Interwar period The 104th Division was constituted in the
Organized Reserve on 24 June 1921, allotted to the
Ninth Corps Area, and assigned to the
XIX Corps. The division was allocated to the states of
Utah,
Idaho,
Montana, and
Wyoming as its home area, although the 2nd Battalion, 413th Infantry was organized at
Reno, Nevada. The division headquarters was organized on 7 October 1921 at
Fort Douglas, Utah, and relocated in May 1923 to Room 312 in the Commercial Building in
Salt Lake City. The headquarters was moved on 30 September 1926 to the Vermont Building where it remained until activated for World War II. To maintain communications with the officers of the division, the division staff published a newsletter titled “Frontier Division,” which was reflective of the unit's geographical area. The newsletter informed the division's members what the division's summer training quotas were, where the camps were to be held, and which units would be assigned to help conduct the
Citizens Military Training Camps (CMTC). For the few summers when the division headquarters was called to duty for training as a unit, the 104th Division usually trained with the staff of the
3rd Division's 6th Infantry Brigade at Fort Douglas. The subordinate infantry regiments of the division held their summer training primarily with the units of the 3rd Division at Fort Douglas and
Fort Missoula, Montana, and some years with the
2nd Division's 4th Infantry Brigade at the Pole Mountain Military Reservation, Wyoming. Other units, however, such as the special troops, artillery, engineers, aviation, medical, and quartermaster, trained at various posts in the Ninth Corps Area with Regular Army units of the same branch. For example, the 329th Engineer Regiment usually trained with elements of the 3rd Division's 6th Engineer Regiment at
Camp Lewis, Washington, and the 329th Medical Regiment trained at the post hospital at
Fort Francis E. Warren, Wyoming. In addition to the unit training camps, the infantry regiments of the division rotated responsibility to conduct the CMTC held at Camp Lewis each year. On a number of occasions, the division participated in Ninth Corps Area and Fourth Army
command post exercises in conjunction with other Regular Army, National Guard, and Organized Reserve units. These training events gave division staff officers’ opportunities to practice the roles they would be expected to perform in the event the division was mobilized. Unlike the Regular and Guard units in the Ninth Corps Area, however, the 104th Division did not participate in the various Ninth Corps Area maneuvers and the major Fourth Army maneuvers of 1936 and 1940 as an organized unit due to lack of enlisted personnel and equipment. Instead, the officers and a few enlisted reservists were assigned to the Regular and Guard units to fill vacant slots and bring the units up to full peace strength for the exercises. Additionally, some officers were assigned duties as umpires or as support personnel.
Order of battle, 1939 • Headquarters (Salt Lake City, UT) • Headquarters, Special Troops (Salt Lake City, UT) • Headquarters Company (Salt Lake City, UT) • 104th Military Police Company (
Idaho Falls, ID) • 104th Signal Company (Salt Lake City, UT) • 329th Ordnance Company (Medium) (
Great Falls, MT) • 104th Tank Company (Light) (
Casper, WY) • 207th Infantry Brigade (
Boise, ID) • 413th Infantry Regiment (Salt Lake City, UT) • 414th Infantry Regiment (
Pocatello, ID) • 208th Infantry Brigade (
Billings, MT) • 415th Infantry Regiment (Casper, WY) • 416th Infantry Regiment (Billings, MT) • 179th Field Artillery Brigade (Casper, WY) • 385th Field Artillery Regiment (75 mm) (Salt Lake City, UT) • 386th Field Artillery Regiment (75 mm) (
Helena, MT) • 387th Field Artillery Regiment (155 mm) (Salt Lake City, UT) • 329th Ammunition Train (Casper, WY) • 329th Engineer Regiment (Salt Lake City, UT) • 329th Medical Regiment (Salt Lake City, UT) • 429th Quartermaster Regiment (Salt Lake City, UT)
World War II Before Organized Reserve infantry divisions were ordered into active military service, they were reorganized on paper as "triangular" divisions under the 1940 tables of organization. The headquarters companies of the two infantry brigades were consolidated into the division's cavalry reconnaissance troop, and one infantry regiment was removed by inactivation. The field artillery brigade headquarters and headquarters battery became the headquarters and headquarters battery of the division artillery. Its three field artillery regiments were reorganized into four battalions; one battalion was taken from each of the two 75 mm gun regiments to form two 105 mm howitzer battalions, the brigade's ammunition train was reorganized as the third 105 mm howitzer battalion, and the 155 mm howitzer battalion was formed from the 155 mm howitzer regiment. The engineer, medical, and quartermaster regiments were reorganized into battalions. In 1942, divisional quartermaster battalions were split into ordnance light maintenance companies and quartermaster companies, and the division's headquarters and military police company, which had previously been a combined unit, was split. The 104th Infantry Division was ordered into active military service on 15 September 1942 under the command of
Major General Gilbert R. Cook, and was reorganized as the 104th Infantry Division at
Camp Adair,
Oregon. The division earned its nickname "Timberwolf Division" from its time in the northwest. After training at Camp Adair, the division participated in the
Oregon Maneuver combat exercise in the fall of 1943. On 15 October 1943, Major General
Terry de la Mesa Allen Sr. took command of the division. He had previously commanded the
1st Infantry Division, "The Big Red One", in
North Africa and
Sicily and would command the 104th during most of its time in combat. On 7 December 1943, the division moved to, and began 13 weeks of desert training at
Camp Hyder, Arizona. The division concluded training on 9 February 1944, and next moved to Camp Granite, California. One last move in March to Camp Carson, Colorado, aboard 24 trains was followed with a cross-county move to Camp Kilmer, New Jersey, arriving on 20 August 1944.
