If you havent already done so, we suggest that you request a copy of his Official Military Personnel File (OMPF). Your relative might have been told at the time that his unit was liberating a Dachu camp and it just stuck that it was "the" Dachu camp instead of one of its many sub camps. Campaigns of the 45th Infantry Division: Sicily. [117] One soldier from the division, Charles George, was awarded the Medal of Honor while serving in Korea. 45th Infantry Division "Thunderbird" 1939 and before 1939 - present 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. We have no records for him other than his registration card and photos. Error: You don't have JavaScript enabled. No record of Clarence E. LaHayne in the June 1945 Roster of the 45th Infantry Division nor. Thank you for posting your request on History Hub! [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. . The Dachau massacre and other reprisal killings of concentration camp guards and trustee inmates. On 30 January 1944, when VI Corps advanced from the beaches, it encountered heavy resistance and took heavy casualties. 79th Infantry Division, 03.01.1945-17.01.1945 & 22.01.1945-29.01.1945, 19th Armored Infantry Battalion, 14th 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 found that book on the 180th Regiment by George Fisher on line. The U.S. 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. 103rd Infantry Division, 15.08.1944-30.09.1944 & 06.10.1944-26.10.1944 When the three units arrived at Dachau, they discovered more than 30,000 prisoners in the overcrowded camp. The Seventh Army was being disbanded and Patton had been appointed Military Governor of Bavaria, placing the matter in his hands. 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. This Native American symbol became the division's insignia in 1939. [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. Please check NARAs web page about COVID-19 updates for the latest information. "On 20 May, the Regiment was incorporated under the Dachau Area, Command. One story I often share to illustrate how we have to look at the stories left by soldiers and their families helps illustrate the problem. In the first two cases, dubbed the Biscari massacre, occurred on 14 July 1943, American troops from C Company, 180th Infantry Regiment, were alleged to have shot 74 Italian and two German prisoners in Acate following the capture of an airfield in the area. This explains the book he had on the 180th Regiment. Mortar Battalion, 2nd Battalion, 36th Engineer Combat 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. [84] Regardless, by mid-1950 the division had only 8,413 troops, less than 45 percent[n 1] of its full-strength authorization. 45th Infantry Division. 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. & 01.01.1945-16.02.1945 & 04.03.1945-09.05.1945, 191st Tank Battalion (less A Company & 3rd [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. forces. & 01.04.1945-10.05.1945, 636th TD Battalion (SP) (less C Company 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. [45] The next three months were spent on the defensive, with the 45th engaged in trench warfare, alike to that in World War I. & 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 [39] The division crossed the Danube River on 27 April, and liberated 32,000 captives of the Dachau concentration camp on 29 April 1945. Since its inception, Native Americans from the tribes of Oklahoma have served in the National Guard with pride and honor. 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. Command Posts. Holocaust Memorial Museum provides information about which units liberated which camps on their, Recognition of U.S. Liberating Army Units, Re: Seeking Roster for 45th Inf Division WW2. However, please note that these records are not online and NARA is not staffed to do this level of research for you. [37] Opposing them were elements of the German 29th Panzergrenadier Division and XVI Panzer Corps. [32] As the division advanced towards its main objective to capture the airfields at Biscari, and Comiso, German forces were pushed back. [48] The U.S. Horrible images. 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. Check out the people who helped make it possible! On April 29, 1945, three US Army divisions converged on the camp: the 42nd Infantry, the 45th Infantry, and the 20th Armored. [21][23] By the time the 45th Division landed in North Africa on 22 June 1943, the Allies had largely secured the African theater. Army Battle Casualties and Nonbattle Deaths in World War II, Final Report, 1 December 1941 - 31 December 1946. 1st Cavalry . Platoon, D Company), 47th Tank Battalion, 14th Armored Division, 47th Tank Battalion, 14th Armored Division (less The terrain was difficult and the weather was poor in the region. Inside this website you will find over 100 pages of Maps History and Photographs of the World War Two Thunderbirds. [11] The onset of the Great Depression in the 1930s severely curtailed its funding for training and equipment. Company Morning Reports. After landing in France during Operation Dragoon, they joined the 1945 drive into Germany that ended the War in Europe. Courtesy of the 45th Infantry Division Museum. In World War II, following stateside training at Camp Barkley, Fort Sill, Camp Devens, the 45th Infantry Division landed in Sicily on 10 July 1943. Like Our Web page? [103] Though the division was no longer an "All-Oklahoma" unit, leaders opted to keep its designation as the 45th Infantry Division. These brigades would see no major deployments or events, and were inactivated five years later in 1968. Campaigns of the 45th Infantry Division: Naples-Foggia. [39] The division remained on the line with the U.S. 6th Army Group the southernmost of three army groups advancing through France. However, everyone at that time had heard of Dachu so it is what stuck in people's minds. Artillery and the four Artillery Battalions) and did not find his name. He described often