395th infantry regiment 99th infantry division 395th infantry regiment 99th infantry division

Notable. When I got to Hfen, I found the area too big to cover in one afternoon. The 393rd, 394th & 395th were the Infantry Regiments of the 99th Infantry Division. The regiment helped to capture the Ruhr Pocket, where thousands of German troops and hundreds of German vehicles were captured. 504-528-1944, Jenny Craig Institute for the Study of War and Democracy, Black Volunteer Infantry Platoons in World War II, Kasserine Pass: German Offensive, American Victory, The Top 5 Veteran Research Questions: Where to Go and What to Know, Gallantry against Great Odds: LTC George Marshall and Operation RESERVIST, Prelude to Liberation: Genesis of American Amphibious Assault in the ETO, Black Thursday October 14, 1943: The Second Schweinfurt Bombing Raid, An Exercise in Depravity: The Establishment of the Warsaw Ghetto, Unsung Witnesses of the Battle of Stalingrad. Eisenhower wrote, "the action of the 2nd and 99th Divisions on the northern shoulder could be considered the most decisive of the Ardennes campaign."[3][4]. When the Germans finally broke through 3/395s lines and established a foothold in the town, the Americans recaptured the buildings by firing anti-tank guns through the walls. [16] The accurate fire from the 12 3-inch guns of A Company, 612th Tank Destroyer Battalion, was instrumental in keeping German tanks from advancing. This assault, like the first, was ground to a halt due to heavy American small arms and artillery fire. This was the most southern area of the Battle of the Bulge. The terrain was open and rolling, and over six weeks the 3rd Battalion prepared dug-in positions that possessed good fields of fire. The 3rd Battalion, 395th Infantry, led by Lt. Col. McClernand Butler and 2nd Lt. Col. Roy S. Groffy, occupied the area around Hfen, Germany, on the border with Belgium during early December. Forests, by nature, are eerily quiet at night. The 395th was held in the United States until more room was available for the unit to enter Europe. The artillery barrage lasted for an hour, and shortly afterwards German infantry from the 277th Volksgrenadier Division burst through the forest and headed at the positions of the 99th Infantry Divisions 395th Infantry Regiment near the village of Rocherath. The 99th 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 1992. The division was chiefly manned with graduates of the ROTC programs of the Carnegie Institute of Technology, Duquesne University. On 28 April the 14th Armored Division, commanded by MG Albert C. Smith, crossed the Danube River at Ingolstadt, and passed through the 86th Infantry Division, which had established a bridgehead on the previous day, with the mission of securing crossings of the Isar River at Moosburg and Landshut. On 28 January 1945, after six weeks of the most intense and relentless combat of the war in the biggest battle of World War II, involving approximately 1.3million men, the Allies declared the Ardennes Offensive, or Battle of the Bulge, officially over. [14], The 99th as a whole, outnumbered five to one, inflicted casualties in the ratio of eighteen to one. Hfen, along with the nearby town of Monschau, was strategically vital because it sat on elevated terrain overlooking an important road junction. The 99th was selected as one of these new regional support commands. 99th Infantry Division Historical Society 99th Infantry Division Battle Babies The 99th Infantry Division, nicknamed "Battle Babies" and compromised of the 393rd, 394th, 395th Infantry Regiments and supporting units, spent approximately 151 days in combat during World War Two. The 38th Cavalry Squadron (led by Lt. Col. Robert E. O'Brien) was deployed to the north along the railroad track between Mutzenich and Konzen station. The real crusher to the German offensive plans in the Ardennes occurred 46 miles north east of Bastogne, in a small area consisting of a copse of small villages and a piece of high ground called Elsenborn Ridge. In early December, the front was unusually calm and the weather was bone-chilling cold. While the 99th ARCOM was allowed to wear the shoulder sleeve insignia of the 99th Infantry Division and use its number, Department of the Army policy does not allow for the lineage of MTOE units, such as infantry divisions, to be perpetuated by TDA units, such as ARCOMs. [12] For their part, the German army was planning a seven-day campaign to seize Antwerp. The 395th Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment of the United States Army, part of the 99th Infantry Division during World War II.It was organized with the rest of the 99th on 16 November 1942 at Camp Van Dorn, Mississippi. On the east lay a section of the Monschau Forest. They were tasked with moving 10 miles (16km) behind the German lines and cutting the Autobahn to prevent the withdrawal of the Germans. "[9]:1738 On at least six occasions they called in artillery strikes on or directly in front of their own positions. Although cut up and surrounded in part, the 99th was one of the only divisions that did not yield to the German attack, and held their positions until reinforcements arrived. squares centered on a black shield. . The division was also known as the "Battle Babies" during 1945, a sobriquet coined by a United Press correspondent when the division was first mentioned in press reports during the Battle of the Bulge. commanders. The US Armys 99th Infantry Division, recently arrived in Europe and untested in combat, was assigned to the northern shoulder of the Allied front line in the Ardennes Forest. And while the defense of the crossroads of hell was gallant to be sure, it was not the back breaker that most people assume it to have been. Formerly nicknamed the "Checkerboard