to battle the Germans, the mountains, and the cold until relieved from the line Epinal American Cemetery 385, rue de la Rondenolle . But Northwind by launching strong attacks in the south and penetrating the left flank On 16 June, the 45th Division withdrew for rest in preparation for other operations. On 3 June 1944, the regiment E Company, driving the men into a minefield, where the commander and all but one By 12 September, the Seventh Army linked up with Lieutenant General George S. Patton's U.S. Third Army, advancing from Normandy, joining the two forces at Dijon. [37][40], On 3 November it crossed the Volturno River and took Venafro. [99], Though the 45th remained de facto segregated as an all-white unit in 1950,[100] individual unit commanders went to great lengths to integrate reinforcements from different areas and ethnicity into their units. men (68 were left in I Company which landed with 165 men); 2nd Battalion, which Consolidated with the 2nd Infantry Regiment (organized 27-may 1887) and muste… Sanus. the Germans had launched the Ardennes Offensive, known to history as The Battle Lucas then ordered the rest of the division ashore. These were the 7th Infantry Division, the 1st Cavalry Division, the 24th Infantry Division, and the 25th Infantry Division, which were all under the control of the Eighth United States Army. Bitter [82], During this time, the U.S. Army underwent a drastic reduction in size. 158th stood in the way, stopped the Germans and saved the beachhead -- firing Library. (not to be confused with the regular army 1st Infantry Regiment) 1. Although there were pockets of fierce resistance, Nurnberg fell in regiment occupied defensive positions and rotated into a rest area while the unit Far to the north, In practice, the military institutionally recognized the Korea unit as the only "official" division, and most of the returning Oklahoma guardsmen were either separated from the Guard at the end of their enlistments or remained in inactive reserve status. fierce fighting, including a pitched battle for the town castle, went on until [33] For most of the first two weeks while the division moved slowly north, it encountered only light resistance from Italian forces fighting delaying actions. the progress was to stop, on order from higher headquarters. [49] From 2 January 1945, the division fought defensively along the German border, withdrawing to the Moder River. 16 Feb 44 ... Battle at Anzio Anzio Campaign CD 1 24 Pages - PDF. 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. This level [49] On 30 September the division crossed the Moselle River and entered the western foothills of the Vosges, taking Rambervillers. had landed with 713 men and 38 officers, had only 162 men and 15 officers still or "I am a defeatist.". for allowing us to use this historical overview. Showers were arranged committed to battle on 10 July 1943, in the assault wave of the landings on [37], On 3 September 1943, Italy surrendered to the Allied powers. [52][53] Soldiers of the 45th Infantry Division engaged the dispersed forces of German Army Group G, suffering very few casualties. [37] Against stiff resistance, the 45th pushed to the Calore River after a week of heavy fighting. by artillery fire and many men were killed and wounded -- 160 were evacuated and [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. and the enemy wave began to withdraw -- followed aggressively by the Americans. Government Organization. Hugh spent many hours compiling this information from numerous sources. [36] The 45th Division spent a few days in that city, but on 1 August, the division was withdrawn from the front line for rest and rear-guard patrol duty,[26] after which the division was assigned to Major General Ernest J. Dawley's VI Corps, part of the U.S. Fifth Army, under Lieutenant General Mark W. Clark, in preparation for the invasion of mainland Italy. Purple Heart After a period of nine days reorganizing in division reserve, the regiment once fighting, against strong resistance and horrible weather continued until the regiment 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. [94][98] Following its arrival, the division moved to the front line to replace the 1st Cavalry Division, who were then delegated to the Far East reserve, having suffered over 16,000 casualties in less than 18 months of fighting. on 10 January 1944 after 72 days of continuous combat. With only brief spell in reserve, the regiment continued [10] In 1937, the division's troops were once again called up, this time to help manage a locust plague affecting Colorado. [90] Nevertheless, the division was one of four National Guard divisions identified as being among the most prepared for combat based on the effectiveness of its equipment, training, and leadership. [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]. Below are some "fast facts"; • Activated: 16 September 1940 April 1945, it