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35th Infantry Division (United States)

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35th Infantry Division
35th ID Shoulder Sleeve Insignia
Active
  • 1917–1919
  • 1935–1945
  • 1946–1963
  • 1984–present
Country United States
Branch Army
TypeInfantry
RoleHeadquarters
SizeDivision
Part of Army National Guard
HeadquartersFort Leavenworth
Nickname(s)"Santa Fe Division"
Colors   Red and blue
CampaignsWorld War I

World War II

Website35th Infantry Division
Commanders
Current
commander		Maj. Gen. John W. Rueger
Insignia
Distinctive insignia

The 35th Infantry Division, formerly known as the 35th Division, is an infantry formation of the United States Army National Guard headquartered at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

The 35th Division was organized 25 August 1917, at Camp Doniphan, Oklahoma, as a unit of the National Guard, with troops from Missouri and Kansas.[1][2] It was inactivated in 1919, but the division headquarters was reconstituted in 1935 and it served with a brief interruption until it was inactivated again in 1963. The division was reactivated and the headquarters and headquarters company federally recognized on 25 August 1984, at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.[3]

Shoulder sleeve insignia

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The division's shoulder patch, a Santa Fe cross in a circle, was conceived as a marking for division vehicles and baggage in 1918, and was first promulgated by 35th Division General Orders Number 25, issued on 27 March 1918. It was officially approved for the 35th Division on 29 October 1918 by the adjutant general of the American Expeditionary Force. The marking was later stenciled onto signs identifying the whereabouts of division units, soldiers' helmets, and finally was made into a shoulder sleeve insignia when that usage was authorized.

The cross hair was a symbol used to mark the Santa Fe Trail, an area where the unit trained, and was designated as an identifying device for the unit by Headquarters, 35th Division General Orders 25, dated March 27, 1918. The organization is referred to as the Santa Fe Division.[4]

Twenty-four distinct combinations of quadrant and border colors were devised for all of the 35th Division's units. Each major unit of the 35th Division (the division headquarters and headquarters troop and the 128th Machine Gun Battalion, the 110th Field Signal Battalion, 110th Ammunition, 110th Sanitary, and 110th Supply Trains, the 110th Engineer Regiment and Train, the 69th Infantry Brigade, the 70th Infantry Brigade, and the 60th Field Artillery Brigade) was respectively identified by one of six border colors: blue, green, white, yellow, black, or red. The component units each had their own combination of quadrant colors, consisting of one or two of the aforementioned. Patches varied widely in exact design and material.

Approved 35th Division insignia colors, General Order No. 25, 27 March 1918
Unit Quadrant colors Border color
Headquarters, 35th Division 4/4 blue Blue
69th Infantry Brigade 4/4 yellow Yellow
137th Infantry Regiment 3/4 yellow, 1/4 blue Yellow
138th Infantry Regiment 2/4 yellow, 2/4 blue Yellow
129th Machine Gun Battalion 2/4 red, 2/4 yellow Yellow
70th Infantry Brigade 4/4 black Black
139th Infantry Regiment 3/4 black, 1/4 yellow Black
140th Infantry Regiment 2/4 black, 2/4 yellow Black
130th Machine Gun Battalion 2/4 black, 2/4 yellow Black
60th Field Artillery Brigade 4/4 red Red
128th Field Artillery Regiment 3/4 red, 1/4 blue Red
129th Field Artillery Regiment 3/4 red, 1/4 yellow Red
130th Field Artillery Regiment 3/4 red, 1/4 white Red
110th Trench Mortar Battery 3/4 red, 1/4 green Red
128th Machine Gun Battalion 3/4 blue, 1/4 green Blue
110th Engineer Regiment 4/4 white White
110th Field Signal Battalion 4/4 green Green
Headquarters Troop, 35th Division 3/4 blue, 1/4 yellow Blue
110th Train Headquarters and Military Police 4/4 maroon Green
110th Ammunition Train 3/4 maroon, 1/4 white Green
110th Supply Train 3/4 maroon, 1/4 yellow Green
110th Engineer Train 3/4 white, 1/4 red White
110th Sanitary Train 3/4 maroon, 1/4 green Green

Postwar, the wide variety of color combinations was done away with, and the insignia to be worn by all division personnel was simplified to consist of a white Santa Fe cross on a blue background with an olive drab border, although colored insignia continued in limited use in certain cases until the 1930s.

