Document Source: Order of Battle of the United States Army, World War II, European Theater of Operations. Office of the Theater Historian, Paris, France, December 20, 1945.

Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg, Gen John J. Pershing, CG AEF, during the review of the 5th Division

5th Infantry Division - Gen S. Leroy IrwinThe 5th Division was activated on December 11, 1917, eight months after the United States entered into World War One, at Camp Logan (Texas) and began training for deployment to the Western Front. Sent overseas, as a part of the American Expeditionary Force (AEF), to participate in the late part of the War, the entire division arrived in France on May 1, 1918, and components of the units were deployed into the front line.

In 1918, the composition of the division was as follows: 9th Infantry Brigade, 60th Infantry Regiment, 61st Infantry Regiment, 14th Machine Gun Battalion, 10th Infantry Brigade, 6th Infantry Regiment, 11th Infantry Regiment, 15th Machine Gun Battalion, 5th Field Artillery Brigade, 19th Field Artillery Regiment, 20th Field Artillery Regiment, 21st Field Artillery Regiment, Division Troops, 13th Machine Gun Battalion, 7th Engineer Regiment, 9th Field Signal Battalion, Headquarters Troop, Trains, 5th Train Headquarters and Military Police, 5th Ammunition Train, 5th Supply Train, 7th Engineer Train, 5th Sanitary Train (Ambulance Companies and Field Hospitals 17, 25, 29, 30).

Illustration

The 5th Division trained with the French Army June 1/14 and on September 12, the unit was part of a major attack that reduced the salient at St Mihiel. After the Armistice, the division served in the Army of Occupation, being based in Belgium and in Luxembourg in Esch-Sur-Alzette, until it finally departed Europe and returned to the USA via the New York POE (Hoboken), New Jersey, to be stationed at Camp Gordon (Georgia) until October 1920. The 5th Division moved then to Camp Jackson (South Carolina), and was inactivated on October 4, 1921, except for the 10th Infantry Brigade and its supporting elements.

The division was reactivated provisionally during the month of August 1936 at Fort Knox (Kentucky) for the Second Army’s Maneuvers using the 10th Infantry Brigade and the West Virginia Army National Guard’s 201st Infantry Regiment. In October 1939, the division was definitely reactivated as part of the US mobilization in response to the outbreak of World War Two II in Europe. The unit was formed at Fort McClellan (Alabama), under the command of Gen Campbell Hodges. In 1940, the division was sent to Fort Benning (Georgia), and then temporarily to Louisiana for training exercises, before being transferred to Fort Harrison (Indiana) at the end of May 1940. During the month of December, the division relocated to Fort Custer (Michigan), and participated in the Tennessee Maneuvers. In August 1941, the Red Diamond went to Camp Robinson (Arkansas), and participated in both, the Arkansas and Louisiana Maneuvers then returned to Fort Custer in October. The division, under the command of Maj Gen Cortlandt Parker from August, was stationed there when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and Germany declared war on the United States in December 1941, thus bringing the United States into the conflict. As the winter passed the division was brought up to strength and fully equipped for forwarding deployment into a war zone.

Illusion

During the month of April 1942, the Division received its overseas orders and departed the New York (POE) at the end of the month for Iceland. The 5-D debarked there in May 1942 and relieved the British garrison on the island outpost along the Atlantic convoy routes. One year later, the unit was reorganized and re-designated as the 5th Infantry Division on May 24, 1943.

Commanding General

Maj Gen S. Leroy Irwin Dec 15, 1943 – Apr 20, 1945.
Maj Gen Albert E. Brown – Apr 20, 1945 – deactivation

Assistant Division Commander

Brig Gen Alan D. Warnock Dec 15, 1943 – deactivation

Artillery Division Commander

Brig Gen Harnold C. Vanderveer – Dec 15, 1943 – deactivation

Chief of Staff

Col Paul O. Franson – Dec 15, 1943 – deactivation

Oct 8, 1944, Lt Arthur J. Miller (1917-1945) from Duluth, Minnesota, forward observer from Cannon Co, 10-IR, received the Silver Star from Gen. Stafford LeRoy Irwin (CG 5-ID). Miller earned the medal for his actions on Jul 30, 1944, in France. He died of wounds at a field hospital on Mar 4, 1945, after being struck in the head and thorax by shell fragments two days earlier