resumed the attack. small arms fire. The division received seven distinguished unit citations and eight campaign streamers during the conflict. On 29 August 1944, the regiment was relieved from the line Cabin Creek Battlefield. The 4th [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. [39], Allied forces conducted a frontal assault on the Gustav Line stronghold at Monte Cassino, and VI Corps, under Major General John P. Lucas from 20 September, was assigned to Operation Shingle, detached from the 15th Army Group to land behind enemy lines at Anzio on 22 January 1944. Battalions were bombed by American planes. forces. the city fell on 3 April 1945. Maginot Line. [39] At this time, VI Corps was attached to the Seventh Army, under Lieutenant General Alexander Patch, itself part of the 12th Army Group under Lieutenant General Jacob L. Lucas sent famed U.S. Army Ranger leader Colonel William Orlando Darby to assume command of the 157th Infantry, and the Germans were repulsed. [11] The onset of the Great Depression in the 1930s severely curtailed its funding for training and equipment. The 45th, in turn, was under constant artillery and mortar attack. 157th US Infantry Regiment. The Dachau massacre and other reprisal killings of concentration camp guards and trustee inmates. The 45th Infantry Division served for 511 days in Combat in the European African Middle Eastern Theater; during this time they served in the campaigns of SICILY, NAPLES-FOGGIA, ANZIO, ROME-ARNO, SOUTHERN FRANCE, RHINELAND, ARDENNES-ALSACE, and CENTRAL EUROPE. Captain Felix L. Sparks, was sent forward to take command of the remnants of E But of the beachhead. [92], In preparation for the deployment, the division was sent to Fort Polk, Louisiana, to begin training and to fill its ranks. Thunderbirds - 45th Infantry Division Museum Living Historians. Reaching the Danube River at Marxheim on 25 [63] Accounts conflict over what happened and over how many German troops were killed. The 1st and 3rd Infantry Divisions, commanded by Major Generals Terry Allen and Lucian Truscott respectively, sailed from ports in Tunisia, while the 45th Infantry Division, under Major General Troy H. Middleton, sailed from the United States via Oran in Algeria. [94] Its anti-aircraft and armor assets were used as mobile artillery, which continuously pounded Chinese positions. [87][88], Initially, the division was used to provide a pool of reinforcements for the divisions which had been sent to the Korean War theater, and in January 1951 it provided 650 enlisted fillers for overseas service. The 2nd Battalion Adjutant, Two regiments of the 45th (the 179th and 157th Infantry) were sent to the Aprilia sector to reinforce the British. [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. [32] The paratroopers, conducting their first combat jump of the war, 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. After investigating the incident, the Army considered court-martialling several officers involved, but Patton successfully intervened. The next day I Company was hit [43] Landing on schedule, VI Corps surprised the Germans, but Major General Lucas's decision to consolidate the beachhead instead of attacking gave the Germans time to bring the LXXVI Panzer Corps forward to oppose the landings. Additionally, only about 20 percent of its personnel had prior experience of military service from World War II. Last week, I received from the National Archives in College Park, MD, the After Action Reports of the 157th Infantry Regiment, 45th Infantry Division, for March and April 1945. [21][23] By the time the 45th Division landed in North Africa on 22 June 1943, the Allies had largely secured the African theater. in an operation to leapfrog up the coast to by-pass heavy defenses. [106] It was deployed around Chorwon and assigned to protect the key routes from that area into Seoul. Fisher personally knocked out five automatic These forts had been designed by Kaiser Wilhelm II in 1893 to block access to the plain of Alsace. Lineage And Honors Information. to the hero, when his sword Has won the battle for the free, Thy voice Bronze Star. U.S. Army 1st Lt. Matthew McCoy with 1st Battalion, 179th Infantry Regiment, 45th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, interacts with a local boy after a successful key leader engagement at a school in the Nurilam 120111-A-TG859-097.jpg 1,800 × 1,200; 1.1 MB of the 45th Division. over a German mine, and Colonel Ankcorn lost a leg. Commander called artillery fire on his own positions. [105] The division was put under the command of Eighth Army's I Corps for most of the conflict. landings. [91] As a result, in February 1951, the 45th Infantry Division was alerted that it would sail for Japan. The 45th Division next crossed the Zintzel River before pushing through the Maginot Line defenses. [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. [89] Because of heavy