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Military unit From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 44th Infantry Division was a division of the United States Army National Guard from October 1920 to November 1945, when it was inactivated after Federal Service during World War II. A second 44th Infantry Division existed in the Illinois Army National Guard from 1946 until October 1954, when that division was disbanded after federal service during the Korean War.
| 44th Infantry Division | |
|---|---|
Divisional shoulder patch. | |
| Active | 1924–1945 1946–1954 |
| Country |  United States |
| Branch |  United States Army |
| Type | Infantry |
| Size | Division |
| Motto(s) | Prepared in all things |
| Engagements | World War II |
| Decorations | Distinguished Unit Citation (3) |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders | Maj. Gen. William F. Dean |
Originally named the 44th Division, it was constituted on 19 October 1920 as a National Guard division, as a result of the National Defense Act of 1920's major expansion of the National Guard.[1][2]: 374 As originally conceived, the division was to consist of National Guard units from the States of Delaware, New Jersey and New York, and was to form part of the Second Corps Area. However, only individual members of the division staff, and not any whole units, ended up being assigned to the state of Delaware. The 57th Infantry Brigade from the New Jersey National Guard and the 87th Infantry Brigade of the New York National Guard were incorporated and growth continued piecemeal as subordinate units were organized until 1940.[3] The shoulder sleeve insignia (unit patch) of the 44th Division was approved by the Secretary of War on 5 October 1921.[4] The division headquarters was organized and federally recognized on 26 March 1924.[2]: 374
The headquarters was relocated on 21 February 1925 to Newark, New Jersey, and back to Trenton on 5 October 1936. The designated mobilization training center for the 44th Division was Camp Dix, New Jersey. The division staff, composed of personnel from all three states, came together each summer to conduct joint training at the New Jersey National Guard camp at Sea Girt, also where the New Jersey elements conducted summer camp every year. The New York units held their training at Camp Smith, near Peekskill, New York. The division staff participated in the First Army command post exercise at Camp Dix in 1931 and 1934 and at Fort Devens in 1936 and 1937. The division was assembled for the first time in August 1935 when it participated in the First and Second Corps Area phase of the First Army Maneuvers at Pine Camp, New York. In 1939, the division again participated in the First Army Maneuvers, this time at Plattsburg, New York, as part of the provisional II Corps. The 44th Division’s last major training event before induction was the First Army maneuver involving the provisional I, II, and III Corps near Canton, New York, in August 1940. The division was inducted into active federal service at home stations on 16 September 1940, assigned to the II Corps, and ordered to move to Fort Dix, where it arrived on 23 September 1940. After the division’s initial train-up period, the 44th Division participated in the First Army Carolina Maneuvers near Wadesboro, North Carolina, in October–November 1941.[5]
Italics indicates the given unit was unorganized or inactive. Immediately before the induction of the 44th Division into federal service in mid-September 1940, the 44th Tank Company was disbanded and its personnel were assigned to other units of the 44th Division Special Troops.[6]
The division was en route to New Jersey on 7 December 1941, returning to Fort Dix when news was heard of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. A regimental combat team, based on the 113th Infantry, was immediately detached from the division and attached to the Eastern Defense Command to provide ground forces for the defense of the East Coast from New York to Philadelphia. Shortly afterwards, the remainder of the division moved to Camp Claiborne, LA, where the 44th Division was reorganized and redesignated, the 44th Infantry Division on 16 February 1942.[2]: 374 [7]: 131
The division was then sent to Fort Lewis Washington, where it participated in defense of the West Coast under the Western Defense Command for the remainder of 1942. In February 1943, the 44th Infantry Division, much reduced through the loss of personnel and units entered a period of rebuilding and training. After completing the "D-Series", division-level training, the 44th was sent to participate in the multi-division Fourth Army #6 Louisiana Maneuvers, 7 February-3 April 1944.[8]: 106–107 [7]: 131 The division then moved to Camp Phillips, KS for its final pre-deployment preparations.[7]: 131 [9] The division moved by railroad to Camp Myles Standish, Massachusetts, arriving on 24–27 August 1944;[10] departing the United States via the Boston Port of Embarkation on 5 September 1944.[7]: 131
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The 44th Infantry Division landed in France via Cherbourg Naval Base, 15 September 1944, and trained for a month before entering combat, 18 October 1944, when it relieved the 79th Division in the vicinity of Foret de Parroy, east of Lunéville, France, to take part in the Seventh Army drive to secure several passes in the Vosges Mountains. Within 6 days, the division was hit by a heavy German counterattack, 25–26 October. The attack was repulsed and the 44th continued its active defense. On 13 November 1944, it jumped off in an attack northeast, forcing a passage through the Vosges Mountains east of Leintrey to Dossenheim, took Avricourt, 17 November, and pushed on to liberate Strasbourg, along with the 2d French Armored Division. After regrouping, the division returned to the attack, taking Ratzwiller and entering the Ensemble de Bitche in the Maginot Line. On 14 December, regiments of the 44th Division took part in assaulting major Maginot line fortifications.[11] The division's 71st and 324th Infantry Regiments assaulted Fort Simserhof and nearby Hottviller.[11] After six days of fighting, the unit captured Simershof on 20 December.[11] Displacing to defensive positions east of Sarreguemines, 21–23 December, the 44th threw back three attempted crossings by the enemy of the Blies River.
An aggressive defense of the Sarreguemines area was continued throughout February 1945 and most of March. Moving across the Rhine at Worms, 26 March, in the wake of the 3d Division, the 44th relieved the 3d, 26–27 March, and crossed the Neckar River to attack and capture Mannheim, 28–29 March. Shifting to the west bank of the Main, the division crossed that river at Gross-Auheim in early April, and engaged in a 3-week training period. Attacking 18 April, after the 10th Armored Division, the 44th took Ehingen, 23 April, crossed the Danube, and attacking southeast, took Füssen, Berg, and Wertach, in a drive on Imst, Austria. On 2 May, a group of V-2 rocket scientists that included Wernher von Braun surrendered to the 44th.[12] Pursuing the disintegrating enemy through Fern Pass[13] and into the Inn River valley, the 44th set up its CP at Imst on 4 May. After a short period of occupation duty, the division returned to the United States in July 1945 for retraining prior to redeployment, but the end of the Pacific war resulted in inactivation in November 1945 at Camp Chaffee, Arkansas.[2]: 374 [7]: 131 [14]
World War II:[16]
The 44th Infantry Division was reactivated in the Illinois Army National Guard in 1946,[17] and inducted into federal service in early 1952 during the Korean War. It was disbanded after its release from federal service on 10 October 1954.[18]
On 15 June 2017 the 50th IBCT was reflagged as the 44th Brigade Combat Team, and carries the lineage of the 44th Infantry Division.
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