[39] The division was then slated to move to the Pacific theater of operations to participate in the invasion of mainland Japan on the island of Honshu, but these plans were scrubbed before the division could depart after the surrender of Japan, on V-J Day. Army Battle Casualties and Nonbattle Deaths in World War II, Final Report, 1 December 1941 - 31 December 1946. I had to show them his records, with our unit to prove that he was nowhere near Normandy in June 1944. [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. Thank you so much!Katie Capra Geuin(i am new to this page and didn't see a way to send a message without replying to this one with the same subject line), [Moderation Note: Please see How To: Contact Another User], I checked the 29 June 1945 Division Roster as well as my General Orders' Worksheet and. [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. Documents: All of the files from The 45th Division in World War II: The Thunderbirds Facebook Group in searchable PDF format plus other documents. The main goals of the World War II Recreation Association, 45th Infantry Division reenactors are to honor the veterans who served the United States Armed Forces in World War Two so that their legacy may live on, and to educate all within our reach about the history of our nation and our Armed Forces. [39] The division remained on the line with the U.S. 6th Army Group the southernmost of three army groups advancing through France. In March 1945, the "Thunderbird" division crossed the Rhine River and headed southward. Courtesy of the 45th Infantry Division Museum. 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. "Train, No. [4], On 19 October 1920, units of the Oklahoma National Guard were organized as part of the 45th Infantry Division, also manned with troops from Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. [111], In the division's first few months on the line, Chinese forces conducted three raids in its sector. One possible method of researching his assignments is to start with the morning resorts for the last unit to which he was assigned, which would be the HQ & HQ Company 290 Infantry Regiment. As the 45th Infantry Division completed its drive on Munich, the unit was ordered to liberate the Dachau concentration camp. Battles & Campaigns of World War II Combat load of Infantry SoldierSicily The Army Almanac: A Book of Facts Concerning the Army of the United States; , U.S. Government Printing Office. [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. The 45th Infantry Division, Oklahoma, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico National Guards, the Thunderbirds, were a group of citizen soldiers who fought long and hard during World War II (Sicily, Naples-Foggia, Anzio, Rome-Arno, Southern France, Rhineland, Ardennes-Alsace, and Central Europe Campaigns), and still do today, as a Seperate Infantry Brigade. So the stories that came down through the family where all about dad or grandpa's taking part in the D-Day landings on Normandy because they'd never heard about the ones in Southern France. [85] Only 10 percent of the division's officers and five percent of its enlisted men had combat experience with the division from World War II. Then the Wehrmacht mule drivers were given shovels and ordered to "dig their own shallow graves". We apologize for this inconvenience and appreciate your understanding and patience as we balance mission-critical work and the safety of our staff during the pandemic. The following month, the division landed in Sicily, where it engaged Axis troops in combat. These small-unit actions made up the majority of the division's combat in Korea. "On 20 May, the Regiment was incorporated under the Dachau Area, Command. Their bodies were left behind in various locations throughout Germany. [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. In Section 1, Item 1, where it asks which items you are requesting, please check Other and specify that you want the entire file. [102] Additionally, in an effort to reduce the burden on the National Guard,[n 2] troops from the division were often replaced by enlisted and drafted soldiers from the active duty force. 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. On April 29, 1945, three US Army divisions converged on the camp: the 42nd Infantry, the 45th Infantry, and the 20th Armored. Slowly advancing through Italy, they fought in Anzio and the Beachhead breakout to the capture of Rome. In many cases where personnel records were destroyed in the 1973 fire, 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. [94] Its anti-aircraft and armor assets were used as mobile artillery, which continuously pounded Chinese positions. After landing in France during Operation Dragoon, they joined the 1945 drive into Germany that ended the War in Europe. AAA Group, 31.08.1944-10.11.1944 & 23.11.1944 &18.02.1945 [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. [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. But the mule drivers were shot and buried in the holes they had dug. Based in Oklahoma City and one of the first National Guard units to be activated for World War II, from the shores of France and all the way to Berlin liberating Dachau along the way, they later served in the brutal Korean War. In their