casualties and slow reinforcement rates, the Army looked to the National Guard to provide additional units to relieve the beleaguered Eighth Army. [116], During the Korean War the 45th Infantry Division suffered 4,004 casualties, consisting of 834 killed in action and 3,170 wounded in action. there was negligible resistance from the enemy; the regiment captured 350 Germans Though enemy resistance was light, twenty-seven men were drowned in the [26], Most of the division returned to New York in September 1945, and from there went to Camp Bowie, Texas. In its 667 days overseas, the regiment was in battle for about 470 days. ship in one such operation a landing craft loaded with men broke free from the Rhine on 26 March. to break out of the beachhead, battling at such places as the Tobacco Warehouse The 45th Division was deployed on the southeastern side of the beachhead, along the lower Mussolini Canal.[45]. On 29 April 1945, 3rd Battalion liberated the concentration camp at least one more incidence of calls for artillery fire on friendly positions. When the regiment came off the line in January 1944, it was moved to a rest area again was committed to the attack -- toward Nurnberg, and Munich, the birthplace [28], The division was subsequently assigned a lead role in the amphibious assault on Sicily, coming ashore on 10 July. Soldiers from the 45th Infantry marching towards Messina, Sicily (image courtesy of … 157th Infantry Regiment 179th Infantry Regiment 180th Infantry regiment a German tank and shot down its escaping crew, blew up a German artillery piece, Next, the regiment participated in the assault landings at Salerno, Italy, coming Lineage and Honors Information as of 25 April 2013. at Dachau, and at the close of the day regimental units were in the outskirts They returned home at the end of the war. [32] As the division advanced towards its main objective to capture the airfields at Biscari, and Comiso, German forces pushed back. 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". 1st Battalion, 179th Infantry Regiment. [39] The division crossed the Danube River on 27 April, and liberated 32,000 captives of the Dachau concentration camp on 29 April 1945. including the Battalion Commander, who was killed. [57], During and after the war, courts-martial were convened to investigate possible war crimes by members of the division. The core infantry regiments were the 157th, 179th and the 180th Infantry Regiments. attack. [4], On 19 October 1920, units of the Oklahoma National Guard were organized as part the 45th Infantry Division, also manned with troops from Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. --Fitz-Green Halleck. casualties on Sicily numbered close to 200. When and then escorted two wounded men 1,700 yards to safety. The mortar unit belongs to 1st Battallion, 180th Infantry Regiment of the 45th Brigade of National Guard and is attached to 10th Mountain Division. wounded or injured and evacuated and 426 (many of whom were wounded) were captured. After landing in France during Operation Dragoon, they joined the 1945 drive into Germany that ended the War in Europe. the rapid push up the Valley of Rhone, meeting stiff resistance here and there, Confessed murderer Frank Sheeran later recalled his war service as the time when he first developed a callousness to the taking of human life. The Seventh Army was being disbanded and Patton had been appointed Military Governor of Bavaria, placing the matter in his hands. 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. The first major German counterattack came in early February, was against the British 1st Division. [64] Some veterans of the 45th Infantry Division have said that only 30 to 50 German soldiers were killed and that very few were killed trying to surrender, while others have admitted to killing or refusing to treat wounded German guards.[65]. On 6 October 1943 E Company was hit Its sister regiments, the 179th and 180th, conducted assault crossings of the The 180th Infantry Regiment was organized as the Third Oklahoma Infantry during May, 1918, and was federally recognized as a National Guard unit on September 3, 1918. thanks to LTC Hugh Foster III (Ret.) was virtually wiped out by German tanks. Organized 29-December 1881 With Headquarters in Denver Expanded and redesignated 22-March 1883 as the 1st Regiment Infantry 1. [93][97] Nevertheless, it was not deployed to Korea until December 1951, when its advanced training was complete. But the mule drivers were shot and buried in the holes they had dug. and bypassed by the Germans, who moved toward the ocean, threatening the whole One of them has stopped to pick a tomato (image courtesy of the National Archives Signal Corps Records). [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. The next day the Regimental Commander's jeep ran was relieved from the line and moved to a rest area. ABMC Headquarters 2300 Clarendon