the Allies in the
Second Battle of the Somme. This pushed the
German 2nd Army back along a
front line. British and US units advanced on
Arras. On 29 August,
Bapaume fell to the
New Zealand Division and other elements of the British
IV Corps. This allowed the Australian Corps to cross the
Somme River on 31 August and break the
German lines in the
Battle of Mont St. Quentin. During late September 1918, with two
Army National Guard Divisions (
27th and
30th, less their artillery) under command, II Corps was attached to the Australian Corps as part of
British Fourth Army. The Corps was involved in the
Battle of St Quentin Canal, during which it suffered heavy losses. The II Corps HQ took over the front from 6 October 1918 relieving the Australian Corps. In turn it was relieved in the line on 20 October by the IX British Corps. Its Organisation for this phase was: 27th Division, 30th Division, 301 US Tank Battalion (Mk V tanks) Attached troops 3 Squadron Australian Flying Corps, VII Corps RA (British), VII Corps HA (British), 4th Tank Bde (British), 1st Tank Bn (Mark V Star), 4th Tank Bn (Mark V). The 301 US Tank battalion remained in support of the British 1st and 6th Divisions until 25 October. II Corps was demobilized 1 February 1919.
Interwar years II Corps (I) As part of the
National Defense Act of 1920, II Corps was constituted in the National on 29 July 1921, allotted to the state of New York, and assigned to the First Army. The headquarters and headquarters company (HHC) were placed on the Deferred List on 2 July 1923 and transferred to the Organized Reserve as a Deferred National Guard unit. The headquarters was initiated in late 1923 with Reserve personnel at 39 Whitehall Street, New York City, New York. HHC, II Corps was withdrawn on 15 August 1927 from the N.G. and demobilized. Concurrently, O.R. personnel were relieved from assignment.
Army reorganization As part of an Army reorganization beginning in August 1927 that grouped the new XX, XXI, and XXII Corps, organized in the Regular Army, under the new Seventh Army, also a Regular formation and the successor of the old First Army, as a contingency force staffed by professional soldiers rather than reservists that could immediately take control of forces and respond to any emergency, the II Corps HHC were withdrawn from the Organized Reserve and demobilized on 15 August 1927. Concurrently, all Reserve personnel were relieved from assignment. Less than two months later, however, the Seventh Army was redesignated the new First Army, and the XX, XXI, and XXII Corps as the new I, II, and III Corps, respectively.
II Corps (II) The second iteration of the II Corps was constituted in the Regular Army as HHC, XXI Corps on 15 August 1927, allotted to the Second Corps Area, and assigned to the Seventh Army. Redesignated HHC, II Corps on 13 October 1927 and concurrently assigned to the First Army. The designated headquarters location for peacetime organization purposes was New York City. On 1 October 1933, the corps headquarters was partially activated at Fort Jay, NY, with Regular Army personnel from Headquarters, Second Corps Area and Reserve personnel from the corps area at large. Though a "Regular Army Inactive" unit from 1933 to 1940, the corps headquarters was organized provisionally for short periods using its assigned Reserve officers and staff officers from Headquarters, Second Corps Area. These periods of provisional Active Duty were generally for CPXs and major maneuvers such as the First Army Maneuvers in 1935, 1939, and 1940. The II Corps headquarters was fully activated on 1 August 1940, less Reserve personnel, at Fort Jay, and assumed command and control of the 1st, 27th, and 44th Divisions for participation in the 1940 First Army maneuvers. After the maneuver, the 1st Division was transferred to the VI Corps, the 27th Division was transferred to the VII Corps, and the 28th and 29th Divisions were assigned to the II Corps. The corps HHC were transferred temporarily to Fort George G. Meade, Maryland, from 10 to 26 December 1940, after which they were transferred to the Pennsylvania Railroad Building, Wilmington, Delaware, arriving there on 26 December 1940. The corps participated in the Carolina Maneuvers in September–November 1941 as part of the First Army. After the maneuver, the corps headquarters began to return to Wilmington and was en route to home stations on 7 December 1941.
World War II Six months after the
Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and the American entry into
World War II, II Corps was sent to
England in June 1942, under the command of
Major General Mark W. Clark. In November, now under Major General
Lloyd Fredendall, II Corps landed in
Oran as part of
Operation Torch, the
Allied invasion of
French North Africa. After initially making good headway against
German forces during the
Tunisia Campaign, II Corps was defeated by German troops under
Hans-Jürgen von Arnim at the
Battle of Sidi Bou Zid. II Corps was again decisively defeated in February 1943 during the
Battle of Kasserine Pass by veteran troops under
Generalfeldmarschall Erwin Rommel. The defeats were compounded by American inexperience, poor senior leadership, and lack of armor comparable to that in the German
panzer forces, as well as the highly effective German high-velocity 88 mm anti-tank guns, which were used in screening tactics to destroy American tanks lured into pursuit of German armored forces. In March 1943, after a change of command to Major General
George Patton, II Corps recovered its cohesion and fought for the rest of the Tunisia Campaign, with a stalemate at the
Battle of El Guettar. II Corps held the southern flank of the
British First Army during the destruction of the remaining
Axis forces in North Africa. The war in North Africa ended in May 1943 with almost 250,000 Axis soldiers surrendering, to become
prisoners of war. On 10 July 1943, II Corps, commanded now by Major General
Omar Bradley, took part in the
amphibious invasion of Sicily (codenamed
Operation Husky) under the command of the
U.S. Seventh Army. It played a key role in the liberation of the western part of the island. The corps consisted of the 1st Infantry Division (United States),
3rd,
9th, and
45th Infantry Divisions. The Allied campaign in Sicily came to an end after 38 days. Now under Major General
Geoffrey Keyes, II Corps was sent to the
Italian Front, arriving in mid-November as part of the
U.S. Fifth Army, where it was to serve for the rest of the conflict, participating in grueling
mountain warfare and often experienced fighting in terrible weather conditions. Soon after arrival, II Corps took the
3rd and
36th Infantry Divisions under command. In late January 1944 II Corps, now with the
1st Armored Division under command, took part in the
Battle of Rapido River, part of the first
Battle of Monte Cassino, to distract German attention away from the
Anzio landings. The operation failed with heavy losses in the 36th Division. During the fourth and final battle of Cassino in May, II Corps consisted of the
85th and
88th Infantry Divisions. For the assault of the German
Gothic Line, II Corps consisted of the
34th, 88th and
91st Infantry Divisions. The corps moved up the western side of Italy, and fought in the
Spring 1945 offensive in Italy, where it ended up on the right flank of the Fifth Army in May 1945. II Corps was inactivated in Austria on 10 October 1945, following Germany's surrender.
Cold War In March 1958,
Camp Kilmer,
New Jersey, became headquarters for the reactivated II Corps as the controlling headquarters for
United States Army Reserve units across the northeast. It also assigned personnel to active duty during the Vietnam War when its headquarters was moved to
Fort Wadsworth, New York.
Inactivation The corps was inactivated on 5 June 1970. ==Commanders==