88th Infantry Division (United States)
88th Division 88th Infantry Division | |
---|---|
Active | 1917–1919 1921–1947 |
Country | United States of America |
Branch | United States Army |
Type | Infantry |
Size | Division |
Nickname(s) | "Fighting Blue Devils" "Clover Leaf Division" |
Engagements | World War I |
Commanders | |
Notable commanders | Paul Wilkins Kendall |
Insignia | |
Distinctive Unit Insignia |
The 88th Infantry Division was an infantry division of the United States Army that saw service in both World War I and World War II. It was one of the first of the Organized Reserve divisions to be called into federal service, created nearly "from scratch" after the implementation of the draft in 1940. Previous divisions were composed of either Regular Army or National Guard personnel. Much of the experience in reactivating it was used in the subsequent expansion of the U.S. Army.
By the end of World War II the 88th Infantry fought its way to the northernmost extreme of Italy. In early May 1945 troops of its 349th Infantry Regiment joined the
World War I
- Activated: 5 August 1917, Camp Dodge, Iowa
- Overseas: 7 September 1918
- Major operations: Did not participate as a division
- Casualties: Total-78 (KIA-12; WIA-66)
- Commanders:
- Maj. Gen. Edward H. Plummer (25 August 1917)
- Brig. Gen. Robert N. Getty (27 November 1917)
- Maj. Gen. Edward H. Plummer (19 February 1918)
- Brig. Gen. Robert N. Getty (15 March 1918)
- Brig. Gen. William D. Beach (24 May 1918)
- Maj. Gen. William Weigel (10 September 1918)
- Inactivated: 10 June 1919, Camp Dodge, Iowa
Composition
Initially, personnel for the division were furnished by Selective Service men from
The division was composed of the following units:[2][3]
- Headquarters, 88th Division
- 175th Infantry Brigade
- 349th Infantry Regiment
- 350th Infantry Regiment
- 338th Machine Gun Battalion
- 176th Infantry Brigade
- 351st Infantry Regiment
- 352nd Infantry Regiment
- 339th Machine Gun Battalion
- 163rd Field Artillery Brigade
- Headquarters Troop, 88th Division
- 337th Machine Gun Battalion
- 338th Engineer Regiment
- 313th Field Signal Battalion
- 313th Train Headquarters and Military Police
- 313th Ammunition Train
- 313th Supply Train
- 313th Engineer Train
- 313th Sanitary Train
- 349th, 350th, 351st, and 352nd Ambulance Companies and Field Hospitals
Interwar period
The 88th Division was reconstituted in the Organized Reserve on 24 June 1921, allotted to the Seventh
The designated mobilization and training station for the division was
World War II
- Ordered into active military service: 15 July 1942, Camp Gruber, Oklahoma
- Overseas: 6 December 1943
- Distinguished Unit Citations: 3
- Campaigns: Rome-Arno, North Apennines, Po Valley
- Days of combat: 344
- Awards: Medal of Honor-3 ; Distinguished Service Cross (United States)-40 ; Distinguished Service Medal (United States)-2 ; Silver Star-522; Legion of Merit-66; Soldier's Medal-19 ; Bronze Star Medal-3,784.
- Unit citations: Third Battalion, 351st Infantry Regiment (action vicinity Laiatico; 9–13 July 1944). Second Battalion, 350th Infantry Regiment (action on Mt. Battaglia, 27 Sept – 3 Oct 1944). Second Battalion, 351st Infantry Regiment (action vicinity Mt. Cappello, 27 Sept – 1 Oct 1944).
- Commanders:
- Maj. Gen. John E. Sloan (July 1942 – September 1944)
- Maj. Gen. Paul W. Kendall(September 1944 – July 1945)
- Brig. Gen. James C. Fry (July–November 1945)
- Maj. Gen. Bryant Moore (November 1945 to inactivation)
- Inactivated: 24 October 1947 in Italy
Combat chronicle
- First Entered combat: Advance party on night of 3–4 January 1944 in support of Monte Cassino attacks.[5]
- First Organization Committed to Line: 2nd Battalion, 351st Infantry Regiment plus attachments[6]
- First combat fatality: 3 January 1944
- Began post war POW Command: 7 June 1945. Responsible for guarding and later repatriating 324,462 German POWs.[7]
Ordered into active military service at
After being inspected by the Fifth Army commander on 5 May, the 88th Division, six days later, drove north to take Spigno, Mount Civita, Itri, Fondi, and Roccagorga, reached Anzio, 29 May, and pursued the enemy into Rome, being the first unit of the Fifth Army into the city on 4 June, two days before the Normandy landings, after a stiff engagement on the outskirts of the city. An element of the 88th is credited with being first to enter the Eternal City. After continuing across the Tiber to Bassanelio the 88th retired for rest and training, 11 June. The division went into defensive positions near Pomerance on 5 July, and launched an attack toward Volterra on the 8th, taking the town the next day. Laiatico fell on the 11th, Villamagna on the 13th, and the Arno River was crossed on the 20th although the enemy resisted bitterly.