Within a blue circle 2 inches in diameter, 1/2-inch in width quadrated at 45 degrees to the lines of disk, a blue quadrated disk 1 1/8 inches in diameter, the inner ends of the quadrants rounded by arcs of 1/8-inch radius, all white lines 1/8-inch in width.[5]

World War I

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Commanders

[edit]
  • Major General William M. Wright (25 August 1917)
  • Brigadier General Lucien Grant Berry (18 September 1917)
  • Major General William M. Wright (10 December 1917)
  • Brigadier General Nathaniel F. McClure (15 June 1918)
  • Major General Peter E. Traub (20 July 1918)
  • Brigadier General Thomas B. Dugan (25 November 1918)
  • Major General Peter E. Traub (7 December 1918)
  • Brigadier General Thomas B. Dugan (27 December 1918 to inactivation)

Actions during World War I

[edit]
Group of officers of the 129th Machine Gun Battalion, 35th Division, at Vagney, Vosges, France, August 10, 1918.

On 18 July 1917, the War Department directed that certain National Guard troops from Kansas and Missouri form the 35th Division, and on 5 August, the National Guard was drafted into federal service. Concentration of divisional troops at Camp Doniphan, near Fort Sill, Oklahoma, began in late August, and training began on 8 September. During October, about 3,000 draftees from Camp Funston, Kansas, most of whom were from Kansas and Missouri, joined the division, and in spring 1918, more men came from Camp Funston, Camp Travis, Texas, and Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. On 2 April 1917, the division moved from Camp Mills, New York, and Camp Merritt, New Jersey, to the Brooklyn, Hoboken, New York, and Philadelphia Ports of Embarkation, where it received approximately 2,000 replacements to bring it to full strength. Elements of the division sailed for England and France from 16 April to 8 June 1918, with the elements that landed in England (Southampton and Liverpool) moving shortly to Le Havre, France.[6]

The 35th served first, a brigade at a time, in the Vosges mountains between 30 June and 13 August. The whole division served in the Gérardmer sector, Alsace, 14 August to 1 September. Having undergone a number of command changes at multiple echelons and arms of service on short notice, the division was committed during the opening stages of the Meuse-Argonne offensive, 21 to 30 September. Despite making good progress on its first day, the division's operations became more and more disorganized as communications and command difficulties combined with increasingly heavy losses fighting across no man's land towards entrenched German fighting positions. The division was shortly withdrawn from the front for fear of complete collapse and replaced with the 1st Division. American historian Robert Hugh Ferrell wrote about the 35th Division's experience in the Meuse-Argonne in his 2004 book Collapse at Meuse-Argonne: The Failure of the Missouri-Kansas Division. The division next served in the Sommedieue sector, 15 October to 6 November. During its combat service, the 35th Division spent ninety-two days in quiet sectors and five in active, advanced twelve and one-half kilometers against resistance, captured 781 prisoners, and lost 1,067 men killed and 6,216 wounded.[7] The 35th Division had, as an officer, Captain Harry S. Truman, future 33rd President of the United States, who commanded Battery D of the 129th Field Artillery Regiment.[8]

World War I order of battle

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Units of the 35th Division during World War I included:[9][10][11]

  • Headquarters, 35th Division
  • 69th Infantry Brigade
    • 137th Infantry Regiment (1st Kansas Infantry less band, and 2nd Kansas Infantry)
    • 138th Infantry Regiment (1st Missouri Infantry, and 5th Missouri Infantry less band)
    • 129th Machine Gun Battalion (2nd Battalion, 2nd Missouri Infantry)
  • 70th Infantry Brigade
    • 139th Infantry Regiment (3rd Kansas Infantry, and 4th Missouri Infantry less band)
    • 140th Infantry Regiment (3rd Missouri Infantry, and 6th Missouri Infantry less band)
    • 130th Machine Gun Battalion (3rd Battalion, 2nd Missouri Infantry)
  • 60th Field Artillery Brigade
    • 128th Field Artillery Regiment (75 mm) (1st Missouri Field Artillery)
    • 129th Field Artillery Regiment (75 mm) (2nd Missouri Field Artillery and Troop B, Missouri Cavalry)
    • 130th Field Artillery Regiment (155 mm) (1st Kansas Field Artillery)
    • 110th Trench Mortar Battery (Supply Company and Headquarters Company (less band), 2nd Missouri Infantry)
  • 128th Machine Gun Battalion (Machine Gun Company and 1st Battalion, 2nd Missouri Infantry)
  • 110th Engineer Regiment (1st Separate Battalion Kansas Engineers, 1st Separate Battalion Missouri Engineers, and band, 1st Kansas Infantry)
  • 110th Field Signal Battalion (1st Battalion, Kansas Signal Corps)
  • Headquarters Troop, 35th Division (Troop A, 1st Squadron Kansas Cavalry)
  • 110th Train Headquarters and Military Police (Troops B, C, and D, 1st Squadron Kansas Cavalry)
    • 110th Ammunition Train (National Army men)
    • 110th Supply Train (Supply Train, Missouri National Guard)
    • 110th Engineer Train (Engineer Train, Kansas National Guard)
    • 110th Sanitary Train
      • 137th, 138th, 139th, and 140th Ambulance Companies and Field Hospitals (1st and 2nd Kansas Field Hospitals, 1st and 2nd Missouri Field Hospitals, 1st and 2nd Kansas Ambulance Companies, and 1st and 2nd Missouri Ambulance Companies)