Division," which referred to its shoulder patch, in late 1944 having not yet seen battle, the division was nicknamed the "Battle Babies. The last drive began on 23 April. [7]:3 American press reports from the European theater foretold the imminent fall of the Third Reich, and many men in Lt. Col. Butler's battalion thought that the war just might be over before they got there. The German assault caught the 99ers off guard initially, due to the heavy artillery bombardment, but the infantrymen and their supporting mortar fire were able to repel the initial assault at a murderously close range due to the proximity of the opposing tree line from where the enemy advanced. The division was reconstituted in the Organized Reserve on 24 June 1921 and assigned to the western half of the state of Pennsylvania. General Eisenhower and his staff chose the Ardennes region, held by the First Army, as an area that could be held by as few troops as possible. The platoon members were not recognized for their courageous deeds for thirty-seven years. 99th Infantry Division used the relatively quiet period to prepare an extensive defensive system, including redundant lines of communication, precise positioning of weapons to provide interlocking grazing fire, and aggressive patrols that kept the Germans off guard. [16], In September 2007, in preparation for the transition to Fort Dix and establishment of the new 99th RSC, the 99th RRC assumed administrative responsibility for the former regions of the 77th and 94th RRCs, which had inactivated. The division crossed the Danube near Eining on the 27th and after a stubborn fight the Isar at Landshut on 1 May. The 99th RSC was awarded the Army Superior Unit Award on 9 May 2016 by the US Army Human Resources Command for its role in the relief support after Hurricane Sandy, from 29 October 2012 thru 31 March 2013. A few miles to the east lay the Siegfried Line, the enemys final defensive line guarding the German heartland. By December 1944, Allied armies had reached the western border of Germany itself. Butler was promoted to lieutenant colonel on 21 March 1944, and remained in command of the 395th until 30 April 1945, when he collapsed from exhaustion. Those who survived the initial onslaught and did not manage to flee, had to eke out a living on a battleground ravaged by incessant bombardment and street fighting. EN RU CN DE ES. After clearing towns west of the Rhine, it crossed the Ludendorff Bridge at Remagen on the 11th. They engaged in division-level maneuvers in July 1944. From Camp Van Dorn they were transferred to the more established Camp Maxey in Paris, Texas for additional training. [email protected] The 99th Infantry Division was formed in 1942 and deployed overseas in 1944. It was like a golf course, so I used the night for concealment."[6]. : 33 On at least six occasions they called in . Attached below the shield a silver scroll inscribed "VIGILANS ET CELER" in Black letters.[21]. Allies and former enemy Germany mark 75th anniversary of Battle of Battle of the Bulge: WWII vets travel to Belgium for 75th anniversary. Those Germans who made it into the town itself were quickly mopped up. It had its headquarters at Franklin, Pennsylvania, and drew its personnel from Pennsylvania. What was left of the 99ers in and around Rocherath appeared to be doomed, and like the calvary in Western movies, salvation appeared in the forms of infantry from the 2nd Division and incredibly heavy artillery fire that dropped onto the Germans like rain. That task fell to the 277th Volksgrenadier Division and the 12th SS Panzer Division. Troops Fight at Elsenburn Ridge", "Bob Galloway, the Battle of the Bulge, and the 99th Infantry Division", "Heidelberg staff retraces historical Battle of the Bulge route", United States Army Center of Military History, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=395th_Infantry_Regiment_(United_States)&oldid=1076569987, 395th Infantry Regiment: Lt. Col. Griffin, 3rd Battalion: Lt. Col. McClernand Butler (1 November 1942 30 April 1945) Lt. Col. J.A. The 395th Infantry, Organized Reserves, was organized in 1921. This, however, was the moment that Hitlers master plan collided headfirst with American fortitude. [1] Many members of the 99th Infantry Division had participated in the Army Specialized Training Program or ASTP, derisively nicknamed "all safe 'till peace;" in February 1944, the program was drawn down, and the majority of its members were assigned to later-deploying divisions such as the 99th. The statue of the Minute Man, Captain John Parker, (H.H.Kitson, sculptor), stands on the common in Lexington, Massachusetts. The situation became so dire that Butler deliberately called in artillery on his units own position to prevent them from being overrunone of six times this would occur at Hfen. Earl Denzil Reese April 13th, 1945 - A combat engineer snapped this series of photos while riding on back of a truck during the Battle of the Ruhr Pocket. The National WWII Museum Digital Collections. German Panzer tanks en route to the Ardennes. The campaign in North Africa began with a daring Anglo-American commando raid code-named Operation RESERVIST. The Germans would never take Hfen, nor most of their other ambitious objectives in the Ardennes, due in large part to the soldiers of 3/395 and the 99th ID as a whole. The division headquarters was organized in November 1921. It was organized with the rest of the 99th on 16 November 1942 at Camp Van Dorn, Mississippi. [16], In 2005, the Army Reserve began its latest transformation under the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) directive and lessons learned from eight years of deployments in support of the Global War on Terrorism. The 395th's casualties were extremely light: four dead, seven