US STRATEGIC BOMBING SURVEYS
EUROPA AND PACIFIC THEATER
WORLD WAR TWO
The new relation of air power to strategy presents one of the distinguishing contrasts between this war and the last. Air power in the last war was in its infancy. The new role of three-dimensional warfare was even then foreseen by a few farsighted men, but planes were insufficient in quality and quantity to permit much more than occasional brilliant assistance to the ground forces. Air power in the European phase of this war reached a :
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The US 10th Armored Division was activated on July 15 1942 at Fort Benning Georgia and moved on June 24 1943 to the Second Army #2 Tennessee Maneuvres.
Activated on Jun 1 1940 as the 4th Division at Fort Benning, Georgia the Division was reorganized as 4th Division (Motorized) on Aug 1 1940 then as 4th Motorized Division in Jul 11 1941. It moved then to Dry Prong Louisiana, on Aug 1 1941 for IV Corps Louisiana Maneuvers and returned to Fort Benning Aug 27 1941. It moved then to Fort Jackson South Carolina Oct 30 1941 for the First Army Carolina Maneuvers and arrived back to Fort Benning on Dec 3 1941. On Dec 29, the 4th Division arrived at Camp Gordon, Georgia and, finally, went to Carolina Maneuver Area on Jul 7 1942. The 4th Division returned to Camp Gordon on Aug 31 1942 and moved to Fort Dix, New Jersey on Apr 12 1943 where it was re-designated to 4th Infantry Division on Aug 4 1943. Sent, then, to Camp Gordon Johnston, Florida on Sept 19 1943 for the III Corps Carrabelle Maneuvers the 4th was sent to Fort Jackson South Carolina on Dec 1 1943 and staged at Camp Kilmer, New Jersey on Jan 4 1944 until departed New York POE on Jan 18 1944. The Division landed in England on Jan 26 1944 and was ready to start fighting
The idea of a Waffen-SS division composed of Hitlerjugend members was first proposed by SS-Gruppenführer Gottlob Berger in Jan 1943. Berger approached Reichsführer Heinrich Himmler with the proposition, and Himmler soon became an enthusiastic advocate. The plan for a combat division made up of all HJ members born in 1926 was passed on to Adolf Hitler for his approval. Hitler was also enthusiastic about the idea, and on Feb 10 1943, the official order for the creation of an HJ division was issued. Berger nominated himself as the divisional commander, but Himmler instead chose 1 SS Panzergrenadier Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler (LSSAH) veteran, SS-Oberführer Fritz Witt.
With the help and the work from my American friend David Gettman, the son of Lt Henry ‘Shorty’ Gettman, Platoon Leader of the 1st Platoon, 99th Reconnaissance Troop, 99th Infantry Division (1-99/99th Inf Div), 1st Army, ETO, WW II, Gerolzhofen, Germany, post VE Day.
The 99th Infantry Division was a unit of the United States Army in World War II. It played a strategic role in the Battle of the Bulge when its inexperienced troops held fast on the northern shoulder of the German advance, refusing them access to the vital northern road network that led into Belgium.
