Order of battle • Headquarters, 34th Infantry Division •
133rd Infantry Regiment •
100th Infantry Battalion ''(replacing 133rd's 2nd Battalion, left in England)'' •
135th Infantry Regiment •
168th Infantry Regiment • Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 34th Infantry Division Artillery •
125th Field Artillery Battalion (105 mm) • 151st Field Artillery Battalion (105 mm) • 175th Field Artillery Battalion (105 mm) • 185th Field Artillery Battalion (155 mm) • 109th Engineer Combat Battalion • 109th Medical Battalion • 34th Cavalry Reconnaissance Troop (Mechanized) • Headquarters, Special Troops, 34th Infantry Division • Headquarters Company, 34th Infantry Division • 734th Ordnance Light Maintenance Company • 34th Quartermaster Company • 34th Signal Company • Military Police Platoon • Band • 34th Counterintelligence Corps Detachment In common with other U.S. Army divisions during
World War II the 34th was reorganized from a square to a
triangular division before seeing combat. The division's three infantry regiments became the
133rd,
135th, and
168th Infantry Regiments, together with supporting units.
Combat chronicle On 8 January 1942, the 34th Division was transported by train to
Fort Dix,
New Jersey to quickly prepare for overseas movement. The first contingent embarked at
Brooklyn on 14 January 1942 and sailed from
New York the next day. The initial group of 4,508 men stepped ashore at 12:15 hrs on 26 January 1942 at Dufferin Quay,
Belfast,
Northern Ireland. They were met by a delegation including the
Governor (
Duke of Abercorn), the
Prime Minister of Northern Ireland (
J. M. Andrews), the Commander of
British Troops Northern Ireland (
Lieutenant General Sir Harold Franklyn), and the
Secretary of State for Air (
Sir Archibald Sinclair).
Private First Class Milburn H. Henke, Company B, 133rd Infantry Regiment, of
Hutchinson, Minnesota, was honorarily selected as the "first" American soldier to set foot in the United Kingdom during the Second World War. The remainder of the division embarked for Northern Ireland in late April 1942, arriving in early May. While in Northern Ireland, Hartle was tasked with organizing an American version of the
British Commandos, a group of small "hit and run" forces, and promoted his
aide-de-camp,
Captain William Orlando Darby to lead the new unit.
Sidi Bou Zid and Faid Pass, Sbeitla, and Fondouk Gap. In April 1943 during
Operation Vulcan the division assaulted
Hill 609, capturing it on 1 May 1943, and then drove through Chouigui Pass to Tebourba and Ferryville. The
Battle of Tunisia was won, and the
Axis forces surrendered. of Pantano, Italy – 29 November to 3 December 1943. The division skipped the
Allied invasion of Sicily (Operation Husky) due to heavy casualties suffered in North Africa especially at Faid Pass where the 168th Infantry Regiment lost half of its strength with its men killed or captured and was in need of replacements and refitting, and instead trained intensively for the
invasion of the Italian mainland, with the main landings being at Salerno (Operation Avalanche) on 9 September 1943,
D-Day, to be undertaken by elements of the
U.S. Fifth Army, commanded by
Lieutenant General Mark Clark. The 151st Field Artillery Battalion went in on D-Day, 9 September,
landing at Salerno, while the rest of the division followed on 25 September. The segregated
Japanese-American 100th Infantry Battalion was attached to the 133rd Infantry at the end of the North African campaign to replace the 2nd Battalion, later traveling with them to Italy. Composed of Japanese Americans, many of whom had been stripped of their weapons in Hawaii after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the 100th Battalion earned the nickname "Purple Heart Battalion" for its exceptionally high casualty rate. During five months of combat from Salerno through Monte Cassino, the battalion was reduced from approximately 1,300 men to 521 fit for duty. Major General Ryder authorized the 100th Battalion to wear the Red Bull shoulder patch in recognition of their service. Engaging the enemy at the
Calore River, 28 September, the 34th, as part of the
VI Corps under Major General
John Lucas, advanced north to take
Benevento, crossed the winding
Volturno three times in October and November, assaulted Monte Pantano, and took one of its four peaks before being relieved on 8 December. , Lt. Gen.
