[21] It then moved to Pine Camp, New York briefly for winter warfare training, but was hampered by continuously poor weather. [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]. The 816 surviving prisoners were taken to barracks within the camp. On April 28, the day before liberation, a train bearing about 40 or so railway cars arrived at the camp. [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. His name was Donald E. Thompson, PFC. Headquartered for most of its history in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, the guardsmen fought in both World War II and the Korean War. This tool uses JavaScript and much of it will not work correctly without it enabled. Screen shot attached. Army Battle Casualties and Nonbattle Deaths in World War II, Final Report, 1 December 1941 - 31 December 1946. Headquartered for most of its history in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, the guardsmen fought in both World War II and the Korean War. [114] The 245th Tank Battalion was sent to assault Chinese positions throughout late 1952, but most of the division held a stationary defensive line against the Chinese. On April 29, 1945, three US Army divisions converged on the camp: the 42nd Infantry, the 45th Infantry, and the 20th Armored. [120] In its place, the independent 45th Infantry Brigade (Separate) was established. If you havent already done so, we suggest that you request a copy of his Official Military Personnel File (OMPF). Divisional troops 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. 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. Up till now everything was basically small scattered pieces to the puzzle. Company Morning Reports. Will order it. 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. The 45th Infantry Division was a National Guard Unit. . Headquarters & Headquarters Battery, 105th Documents: All of the files from The 45th Division in World War II: The Thunderbirds Facebook Group in searchable PDF format plus other documents. and see if I can find a CIB for your dad. After investigating the incident, the Army considered court-martialling several officers involved, but Patton successfully intervened. On 7 December 1945, the division was inactivated from the active duty force and its members reassigned to other Army units. You can not post a blank message. [22] The division, now commanded by Major General Troy H. Middleton, a Regular Army soldier and highly distinguished World War I veteran, moved to the Hampton Roads Port of Embarkation's Camp Patrick Henry to await combat loading on the transports. 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. I have been trying to find out more about my grandfathers service and think he might have been a part of the 45th and was hoping you might see this and be able to check for me. [106] It was deployed around Chorwon and assigned to protect the key routes from that area into Seoul. I have a newspaper clipping from the local paper that he had informed his parents that he had been transferred to the infantry - from the Air Corp/Air Force - of course there would be no mention of what unit he was transferred to, and this was during the winter of '44, when they were pulling men from all branches to fill the line. [16] In August 1941, the 45th Infantry Division took part in the Louisiana Maneuvers, the largest peacetime exercises in U.S. military history. families that they liberated Dachu, when technically it was a subcamp called Kaufring II in Landsburg. Please turn JavaScript back on and reload this page. 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". [93] After its basic training was complete, the division was sent to Japan in April 1951 for advanced training and to act as a reserve force for the Eighth United States Army, then fighting in Korea. The 45th, in turn, was under constant artillery and mortar attack. Men from the state militias of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Oklahoma made up the division. Raymond B Company, 601st Tank Destroyer Battalion 382. However, everyone at that time had heard of Dachu so it is what stuck in people's minds. [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. The 45th participated in its fourth assault landing, 15 August 1944, at St. Maxime in Southern France. On the second incident, Captain John T. Compton ordered Italian soldiers to be lined up and shot; the officer claimed he had only been following orders and was acquitted. 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. As we visited Dachau we saw on a railroad sidetrack paralleling the main highway, and close to the gates of the prison camp, a train of cars which had been used to bring additional civilian prisoners to this camp. Ray, John F Company, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division 482. The Dachau massacre and other reprisal killings of concentration camp guards and trustee inmates. If you havent already done so, we suggest that you request a copy of his, . [39] It sent half of its artillery to support the 70th Infantry Division. The division then defended the hill against a series of Chinese assaults from the Chinese 38th Army. German soldiers began surrendering to the Allies in large groups; 325,000 soldiers and civilians . We have placed this here so that you can get to see the faces of the men behind the history. [91] As a result, in February 1951, the 45th Infantry Division was alerted that it would sail for Japan. If you provide your dad's name, I can check it. 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. [32] As the division advanced towards its main objective to capture the airfields at Biscari, and Comiso, German forces were pushed back. Platoon, D Company), 47th Tank Battalion, 14th Armored Division, 47th Tank Battalion, 14th Armored Division (less So he might have actually meant one of the subcamps which would increase the number of possible units. The division was organized as a full Armored Division in May and June 1942 under the command of . Lucas sent famed U.S. Army Ranger leader Colonel William Orlando Darby to assume command of the 157th Infantry, and the Germans were repulsed. 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. Detachments [105] The division was put under the command of Eighth Army's I Corps for most of the conflict. It had left Buchenwald four weeks earlier on April 7 filled with more than 5,000 prisoners. Additionally, only about 20 percent of its personnel had prior experience of military service from World War II. [39] The division captured Munich during the next two days, occupying the city until V-E Day and the surrender of Germany. 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. In some of these cars there were more than enough to cover the floors. 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. 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. . [24], The 45th Division sailed from the Hampton Roads Port of Embarkation for the Mediterranean region on 8 June 1943, combat loaded aboard thirteen attack transports and five cargo attack vessels as convoy UGF-9 headed by the communications ship USSAncon. Jive Software Version: 9.13.0.0 , revision: 20220815205735.50e1b0c.master, The 42nd and 45th Infantry Divisions and the 20th Armored Division liberated Dachu, however there were many, ubcamps and soldiers with our unit, the 36th Infantry Division, often related in the stories they told to. When the three units arrived at Dachau, they discovered more than 30,000 prisoners in the overcrowded camp. Please complete a. and mail it to NARA's National Personnel Records Center, (Military Personnel Records), 1 Archives Drive, St. Louis, MO 63138-1002. [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. A Company), B & C Companies, 2nd Chemical However, everyone at that time had heard of Dachu so it is what stuck in people's minds. Could you kindly check your records and let me know if you have him on your list? Over the course of its history, the 45th Infantry Division sustained over 25,000 battle casualties, and its men were awarded ten Medals of Honor, twelve campaign streamers, the Croix de Guerre and the Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation. The delegations of journalists and congressmen who had been viewing the Buchenwald concentration camp were quickly diverted to Dachau to see the camp. The 179th Infantry and a tank battalion of CCA tried to recapture Aprilia but were repulsed. His name was William C. Dennard, enlisted in Houston, TX in October of '42. I also examined the lists of names in the History of the Third Infantry Division without success. Please turn JavaScript back on and reload this page. [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. 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