Assistant Chief of Staff – G-1

Lt Col Hugh J. Socks – Dec 15, 1943 – Feb 6, 1944
Maj Clayton E. Crafts – Feb 6, 1944 – Jul 1, 1944
Lt Col Clayton E. Crafts – Jul 1, 1944 – deactivation

Assistant Chief of Staff – G-2

Lt Col Donald W. Thackery – Dec 15, 1943 – deactivation

Assistant Chief of Staff – G-3

Lt Col Randolph C. Dickens – Dec 15, 1943 – deactivation

Assistant Chief of Staff – G-4

Lt Col Richard L. McKee – Dec 15, 1943 – deactivation

Assistant Chief of Staff – G-5

Maj George E. B. Peddy – May 13, 1944 – Nov 1, 1944
Lt Col George E. B. Peddy – Nov 1, 1944 – deactivation

Adjutant General

Maj Charles H. Conway – Dec 15, 1943 – Feb 1, 1944
Lt Col Charles H. Conway – Feb 1, 1944 – deactivation

Commanding 2nd Infantry Regiment

Col A. Worrell Roffe – Jul 10, 1944 – Apr 26, 1945
Col Walter R. Graham – Apr 26, 1945 – deactivation

Commanding 10th Infantry Regiment

Col Robert P. Bell – Dec 15, 1943 – deactivation

Commanding 11th Infantry Regiment

Col Charles W. Yuill – Jul 9, 1944 – Nov 21, 1944
Col Paul J. Black – Nov 21, 1944 – deactivation

Chronology

Division activated – October 2, 1939
10-IR Arrived in Iceland – September 16, 1941
46-FAB Arrived in Iceland – September 16, 1941
HQs Arrived in Iceland – May 10, 1942
Division Arrived UK – August 3, 1943
Landed in France – D+33, July 9, 1944
Entered Combat (First Elements) – July 14 1944
Entered Combat (Entire Division) – July 16, 1944
Days in Combat – 270

5-ID – Casualties

Killed in Action (KIA), 2083
Wounded in Action (WIA), 9278
Missing in Action (MIA), 1073
Captured, 101
Battle Casualties, 12475
Non-Battle Casualties, 11012
Total Casualties, 23487.

5-ID – Campaigns

Normandy
Northern France
Ardennes (France)
Rhineland (Battle of the Bulge)
Central Europe

5-ID – Awards

Distinguished Service Cross (DSC), 34
Legion of Merit (LOM), 16
Silver Star (STM), 608
Soldiers Medal (SM), 12
Bronze Star (BSM), 2207
Air Medal (AM), 98
Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC), 2
POWs Taken – 71603

Illustration

5-ID – OOB – (Organic)

Hq & Hq Company 5th Infantry Division
2nd Infantry Regiment
10th Infantry Regiment
11th Infantry Regiment
5th Reconnaissance Troop (Mecz)
7th Engineer Combat Battalion
5th Medical Battalion
Hq & Hq Battery 5th Division Artillery
19th Field Artillery Battalion (105-MM Howitzer)
46th Field Artillery Battalion (105-MM Howitzer)
50th Field Artillery Battalion (105-MM Howitzer)
21st Field Artillery Battalion (155-Howitzer)
Special Troops
705th Ordnance Light Maintenance Company
5th Quartermaster Company
5th Signal Company
Military Police Platoon
Band

Attachment to 5-ID
Antiaircraft Artillery

449th AAA AW Bn (Mbl) – 13 Jul 44 – 23 Nov 44
D Btry, 116th AAA Gun Bn (Mbl) – 30 Jul 44 – 1 Aug 44
449th AAA AW Bn (Mbl) – 29 Nov 44 – 31 Mar 45

Armored

735th Tank Bn – 13 Jul 44 – 20 Oct 44
CCB, 7-AD – 9 Sep 44 – 15 Sep 44
735th Tank Bn – 1 Nov 44 – 20 Dec 44
737th Tank Bn – 23 Dec 44 – 11 Jun 45
748th Tank Bn – 22 Mar 45 – 23 Mar 45
B Co, 17th Tank Bn (7-AD) – 8 Apr 45 – 10 Apr 45

Illustration



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