With war clouds on the horizon in Europe, Companies L and M and the Howitzer Company (37mm antitank), 133rd Iowa Infantry Regiment were called to active federal service in 1941. Upon mobilization, the 133rd Infantry was made a part of the U.S. 34th ("Red Bull") Infantry Division, which had been deactivated by the War Department in October 1918. The Iowa guardsmen had participated in all-Army maneuvers at Camp Claiborne, Louisiana in 1940, and were among the first to be federalized. Companies L, M and the Howitzer Company, all from Sioux City, were among the first Americans sent to Europe when they landed in Londonderry, Northern Ireland early in the war. From Northern Ireland, the unit sailed for the Mediterranean Theater, where it saw its first combat in North Africa. In the first major U.S. offensive ground action against Germany in World War Two, the 34th Division was ambushed and badly mauled by German Panzer and mechanized infantry units at Kasserine Pass, Tunisia, in 1943. The division suffered horrendous casualties, including many POWs. Later reconstituted, the 34th saw subsequent combat in Italy.