After WW II in Europe, every soldier had one thing on their mind–getting home. That proved to be a monumental task with 2.4 million troops to get back across the pond. The Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth carried many of them. In order to get as many men home as soon as possible, they packed them like sardines. The troops had to take shifts in the bunks. It took between 5 to 10 days to make the trip. 

Many wives, in anticipation of their guy’s arrival, went to New York only to find no place to stay. 

When the soldiers arrived in New York, many didn’t have the money to make a call home or to send a telegram. They merely showed up in their hometown. 

At one point, the Longshoremen at the New York harbor went on strike, claiming the loads of the troop ships too heavy, therefore, they walked off the job. 

This is a picture of The Queen Elizabeth packed with about 15,000 men anxious to see their loved ones before Thanksgiving 1945.

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