Map of Middle Tennessee showing Tennessee Maneuver areas during World War II. The army, perceiving in the Cumberland River and the hilly country to the south and north, a similarity to the Rhine and Western Europe, decided to send divisions into the state for their last preparations before actual combat. Between September 1942 and March 1944, nearly one million soldiers passed through the Tennessee Maneuvers area. Courtesy of Tennessee State Library and Archives (TSLA), Nashville, Tennessean
Corporal Thomas Smith (Muskogee, Oklahoma) and Sergeant Ralph Riviera (Pittsburg, California) of Company E, 321st Infantry, 81st Division engaged in street fighting exercises in Dowelltown during the May 1943 Tennessee Maneuvers. The soldiers were attempting to prevent Red forces from fording Dry Creek. The image was originally published in Eugene H. Sloan’s book, Somewhere in Tennessee (1956). Courtesy of Albert Gore Research Center, Middle Tennessee State University
Soldiers Review Orientation Map During Air-Ground Training Exercises during the September 1943 Tennessee Maneuvers. The skills learned in the classroom and during hand-to-hand training were used in the simulated battle maneuvers. The maneuvers provided commanders an opportunity to perfect the skills necessary to successfully move large formations with major logistical requirements on and off the battlefield.
Soldiers (left to right) are Major Limer (Headquarters, 2nd Battalion, 390 Infantry), Lieutenant Colonel T. R. Holmes (106th Division), and Lieutenant Grant H. Gates (Co. B, 323 Engineering Battalion). Courtesy of Albert Gore Research Center, Middle Tennessee State University
The 145th Signal Company soldiers were assigned to the Blue Army during the 1943 Tennessee Maneuvers. As the maneuvers began in late April, the men rushed to finish setting up a BD-72 Field Switchboard in Murfreesboro. Commanders at a battalion level or higher used these 12-line telephone switchboards. These soldiers took care of numerous reports sent in from the other units in the field before the first problem began. The soldiers (left to right) are Private First-Class Anthony Ferlo (Rome, New York), T/5 George R. Newcomb (Coeur D’Alene, Indiana), and T/5 Jesse T. L. Collins (Cedar Grove, Tennessee). Courtesy of Albert Gore Research Center, Middle Tennessee State University.
Soldiers work on a “dummy’ Curtiss P-40 War hawk (September 16, 1943). The soldiers were Sergeant John A. Punessen (Ardmore, Pennsylvania), Sergeant Leo J. Spreitzer (Chicago, Illinois), Sergeant Chester J. Wolf (Chicago, Illinois), and Corporal Ed Leonetti (Chicago, Illinois). Courtesy of Albert Gore Research Center, Middle Tennessee State University
Soldiers on top of the Gunter building in Shelbyville, Tennessee during a blackout. Courtesy of Albert Gore Research Center, Middle Tennessee State University
Tennessee Maneuvers Pennant. Items such as this felt pennant could be purchased at the post exchange (PX) and sent home to loved ones. Courtesy of Camp Forrest Foundation
