Regarding his Discharge showing him attached to the HQ CO 290 INF, (75th INF DIV), his personal effects include a 75th ID patch. NPRC expects to eliminate this portion of the backlog by fall 2022, and restore their pre-pandemic response times of under ten days for these requests later this fall. 9, commanded by Major Kirk A. Meaders, and carrying personnel of, our Third Battalion and five Officers and 95 Enlisted Men of the 120th, When I have time, Jon, I will look through the General Orders of the 180th. [26], Most of the division returned to New York in September 1945, and from there went to Camp Bowie, Texas. The 45th Division was deployed on the southeastern side of the beachhead, along the lower Mussolini Canal.[45]. He described often witnessing similar behavior by fellow, Orders from unit commanders during a mission. Welcome to our 45th Infantry Division photo Galleries. History Of the 45th Infantry Following World War I, the National Defense Act of 1920 created the authority to form the 45th Infantry Division from the four states of Oklahoma, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico. [45] The next three months were spent on the defensive, with the 45th engaged in trench warfare, alike to that in World War I. The 179th Infantry and a tank battalion of CCA tried to recapture Aprilia but were repulsed. and see if I can find a CIB for your dad. [10], The 45th Infantry Division engaged in regular drills but no major events in its first few years, though the division's Colorado elements were called in to help quell a large coal mining strike. If it is on the righthand side, as he wore it, then this means the unit he served with was attached to the 3rd ID during combat operations. Seventh Army under Lieutenant General George S. Patton, for the operation. See eVetRecs Help for instructions. City and State: HUNTLEY MT last revision document.write(document.lastModified). But the mule drivers were shot and buried in the holes they had dug. After Action Reports. & 02.11.1944 & 05.12.1944-28.12.1944, Hq & Hq Battery, 938th FA Battalion [49] The 45th, 36th, and 3rd Infantry Divisions were pulled from the line in Italy in preparation for Operation Dragoon (formerly Anvil), the invasion of southern France. In many cases where personnel records were destroyed in the, , proof of service can be provided from other records such as morning reports, payrolls, and military orders, and a certificate of military service will be issued. Division (105mm Howitzer), 01.12.1944-03.12.1944 & 20.01.1945-07.02.1945, 12.03.1945-20.03.1945 & 30.03.1945-01.04.1945, 06.11.1944-09.11.1944 & 28.11.1944-05.12.1944, 313th Infantry Regiment, 79th Infantry The first evidence of the horror to come was a string of about forty railway cars on a siding near the camp entrance. [94] The involvement of the National Guard in the fighting in Korea was further expanded when the 40th Infantry Division of the California Army National Guard received warning orders for deployment as well. Anyways if you see this his name was Clarence LaHayne and he was enlisted. [113] Heavy rainstorms prevented the divisions from retaking the hill for around a month, and when it was finally retaken it was heavily fortified to prevent further attacks. 1st Cavalry . & 3rd Battalions), 3rd Battalion, 36th Engineer Combat [105], The 45th Infantry Division, along with the 7th Infantry Division, fought off repeated Chinese attacks all along the front line throughout 1952, and Chinese forces frequently attacked Old Baldy Hill into the fall of that year. They took part in intense fighting during the invasion of Sicily and the attack on Salerno in the 1943 Italian Campaign. [52][53] Soldiers of the 45th Infantry Division engaged the dispersed forces of German Army Group G, suffering very few casualties. When it arrived in Korea, only half the division's manpower were National Guard troops, and over 4,500 guardsmen left between May and July 1952, continually replaced by more active duty troops, including an increasing number of African Americans. Just that, no other details. Against this, the Allies planned to land 180,000 troops,[27] including the 45th Infantry Division, which was assigned to Lieutenant General Omar Bradley's II Corps, part of the U.S. These cars were an assortment of odd boxcars, some of which were locked, and some were coal-car type. [120] In its place, the independent 45th Infantry Brigade (Separate) was established. NPRC expects to eliminate this portion of the backlog by fall 2022, and restore their pre-pandemic response times of under ten days for these requests later this fall. Command Posts. These prisoners had apparently crawled out of the cars and had died on the ground. [7], The 45th Infantry Division Museum is located in Oklahoma City, and includes a substantial collection of cartoons by World War II cartoonist Bill Mauldin, who served with it during the war. Slowly advancing through Italy, they fought in Anzio and the Beachhead breakout to the capture of Rome. I've always guessed that was possibly for convenience of shipping home. [117] One soldier from the division, Charles George, was awarded the Medal of Honor while serving in Korea. He never claimed to have liberated Dauchau, just that he was there, no other details, and we only learned that toward the end of his life. [55] The 45th Infantry