wounded, and four men missing. In the pre-dawn hours of December 16th, Hitlers final major offensive began. The other two regiments of the 99th Division had been beaten to a pulp by the initial German assault, and for the most part had been rendered ineffective, thus leaving the 395th dangerously exposed to a flank assault. "[9]:79, The battalion dug in, its purpose to hold the line so that other units could attack key dams across the Roer River. [11] They continued to Linz am Rhein and to the Wied River. The division lost about 20% of its effective strength, including 465 killed and 2,524 evacuated due to wounds, injuries, fatigue, or trench foot; German losses were much higher. The real crusher to the German offensive plans in the Ardennes occurred 46 miles north east of Bastogne, in a small area consisting of a copse of small villages and a piece of high ground called Elsenborn Ridge. Ehrenfried-Oskar Bge. Several photos from the private collection of, THE EARLY YEARS Joseph Richard Evans (Dick) was born on October 17, 1920 to Charles E. Evansand Wenonah (nee Muirhead/Miller)in, Source: family of Raymond J. Willaredt. The buck's head was used to indicate the allocation of the organization to the mountainous section of Pennsylvania, where deer abound. Troops Fight at Elsenburn Ridge", "Why the Bulge Didn't Break: Green Troops Grew Up Fast to Become Heroes of Hofen", "The Battle for Lanzerath HillThe True Story16December1944", "A hero remembers the Battle of the Bulge", "The Heroic Stand of an Intelligence Platoon", "General Orders No. Plans called for the division to include the 393rd, 394th, 395th, and 396th Infantry Regiments. The war was over six days later.[6]. It was organized with the rest of the 99th on 16 November 1942 at Camp Van Dorn, Mississippi. The coat of arms was originally approved for the 395th Regiment Infantry, Organized Reserves on 15 June 1931. On 17 September 2008, the 99th Regional Support Command was activated at Fort Dix, N.J. This did not turn out to be true. A. Gallagher assumed command for the last few days of the war. A 105mm artillery piece from the 2nd Infantry Div. After failing to capture Monschau on the battles second day, the 326th Volksgrenadier Division turned its attention back to Hfen on December 18th. Fourteen of the 18 platoon members were wounded, while only one soldier, a member of the artillery observation team, was killed. EN. Put under operational control of V Corps, First Army, it moved to Le Havre, France on 3 November and proceeded to Aubel, Belgium, to prepare to enter the front lines. On 2 March 1945, the division took the offensive, moving toward Cologne and crossing the Erft Canal near Glesch. Crest That for the regiments and separate battalions of the Army Reserve: From a wreath Argent and Azure, the Lexington Minute Man Proper. The 395th Infantry was in the woods east of the northernmost section of the 2d Division withdrawal route and would provide cover for the first stage of the tricky move parallel to and close. At precisely 0530 hours, the forest erupted in an ear shattering German artillery barrage along a 100 mile front. [6], The regiment's (3rd Battalion) earned the sobriquet Butler's Battlin' Blue Bastards derived from the name of its single commander, its special fighting abilities, the battalion's color designation, and because the regiment was often lent out and belonged to no one. The buck's head was used to indicate the allocation of the organization to the mountainous section of Pennsylvania, where deer abound. [5] After more than ten days of intense battle, they pushed the Americans out of the villages, but were unable to dislodge them from the ridge, where elements of the V Corps of the First U.S. Army prevented the German forces from reaching the road network to their west. Troops were fatigued by weeks of continuous combat, Allied supply lines were stretched extremely thin, and supplies were dangerously depleted. 2nd Infantry Division soldiers dig in on a road bank and prepare defensive positions on the end of the Elsenborn Ridge on December 20, 1944. In the opening days of the Battle of the Bulge, Robert's regiment was on the front lines in the Losheim Gap. The 99th RSC's mission was to provide command and control and full-service support for assigned units and facility management. Lieutenant Colonel McClernand Butler, commander of 3/395. The camp was newly built, and the barracks were covered in tar paper. The blue and white checkerboard in the division's insignia is taken from the coat of arms of William Pitt, for whom Pittsburgh is named. After fighting in the Ruhr area, the unit moved southward into Bavaria, where it was located at the end of the war. Told it was the 3rd Battalion, 395th Infantry, he said, "It must have been one of your best formations." The 10 geographically-based RRCs, including the 99th, were inactivated and replaced with four regional base operations commands. [13], German prisoners captured during the Battle of the Bulge volunteered praise of the 99th's effective defense of Hfen. Infanterie-Division) was a German division in World War II. Mission of the 395th Infantry Regiment I. The 3rd Battalion, 395th Regiment had acquitted itself with valor, having held its lines despite the harsh winter weather, the enemy's numerical superiority and greater numbers of armored units. There are nine white squares and nine blue ones, signifying the number 99. The German spearhead in the north, led by the 1st SS Panzer Division and Jochen Peipers Kampfgruppe plowed through jammed roads to the south of Elsenborn and the twin villages of Krinkelt and Rocherath hell bent on their ultimate destination of the Meuse River. Good luck with your quest. Originally planned as a Pennsylvania unit, TO: Division Surgeon, 99th Infantry Division I.