Blvd, Suite 500 Arlington, VA 22201 Phone: 703-584-1501 [41] Until 9 January 1944, the division, now under Major General William W. Eagles (replacing Major General Middleton who, struck down with arthritis, was sent to England to command VIII Corps in the Normandy invasion), inched forward into the mountains reaching St. Elia, north of Monte Cassino, before moving to a rest area. Rank and organization: Second Lieutenant, US Army, Company E, 157th Infantry Regiment, 45th Infantry Division. [49] The division was allowed a one-month rest, resuming its advance on 25 November, attacking the forts north of Mutzig. See: harvnb error: multiple targets (2×): CITEREFWilson1999 (, Army Battle Casualties and Nonbattle Deaths, Final Report (Statistical and Accounting Branch, Office of the Adjutant General, 1 June 1953), Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation, European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Streamer, "Lt. Kleindienst's Forward Observer's Notebook", "Codes Used in the Daily Journals of the Command Reports", "Legislature Honors 45th Infantry Brigade", "Home at Last – National Guardsmen Return Home", The American People in World War II: Freedom from Fear, Part Two, "Obama will award Medal of Honor to 24 overlooked Army veterans", 45th Infantry Division History and Reenactments, The 45th: The Story of the 45th Infantry Division, Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture – Forty-fifth Infantry Division (OKANG), https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=45th_Infantry_Division_(United_States)&oldid=999516932, Infantry divisions of the United States Army, United States Army divisions during World War II, Military units and formations established in 1924, United States Army units and formations in the Korean War, Military units and formations disestablished in 1968, Divisions of the United States Army National Guard, Military units and formations in Oklahoma, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 45th Infantry Division Artillery, 45th Cavalry Reconnaissance Troop (Mechanized), Headquarters, Special Troops, 45th Infantry Division, Headquarters Company, 45th Infantry Division, 45th Counterintelligence Corps Detachment, Revenge killings in the heat of battle. for the landing in southern France, which came on the latter date. of the Bulge. [108], Initially, the division did not fare well, though it improved quickly. [81] During this time the division was also reorganized and as a part of this process the 157th Infantry was removed from the division's order of battle and replaced with the 279th Infantry Regiment. of Nazism. four days. It joined the United Nations troops on the front lines during the stalemate of the second half of the war, with constant, low-level fighting and trench warfare against the People's Volunteer Army of China that produced little gain for either side. The very next day the Germans launched a tank-supported attack against the regiment. [34] Italian and German forces resisted fiercely at Motta Hill on 26 July, however, and for four days the 45th Division was held up there. American lines. [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 was then reassigned to V Corps, under the command of Major General Leonard T. Gerow, for its next advance. attack was stopped. on 29 May, many of the stragglers sheltered under a large ledge, which was toppled The 157th Infantry Regiment was once again in the attack. The unit was redesignated as the 180th Infantry on October 14, 1921. Once this rest period was complete, the division was assigned to XV Corps for the final push into German territory. [117] One soldier from the division, Charles George, was awarded the Medal of Honor while serving in Korea. By 20 March, the Line had been penetrated, the Germans began a withdrawal to the Rhine River, and the regiment pursued them at … By early the next morning the The regiment was first On 7 February 1944 3rd Battalion was hit hard by a German night attack, a withdrawing rifle company. [83] The division retained many of its best officers as senior commanders as the force downsized, and it enjoyed a good relationship with its community. 45th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry Regiment United States Regiments & Batteries > Pennsylvania > Infantry The 45th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry Regiment lost 13 officers and 214 enlisted men killed or mortally wounded and 252 enlisted men to disease during the Civil War. 15 Mar 45 45th Infantry Division 157th Infantry Regimet Regiment in a Night Attack Palatinate, France CD 1 30 Pages - PDF. Company, but the German attacks were so fierce and concentrated -- the Germans [80][121] The 45th Infantry Brigade received all of the 45th Division's lineage and heraldry, including its shoulder sleeve insignia. [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. 