Division, now commanded by Major General Robert T. Frederick, who had previously commanded the 1st Special Service Force, was reassigned to VI Corps on New Year's Day. Army Battle Casualties and Nonbattle Deaths in World War II, Final Report, 1 December 1941 - 31 December 1946. A Company), B & C Companies, 2nd Chemical B Company, 325th Engineer Combat The delegations of journalists and congressmen who had been viewing the Buchenwald concentration camp were quickly diverted to Dachau to see the camp. [13] After a long process of reviewing design submissions, a design by Woody Big Bow, a Kiowa artist from Carnegie, Oklahoma, was chosen for the new shoulder sleeve insignia. [39] The division had great difficulty moving across the rivers and through the mountainous terrain, and the advance was slow. After brief inactivation and subsequent reorganization as a unit restricted to Oklahomans, the division returned to duty in 1951 for the Korean War. In size, these cars were of the small European type, which, when used for the movement of troops, would never accommodate more than 40 men. [84] Regardless, by mid-1950 the division had only 8,413 troops, less than 45 percent[n 1] of its full-strength authorization. [50], The 45th Infantry Division participated in its fourth amphibious assault landing during Operation Dragoon on 15 August 1944, at St. Maxime, in Southern France. The 36th Infantry Division is a possible candidate for your father. Our History Department collects Veteran information for this website and the Library of Congress Veterans History Project. [45] For the next few months the 45th Infantry Division was mostly stuck in place, holding its ground during repeated German counterattacks, and subjected to bombardment from aircraft and artillery.[39]. [15] Its men immediately began basic combat training at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. Cutting across the country, the unit was sent to southern France in August 1944. Fearing political ramifications, Army leaders sought to prevent large numbers of casualties from any one state, and the 45th Infantry Division was an all-Oklahoma organization at the beginning of the war. Lucas then moved the rest of the 45th Division to the left-center of the perimeter, at Aprilia and along the west branch of the Mussolini Canal. [104], The division remained as a unit of the Oklahoma National Guard, and participated in no major actions throughout the rest of the 1950s save regular weekend and summer training exercises. This tool uses JavaScript and much of it will not work correctly without it enabled. [51] The German Army, reeling from the Battle of Normandy, in which it had suffered a major defeat, pulled back after a short fight, part of an overall German withdrawal to the east following the landings. So he might have actually meant one of the subcamps which would increase the number of possible units. Short version, I know that my father was transferred from the Army Air Corps to the infantry, I don't know to what division, in the winter of 1944, when the Allies were lined up along the Rhine. Dragoon was originally planned to coincide with the Normandy landings in the north, but was delayed until August because of a shortage of landing craft. [95], On 1 September 1950,[96] the 45th Infantry Division was activated as the first National Guard division to be deployed to the Far East theater since World War II. Malnutrition and disease were rampant, and corpses lay unburied. Thank you for posting your request on History Hub! [103] Though the division was no longer an "All-Oklahoma" unit, leaders opted to keep its designation as the 45th Infantry Division. 45th Infantry Division. In Section 1, Item 1, where it asks which items you are requesting, please check Other and specify that you want the entire file. They assumed he meant the more well known D-Day in Northern France in June 1944, but what he was actually talking about was the D-Day in Southern France in August 1944. [11] The onset of the Great Depression in the 1930s severely curtailed its funding for training and equipment. After linking up with the British Eighth Army, which had advanced from the south, the combined force, under the 15th Army Group, commanded by British General Sir Harold Alexander, was stalled when it reached the Gustav Line. The 45th landed at Anzio, 22 January 1944, and for 4 months stood its ground against violent assaults. [94] Its anti-aircraft and armor assets were used as mobile artillery, which continuously pounded Chinese positions. [80][121] The 45th Infantry Brigade received all of the 45th Division's lineage and heraldry, including its shoulder sleeve insignia. Veterans and next of kin of deceased veterans also may use eVetRecs to request records. Due to drastic reductions in U.S. military spending following the end of World War II, these divisions were equipped with worn-out or obsolete weaponry and suffered from a shortage of anti-armor weapons capable of penetrating the hulls of the North Korean T-34 tanks. We have no records for him other than his registration card and photos. Later that month, it was given 4,006 new recruits for its three infantry regiments and artillery assets, and each unit created a 14-week training program to prepare these new soldiers for combat. I think that means he would have been in one of