witnessing similar behavior by fellow, Orders from unit commanders during a mission. City and State: HUNTLEY MT See: 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=1132482693, 70th Field Artillery Brigade (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma), 120th Ammunition Train (inactive; allotted to Oklahoma National Guard), 120th Medical Regiment (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma), 120th Quartermaster Regiment (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma), 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. [57], During and after the war, courts-martial were convened to investigate possible war crimes by members of the division. [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. [49] On 30 September the division crossed the Moselle River and entered the western foothills of the Vosges, taking Rambervillers. Please turn JavaScript back on and reload this page. Slowly advancing through Italy, they fought in Anzio and the Beachhead breakout to the capture of Rome. Nonetheless, I do have a roster of the 45th Infantry Division for 1945. I have his army serial # as well if that would help. The first evidence of the horror to come was a string of about forty railway cars on a siding near the camp entrance. I checked the 1944 and 1945 Division rosters (45th Div. His name was William C. Dennard, enlisted in Houston, TX in October of '42. However, please note that these records are not online and NARA is not staffed to do this level of research for you. Keywords: Korean War, 45th Infantry Division, Thunderbirds. 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. Seventh Army, along with Free French forces, were able to advance north quickly. The dates after the campaign name are the dates of the campaign not of the division. Jive Software Version: 9.13.0.0 , revision: 20220815205735.50e1b0c.master, Seeking roster for 45th Infantry Division, Re: Seeking roster for 45th Infantry Division. It quickly advanced through western France, reaching the German border by the end of the year. [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. These cars were an assortment of odd boxcars, some of which were locked, and some were coal-car type. The local townspeople were brought in to give the dead prisoners a proper burial. Main telephone: 202.488.0400 The division then defended the hill against a series of Chinese assaults from the Chinese 38th Army. [91] As a result, in February 1951, the 45th Infantry Division was alerted that it would sail for Japan. However, with the rise of the Nazi Party in Germany, with its infamous swastika symbol, the 45th Division stopped using the insignia. Error: You don't have JavaScript enabled. They took part in intense fighting during the invasion of Sicily and the attack on Salerno in the 1943 Italian Campaign. [49] The 45th moved north to the Sarreguemines area and smashed through the Siegfried Line, on 17 March taking Homburg on the 21st and crossing the Rhine between Worms and Hamm on the 26th. [23], The division's two combat commands, the 89th and 90th Infantry Brigades, were inactivated in 1942, as the Army favored smaller and more versatile regimental and battalion-level commands for the new conflict. The 45th Infantry Division was a National Guard Unit. The soldiers reacted in shock and disbelief to the evidence of Nazi atrocities. Sheeran claimed to have participated in numerous massacres and summary executions of German POWs, acts which violated the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907 and the 1929 Geneva Convention on POWs. PFC Donald E. Thompson, member of I Company, 3rd Battalion, 180th Infantry Regiment, per the 29 June 1945 Roster of the. Primarily I'm looking for a roster of the 45th Division, but also interested in the same for the 3rd Division. 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. The delegations of journalists and congressmen who had been viewing the Buchenwald concentration camp were quickly diverted to Dachau to see the camp. As I turned to look over the prison yard with unbelieving eyes, I saw a large number of dead inmates lying where they had fallen in the last few hours or days before our arrival. You may experience a delay in receiving an initial acknowledgment as well as a substantive response to your reference request from RL-SL. Will order it. & 02.11.1944 & 05.12.1944-28.12.1944, Hq & Hq Battery, 938th FA Battalion 45th Inf Div (WWII & Korea) ATTN: National Secty 2145 NE 36th St Oklahoma City, OK 73111-5302 405/424-5393 45th Infantry Division Association. Divisional information Throughout 1942, it continued this training at Camp Barkeley, Texas,[20] before moving to Fort Devens, Massachusetts, to undergo amphibious assault training in preparation for an invasion of Italy. In retaliation, the 245th Tank Battalion sent nine tanks to raid Agok. [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. . [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]. Additionally, only about 20 percent of its personnel had prior experience of military service from World War II. After Action Reports. [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. [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. Campaigns of the 45th Infantry Division: Rome-Arno. Screen shot attached. The 45th Infantry was originally a National Guard unit drawn from Colorado, Arizona, Oklahoma, and New Mexico. 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. [6] The division was formed and federally recognized as a National Guard unit on 3 August 1923 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. These units were assigned to the 40th Division, and deployed to France where the division was used as a "depot" unit to process and provide replacements for front-line units. Veterans and next of kin of deceased veterans also may use eVetRecs to request records. The 45th Infantry Division was reassigned to VI Corps on New Year's day. 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