As the early battles of
World War II involving the
United States were being fought, the division was reactivated at
Camp White, Oregon, on 15 August 1942, under the command of Major General
Charles H. Gerhardt, around a cadre coming for the most part from the
1st Cavalry Division. Remaining enlisted personnel to complete the division arrived in October and November 1942 from all parts of the United States. After initial training at Camp White, the division participation in one of the major
Oregon Maneuver combat exercises in the fall of 1943.
Order of battle 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. • Headquarters, 91st Infantry Division • 361st Infantry Regiment • 362nd Infantry Regiment • 363rd Infantry Regiment • Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 91st Infantry Division Artillery • 346th Field Artillery Battalion (105 mm) • 347th Field Artillery Battalion (105 mm) • 348th Field Artillery Battalion (155 mm) • 916th Field Artillery Battalion (105 mm) • 316th Engineer Combat Battalion • 316th Medical Battalion •
91st Cavalry Reconnaissance Troop (Mechanized) • Headquarters, Special Troops, 91st Infantry Division • Headquarters Company, 91st Infantry Division • 791st Ordnance Light Maintenance Company • 91st Quartermaster Company • 91st Signal Company • Military Police Platoon • Band • 91st Counterintelligence Corps Detachment
Combat chronicle Major General William G. Livesay being the commander, the division departed for the European Continent on 3 April 1944. There, on the
Italian Front, the 361st Regimental Combat Team was detached to participate in the
battles for Rome and the Arno River. It became the first formation of the
U.S. Fifth Army to reach the river. In September 1944, the division crossed the Sieve River, outflanked the famous
Gothic Line, and captured the Futa Pass. Beginning from the middle of April 1945, the division, along with its
II Corps sister units, pushed forward against the units of German
XIV Panzer Corps as part of
Operation Grapeshot. The division returned to the United States where it was inactivated at
Camp Rucker,
Alabama, in December 1945. •
Total battle casualties: 8,744 •
Killed in action: 1,400 •
Wounded in action: 6,748 •
Missing in action: 262 •
Prisoner of war: 334 ==Army Reserve==