94th Infantry Division (United States)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| 94th Infantry Division | |
|---|---|
 94th Infantry Division shoulder sleeve insignia |
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| Active | 1942-1946 |
| Country | United States |
| Branch | U.S. Army |
| Nickname | Neuf-cats |
| Engagements | World War II |
| U.S. Infantry Divisions | |
|---|---|
| Previous | Next |
| 93rd Infantry Division | 95th Infantry Division |
The 94th Infantry Division was a unit of the United States Army in World War II.
Contents |
[edit] World War II
- Activated: 15 September 1942.
- Overseas: 6 August 1944.
- Campaigns: Northern France, Rhineland, Ardennes-Alsace, Central Europe
- Days of combat: 209.
- Distinguished Unit Citations: 1.
- Awards: MH-1; DSC-54; DSM-2; SS-510; LM-10; SM-12; BSM-2,792; AM-66.
- Commanders: Maj. Gen. Harry J. Malony (September 1942 May 1945), Brig. Gen. Louis J. Fortier (June-July 1945) Maj. Gen. Allison J. Barnett (1 August 1945 to inactivation).
- Returned to U.S.: 6 February 1946.
- Inactivated: 9 February 1946.
[edit] Combat Chronicle
Following a brief stay in England, the 94th landed on Utah Beach on D plus 94, 8 September 1944, and moved into Brittany to assume responsibility for containing some 60,000 German troops besieged in the Channel ports of Lorient and St. Nazaire. The 94th inflicted over 2,700 casualties on the enemy and took 566 prisoners before being relieved on New Year's Day 1945.
Moving west, the Division took positions in the Saar-Moselle Triangle, facing the Siegfried Switch Line, 7 January 1945, and shifted to the offensive, 14 January, seizing Tettingen and Butzdorf that day. The following day, the NennigBerg-Wies area was wrested from the enemy, but severe counterattacks followed, and Butzdorf, Berg, and most of Nennig changed hands several times before being finally secured. On the 20th, an unsuccessful battalion attack against Orscholz, eastern terminus of the switch position, resulted in loss of most of two companies. In early February the Division took Campholz woods and seized Sinz. On 19 February 1945, the Division launched a full-scale attack, storming the heights of Munzigen Ridge, backbone of the Saar-Moselle Triangle, and took all objectives.
Moving forward, the 10th Armored and 94th secured the area from Orscholz to the confluence of the Saar and Moselle Rivers by 21 February 1945. Then, launching an attack across the Saar, it established and expanded a bridgehead. By 2 March 1945, the Division stretched over a 10-mile front, from Hocker Hill on the Saar through Zerf, and Lampaden to Ollmuth. A heavy German attack near Lampaden achieved penetrations, but the line was shortly restored, and on 13 March, spearheading the XX Corps, the 94th broke out of the bridgehead and drove to the Rhine, reaching that river, 21 March. Ludwigshafen was taken, 24 March, in conjunction with CCA of the 12th Armored Division. The Division then moved by rail and motor to the vicinity of Krefeld, Germany, assuming responsibility, 3 April, for containing the west side of the Ruhr pocket from positions along the Rhine. With the reduction of the pocket in mid-April, the Division was assigned military government duties, first in the Krefeld and later in the Dusseldorf areas.
[edit] Assignments in the ETO
- 27 July 1944: XIII Corps, Ninth Army.
- 28 August 1944: XIII Corps, Ninth Army, 12th Army Group.
- 23 September 1944: Ninth Army, 12th Army Group.
- 9 October 1944: 12th Army Group.
- 5 January 1945: 12th Army Group, but attached to Oise Section, Communication Zone, for supply.
- 6 January 1945: XX Corps, Third Army, 12th Army Group.
- 29 March 1945: XXII Corps, Fifteenth Army, 12th Army Group.
[edit] 187th Infantry Brigade
In 1963, a separate Infantry Brigade was organized in the US Army Reserve using the lineage of the Division's 1st Brigade. However, the brigade used its own shoulder sleeve insignia. The 187th Infantry Brigade was inactivated in 1994.
[edit] General
- Nickname: Neuf-cats.
- Shoulder patch: A circle divided diagonally into fields of gray and black; the Arabic number 9 in black superimposed in the field of gray and the Arabic number 4 in gray is on the field of black.
- State Highway 94 in Colorado, New York and New Jersey are numbered after the 94th Infantry Division.
[edit] References
- The Army Almanac: A Book of Facts Concerning the Army of the United States U.S. Government Printing Office, 1950 at http://www.army.mil/cmh-pg/lineage/cc/cc.htm
- On the Way: The Story of the 94th Infantry Division