Interwar period

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Pursuant to the 1920 amendments to the National Defense Act of 1916, the 35th Division was reconstituted in the National Guard in 1921, allotted to the states of Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska of the Seventh Corps Area, and assigned to the VII Corps. In the postwar reorganization of the Army's infantry divisions, they only had two regiments of horse-drawn 75 mm guns, with truck-drawn 155 mm howitzers initially assigned as corps and army artillery because of the belief that they were too tactically immobile. As early as 1922, the Nebraska National Guard found it impossible to organize the VII Corps' 127th Field Artillery Regiment because of a lack of funding and armory space. When suitable modifications were made to the 155 mm howitzer as part of the Army's motorization of field artillery in the early 1930s to allow for high-speed truck traction, 155 mm howitzer regiments were returned to divisions; the 142nd Field Artillery Regiment, a partially-organized General Headquarters Reserve (GHQR) 75 mm gun unit from Arkansas, was converted to 155 mm howitzers and assigned to the 35th Division on 13 July 1931 in lieu of the 127th Field Artillery.

In the 1920s and 1930s, constituent units of the division performed routine training within their respective states as well as various activities policing labor troubles and effecting disaster relief. Arkansas units trained at Camp Pike (later renamed Camp Joseph T. Robinson), Arkansas, Fort Riley, Kansas, near Junction City, or at Fort Sill; Kansas units trained at Fort Riley; Missouri units at Camp Clark, near Nevada, Missouri; Nebraska units at Camp Ashland, near Ashland, Nebraska. Because of continued disputes between the states allotted for the division, the 35th Division commander and his staff were not organized and federally recognized until 1932-1933. Beginning in the summer of 1933, the division staff assembled at Fort Riley for consolidated staff training and did so for the next two years. In the fall of 1935, the staff participated in the Fourth Army command post exercise at Fort Lewis, Washington, and went to camp at Ashland, Nebraska, the following summer. Due to limited funding, all the units of the 35th Division did not gather together in one place for training until the Seventh Corps Area concentration of the Fourth Army maneuvers at Fort Riley, in 1937. In 1938, 180 Organized Reserve officers of the 89th and 102nd Divisions were also provided with training by the division. The division also concentrated at Camp Ripley, Minnesota, during the Fourth Army maneuvers in 1940.[12]

Peacetime activities

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Special Troops, 35th Division

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  • 35th Signal Company for communications duty in conjunction with a coal miners' strike in Columbus, Kansas, 17 June-6 August 1935[13]

35th Division Quartermaster Train

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Source:[14]

  • Elements for flood relief duty along the Republican River in south-central Nebraska, 1–4 June 1935
  • Entire train for martial law in conjunction with a streetcar workers' strike in Omaha, Nebraska, 15–21 June 1935

69th Infantry Brigade

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  • Brigade headquarters for command and control in conjunction with a streetcar workers' strike in Omaha, 15–21 June 1935[15]

70th Infantry Brigade

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Source:[16]

  • Headquarters company for riot control duty during a railroad workers' strike in Poplar Bluff, Missouri, July 1922
  • Headquarters and headquarters company for riot control duty during a riot at the Missouri State Penitentiary in Jefferson City, 25–27 March 1930