report delivered to Congress on May 15, 1945, the senators and representatives stated that. Campaigns of the 45th Infantry Division: Naples-Foggia. [37] Opposing them were elements of the German 29th Panzergrenadier Division and XVI Panzer Corps. On 16 June, the 45th Division withdrew for rest in preparation for other operations. Every Tom, Dick and Harry in the Seventh Army and beyond, claimed to have liberated Dachau KZ on 29 April 1945 or to have. I always felt there was more than a random reason he would have that, though his name\photo is not in the book. . [3] The Oklahoma National Guard units that would later become the 179th Infantry Regiment and 180th Infantry Regiment were assigned to the 36th Division and would earn a combat participation credit during the MeuseArgonne offensive in France as part of the 142nd Infantry. [38] On 10 September, elements of the division conducted its second landing at Agropoli and Paestum with the 36th Infantry Division, on the southernmost beaches of the attack. One possible method of researching his assignments is to start with the morning resorts for the last unit to which he was assigned, which would be the HQ & HQ Company 290 Infantry Regiment. [11], The division's original shoulder sleeve insignia, approved in August 1924,[12] featured a swastika, a common Native American symbol, as a tribute to the Southwestern United States region which had a large population of Native Americans. [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. 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. You did what you had to do.". The following year, on 10 September 1946, the 45th Infantry Division was reconstituted as a National Guard unit. 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 Originally organized in the continental U.S. in 1917, this organization sailed to the Philippines with all of its records and colors. The number of POWs taken by the 45th Division during its almost two years of fighting totalled 124,840 men. & 01.11.1944-10.11.1944 & 01.12.1944-14.02.1945 & 05.03.1945-22.03.1945 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. Click the image to view the campaign. We have every reason to believe him, because he was not the kind to tell stories just to make himself look good. The Regimental, Command Post was moved into Dachau and training began. 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. 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. His discharge of course just general information, various theaters served in, listing him attached to HQ CO 290 INF, 75th DIV, but that didn't explain the 3rd DIV patch on his uniform. The division remained on the front lines in such engagements as Old Baldy Hill and Hill Eerie until the end of the war, returning to the U.S. in 1954. Under this Headquarters, the Regimental CP became the, George Fisher, in his superb "The Story of the 180th Infantry Regiment,", states "On June 9th, our Regiment was relieved of its mission of guarding, the Dachau Concentration Camp by the 72nd AAA Battalion. Hometown - Argyle. [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]. Anzio - Operation Shingle, 22 January- 24 May, 1944: The 45th began landing at Anzio on 22 January, 1944, with the 179th Regiment seeing the Division's first action of the campaign at Aprilia, also known as "the factory" on 27 January. & 1st Platoon, Recon Company). Check out the people who helped make it possible! The 45th Infantry Division World War II in Germany. After advancing up the Italian peninsula, the 45th landed at Anzio in February 1944, where it withstood repeated German assaults against its positions. 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. [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. Please type your message and try again. It had left Buchenwald four weeks earlier on April 7 filled with more than 5,000 prisoners. [39] It sent half of its artillery to support the 70th Infantry Division. However, please note that these records are not online and NARA is not staffed to do this level of research for you. 100 Raoul Wallenberg Place, SW The Seventh Army was being disbanded and Patton had been appointed Military Governor of Bavaria, placing the matter in his hands. [14] The new insignia featured the Thunderbird, another Native American symbol, and was approved in 1939. Visit the 45th Infantry Museum. Since all the many bodies were in various stages of decomposition, the stench of death was overpowering. However, everyone at that time had heard of Dachu so it is what stuck in people's minds. History. 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. It will take considerably longer to eliminate the backlog on other types of requests, such as genealogical requests for complete copies of records. 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. 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. So he might have actually meant one of the subcamps which would increase the number of possible units. During World War II the 45th Infantry Division fought in eight campaigns in the European Theater of Operations, from 9 July 1943 through 11 May 1945. Of POWs taken by the 45th Infantry Division U.S. 6th army Group the southernmost of three army groups through. 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