Brazil’s Contribution to the Allies in World War II
I read an article recently in Military History Magazine about
the Brazilian Expeditionary Force in World War II. Realizing that I am rather “America-centric”
in my reading, this opened my eyes to the contribution of Allied nations other
than “The Big Three” Allied countries of the Soviet Union, Great Britain, and the
United States.
Brazilian troops, newly arrived at Naples, Italy from Rio
de Janeiro, Brazil. July 16, 1944. National Archives |
Initially, Brazil tried to maintain a neutral status. But
after contracting for American bases to be built in Brazil, they severed
diplomatic relations with Germany, Japan, and Italy on January 28, 1942. As a
result Axis submarines began to target Brazilian merchant shipping. U-boats
sunk 13 Brazilian merchant ships by July, killing 600. Brazil declared war on
Germany and Italy on August 22, 1942.
The Brazilian Navy participated in the Battle of the Atlantic,
escorting a total of 614 convoys. They sank a total of twelve submarines (11
German and 1 Italian) along their coast. Brazil lost a total of 36 ships,
including merchant vessels, and losing approximately 1600 crewmen, both navy
and civilian.
Shoulder sleeve insignia of 1st EID |
The 1st EID was assigned to the US IV Corps of General
Mark Clark’s US Fifth Army. They fought alongside African American soldiers of
the 92nd Infantry Division and Japanese Americans of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team. Although under American command, one could argue that the
Fifth Army was a multi-national force. British units consisted of commonwealth
and colonial forces from New Zealand, Canada, India, Nepal, Palestine, South
Africa, Rhodesia, and various African colonies. Free French forces were
comprised of Senegalese, Moroccans, and Algerians. Soldiers from occupied
countries such as Poland, Greece, and Czechoslovakia were also part of the Fifth
Army, as well as anti-fascist Italians.
The 1st EID wore a shoulder patch that has a
caricature of a snake smoking a pipe. It was inspired by a saying in Brazil
during their training that, translated from Portuguese meant “it’s more likely
that a snake will smoke a pipe before the Brazilian Expeditionary Force would
go to the front and fight.” The soldiers embraced this put down and came up with
the motto “The snake will smoke.” The patch is the result of that and it gave them
their nickname: “The Smoking Snakes.”
The 1st EID fought as part of the Fifth Army in northern Italy
until the end of the war in May 1945. During their time in combat, the
Brazilians took over 20,500 prisoners. They lost 948 men killed in action. For
a rundown of their combat operations, read the article “The Boys from Brazil” by Jerome A. Long in the Winter 2023 issue of Military History magazine.
2nd
Lt. Jorge E.P. Taborda, from Rio de Janeiro, a pilot with
the First Brazilian Fighter Squadron serving in Italy. National Archives Photo. |
Of course we are drawn to the history of our own country. But
I think the takeaway here is that we need to acknowledge that the Second World
War was definitely a world war. By my count, there were 21 combatant
nations joining the Americans, the British, and the Soviets on the Allied side
of the war. Not to mention the four former Axis nations that swapped sides and
joined the Allies later in the war (Italy, Romania, Bulgaria, and Finland.) Who
knows? Maybe knowing the contribution of a WWII ally will change how we view our
foreign relations today.