100th Infantry Division (United States): Difference between revisions

File:100th Infantry Division.patch.gif

Shoulder Sleeve Insignia of the 100th Infantry Division.

File:100th Airborne Division.patch.jpg

Shoulder Sleeve Insignia of the 100th Airborne Division (1946-1952).

The 100th Infantry Division was a unit of the United States Army in World War II.

World War II

• Activated: 15 November 1942.
• Overseas: 6 October 1944.
• Campaigns: Ardennes-Alsace, Rhineland, Central Europe.
• Days of combat: 163.
• Distinguished Unit Citations: 7
• Awards: MH-3; DSC-9; DSM-1; SS-560; LM-24; DFC-1; SM-23; BSM-5,208; AM-90.
• Commanders: Maj. Gen. Withers A. Burress (November 1942-September 1945), Brig. Gen. Andrew C. Tychsen (September 1945-January 1946).
• Returned to U. S.: 10 January 1946.
• Inactivated: 26 January 1946.

Combat Chronicle

The 100th Infantry Division landed at Marseille, France, 20 October 1944, and sent its first elements into combat at St. Remy in the Vosges Mountains, 1 November 1944. The Division as a whole began the relief of the 45th at Baccarat, 5 November, assuming control of the sector, 9 November. The attack jumped off, 12 November, the Division driving against the German Winter Line in the Vosges Mountains. The Division took Bertrichamps and Clairupt, pierced the German line, and seized Raon-l'Étape and Saint-Blaise, 16-26 November. Later in November, elements assisted in holding the Saverne Gap bridgehead while the bulk of the Division went into reserve.

In December, the Division went on the offensive in the vicinity of Bitche. Wingen and Lemberg were occupied in fierce fighting, 6-10 December and Reyersweiler fell, 11-13 December. Fort Schiesseck capitulated after a heavy assault, 20 December. With the outbreak of the Von Rundstedt offensive, the Division was ordered to halt the attack and to hold defensive positions, south of Bitche, as part of the Seventh Army mission during the Bulge battle. German counterattacks of 1 and 8-10 January 1945 were repulsed; thereafter the sector was generally quiet and the Division prepared for a resumption of the offensive.

On 15 March 1945, the attack jumped off and on 16 March, Bitche fell to the 100th. Taking Neustadt and Ludwigshafen, the Division reached the Rhine, 24 March. Crossing the Rhine, 31 March, it moved south in the wake of the 10th Armored Division and then east across the Neckar River, establishing and enlarging a bridgehead, 4-11 April. Heilbronn fell in house-to-house fighting, 12 April, and the Division resumed its rapid pursuit of the enemy, reaching Stuttgart by 21 April. The 100th was mopping up along the Neckar, southeast of Stuttgart, 23 April, when it was pinched out of VI Corps, and confined its action to patrolling the sector east of Stuttgart. Shifting to Göppingen, 30 April, the Division engaged in occupational duties as the war in Europe ended.

Assignments in the European Theater of Operations

• 1 November 1944: US VI Corps, U.S. Seventh Army, American 6th Army Group.
• 27 November 1944: XV a Corps.
• 22 March 1945: XXI Corps.
• 25 March 1945: US VI Corps.
• 25 April 1945: U.S. Seventh Army, American 6th Army Group.

General

• Nickname: Century Division.
• Slogan: Success in Battle.
• Shoulder patch: Blue shield on which are superimposed the Arabic numerals "100", the upper half of the number in white and the lower half in gold.

External links and references

• The Army Almanac: A Book of Facts Concerning the Army of the United States U.S. Government Printing Office, 1950 reproduced at http://www.army.mil/cmh-pg/lineage/cc/cc.htm.
• The Story of the Century: The Story of the 100th Infantry Division