The 8th Armored Division was activated at Fort Knox, Kentucky, on April 1 1943 then was sent to Camp Polk, Louisiana on March 5 1943 then to the Fourth Army #6 Louisiana Maneuvres on February 2 1944.
The 8-AD returned to Camp Polk, Louisiana on April 26 1944, staged at Camp Kilmer, New Jersey, on November 2 1944 until it departed the New York POE on November 6 and arrived in England on November 19 1944.
The 8th Armored Division landed in France on January 5 1945, crossed into Holland on February 5 1945 and entered in Germany on March 2 1945.
Wen the job was over, the 8-AD was sent back to Hampton Roads POE on November 13 1945 and was inactivated at the same date at Camp Patrick Henry, Virginia.
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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).
The 7th Armored Division was activated on Mar 1 1942 at Camp Polk, Louisiana and moved Sep 15 1942 to the IV Corps Louisiana Maneuvers. It returned to Camp Polk on Nov 9 1942, arrived then Mar 11 1943 at the Desert Training Center for the #2 California Maneuvers, was transferred Aug 12 1943 to Fort Benning, Georgia and arrived at Camp Myles Standish, Massachusetts on Apr 22 1944.
The 101st Airborne Division was activated on Aug 15 1942 at Camp Claiborne, Louisiana, and was transferred to Fort Bragg, North Carolina, Sept 29 1942.
In late March, 1945, the 82nd Airborne Division was engaged in training activities at its base camps at Sissone, Suippes and Laon, France. Reorganization under the new Table of Organization was under way and a schedule of intensive airborne training was being carried out. Experiments also were being conducted with new equipment, including the new recoilless 57-MM gun. Several tentative airborne missions were in the planning stage at the Division’s Headquarters at Camp Sissone. Late in the afternoon of March 30 1945, the Division CO, Maj Gen James M. Gavin was called to XVIII Corps (Airborne) Headquarters at Epernay France.
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.
