Naval bases at Nome and Juneau Alaska

[Buck Beach]

In my efforts to learn more about Alaska's role in the early war and to tweak my own personal mod of Da Babes mod I am drawing a blank regarding any naval installations at Nome or Juneau. Nome has a company of the 153 (Sep) Regt and an army "Station Complement" and I found one reference to a National Guard garrison at Juneau. Can anybody provide me any other information or link regarding this.

[Don Bowen]

The 297th Infantry of the Alaska National Guard is the unit in question. Only one battalion was formed, originally at Juneau and then split between Anchorage and Chillkoot barracks (near Juneau). The remainder of the regiment was not formed (or maybe not called into service?) during World War II. First Battalion, 297th, was eventually redesignated 208th Independent Infantry Battalion.

[Buck Beach]

ORIGINAL: Don Bowen


The 297th Infantry of the Alaska National Guard is the unit in question. Only one battalion was formed, originally at Juneau and then split between Anchorage and Chillkoot barracks (near Juneau). The remainder of the regiment was not formed (or maybe not called into service?) during World War II. First Battalion, 297th, was eventually redesignated 208th Independent Infantry Battalion.

Thank's Don, what about the naval base issue.

[Don Bowen]

I don't have anything handy. If you're up for some reading, there's: http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/Bui ... #contents1

[herwin]

ORIGINAL: Buck Beach

In my efforts to learn more about Alaska's role in the early war and to tweak my own personal mod of Da Babes mod I am drawing a blank regarding any naval installations at Nome or Juneau. Nome has a company of the 153 (Sep) Regt and an army "Station Complement" and I found one reference to a National Guard garrison at Juneau. Can anybody provide me any other information or link regarding this.

I don't know about Juneau during the war, but when I came through in 1965, it was about 5000 people with a nice little port, about the size of Scalloway in the Shetlands. As I remember, the primary industries were government and canning--I'm not sure in what order. No obvious military development. Sitka had a bigger harbour.

[Bradley7735]

I do know that almost every island near populated areas that faced the pacific had some kind of fortification built during the war. I've been on quite a few islands within 20 miles of Sitka and there's bunkers on most. Most fortifications held observers, I think. Gun batteries would probably be represented in the base forces. The fortifications that I've seen are more like glorified coast watchers.

I've had a few WTF moments deer hunting in the middle of nowhere. If you've got good observation skills, you can see the impression of the ancient road they made to put a bunker on the top of a small mountain. It's all overgrown now, and finding the sites have all been by accident. I'd be interested to see if any kind of records exist about any war time construction.

[Blackhorse]

ORIGINAL: Buck Beach

ORIGINAL: Don Bowen


The 297th Infantry of the Alaska National Guard is the unit in question. Only one battalion was formed, originally at Juneau and then split between Anchorage and Chillkoot barracks (near Juneau). The remainder of the regiment was not formed (or maybe not called into service?) during World War II. First Battalion, 297th, was eventually redesignated 208th Independent Infantry Battalion.

Thank's Don, what about the naval base issue.

FWIW, I researched the US land OOB for AE. From my records, there were apparently no naval installations at Juneau or Nome when the war begin.

Nome later had significance as a way-station for the AL-SIB (Alaska-Siberian) aircraft shuttles from the US to Russia. Over half of the 15,000 planes the US sent to Russia in WWII airfield-hopped through Canada to Fairbanks, where they were transferred to Russian pilots. The bombers flew direct from Fairbanks to Russian air bases. The fighters (generally P-39s) shuttled through Nome en route to Russia.

The 297th is in the game, as Don describes (battalion-sized). It is renamed the 208th in 1944.