Clark and Maj. Gen.
Ryder reviewing 34th Division soldiers, 1944 In January 1944, the division was back on the front line battering the
Bernhardt Line defenses. Persevering through bitter fighting along the Mignano Gap, the 34th used goat herds to clear the minefields. The 34th took Monte Trocchio without resistance as the German defenders withdrew to the main prepared defenses of the
Gustav Line. On 24 January 1944, during the
First Battle of Monte Cassino they pushed across the
Gari River into the hills behind and attacked Monastery Hill which dominated the town of
Monte Cassino. While they nearly captured the objective, in the end their attacks on the monastery and the town failed. The performance of the 34th Infantry Division in the mountains has been called one of the finest feats of arms carried out by any soldiers during the war. The unit sustained severe losses. In the 133rd Infantry, the attached
100th Battalion, had only 7 officers and 78 men remaining in its rifle companies. In the 135th Infantry, there was an average of only 30 men in each rifle company. In the 168th Infantry, the 1st Battalion had only 154 combat effective men, the 2nd Battalion had 393, and the 3rd Battalion had 246. They were relieved from their positions 11–13 February 1944. Three further Allied offensives involving multiple divisions were required before the monastery position finally fell on 18 May 1944. After rest and rehabilitation, during which the 133rd Infantry's 2nd Battalion rejoined its parent regiment, the 34th Division landed at the
Anzio beachhead 25 March 1944. The division maintained defensive positions until the offensive of 23 May, when it broke out of the beachhead, took
Cisterna, and raced to
Civitavecchia and the Italian capital of
Rome. After a short rest, the division, now commanded by Major General
Charles Bolte, drove across the Cecina River to liberate
Livorno, 19 July 1944, and continued on to take Monte Belmonte in October during the fighting on the
Gothic Line. Digging in south of
Bologna for the winter, the 34th manned the line opposite the
German 65th Infantry Division. The Red Bull Division jumped off as part of the
Spring 1945 offensive in Italy, 15 April 1945, and captured
Bologna on 21 April after hard fighting against the 65th. Pursuit of the routed enemy to the French border was halted on 2 May upon the German surrender in Italy and the
end of World War II in Europe. second only to the 654 days of fighting by the
32nd Infantry Division. ;Unit history • Activated: 10 February 1941 (
National Guard Division from
North Dakota,
South Dakota,
Iowa,
Minnesota) • Overseas: May 1942 • Days of combat: 517 •
Distinguished Unit Citations: 3 • Awards: •
Medals of Honor: 9 •
Distinguished Service Crosses: 98 •
Distinguished Service Medals: 1 •
Silver Stars: 1,153 •
Bronze Stars: 2,545 •
Legions of Merit: 116 •
Soldier's Medals: 54 •
Purple Hearts: 15,000 • Foreign awards: • French
Croix de Guerre with Palm • Casualties: • Killed in action: 2,866 • Wounded in action: 11,545 • Missing in action: 622 • Prisoner of war: 1,368 • Total battle casualties: 16,401 • Commanders: • Major General
Ellard A. Walsh (February–August 1941) • Major General
Russell P. Hartle (August 1941 – May 1942) • Major General
Charles W. Ryder (May 1942 – July 1944) • Major General
Charles L. Bolte (July 1944 to inactivation) • Returned to U.S.: 3 November 1945 • Inactivated: 3 November 1945
Honors and decorations On 21 June 1945, French General
Charles de Gaulle awarded the 34th Infantry Division the
Croix de Guerre with Palm, the highest grade of the decoration. The citation praised the division as a "division d'elite" for its "loyal and efficient cooperation with French divisions, begun in Tunisia" and "gloriously continued throughout the Italian campaign, in particular during the operations of Belvedere." ==Cold War to 1991==