110th Medical Regiment

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  • Elements for riot control duty during a workers' strike at a Nebraska City meat packing plant, January–February 1922
  • Elements for martial law in conjunction with a streetcar workers' strike in Omaha, 15–21 June 1935
  • Elements for flood relief duty along the Republican River in south-central Nebraska, 1–4 June 1935

130th Field Artillery Regiment

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Source:[17]

  • 1st Battalion for riot control duty during a coal miners' strike in Pittsburg, 14 December 1921 – 26 February 1922
  • Several batteries for tornado relief duty in Hutchinson, 13–15 January 1923, and Horton, 18–19 June 1923
  • 1st Battalion for flood relief duty in Hutchinson, July 1929

134th Infantry Regiment

[edit]

Source:[18]

  • Five companies for riot control duty during a workers' strike at a Nebraska City meat packing plant, January–February 1922
  • Portion of one company for tornado relief duty at Hastings, Nebraska, 9–12 May 1930
  • Two companies for riot control duty during a water rights dispute along the north fork of the Platte River in Scotts Bluff County, Nebraska, 28 August-3 September 1935
  • Entire regiment, less band, for martial law in conjunction with a streetcar workers' strike in Omaha, 15–21 June 1935

137th Infantry Regiment

[edit]

Source:[19]

  • 1st and 3rd Battalions for riot control duty during a coal miners' strike in Pittsburg, Kansas, 14 December 1921 – 26 February 1922
  • Tornado relief duty in Augusta, Kansas, 13–16 July 1924
  • 2nd Battalion for road patrols and bridge blocks during a prison breakout in Lansing, Kansas, 19–20 January 1934
  • Regimental headquarters and 3rd Battalion for riot control duty during a copper miners' disturbance in Baxter Springs, Kansas, 8–27 June 1934, and during a coal miners' strike in Columbus, Kansas, 17 June-6 August 1935

138th Infantry Regiment

[edit]

Source:[19]

  • 1st Battalion for riot control duty during a railroad workers' strike in Poplar Bluff, July 1922
  • Tornado relief duty in St. Louis, Missouri, 29 September-6 October 1927

140th Infantry Regiment

[edit]

Source:[20]

142nd Field Artillery Regiment

[edit]

161st Field Artillery Regiment

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Source:[22]

  • Three batteries for road patrols and bridge blocks during a prison breakout in Lansing, 19–20 January 1934
  • 2nd Battalion for riot control duty during a coal miners' strike in Columbus, Kansas, 17–25 June 1935
  • 1st Battalion for riot control duty during a coal miners' strike in Columbus, Kansas, 28 June-6 August 1935

Commanders

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  • Major General Charles I. Martin (Kansas) - 7 June 1932–January 1935
  • Brigadier General Amos Thomas (Nebraska) (interim) - January 1935–13 September 1935
  • Major General Herbert J. Paul (Nebraska) - 13 September 1935–6 November 1937
  • Major General Edward M. Stayton (Missouri) - 7 November 1937–2 September 1938
  • Major General Ralph E. Truman (Missouri) - 28 October 1938–17 October 1941
  • Major General William H. Simpson (Regular Army) - 17 October 1941–May 1942

Order of battle, 1924

[edit]

Source:[23]

Italics indicates that the given unit was unorganized or inactive

  • Headquarters, 35th Division
    • Division Headquarters Detachment
  • Headquarters, Special Troops (Missouri National Guard)
    • Headquarters Detachment, Special Troops (Missouri National Guard)
    • Medical Department Detachment, Special Troops (Missouri National Guard)
    • Headquarters Company (Warrensburg, Missouri)
    • 35th Military Police Company (Kansas National Guard)
    • 35th Signal Company (Kansas City, Kansas)
    • 110th Ordnance Company (Medium) (Kansas National Guard)
    • 35th Tank Company (Light) (St. Joseph, Missouri)
    • Motorcycle Company No. 110 (Kansas National Guard)
  • 69th Infantry Brigade (Topeka, Kansas)
  • 70th Infantry Brigade (Jefferson City, Missouri)
  • 60th Field Artillery Brigade (Topeka, Kansas)
    • 130th Field Artillery Regiment (Topeka, Kansas)
    • 161st Field Artillery Regiment (Topeka, Kansas)
    • 110th Ammunition Train (Kansas National Guard)
  • 110th Engineer Regiment (Kansas City, Missouri)
  • 110th Medical Regiment (Lincoln, Nebraska)
  • 35th Division Train, Quartermaster Corps (Lincoln, Nebraska)
  • 35th Division Air Service (St. Louis, Missouri)

