How did Soliders get back home after the war?

Three part question..

Did the US soldiers regroup in England then take boat or plane back or did they leave from France or Germany directly?

Also how did the one's in Italy get back to the states?

How did the Soviets get back home from Southern Europe and Germany? Were there any trains left still intact to take or did they have to walk / catch a ride somehow.

 

From NW Europe -. moved to Staging Areas in France then by ship to USA.

One soldiers personal account, probably typical: http://www.87thinfantrydivision.com/History/345th/Personal/000031.html

Article about staging camps in La Havre area. Initally built for troops arriving in NW Europe, the were a staging area for troops returning home.
http://www.skylighters.org/special/cigcamps/cigintro.html

313 Inantry Inactivation:
https://books.google.com/books?id=YPzlAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA173&lpg=PA173&dq=ww2+staging+areas+,+return+home&source=bl&ots=b3gIm66-6m&sig=yjrATu3t3m3d5rKSOOSjJV8ZtdY&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjsk9bVlfvKAhWKk4MKHTfqCZkQ6AEIHTAA#v=onepage&q=ww2%20staging%20areas%20%2C%20return%20home&f=false

From The Ghost Army by Jack Kneece:
https://books.google.com/books?id=ASmcc9MWjVcC&pg=PA270&lpg=PA270&dq=ww2+staging+areas+,+return+home&source=bl&ots=Djw576kSbW&sig=R3mkqo3SOERKrAcTJK5c6ALNzXQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjsk9bVlfvKAhWKk4MKHTfqCZkQ6AEIMzAE#v=onepage&q=ww2%20staging%20areas%20%2C%20return%20home&f=false

 

Thank you guys I find these accounts of the long trip home interesting. If anyone ha more please post.

 

I never thought of that question to be honest.

 

My father came back on the Queen Elizabeth.

 

The 327 largely went to Le Havre and went by ship. For a personal account, it's in this book which I wrote:

http://www.amazon.com/Glider-Infantryman-Williams-Ford-University-Military/dp/1603449620/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1454527586&sr=1-1&keywords=glider+infantryman+behind+enemy+lines+in+world+war+ii

They lost time to rescue a ship that was in trouble, but that ship beat them back to NY.

They largely went individually as they had points. Most in November that were originals. Going alone was sort of anticlimatic

Most couldn't keep much of anything. Giving up the helmet was traumatic. People processing were not friendly.

Giving up friends they'd been to hell and back was quick. They felt funny not talking to officers.

Most hated the life and wanted to get back. They hated the military.

Many struggled with loud noises and didn't want to be in open areas.

Giggling teenage girls were surprising to them. Girls in the war zones weren't giggly.

Some delayed seeing family as they processed things emotionally.

Replacements with not enough points went home in January with the 325 of the 82nd AB and got to march in the NY parade. It was thrilling to them. I personally think
those guys adjusted better.

Here is the parade: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7v4OMPhRDIM

 

A little off your topic, but somewhat related

My dad was in the Philippines at the end of the war. He said very little about his experience.. He was a Sargent (Company clerk) in the Signal Company that operated the telephone exchange for MacArthur's HQ. They were some distance from the HQ and he never saw MacArthur.

He told me they had an outdoor movie theater. When it got dark and they started the film, Japanese solders would come out of the jungle to watch the movie from a nearby hill. No fighting and when the movie ended the Japanese would be gone.. Before the war he had Japanese friends in his home town and he was not in combat (fortunately) and thus did not have animosity to the Japanese. He felt sympathy for the Japanese prisoners he saw. They were in poor condition and most had no teeth because the had been knocked out for their gold fillings.

He returned ti the States on the aircraft carrier USS Hornet. Because he was interested in electronics he asked for and was granted permission to visit the Radar room. This visit resulted in his only brush with death. He was at the Radar operators station receiving some instruction when lighting struct the antenna, The electricity surging through the system knocked him unconscious.

 

In my case I travelled home from Trieste by train, via Switzerland, and arrived home in England just in time for the worst winter for at least 50 years.

Ron

 

I'm sure that it was good to be back home after all that business on the continent.

 

My great uncle, along with several other soldiers, traveled back to the USA from France via "transshipment by air". Presumably, there were no complimentary refreshments.

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Wow extremely interesting. I often wondered how my grandparents who served in the war returned home.

 

My dad came back on the USS Wakefield

She was in a mothball fleet in the Hudson River in Tomkins Cove, NY near where we lived until 1965. Dad always pointed her out when we went by.

An interesting ship is the IJN Honsho carrier. She survived the war and was used to bring Japanese military and civilians back to Japan from all over the Pacific and China. Over 40,000.