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. drove right up to the foxhole line in tanks and fired the main guns directly into [118], The division briefly patrolled the Korean Demilitarized Zone following the signing of the armistice ending the war, but most of its men returned home and reverted to National Guard status on 30 April 1954. Seventh Army under Lieutenant General George S. Patton, for the operation. April 1945, the regiment conducted an assault crossing under heavy artillery and [101] By 1952, it was fully integrated. [9] The division's first commander was Major General Baird H. [42] For this mission, CCA (Combat Command A) of the 1st Armored Division was attached to the 45th Infantry Division. After entering the camp, the soldiers found boxcars filled with dead bodies of prisoners who had succumbed to starvation or last-minute executions, and in rooms adjacent to gas chambers they found naked bodies piled from the floor to the ceiling. The 45th Infantry Division took the strongly defended city of Epinal on 24 September. [110] Chinese troops were well dug-in and better trained than the troops of the inexperienced 45th, and it suffered casualties and frequently had to disengage when it was attacked. [39] It sent half of its artillery to support the 70th Infantry Division. [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 4th Medal of Honor was earned on 18 March while breaching the Sigfried line, by Edward G. Wilkin. [104][n 3], By the time the division was in place, the battle lines on both sides had largely solidified, leaving the 45th Infantry Division in a stationary position as it conducted attacks and counterattacks for the same ground. the fight ended on 20 January, 158 GIs had been killed in action, 350 had been which saw one of its battalions (3rd) and companies from each of the 1st and 2nd The men were stunned to find German soldiers hanging lieutenant platoon leader, Almond E. Fisher, who led his platoon in a pre-dawn The regiment moved out of the rest areas on 13 March 1945 and moved [79] Soldiers of the division also received 61 Distinguished Service Crosses, three Distinguished Service Medals, 1,848 Silver Star Medals, 38 Legion of Merit medals, 59 Soldier's Medals, 5,744 Bronze Star Medals, and 52 Air Medals. 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. These offensives were conducted largely in order to secure a better position during the ongoing truce negotiations. [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. [8] As a consequence of these militia roots, when the division was properly organized, many of its members were marksmen and outdoorsmen from the remote frontier regions of the Southwestern United States. The Regiment's 3rd [39] The Fifth Army was battered and pushed back by German forces until 20 September, when Allied forces were finally able to break out and establish a more secure beachhead. 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. By the end of December, 1944, the 157th Infantry Regiment had seen more than 365 days of combat. last revision document.write(document.lastModified); Please near Naples for refitting and training for participation in the assault landings [105] Two companies of Chinese forces ambushed and devastated a patrol from the 179th Infantry a short time later. [7] It was assigned the 89th Infantry Brigade of the Colorado and Arizona National Guards, and the 90th Infantry Brigade of the Oklahoma National Guard. As a result, the division was not sent into combat upon arrival and instead commenced training at Arzew, French Morocco,[26] in preparation for the invasion of Sicily. 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. The 45th Infantry Division took part in the invasion of Sicily and the landing at Salerno. In retaliation, the 245th Tank Battalion sent nine tanks to raid Agok. [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. On 7 December 1945, the division was inactivated from the active duty force and its members reassigned to other Army units. [109] It also conducted constant small-unit patrols along the border seeking to engage Chinese outposts or patrols. [48] The U.S. (I have had the honor [39] During this time much of the division's artillery assets were attached to the 44th Infantry Division to provide additional support. Allied intelligence estimated that the island was defended by approximately 230,000 troops, the majority of which were drawn mostly from weak Italian formations and two German divisions which had been reconstituted after being destroyed earlier. Two of the division's artillery battalions, the 189th and the 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. Regimental attack against heavy resistance. [62] The cremation ovens, which were still in operation when the soldiers arrived, contained bodies and skeletons as well. He became a sergeant in Company F, 2nd Battalion, 157th Infantry Regiment, 45th Infantry Division (nicknamed "Thunderbirds").