Order of battle, 1939

[edit]

Source:[24]

  • Headquarters, 35th Division (Kansas City, Missouri)
    • Division commander (Kansas City, Missouri)
    • Division Headquarters Detachment (Warrensburg, Missouri)
  • Headquarters, Special Troops (St. Joseph, Missouri)
    • Headquarters Detachment, Special Troops (St. Joseph, Missouri)
    • Medical Department Detachment (St. Joseph, Missouri)
    • Headquarters Company, 35th Division (Warrensburg, Missouri)
    • 35th Military Police Company (Garden City, Kansas)
    • 35th Signal Company (Kansas City, Kansas)
    • 35th Tank Company (St. Joseph, Missouri)
    • 110th Ordnance Company (Kansas National Guard)
  • Headquarters, 69th Infantry Brigade (Omaha, Nebraska)
    • Headquarters Company, 69th Infantry Brigade (Topeka, Kansas)
    • 134th Infantry Regiment (Omaha, Nebraska)
    • 137th Infantry Regiment (Horton, Kansas)
  • Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 70th Infantry Brigade (Jefferson City, Missouri)
    • 138th Infantry Regiment (St. Louis, Missouri)
    • 140th Infantry Regiment (Caruthersville, Missouri)
  • Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 60th Field Artillery Brigade (Topeka, Kansas)
    • 130th Field Artillery Regiment (75 mm) (Topeka, Kansas)
    • 142nd Field Artillery Regiment (155 mm) (El Dorado, Arkansas)
    • 161st Field Artillery Regiment (75 mm) (Topeka, Kansas)
    • 110th Ammunition Train (Kansas National Guard)
  • 110th Engineer Regiment (Kansas City, Missouri)
  • 110th Medical Regiment (Lincoln, Nebraska)
  • 110th Quartermaster Regiment (Lincoln, Nebraska)
  • 35th Division Aviation (110th Observation Squadron) (attached) (St. Louis, Missouri)

With the conversion of National Guard cavalry divisions to other types of units in 1940, Kansas' 114th Cavalry Regiment was converted and redesignated as the 127th Field Artillery Regiment and assigned to the 35th Division, and the 142nd Field Artillery Regiment was relieved from the division on 1 October 1940.

World War II

[edit]

Federalization

[edit]

The 35th Division was ordered into federal service on 23 December 1940 at home stations. The division's units were ordered to report to Camp Joseph T. Robinson, Arkansas, and had arrived by the end of January, 1941. The incomplete ranks of the 35th were swelled by thousands of draftees, a large portion of whom were from Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska, through a War Department arrangement to fill the balance of National Guard units ordered into federal service with men from their home states or corps areas insofar as was possible. After completing the War Department-mandated divisional training program, the 35th Division maneuvered against other units in Arkansas and Louisiana in the fall of 1941. In August 1941, the division was redesignated the 35th Infantry Division. After the Pearl Harbor attack came its first assignment, the defense of the Southern California Sector of the Western Defense Command.

Reorganization

[edit]

On 3 February 1942, the War Department ordered that the 35th Division be "triangularized" at the earliest practicable date. The 138th Infantry Regiment departed, assigned to GHQ. The division's infantry and field artillery brigade headquarters were eliminated, and the engineer, field artillery, medical, and quartermaster regiments were reorganized as battalions. The reorganization was completed on 1 March 1942. On 27 January 1943, the 140th Infantry Regiment was relieved from the division, and was replaced by the 320th Infantry Regiment.

Further training

[edit]

The division departed California for Camp Rucker, Alabama, arriving on 1 April 1943. After participating in the Second Army Tennessee Maneuvers from 22 November 1943 to 17 January 1944 and receiving mountain warfare training at the West Virginia Maneuver Area from 21 February to 28 March 1944, the 35th Infantry Division was declared ready for overseas service. Further movement to Camp Butner, North Carolina, and Camp Kilmer, New Jersey, saw the division through to England, where it arrived on 25 May 1944.

Commanders

[edit]

Actions during World War II

[edit]
Men of 1st Battalion, 137th Regiment, 35th Division move towards Unterbruch. 6 February 1945.
Battle of the Bulge-Memorial in Boulaide: À la mémoire des vaillants soldats de la 35e division d'infanterie U.S. 1944–1945.

