[Webmaster Note: The following division information is reproduced
from the public domain publication, The Army Almanac: A Book of
Facts Concerning the Army of the United States, U.S. Government Printing Office,
1950. Portions of the information may be out of date. Only minor formatting changes and
typographical corrections have been made.]
World War I
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Activated: August 1917 (National Guard Division from
Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska).
Overseas: May 1918.
Major operations: Meuse-Argonne.
Casualties: Total - 7,296 (KIA - 1,018; WIA - 6,278).
Commanders: Maj. Gen. William M. Wright (25 August 1917),
Brig. Gen. L. G. Berry (18 September 1917),
Maj. Gen. William M. Wright (10 December 1917),
Brig. Gen. Nathaniel F. McClure (15 June 1918),
Maj. Gen. Peter E. Traub (2 November 1918),
Brig. Gen. T. B. Dugan (25 November 1918),
Maj. Gen. Peter E. Traub (7 December 1918),
Brig. Gen. Thomas Dugan (27 December 1918).
Returned to U.S. and inactivated: April 1919.
World War II
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Activated: 23 December 1940 (National Guard Division from Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska).
Overseas: 12 May 1944.
Campaigns: Normandy, Northern France, Rhineland, Ardennes-Alsace, Central Europe.
Days of combat: 264.
Distinguished Unit Citations: 6.
Awards: MH-1; DSC-44; DSM-1; SS-688; LM-10; DFC-1; SM-22; BSM-3,435; AM-133.
Commanders: Maj. Gen. R. E. Truman (December 1940-October 1941),
Maj. Gen. William H. Simpson (October 1941-April 1942),
Maj. Gen. Maxwell Murray (May 1942-January 1943),
Maj. Gen. Paul W. Baade (January 1943 to inactivation).
Returned to U.S.: 10 September 1945.
Inactivated: 7 December 1945.
Combat Chronicle
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The 35th Infantry Division arrived in England, 25 May 1944, and received further
training. It landed on Omaha Beach, Normandy, 5-7 July 1944, and entered combat
11 July, fighting in the Normandy hedgerows, north of St. Lo. The Division beat
off 12 German counterattacks at Emelie before entering St. Lo, 18 July. After
mopping up in the St. Lo area, it took part in the offensive action southwest
of St. Lo, pushing the Germans across the Vire, 2 August, and breaking out of
the Cotentin Peninsula. While en route to an assembly area, the Division was
"flagged off the road," to secure the Mortain-Avranches corridor and to rescue
the 30th Division's
"Lost Battalion," 7-13 August 1944. Then racing across France
through Orleans and Sens, the Division attacked across the Moselle, 13 September,
captured Nancy, 15 September, secured Chambrey, 1 October, and drove on to the
German border, taking Sarreguemines and crossing the Saar, 8 December. After
crossing the Blies River, 12 December, the Division moved to Metz for rest and
rehabilitation, 19 December. The 35th moved to Arlon, Belgium, 25-26 December,
and took part in the fighting to relieve Bastogne, throwing off the attacks of
four German divisions, taking Villers-laBonne-Eau, 10 January, after a 13-day
fight and Lutrebois in a 5-day engagement. On 18 January 1945, the Division
returned to Metz to resume its interrupted rest. In late January, the Division
was defending the Foret de Domaniale area. Moving to Holland to hold a defensive
line along the Roer, 22 February, the Division attacked across the
Roer, 23 February, pierced the Siegfried Line, reached the Rhine at
Wesel, 10 March, and crossed, 25-26 March. It smashed across the
Herne Canal and reached the Ruhr River early in April, when it was
ordered to move to the Elbe, 12 April. Making the 295-mile dash in
2 days, the 35th mopped up in the vicinity of Colbitz and Angern, until
26 April 1945, when it moved to Hanover for occupational and mopping-up
duty, continuing occupation beyond VE-day. The Division left Southampton,
England, 5 September, and arrived in New York City, 10 September 1945.
Assignments in the ETO
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5 May 1944: XV Corps, Third Army. //
8 July 1944: Third Army, but attached to the XIX Corps of First Army. //
27 July 1944: V Corps. //
1 August 1944: Third Army, 12th Army Group, but attached to the V Corps of First Army. //
5 August 1944: Third Army, 12th Army Group. //
6 August 1944: XX Corps. //
9 August 1944: Third Army, 12th Army Group, but attached to the VII Corps of First Army. //
13 August 1944: XII Corps, Third Army, 12th Army Group. //
23 December 1944: Third Army, 12th Army Group. //
24 December 1944: XX Corps. //
26 December 1944: III Corps. //
18 January 1945: XX Corps. //
23 January 1945: XV Corps, Seventh Army, 6th Army Group. //
30 January 1945: XVI Corps, Ninth Army, attached to the British
21st Army Group, 12th Army Group. //
4 April 1945: XVI Corps, Ninth Army, 12th Army Group. //
13 April 1945: XIX Corps, for operations, and the XIII Corps for administration. //
16 April 1945: XIII Corps.
General
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Nickname: Santa Fe.
Shoulder patch: Santa Fe cross, a white cross within a white wagon wheel on blue
field.
Publications: Attack; by
unit members; TI&E, ETOUSA; distributor,
executive secretary, 35th Division Association; 1945. Santa Fe; by
Col. Maddrey A. Solomon, unit historian; Albert Love Enterprises, Atlanta,
Ga.; 1947. Roster 35th Infantry Division, Poe to Poe, U.S. Army,
35th Division; 1945; 173 pp.
During World War I the 129th FA Bn. had, as a Field Artillery officer,
Capt. Harry S. Truman, later President of the United States.
• 35th Infantry Division Links
• 35th Infantry Division Components
• 35th Infantry Division Medal of Honor Recipients
• 35th Infantry Division Commanders
• 35th Infantry Division Videos
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