the artillery units for the 45th Infantry Division, but I don't know where to find a roster to check. [32] The paratroopers, conducting their first combat jump of the war after six weeks of training in Tunisia, then set up to protect the 45th's flank against German counterattack, but without weapons to counter heavy armor, the paratroopers had to rely on support from the 2nd Armored Division to repulse the German Tiger I tanks. Screen shot attached. [39] It would remain in the area for a month waiting for other units to catch up before crossing the Mortagne River on 23 October. The soldiers of the 45th Division who liberated the camp were outraged at the malnourishment and maltreatment of the 32,000 prisoners they liberated, some barely alive, and all victims of the Holocaust. The Division fought defensively along the German border, withdrawing to the Moder River. Battalion. His discharge papers list him as part of HQ & HQ Company 290 Infantry, which, if I'm right was part of the 75th Division, but they were farther to the north, involved in the Bulge. The division was organized as a full Armored Division in May and June 1942 under the command of . Also in that collection are two Army Air Corps patches - he started out in the Air Corps - and one USSTAF patch, which the Air Corps evolved into sometime prior to the crossing of the Rhine. The 45th moved north to the Sarreguemines area and smashed through the Siegfried Line. The 45th Infantry Division was formed in 1924 from National Guard units in the southwestern United States. Error: You don't have JavaScript enabled. I'm trying to find information on my great grandfather's service in WWII. Dad's photo or name is not in the book. [107] The division suffered its first casualty on 11 December 1951. TheDivision was pulled off the line for rest and training. For more information, please refer to Onsite Operations at the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis. [82], During this time, the U.S. Army underwent a drastic reduction in size. Casualty figures for the 45th Infantry Division, European theater of operations: The 45th Infantry Division gained its nickname, "Thunderbird" division, from the gold thunderbird. I found that book on the 180th Regiment by George Fisher on line. I can count on one hand the stories - harmless stories - we know of his time over there. The scene near the entrance to the confinement area numbed my senses. Armored Division, 409th Infantry Regiment, 103rd Infantry Group, 21.10.1944-24.10.1944 & 01.11.1944-11.11.1944, 15.08.1944-18.08.1944 & 19.09.1944-27.10.1944 These forts had been designed by Kaiser Wilhelm II in 1893 to block access to the plain of Alsace. View the list of all donors. For more information see Official Military Personnel Files (OMPF), Archival Records Requests. The female cooks were first allowed to leave unmolested, then Sheeran and his fellow GIs "ate what we wanted and soiled the rest with our waste". [10] In 1937, the division's troops were once again called up, this time to help manage a locust plague affecting Colorado. [115] The ensuing Battle of Hill Eerie was one of a series of larger attacks by Chinese and North Korean forces which produced heavier fighting than the previous year had seen. & 01.01.1945-16.02.1945 & 04.03.1945-09.05.1945, 191st Tank Battalion (less A Company & 3rd To access these records for the 1940s, you will need to either make an appointment to visit the National Archives at St. Louis or hire a researcher. The first major German counterattack came in early February, was against the British 1st Division. . The 3rd Division was not directly involved in the liberation of Dachau, but Dad, if he was with the 3rd Division, could have been sent over to see the camp. George Patton, the Seventh Army commanding general, asked Omar Bradley, II Corps commanding general, to get the cases dismissed to prevent bad press, but Bradley refused. I came on this site hoping to find a clue to Dad's whereabouts in Germany after crossing the Rhine, but I have to say I don't appreciate him being dismissed as every Tom, Dick, and Harry. The 42nd and 45th Infantry Divisions and the 20th Armored Division liberated Dachu, however there were many subcamps and soldiers with our unit, the 36th Infantry Division, often related in the stories they told to their families that they liberated Dachu, when technically it was a subcamp called Kaufring II in Landsburg. His photos seem to point to him potentially being in the 45th Infantry.We know he entered as a private and within 6 months was a Master Seargent. [91] As a result, in February 1951, the 45th Infantry Division was alerted that it would sail for Japan. Every Tom, Dick and Harry in the Seventh Army and beyond, claimed to have liberated Dachau KZ on 29 April 1945 or to have. On 16 February, a major German attack struck the 45th, and nearly broke through the 179th Infantry on 18 February. 1st Cavalry Medical Squadron. Each car was loaded with emaciated human corpses . The local townspeople were brought in to give the dead prisoners a proper burial. The 45th participated in its fourth assault landing, 15 August 1944, at St. Maxime in Southern France. 