The 35th Infantry Division arrived in England on 25 May 1944 and received further training. It landed on Omaha Beach, Normandy 5–7 July 1944 and entered combat on 11 July, fighting in the Normandy hedgerows north of St. Lo. The division turned away twelve German counterattacks at Emelie before entering St. Lo on 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 River on 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" August 7–13, 1944.

Then racing across France through Orleans and Sens, the division attacked across the Moselle on 13 September, captured Nancy on 15 September, secured Chambrey on 1 October, and drove on to the German border, taking Sarreguemines and crossing the Saar on 8 December. After crossing the Blies River on 12 December, the division moved to Metz for rest and rehabilitation on 19 December. The 35th moved to Arlon, Belgium December 25–26, and took part in the fighting to relieve Bastogne, throwing off the attacks of four German divisions, taking Villers-laBonne-Eau on 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.[8]

In late January, the division was defending the Foret de Domaniale area. Moving to the Netherlands to hold a defensive line along the Roer on 22 February, the division attacked across the Roer on 23 February, pierced the Siegfried Line, reached the Rhine at Wesel on 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 April 12. Making the 295-mile dash in two 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, on 5 September, and arrived in New York City on 10 September 1945.[8]

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, Twelfth United States 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, Sixth United States 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.

World War II order of battle

[edit]

Units of the 35th Infantry Division from March 1942 included:

  • Headquarters, 35th Infantry Division
  • 134th Infantry Regiment
  • 137th Infantry Regiment
  • 320th Infantry Regiment
  • Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 35th Infantry Division Artillery
    • 127th Field Artillery Battalion (155 mm)
    • 161st Field Artillery Battalion (105 mm)
    • 216th Field Artillery Battalion (105 mm)
    • 219th Field Artillery Battalion (105 mm)
  • 60th Engineer Combat Battalion
  • 110th Medical Battalion
  • 35th Cavalry Reconnaissance Troop (Mechanized)
  • Headquarters, Special Troops, 35th Infantry Division
    • Headquarters Company, 35th Infantry Division
    • 735th Ordnance Light Maintenance Company
    • 35th Quartermaster Company
    • 35th Signal Company
    • Military Police Platoon
    • Band
  • 35th Counterintelligence Corps Detachment[25][26][27]

Statistics

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Awards

[edit]
  • Unit Awards:
    • Distinguished Unit Citations: 7
      • 134th Infantry Regiment, for extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations against the enemy during the period 28 December 1944 through 16 January 1945 (War Department General Orders No. 62, 1947)
      • 1st Battalion, 134th Infantry Regiment, for extraordinary heroism and outstanding performance of duty against the enemy in the vicinity of Saint-Lô, Normandy, France, from 15 to 19 July 1944 (War Department General Orders No. 66, 1945)
      • Company C, 134th Infantry Regiment, for extraordinary heroism and outstanding performance of duty against the enemy in the vicinity of Habkirchen, Germany, from 12 to 21 December 1944 (War Department General Orders No. 68, 1945)
      • 2nd (machine gun) Platoon, Company D, 134th Infantry Regiment, for extraordinary heroism in action against the enemy in the vicinity of Habkirchen, Germany, from 12 to 21 December 1944 (War Department General Orders No. 66, 1945)
      • Company F, 137th Infantry Regiment, for outstanding performance of duty in action against the enemy at Sarreguemines, France, on 10 December 1944 (War Department General Orders No. 11, 1946)
      • 3rd Battalion, 137th Infantry Regiment, for outstanding performance of duty in action against the enemy in France, 18–21 November 1944 (War Department General Orders No. 20, 1946)
      • 1st Battalion, 320th Infantry Regiment, for extraordinary heroism and outstanding performance of duty in action against the enemy in the vicinity of Mortain, France, from 10 to 13 August 1944 (War Department General Orders No. 55, 1945)
    • Meritorious Service Unit Plaques: 22
  • Individual Awards:

Casualties

[edit]
  • Total battle casualties: 15,822[28]
  • Killed in action: 2,485[28]
  • Wounded in action: 11,526[28]
  • Missing in action: 340[28]
  • Prisoner of war: 1,471[28]

Cold War to present

[edit]
See also: Timeline of events in the Cold War

On 7 December 1945, the division was inactivated at Camp Breckinridge, Kentucky. During the next year and into 1947, the division was reestablished as a Kansas and Missouri National Guard division. In 1954 the division consisted of the 137th (Kansas), 138th (Missouri), and 140th Infantry Regiments (Missouri); 127th, 128th, 129th, and 154th Field Artillery Battalions; the 135th Antiaircraft Artillery Battalion; the 135th Tank Battalion; and signals, engineer, reconnaissance, military police, other combat support units, plus combat service support units.[29][30][31] After the Pentomic reorganization, the division's five battle groups were the 1-137 Infantry; 2-137 Infantry; 1-138 Infantry; 2-138 Infantry; and 1-140 Infantry.[32] In 1963, the division was inactivated, along with the 34th, 43rd, and 51st Infantry Divisions.

