On April 20, it captured the city of Nuremberg and on April 30, Munich. As the 45th Infantry Division completed its drive on Munich, the unit was ordered to liberate the Dachau concentration camp. [33] For most of the first two weeks while the division moved slowly north, it encountered only light resistance from Italian forces fighting delaying actions. [104], The division remained as a unit of the Oklahoma National Guard, and participated in no major actions throughout the rest of the 1950s save regular weekend and summer training exercises. [2] Also activated from division assets were the 45th Field Artillery Group, later redesignated the 45th Fires Brigade, and the 90th Troop Command. [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. You can not post a blank message. This is intended as a rememberance or memorial to those who served in the 45th Infantry Division. [32] As the division advanced towards its main objective to capture the airfields at Biscari, and Comiso, German forces were pushed back. The terrain was difficult and the weather was poor in the region. Division. [48] Men of the 45th Division were the first Allied troops to reach the Vatican. So he might have actually meant one of the subcamps which would increase the number of possible units. Each car was loaded with emaciated human corpses . After brief inactivation and subsequent reorganization as a unit restricted to Oklahomans, the division returned to duty in 1951 for the Korean War. His name was Donald E. Thompson, PFC. Courtesy of the 45th Infantry Division Museum. If you see this and check out your roster I would love to know what you find. He also claimed to have been at Dachau and talked about it to some detail when I was younger. The 45th Division next crossed the Zintzel River before pushing through the Maginot Line defenses. [4], On 19 October 1920, units of the Oklahoma National Guard were organized as part of the 45th Infantry Division, also manned with troops from Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. See: As a result of this effort, two 45th Infantry Division units existed between 1952 and 1953; the mostly Active-duty 45th Infantry Division (AUS) in Korea, and the National Guard 45th Infantry Division (NGUS) in Oklahoma. The local townspeople were brought in to give the dead prisoners a proper burial. & 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 If you provide your dad's name, I can check it. On 30 January 1944, when VI Corps advanced from the beaches, it encountered heavy resistance and took heavy casualties. [49] From 2 January 1945, the division fought defensively along the German border, withdrawing to the Moder River. I had to show them his records, with our unit to prove that he was nowhere near Normandy in June 1944. [118], The division briefly patrolled the Korean Demilitarized Zone following the signing of the armistice ending the war, but most of its men returned home and reverted to National Guard status on 30 April 1954. [107] The division suffered its first casualty on 11 December 1951. In 1940, the "Thunderbird" division was reactivated and deployed in late June 1943 to North Africa. The Army Almanac: A Book of Facts Concerning the Army of the United States; , U.S. Government Printing Office. Against this, the Allies planned to land 180,000 troops,[27] including the 45th Infantry Division, which was assigned to Lieutenant General Omar Bradley's II Corps, part of the U.S. See eVetRecs Help for instructions. These small-unit actions made up the majority of the division's combat in Korea. [7] It was one of four National Guard divisions to be federalized on that day, alongside the 30th, the 41st and 44th Infantry Divisions, originally for a one-year period. 1st Cavalry Medical Squadron. However, everyone at that time had heard of Dachu so it is what stuck in people's minds. One possible method of researching his assignments is to start with the morning resorts for the last unit to which he was assigned, which would be the HQ & HQ Company 290 Infantry Regiment. These pages are built and maintained by the World War II Recreation Association with membership in Northern Delaware, Eastern Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. [62] The cremation ovens, which were still in operation when the soldiers arrived, contained bodies and skeletons as well. 100 Raoul Wallenberg Place, SW I think that means he would have been in one of the artillery units for the 45th Infantry Division, but I don't know where to find a roster to check. In many cases where personnel records were destroyed in the 1973 fire, proof of service can be provided from other records such as morning reports, payrolls, and military orders, and a certificate of military service will be issued. [7] It was assigned the 89th Infantry Brigade of the Colorado and Arizona National Guards, and the 90th Infantry Brigade of the Oklahoma National Guard. [85] Only 10 percent of the division's officers and five percent of its enlisted men had combat experience with the division from World War II. No record of Clarence E. LaHayne in the June 1945 Roster of the 45th Infantry Division nor. [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. [28], The division was subsequently assigned a lead role in the amphibious assault on Sicily, coming ashore on 10 July. Our officials advised us that many of the others who had survived the trip had died since in the camp, and many more, although still alive, were starved beyond redemption. [6] The division was formed and federally recognized as a National Guard unit on 3 August 1923 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. In the 45th Division Bill Mauldin 45th Division NewsAngelo Casertano UnknownWilson Kale UnknownHerb Alexander 120th QuartermasterEloy Bacca C/ 120th EngineersErnesto Padilla F/ 120th EngineersAllan Osbourne Sr UnknownHistory B Company 120th Medical Bn. 45th ID in World War II. [39] At this time, VI Corps was attached to the Seventh Army, under Lieutenant General Alexander Patch, itself part of the Sixth United States Army Group under Lieutenant General Jacob L. The number of POWs taken by the 45th Division during its almost two years of fighting totalled 124,840 men. Entry: 88092 Subject: EDWARD JAMES LAMBERT. We searched the National Archives Catalog and located Morning Reports, ca. The division remained on the front lines in such engagements