After a period of rest and training, the 88th Division, now commanded by Major General
Casualties
- Total battle casualties: 13,111[8]
- Killed in action: 2,298[8]
- Wounded in action: 9,225[8]
- Missing in action: 941[8]
- Prisoner of war: 647[8]
Units
Units assigned to the division during World War II included:
- Headquarters, 88th Infantry Division
- 349th Infantry Regiment
- 350th Infantry Regiment
- 351st Infantry Regiment
- Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 88th Infantry Division Artillery
- 337th Field Artillery Battalion
- 338th Field Artillery Battalion
- 339th Field Artillery Battalion
- 913th Field Artillery Battalion
- 313th Engineer Combat Battalion
- 313th Medical Battalion
- 88th Cavalry Reconnaissance Troop (Mechanized)
- Headquarters, Special Troops, 88th Infantry Division
- 788th Ordnance Light Maintenance Company
- 88th Quartermaster Company
- 88th Signal Company
- Military Police Platoon
- Band
- 88th Counterintelligence Corps Detachment
Post war
After the war, the 88th Infantry Division absorbed some personnel and units from the 34th Infantry Division and served on occupation duty in Italy guarding the
In October 1954 the mission ended upon the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding of London[11] establishing a temporary civil administration in the Anglo-American Zone of the Free Territory of Trieste, entrusted to the responsibility of the Italian Government.[12]
TRUST units, which included a number of 88th divisional support units, all bore a unit patch which was the coat of arms of the Free Territory of Trieste superimposed over the divisional quatrefoil, over which was a blue scroll containing the designation "TRUST" in white.
Cold War and beyond
The 88th Army Reserve Command (ARCOM) was formed at
In 1996, when the Army Reserve's command structure was revised, the 88th Regional Support Command (88th RSC) was established at Fort Snelling. Its mission was to command and control Army Reserve units in a six state region, which included Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio. In addition, the 88th RSC ensured operational readiness, provided area support services, and supported emergency operations in its area of responsibility.
In 2003, the Army Reserve's command structure was again revised, and the 88th Regional Readiness Command (88th RRC) was formed at Fort Snelling with responsibility for USAR units in the same six states included in the 88th RSC. Various Combat Support units mobilize and deploy to Operation Iraqi Freedom in late 2003-mid 2004.
In its 2005 BRAC Recommendations, DoD recommended to realign Fort Snelling, MN by disestablishing the 88th Regional Readiness Command. This recommendation was part of a larger recommendation to re-engineer and streamline the Command and Control structure of the Army Reserve that would create the Northwest Regional Readiness Command at Fort McCoy, WI.
In 2008, the 88th Regional Readiness Command (88th RRC) moved to
Operation Allies Welcome
The 88th was ordered to support
Current
The division shoulder patch is worn by the United States Army Reserve 88th Readiness Division at Fort Snelling, Minnesota; the division lineage is perpetuated by the 88th RD.[citation needed] RDs such as the 88th have the same number as inactivated divisions and are allowed to wear the shoulder patch, and division lineage and honors are inherited by an RD.
General
- Shoulder patch: A blue (for Infantry) quatrefoil, formed by two Arabic numeral "8s". A rocker above it with the nickname "Blue Devils" was often worn.
- During World War II, the Germans thought the 88th was an elite stormtrooper Division. This was most likely due to parallels between the "Blue Devil" nickname and patch rocker and the German SS's use of the Totenkopf death's head insignia.