In early 1983, the Army began the process of reestablishing the division as a mechanized infantry formation to be made up of Colorado, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, and Nebraska National Guard units. The division headquarters was established 30 September 1983, at Fort Leavenworth.[33] The division was formally reactivated as the 35th Infantry Division (Mechanized) on 25 August 1984 around a nucleus of the 67th Infantry Brigade (Mechanized) from Nebraska, the 69th Infantry Brigade (Mechanized) from Kansas, and the 149th Armored Brigade from Kentucky.[34] It continues in service today.

In 1984–85, the 69th Infantry Brigade was reported to consist of the following units:

  • 1st Battalion, 137th Infantry
  • 2nd Battalion, 137th Infantry
  • 1st Battalion, 635th Armor
  • 1st Battalion, 127th Field Artillery
  • Troop E, 114th Cavalry
  • 169th Engineer Company.[35]

Isby and Kamps also wrote at the same time that the 110th Engineer Battalion, in Missouri, might be assigned as the divisional engineers (p383); however, this did not occur. Actually, the divisional engineer battalion, the 206th Engineer Battalion, was organized in the Kentucky Army National Guard on 1 November 1985.[36]

The divisional aviation brigade headquarters was organized in the Kentucky Army National Guard on 15 September 1986.[37] On 1 October 1987 the division's aviation units were reorganized, and the 135th Aviation was established. Two battalions of the 135th joined the division's aviation component.

Order of battle 1996

[edit]

Order of battle - 1 September 1996[38]

Bosnia

[edit]
35th ID Liaison Officer, Mostar, Bosnia, April 5, 2003

The 35th Infantry Division Headquarters commanded Task Force Eagle's Multi-National Division North in Bosnia and Herzegovina as part of SFOR-13 (Stabilization Force 13) with the NATO peacekeeping mandate under the Dayton Peace Accords. The headquarters were located at Eagle Base in the town of Tuzla. Brigadier General James Mason was the commander. He later went on to command the division. The division headquarters received the Army Superior Unit Award for its service in Bosnia. Division liaison officers served in the towns of Mostar, Sarajevo, Banja Luka, Zenica and Doboj. Several officers went on to other roles, including: Timothy J. Kadavy who served as Commander of 1st Squadron, 167th Cavalry, 35th Infantry Division in Bosnia. Lieutenant General Kadavy is now the Vice Chief of the National Guard Bureau. Victor J. Braden served as the Commander, 1st Battalion, 108th Aviation, 35th Infantry Division in Tuzla, Bosnia. Major General Braden was a recent Commander of the 35th Infantry Division. [1]. Elliott Levenson was the Liaison Officer to the Italian Command at Multinational Brigade, South-East in Mostar, Bosnia. He earned the Bronze Star in Iraq with the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division in 2008. [2].

Hurricane Katrina

[edit]

The division provided headquarters control for National Guard units deployed to Louisiana in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.[39] while the 38th Infantry Division did the same for Mississippi.

Kosovo

[edit]

A detachment of the 35th Infantry Division was the headquarters element for Task Force Falcon of Multi-National Task Force East (MNTF-E) for the NATO Kosovo Force 9 (KFOR 9) mission. The 35th provided command and control from 7 November 2007 until 7 July 2008, when they were succeeded by the 110th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade, Missouri Army National Guard.[citation needed]

Current organization

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35th Infantry Division organization since August 2023

As of 2023, the 35th Infantry Division consists of a special troops battalion, three infantry brigade combat teams, a division artillery, a combat aviation brigade, a maneuver enhancement brigade, and division sustainment brigade.[40] The 35th Infantry Division is in the process of adding several new units and undergoing reorganization as a "light division" as the U.S. Army shifts from the brigade combat team to the division as the major unit of action as part of its force structure modification plan for the early 21st century.

