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75th Infantry Division

World War II

Activated: 15 April 1943.

Overseas: 14 November 1944.

Campaigns: Rhineland, Ardennes-Alsace, Central Europe.

Days of combat: 94.

Awards: DSC-4 ; SS-193; LM-7; SM-30 ; BSM-1,321 ; AM-30.

Commanders:

Maj. Gen. Willard S. Paul (AprilAugust 1943)
Maj. Gen. Fay B. Prickett (August 1943-January 1945)
Maj. Gen. Ray E. Porter (January-June 1945)
Maj. Gen. Arthur A. White (June-October 1945)
Brig. Gen. Charles R. Doran (October 1945 to inactivation).

Returned to U. S.: 18 November 1945.

Inactivated: 26 November 1945.

Combat Chronicle

The 75th Infantry Division arrived in England, 22 November 1944; headquarters having arrived on 2 November. After a brief training program, the Division landed at Le Havre and Rouen, 13 December, and bivouacked at Yvetot on the 14th. When the Von Rundstedt offensive broke in the Ardennes, the 75th was rushed to the front and entered defensive combat, 23 December, alongside the Ourthe River, advanced to the Aisne and entered Grandmenil, 5 January 1945. The Division relieved the 82d A/B Division along the Salm River, 8 January, and strengthened its defensive positions until 17 January when it attacked, taking Vielsalm and other towns in the area. Shifting to the Seventh Army area in AlsaceLorraine, the 75th crossed the Colmar Canal, 1 February, and took part in the liberation of Colmar and in the determined fighting between the Rhine River and the Vosges Mountains. It crossed the Rhine Canal and reached the Rhine, 7 February. After a brief rest at Luneville, it returned to combat, relieving the 6th British Airborne Division on a 24-mile defensive front along the Maas River, near Roermond, Holland, 21 February. From 13 to 23 March, the 75th patrolled a sector along the west bank of the Rhine from Wesel to Homburg and probed enemy defenses at night. On 24 March, elements crossed the Rhine in the wake of the 30th and 79th Divisions. Pursuance of the enemy continued as the 75th cleared the Haard Forest, 1 April, crossed the DortmundEms Canal on the 4th, and cleared the approaches to Dortmund, which fell to the 95th Division, 13 April. After taking Herdecke, 13 April, the Division moved to Brambauer for rest and rehabilitation, then took over security and military government duties in Westphalia.

Assignments in the ETO *

9 December 1944: 12th Army Group.
9 December 1944: Ninth Army, 12th Army Group.
11 December 1944: XVI Corps.
22 December 1944: VII Corps, First Army (attached to the British 21st Army Group), 12th Army Group.
29 December 1944: XVIII (Abn) Corps.
2 January 1945: VII Corps.
7 January 1945: XVIII (Abn) Corps.
25 January 1945: 6th Army Group.
30 January 1945: XXI Corps, Seventh Army, 6th Army Group, but attached for operations to the First French Army, 6th Army Group.
11 February 1945: Seventh Army, 6th Army Group.
14 February 1945: 12th Army Group.
17 February 1945: Ninth Army, 12th Army Group, but attached to the British Second Army for operations and the British VIII Corps for administration.
1 March 1945: XVI Corps, Ninth Army, 12th Army Group.

General

Shoulder patch: Khaki-bordered square with diagonal fields of blue, white, and red on which is superimposed a blue 7 and red 5. Association: 75th Infantry Division Veterans' Association, 165 Broadway, New York 17, N. Y., Mr. Milton A. Willmont, Jr. Publications: 75th; by unit members; TI&E, ETOUSA; distributor, secretary, 75th Infantry Division Veterans' Association; 1945. Photographic Cavalcade; by unit members; Army & Navy Publishing Co., Baton Rouge 1, La.; 1947. Pictorial Review; by unit members; Albert Love Enterprises, Atlanta 2, Ga.; 1944.


* See footnote, 1st Infantry Division.

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[Nota Bene: These combat chronicles, current as of October 1948, are reproduced from The Army Almanac: A Book of Facts Concerning the Army of the United States, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1950, pp. 510-592.]


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