Jump to content

The US Army Australian Officer Candidate School in WWII


Bob Hudson
 Share

Recommended Posts

I never knew until now that the US Army operated an Officer Candidate School - OCS - in Brisbane, Australia in WWII. I recently picked up an M1916 holster name to what turned out to be a WWII Ordnance officer who spent 2-1/2 years instructing at the school.

 

Then-Captain HT Amrine is named in this article:

 

ocs.jpg

 

ocs2.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My Dad went to OCS in Australia during the war at Camp Columbia in Brisbane. These were the "Ninety day wonders" correct?

 

This was likely one of his instructors then.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I see that your man headed up the ordinance unit of the OCS in Brisbane. My Dad was a medic with the 32nd Infantry Division so he was in the medical unit of that OCS. My Dad had just graduated from pharmacy school in the Spring of "42 and was promptly directed to report to his local Draft Board. I'm guessing Capt. Amrine was in close proximity though. My Dad told a story of a soldier who had attended OCS with him, apparently a talker with a booming voice. Their class was only about 20 men. My Dad recognized his voice one night as their 2 units were passing. They had a brief opportunity to speak and my Dad said he would try to get to this other soldier's unit the next day to shoot the breeze. When my Dad got there he was told that his friend had died the night before in a mortar or artillery attack. Just hard to imagine what all these young soldiers went through so far from home.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Who then exactly were sent trough this OCS course? Were they Vets of the fighting up in New Guinea with EMs already stationed in divisions and or separate battalions in Australia prior to going up to New Guinea, IE the 41st, 24th Inf Div's the 1st Cav Div etc?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Who then exactly were sent trough this OCS course? Were they Vets of the fighting up in New Guinea with EMs already stationed in divisions and or separate battalions in Australia prior to going up to New Guinea, IE the 41st, 24th Inf Div's the 1st Cav Div etc?

 

Good question: I assume it was to provide officer replacements from ranks of enlisted men already in the Pacific without having to send the candidates all the way back to the States.

 

I checked wikipedia and it admits that little is known aobut the SWPA OCS and it appears the information they do have is mostly wrong, calling it a Signal Corps operation:

 

During WWII, the U.S. Army Signal Corps ran an Officer Candidate School located in the war zone labeled as the South West Pacific Area (SWPA), at Camp Columbia, Brisbane, Australia. From photographs taken by the U.S. Army, it is apparent that this course was integrated with the U.S. Army's Signal Corps OCS program at Ft. Monmouth, New Jersey. Contemporary records indicate that the course was branch immaterial – perhaps the first branch immaterial course in the Army. Unfortunately, there is little information about the particulars of how SWPA OCS was operated, such as its length, subject matter content, training routine, etc. In particular, its years of operation and other reliable statistical information are not readily available.

 

In fact, as the newspaper clip above notes, the OCS was run by the Army's Service of Supply, with instructors from eight branches. Unlike wikipedia, the newspaper article also says the course was six weeks (at least initially) including eight hours of daily instruction plus homework.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Brisbane OCS was located at Camp Columbia, whose other tenants included US 6th Army Headquarters, 42 US General Hospital, 28th Surgical Hospital, 91st Station Hospital, 13th Medical General Dispensary, 99th Signal Battalion and 3rd USAFIA.

 

6th Army later left in 1944, but an Australian government websie says the OCS stayed at Camp Columbia until 1945.

 

I just found another Australian site that has more info about OCS Down Under, including some photos:

 

https://www.ozatwar.com/usarmy/ocs.htm

 

ocsphoto.jpeg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...