Decorations
Ribbon | Award | Year | Orders |
---|---|---|---|
Army Meritorious Unit Commendation
|
Afghanistan Retrograde 2021-2022 |
See also
- 1st Lieutenant James Henry Taylor
- Sgt Keith Matthew Maupin
References
- ^ a b Fifth Army History • Race to the Alps, Chapter VI : Conclusion [1] Archived 13 April 2017 at the Wayback Machine "On 3 May the 85th and 88th [Infantry] Divisions sent task forces north over ice and snow 3 feet deep to seal the Austrian frontier and to gain contact with the American Seventh Army, driving southward from Germany. The 339th Infantry [85th Division] reached Austrian soil east of Dobbiaco at 0415, 4 May; the Reconnaissance Troop, 349th Infantry [88th Division], met troops from [103rd Infantry Division] VI Corps of Seventh Army at 1051 at Vipiteno, 9 miles south of Brenner."
- ^ http://www.history.army.mil/html/books/023/23-2/CMH_Pub_23-2.pdf Archived 24 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine Order of Battle in the Great War P393
- ^ "Infantry organization and History" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 22 May 2017.
- ^ Clay, Steven E. (2010). U.S. Army Order of Battle 1919-1941 Volume 1, The Arms: Major Commands and Infantry Organizations 1919-1941 (PDF). Combat Studies Institute Press. p. 261. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ^ Delaney, p. 37
- ^ Delaney, p. 45
- ^ Delaney, p. 359
- ^ a b c d e Army Battle Casualties and Nonbattle Deaths, Final Report (Statistical and Accounting Branch, Office of the Adjutant General, 1 June 1953)
- ^ Article 21 and Annex VII, Instrument for the Provisional Regime of the Free Territory of Trieste. See: https://treaties.un.org/doc/Publication/UNTS/Volume%2049/v49.pdf
- ^ see: United Nations Security Council Resolution 16, 10 January 1947: http://www.un.org/en/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=S/RES/16(1947)
- ^ UNTS Vol.235, 3297 Memorandum of Understanding of London
- ^ Memorandum of Understanding of London, article 2: see https://treaties.un.org/doc/Publication/UNTS/Volume%20235/v235.pdf
- ^ Wilson 1998.
- ^ Isby & Kamps 1985, p. 388.
- ^ https://www.army.mil/article/254323/operation_allies_welcome_concludes_at_fort_mccoy_last_afghans_depart_post#:~:text=As%20of%208%20a.m.%20Feb.%2015%2C%20the%20last,who%20assisted%20the%20United%20States%E2%80%99%20interests%20in%20Afghanistan./ Operation Allies Welcome concludes at Fort McCoy
Bibliography
- The Army Almanac: A Book of Facts Concerning the Army of the United States U.S. Government Printing Office, 1950 reproduced at http://www.history.army.mil/html/forcestruc/cbtchron/cbtchron.html Archived 21 March 2021 at the Wayback Machine. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- About Face: The Odyssey of an American Warrior, by David Hackworth: pp 35, 308.
- Brown, John Sloan. Draftee Division: the 88th Infantry Division in World War II. Lexington, KY: University Press of Kentucky, 1986. ISBN 0-8131-1581-7
- Delaney, John P. The Blue Devils in Italy: a history of the 88th Infantry Division in World War II. Washington: Infantry Journal Press, [1947] OCLC 26179391988 reprint is also available.
- Wilson, John B. (1999). Armies, Corps, Divisions, and Separate Brigades. Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office. p. 197. ISBN 978-0-16-049992-0.
- Wilson, John B. (1998). Maneuver and Firepower: The Evolution of Divisions and Separate Brigades. Archived from the original on 4 June 2008., Center of Military History, United States Army, WASHINGTON, D. C., accessed November 2011.
- Clay, Steven E. (2010). U.S. Army Order of Battle 1919-1941. Combat Studies Institute Press. ISBN 978-0-9841901-4-0.
- Isby, David C.; Kamps, Charles Jr. (1985). Armies of NATO's Central Front. Jane's Publishing Company.
External links
- History of the 88th Division in the Great War
- The 88th Division in the World War of 1914 – 1918
- We Were There: From Gruber to the Brenner Pass
- The battle of Cornuda, the 88th division's last battle of World War II
- Oral history interview with Nicholas Cipu, a Staff Sergeant in the 88th Infantry Division, during World War II from the Veterans History Project at Central Connecticut State University
- 752nd Tank Battalion in World War II