Notable members

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  • The 35th Infantry Division is featured in the 1970 film Kelly's Heroes. The blue and white division patch is worn throughout the movie and LTC Booker tells the General “elements of the 35th” when asked who has advanced.
  • Mickey Rooney as Andy Hardy in 1947 film "Love Laughs at Andy Hardy " wears the 35th Infantry Division patch.[citation needed]
  • The fictional unit in the film From Here to Eternity wears the 35th ID patch.[citation needed]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Clark, pp. 9-22.
  2. ^ Wilson 1999, pp. 345-346.
  3. ^ Wilson 1999, p. 346.
  4. ^ Wilson 1999, p. 345.
  5. ^ AG 421.7--35th Div (6-7-22) (Misc) 4
  6. ^ Order of Battle of the United States Land Forces in the World War, American Expeditionary Forces: Divisions, Volume 2. Washington, D.C.: Center of Military History, United States Army. 1988. p. 213.
  7. ^ Wyllie, pp. 224-225.
  8. ^ a b c The Army Almanac, pp. 536-538.
  9. ^ Heavey, pp. 95 & 99.
  10. ^ Wilson 1998, pp. 47-78.
  11. ^ Composition of National Guard Divisions and Disposition of Former National Guard Units. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. 1918. pp. 7–13.
  12. ^ Clay, Vol. 1, p. 230-231
  13. ^ Clay, Vol. 3, p. 1,898
  14. ^ Clay, Vol. 4, p. 1,946
  15. ^ Clay, Vol. 1, p. 317
  16. ^ Clay, Vol. 1, p. 318
  17. ^ Clay, Vol. 2, p. 821
  18. ^ Clay, Vol. 1, p. 423
  19. ^ a b Clay, Vol. 1, p. 424
  20. ^ Clay, Vol. 1, p. 425
  21. ^ Clay, Vol. 2, p. 816
  22. ^ Clay, Vol. 2, p. 828
  23. ^ Clay, Vol. 1, p. 231
  24. ^ National Guard Register for 1939, pp. 51-52
  25. ^ Presenting the 35th Infantry Division in World War II, 1941-1945, pp. 222-23
  26. ^ Stanton, pp. 117-118
  27. ^ Wilson 1998, pp. 180-206.
  28. ^ a b c d e Army Battle Casualties and Nonbattle Deaths (Statistical and Accounting Branch, Office of the Adjutant General, 1 June 1953)
  29. ^ Tim Aumiller, Infantry Division Components, 76.
  30. ^ Official Manual of the State of Missouri 1953 - 1954. Missouri Secretary of State's Office. 1954. pp. 540–541.
  31. ^ "Lists Top Guard Units". Kansas City Times. 18 December 1954. p. 7.
  32. ^ Aumiller, 112.
  33. ^ JonathanKoester (9 June 2015). "'Screw-up' NCO highlights history of Midwest's storied 35th Infantry Division". NCO Journal. Retrieved 27 December 2016.
  34. ^ David Isby and Charles Kamps Jr., Armies of NATO's Central Front, Jane's Publishing Company, 1985, p.383.
  35. ^ Isby and Kamps, 1985, 383.
  36. ^ "KY National Guard History 206th Engineer Battalion". Kentucky National Guard eMuseum. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
  37. ^ "KY National Guard History 63d Theater Aviation Brigade". Kentucky National Guard eMuseum. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
  38. ^ "35th ID (M) Command Update Briefing" (PDF). Dept. of the Army, Headquarters, 35th Infantry Division (Mechanized), Kansas National Guard. 12 December 1996. Retrieved 19 August 2024.
  39. ^ Maj. Les A. Melnyk, News analysis: Guard transformation taking shape[permanent dead link], Army News Service, 13 January 2006
  40. ^ AUSA, Torchbearer Special Report, 7 November 2005; "Army National Guard Division and Brigade Combat Team Designations" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 November 2011. Retrieved 25 April 2014.
  41. ^ Crawford, Lisa (8 November 2019). "Nebraska stands up, hooks up airborne infantry battalion". Retrieved 18 September 2023.
  42. ^ "Oklahoma Army National Guard trains on flying the 'Shadow'". 2 February 2018.
  43. ^ "35th Infantry Division | Kansas Adjutant General's Department, KS".
  44. ^ "2022 Missouri National Guard Annual Report" (PDF). Missouri National Guard. Retrieved 18 September 2023.

References

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Further reading

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