Edwin Forrest Harding (September 18, 1886 – June 5, 1970) commanded the 32nd Infantry Division at the beginning of World War II.

He graduated 74th among his classmates from the United States Military Academy in 1909, who included John C. H. Lee (12), Jacob L. Devers (39), George S. Patton (46), Horace H. Fuller (59), Robert L. Eichelberger (68), and William H. Simpson (101).

[2]: 7  He graduated from West Point in the class of 1909, which also included future generals George S. Patton, Jacob L. Devers, John C. H. Lee, Robert L. Eichelberger, and William H.

During 1934, Col. George Catlett Marshall was assistant commandant at Fort Benning and selected Harding as an instructor and put him in charge of the Infantry School's publications.

This contrasted with the square division structure of World War I which was designed for attrition combat characteristic of trench warfare.

"[7] In a first for World War II, General Douglas MacArthur ordered the 128th Infantry Regiment to be flown from Australia to New Guinea, the greatest distance the Air Force had airlifted men up to that time.

[8] When he learned how the trek across the 9,100 feet (2,800 m) mountain divide was so debilitating and lengthy, Harding requested that the remainder of the division be flown to the Buna area, to join Australian units in an assault on the main Japanese beachheads in eastern New Guinea.

Because of a lack of parachutes, material was shoved off airplanes at a height of 40 or more feet, and were often damaged or completely lost due to mis-drops.

[11] Harding accepted MacArthur's decision to rely on direct air support in place of tanks or heavy artillery, and his troops were stopped cold by formidable Japanese field fortifications.

[11] With the only artillery support provided by a single 25-pounder battery with limited ammunition, the division was unable to make further progress against these positions.

When the 32nd Division failed to advance, MacArthur became so concerned about the lack of progress that he sent Major General Robert L. Eichelberger, commander of I Corps, to report on the situation.

Two of his staff officers, Colonels Clarence A. Martin and Gordon B. Rogers, inspected the right flank, which was designated the Warren Force.

"[14] Eichelberger later noted that after he relieved Harding he "ordered the medicos to take the temperature of an entire company of hollow-eyed men near the front.

Eichelberger conspicuously wore his three stars on his shoulders among the front-line troops, ignoring the rule that officers remove their insignia at the front because they would attract enemy fire.

In 1943, he was made Commander of the Mobile Force in the Panama Canal Zone, and in 1944 Commander of the Antilles Department in the Caribbean, an unimportant assignment comprising 20 forts, camps and fields in the lesser islands from Cuba, Haiti, Costa Rica to Aruba, and portions of northern South America.