as Old Baldy Hill and Hill Eerie until the end of the war, returning to the U.S. in 1954. Two regiments of the 45th (the 179th and 157th Infantry) were sent to the Aprilia sector to reinforce the British. Circumstance may have prevented that. Some of the German troops were camp guards; the others were sick and wounded troops from a nearby hospital. Send Email To NORA DREWRY. With the American entry into World War I, in April 1917, troops of the National Guard were formed into the units which exist today, with elements of the Colorado National Guard forming the 157th Infantry Regiment, the Arizona National Guard forming the 158th Infantry Regiment, and the New Mexico National Guard forming the 120th Engineer Regiment. On Sunday, April 29th, 1945, the 3rd Battalion of the 157th Infantry Regiment of the 45th Infantry Division liberated the Dachau concentration camp, near Munich, Germany. Keywords: Korean War, 45th Infantry Division, Thunderbirds. Lucas sent famed U.S. Army Ranger leader Colonel William Orlando Darby to assume command of the 157th Infantry, and the Germans were repulsed. Armored Division, 409th Infantry Regiment, 103rd Infantry [11], The division's original shoulder sleeve insignia, approved in August 1924,[12] featured a swastika, a common Native American symbol, as a tribute to the Southwestern United States region which had a large population of Native Americans. Dad's photo or name is not in the book. The U.S. Please turn JavaScript back on and reload this page. the 45th infantry division, oklahoma, colorado, arizona and new mexico national guards, the thunderbirds, were a group of citizen soldiers who fought long and hard during world war ii (sicily, naples-foggia, anzio, rome-arno, southern france, rhineland, ardennes-alsace, and central europe campaigns), and still do today, as a seperate infantry [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. Could you kindly check your records and let me know if you have him on your list? Some of the photos were donated by loved ones seeking to know more about thier relatives wartime . His old dress uniform has a 3rd Infantry Division shoulder patch. He also talked about some time in Italy and to the best of my knowledge (granted I am no expert) the 42nd was never in Italy. That's the most information, all in one place, nailing things down to a specific place and time, that I've seen on Dad. [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. Sheeran later joked that they did so without complaint, likely hoping that he and his buddies would change their minds. Please turn JavaScript back on and reload this page. [39] The 45th Infantry Division landed its 157th and 180th regimental combat teams and captured the heights of the Chaines de Mar before meeting with the 1st Special Service Force. [39] The division had great difficulty moving across the rivers and through the mountainous terrain, and the advance was slow. They trace their lineage from frontier militias that operated in the Southwestern United States throughout the late 1800s. . [63] Accounts conflict over what happened and over how many German troops were killed. The 4th Armored Division was activated during World War II on 15 April 1941 with 3,800 men (10,000 by the end of May 1941) from various other units, at Pine Camp (Camp Drum, 1951; Fort Drum, 1974), New York under its first Commanding General, Brigadier General Henry W. Baird.. World War II. The Regimental, Command Post was moved into Dachau and training began. For more information, please refer to, Onsite Operations at the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, We searched the National Archives Catalog and located, for Army units that may include morning reports of the component units of the 45th Infantry Division and the 3rd Infantry Division, as well as the 290 Infantry Regiment. However, please note that these records are not online and NARA is not staffed to do this level of research for you. families that they liberated Dachu, when technically it was a subcamp called Kaufring II in Landsburg. When it arrived in Korea, only half the division's manpower were National Guard troops, and over 4,500 guardsmen left between May and July 1952, continually replaced by more active duty troops, including an increasing number of African Americans. 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. [8] As a consequence of these militia roots, when the division was properly organized, many of its members were marksmen and outdoorsmen from the remote frontier regions of the Southwestern United States. After advancing up the Italian peninsula, the 45th landed at Anzio in February 1944, where it withstood repeated German assaults against its positions. & 02.11.1944 & 05.12.1944-28.12.1944, Hq & Hq Battery, 938th FA Battalion [48] The U.S. Platoon, D Company), 47th Tank Battalion, 14th Armored Division, 47th Tank Battalion, 14th Armored Division (less Division, 1st Battalion, 315th Infantry Regiment, Every Tom, Dick and Harry in the Seventh Army and beyond, claimed to have liberated Dachau KZ on 29 April 1945 or to have. If you havent already done so, we suggest that you request a copy of his, . Re: Seeking roster for 45th Infantry Division Dave Kerr Nov 30, 2022 12:50 PM ( in response to Katie Geuin ) Katie, I checked the 29 June 1945 Division Roster as well as my General Orders' Worksheet and did not find your dad's name. His photos included a lot of concentration camp images. Some of the victims apparently had died only hours before the 45th Division entered the camp, while many others lay where they had died in states of decomposition that overwhelmed the soldiers' senses. [37][40], On 3 November it crossed the Volturno River and took Venafro. His photos seem to point to him potentially being in the 45th Infantry.We know he entered as a private and within 6 months was a Master Seargent. The 45th participated in its fourth assault landing, 15 August 1944, at St. Maxime in Southern France. 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. They returned home at the end of the war, which occurred on Armistice with Germany. "Train, No. Battalion. The 45th moved north to the Sarreguemines area and smashed through the Siegfried Line. [15] Its men immediately began basic combat training at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. 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