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 HEADQUARTERS 106TH INFANTRY DIVISION APO 443 US ARMY After Action Report |
A : Enclosed are the After Action Reports and Journals of the following units and General Staff Sections of the 106th Division, covering action against the enemy during the month of December 1944 :
- 424th Infantry Regiment Report
- 106th Division Artillery Report
- 81st Engineer (C) Battalion Report
- 331st Medical Battalion Report
- 106th Division Special Troops Report
- G-1 Report
- G-2 Report
- G-3 Report
- G-4 Report
B : The commanding officers and staffs of the 422d Infantry Regiment, 423d Infantry Regiment and the 106th Reconnaissance Troop are missing in action. Their records are presumed to have been destroyed and are not available. The action of these units is covered, but not completely, in the reports and journals of the General Staff Sections. The 14th Cavalry Group was attached to the division from 111900A to 181300A December. Its action, in part, during this period is included in the reports and journals of the general Staff Sections. After 181300A December, it was attached to the 7th Armored Division.
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By October 1944 the Allied forces in Western Europe had swept across France and were generally poised along the western frontier of Germany. The rapidity of the advance across France and the resulting extended front, pressed to the limits of logistical support, had quickly reduced the impetus of advance. As the problem of supply became more acute, large scale advance became impossible and the front stabilized. Checked as they were at the fixed defenses along the German border, the mounting of a full scale assault became necessary and toward this end momentous efforts were directed. However, Allied commanders, determined to maintain the initiative and to continue the drive into Germany at the earliest opportunity, launched a series of limited attacks preliminary to operations which were to mean the final destruction of all German forces west of the Rhine River.
The 1st Infantry Division also nicknamed The Fighting First, is the oldest division in the United States Army, and has seen continuous service since its organization in 1917. The 1st Division started preparing for World War II by moving to Fort Benning on November 19th 1939 and ran its personnel through the Infantry School. It then moved to the Sabine Parish, Louisiana area on May 11th 1940 to participate in the Louisiana Maneuvers, returned to Fort Hamilton on June 5th 1940 then to Fort Devens, Ma., on February 4th 1941. The Division was sent to both Carolina Maneuvres of October and November 1941, moved to Samarcand, North Carolina on October 16th 1941 and on December 6th 1941, returned to Fort Devens, Ma. It was then transfered to Camp Blanding, Florida (February 21st 1942) where it was re-designated 1st Infantry Division on May 15th 1942. The 1st Infantry Division moved then back Fort Benning, on May 22nd 1942, to Indian Town Gap Mil Reservation, on June 21st 1942 and, finally, Division departed New York Port of Embarkation on August 1st 1942. The 1st ID arrived in England on August 7th 1942 and assaulted in North Africa on November 2nd 1942 (Operation Torch).
Facts
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.