Europe The 104th Infantry Division sailed for the
Western Front on 27 August 1944. It landed in France on 7 September 1944. The division then organized and assembled at
Manche, France before heading into combat. Joining the
Battle of the Scheldt, the division moved into defensive positions in the vicinity of
Wuustwezel, Belgium on 23 October 1944. The Timberwolves were then assigned to
Field Marshal Sir
Bernard Montgomery's Anglo-Canadian
21st Army Group under the
British I Corps, within the
First Canadian Army, along with the
U.S. 7th Armored Division, in order to
clear out the Scheldt Estuary and open the port of
Antwerp. While the U.S. 7th Armored Division was assigned static duty holding the right flank of the gains made during the failed
Market Garden operation, the 104th Infantry Division was to participate in the
First Canadian Army's taking of the Scheldt. The Timberwolves travelled across France by train and debarked near the Belgian-Dutch border and waited for word to take part in a new allied offensive,
Operation Pheasant, taking the place of the experienced
British 49th Infantry Division on the left flank and the
Polish 1st Armored Division on the right. with concrete armor, captured during the Battle of the Bulge. U.S. markings were added upon capture. The GI to the left is carrying a captured German
StG 44. The Americans were given responsibility for taking 22 miles of wet, low country from the Belgian border to the
Meuse (
Maas). The width of their front was approximately 8,000 yards. General Allen planned to employ all three of his regiments at the same time, shoulder to shoulder. The 104th began combat operations on 25 and 26 October and began to attack the Germans, who offered varying levels of resistance. Along the division's front, the Germans were spread thinly and did not have continuous lines of defense. However, they did possess deadly strong points and endeavored to make the Timberwolves' progress as time-consuming and costly as possible, making heavy use of mines, booby traps, and roadblocks. Despite this, the advance was steady, though paid for in the lives of the 104th Division soldiers. Conditions were rainy, chilly, wet, and muddy. Moisture seemed to grip everything and everyone. Sleet beat down on the troops, who went for days soaked to the skin and slimy with mud. On 30 October, after five days of continuous operations the division had pushed about 15 miles to within sight of the Mark River and had liberated
Zundert, gained control of the
Breda-
Roosendaal Road, and overrun the Vaart Canal defenses.
Eschweiler fell on 21 November and the enemy was cleared from the area west of the
Inde River, including
Inden by 2 December 1944.
Lucherberg was held against enemy counterattacks on 3 December, and all strongholds west of the
Roer River were captured by the 23rd. During the
Battle of the Bulge, the 104th actively defended its sector near
Duren and
Merken (in German only) from 15 December 1944 to 22 February 1945. During that time, it was reassigned to
XIX Corps of the
Ninth United States Army. members point a 104th Division serviceman to their weapon cache. After a period of mopping up and consolidation, it participated in the trap of enemy troops in the
Ruhr pocket. The 104th repulsed heavy attacks near
Medebach and captured
Paderborn on 1 April 1945. The division then crossed the
Saale River and took
Halle in a bitter five-day struggle from 15 to 19 April. •
Killed in action: 971 During World War II, soldiers of the division were awarded two
Medals of Honor, 14
Distinguished Service Crosses, one
Distinguished Service Medal, 642
Silver Star Medals, six
Legion of Merit medals, 20
Soldier's Medals, 2,797
Bronze Star Medals, and 40
Air Medals. By 1952, the division was turning out 1,500 new reservists per training camp. The
1st Brigade, 104th Division, activated at Vancouver Barracks, and the
2nd Brigade, 104th Division activated at
Pasco, Washington. Meanwhile, the
3rd Brigade, 104th Division, as well as the
4th Brigade, 104th Division both activated at
Fort Lawton, Washington. Each of these brigades carried the history of other historic units which fought under the 104th Infantry Division in World War II. The 104th Division was then assigned the mission of conducting
One Station Unit Training,
Basic Combat Training,
Advanced Individual Training, and
Combat Support training. The
6th Brigade, 104th Division was activated at
Aurora, Colorado. The
7th Brigade, 104th Division activated at
Vancouver, Washington. The 5th Brigade conducted health services training, 6th Brigade took charge of professional development training and 7th Brigade provided training support to the other brigades. These units were redesignated from other training commands and put under the command of the division. In 2005, the
Base Realignment and Closure suggestions included the closure of the Vancouver Barracks, and the 104th Division was subsequently relocated to Fort Lewis, Washington. In 2005, the current Distinctive Unit Insignia was designed under the direction of Major General Terrill K. (TK) Moffett. The 104th received its new
distinctive unit insignia in 2006. In October 2007, the division was renamed the 104th Training Division (Leader Training). This change reflected a change in the division's mission, specifically training
officer and
non-commissioned officer candidates in their assigned fields. == Organization ==