100 Raoul Wallenberg Place, SW The 45th Infantry Division was recognized as a liberating unit by the US Army's Center of Military History and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1985. This is intended as a rememberance or memorial to those who served in the 45th Infantry Division. He also claimed to have been at Dachau and talked about it to some detail when I was younger. It arrived on December 2, 1920 and redesignated as a Philippine Scout regiment the next day. On 7 December 1945, the division was inactivated from the active duty force and its members reassigned to other Army units. The 45th Infantry Division guardsmen saw no major action until they became one of the first National Guard units activated in World War II in 1941. [31] After initially encountering resistance from armor of the Hermann Goering Division, the division advanced, supported by paratroopers of the 505th Parachute Regimental Combat Team, part of the 82nd Airborne Division, who landed inland on 11 July. [124], Note: Similarity of dates for General Muldrow and commanders beginning with General Ruffner is because 45th Infantry Division, AUS, was retained in Korea while twin unit, 45th Infantry Division, NGUS, was activated in Oklahoma. I also examined the lists of names in the History of the Third Infantry Division without success. Ray, John F Company, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division 482. [35] After this, the division was allocated to drive towards Messina, being ordered by the Seventh Army commander to cover the distance as quickly as possible. The division was organized in 1923, and Oklahoma members camped together for the first time at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, in 1924. [122][123], The 45th Infantry Division was awarded eight campaign streamers and one foreign unit award in World War II and four campaign streamers and one foreign unit award in the Korean War, for a total of twelve campaign streamers and two foreign unit decorations in its operational history. These offensives were conducted largely in order to secure a better position during the ongoing truce negotiations. After the North Korean People's Army invaded the Republic of Korea, four understrength U.S. divisions on occupation duty in Japan were rushed to South Korea to stand alongside the Republic of Korea Army. [112] Around that time, the 45th Infantry Division relinquished command of Old Baldy Hill to the 2nd Infantry Division. In retaliation, the 245th Tank Battalion sent nine tanks to raid Agok. Almost immediately the Chinese launched a concentrated attack on the hill, overrunning the U.S. [47] On 4 June the 45th Division crossed the Tiber River below Rome, and entered the city along with other VI Corps troops. This Native American symbol became the division's insignia in 1939. 79th Infantry Division, 03.01.1945-17.01.1945 & 22.01.1945-29.01.1945, 19th Armored Infantry Battalion, 14th [115] Chinese forces continued to mount concentrated attacks on the lines of the UN forces, including the 45th Infantry Division, but the division managed to hold most of its ground, remaining stationary until the end of the war in the summer of 1953. [54], After the crossing was complete, the division was relieved from V Corps and assigned to Major General Wade H. Haislip's XV Corps. Red is a symbol of bravery and valor. & 24.11.1944-14.02.1945 & 05.03.1945-15.03.1945 & 20.03.1945-22.03.1945, 15.08.1944-28.11.1944 & 22.12.1944-27.12.1944 The 3rd Div patch is on the left shoulder. Platoon, D Company), 47th Tank Battalion, 14th Armored Division, 47th Tank Battalion, 14th Armored Division (less In later interviews with Charles Brandt, he divided such massacres into four categories: During World War II, the 45th Division fought in 511 days of combat. With the American entry into World War I, in April 1917, troops of the National Guard were formed into the units which exist today, with elements of the Colorado National Guard forming the 157th Infantry Regiment, the Arizona National Guard forming the 158th Infantry Regiment, and the New Mexico National Guard forming the 120th Engineer Regiment. Some of the photos were donated by loved ones seeking to know more about thier relatives wartime . 103rd Infantry Division, 15.08.1944-30.09.1944 & 06.10.1944-26.10.1944 [63] Accounts conflict over what happened and over how many German troops were killed. Please turn JavaScript back on and reload this page. & 01.04.1945-10.05.1945, 636th TD Battalion (SP) (less C Company We have placed this here so that you can get to see the faces of the men behind the history. [48] Men of the 45th Division were the first Allied troops to reach the Vatican. Lucas then ordered the rest of the division ashore. [37] Opposing them were elements of the German 29th Panzergrenadier Division and XVI Panzer Corps. Campaigns of the 45th Infantry Division: Naples-Foggia. Will order it. Originally organized in the continental U.S. in 1917, this organization sailed to the Philippines with all of its records and colors. [93][97] Nevertheless, it was not deployed to Korea until December 1951, when its advanced training was complete. [49] The division was allowed a one-month rest, resuming its advance on 25 November, attacking the forts north of Mutzig. [39] The 45th Infantry Division landed its 157th and 180th regimental combat teams and captured the heights of the Chaines de Mar before meeting with the 1st Special Service Force.
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