On at least six different occasions the battalion was forced to place artillery concentrations dangerously close to its own positions in order to repulse penetrations and restore its lines . [1] To make circumstances worse, just beyond the bloodied-but-not-beaten Volksgrenadiers waited the tanks of the 6th Panzer Army. TO: Division Surgeon, 99th Infantry Division I. The black represents the iron from the mills of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where many of the troops were from. This article contains content in the public domain from U.S. military sources. The program never fulfilled its promise, and the large number of "ASTPers" were rapidly integrated into various divisions to make up for personnel shortages in front line units during 1944. The concentration camp was one of the "forest camps" (Waldlager) tied to the Mhldorf camp complex. Despite fatigue, constant enemy shelling, and ever-increasing enemy pressure, the Third Battalion guarded a 6,000 yards (5,500m)-long front and destroyed 75 percent of three German infantry regiments. Two months later, when the 99th Division was transferred to VII Corps under Maj. Gen. Walter E. Lauer, the commanding officer of V Corps, Maj. Gen. Clarence R. Huebner, wrote him: The 99th Infantry Division arrived in this theater without previous combat experience early in November 1944. During the first day of the Battle of the Bulge, the 3rd Battalion took 19 prisoners and killed an estimated 200 Germans. Many of the 99th Division's best soldiers were products of the ill-fated ASTP program. A captured Lt. Bemener, formerly commander of the 5th Company of the 753rd Volksgrenadier Regiment, asked his American interrogator about the unit that had defended Hfen. The 395th were moved by train and truck, and finally by foot, to front line positions near the German town of Hfen a few kilometers west of the Siegfried Line and near the Belgium-German border. The 99th RRC continued to provide command and control for assigned units and support for the ongoing deployments. Honor Roll - 99th Infantry Division "They shall not grow old, As we that are left grow old: Age shall not weary them, Nor the years condemn. The 99th Infantry Division received recruits from the ASTP program (Army Specialized Training Program, to make up for the personnel shortages in front line units during 1944. Because of Major Butler's success in leading his battalion in successful night attacks during the war, which the U.S. Army handbook did not recommend, the French army later asked him to write a paper on battalion-size night attacks.[6]. Good luck with your quest. By signing up you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, MIGHTY NETWORKS, 2023 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, Artificial Intelligence just flew an F-16 Fighting Falcon for the US military, WWII vet finally receives Silver Star for heroism at Battle of the Bulge, This is the massive Nazi sneak attack at the Battle of the Bulge, Rarely seen footage from the Battle of the Bulge, The first tank to break into Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge was almost lost to history. "In two cases, the enemy fell in the BAR gunners' foxholes. Over 83,000 Americans were casualties during the battle which lasted from December 16, 1944 until January 25, 1945, and as a result, the battle occupies a prominent place in our collective minds. After the Gulf War, the 99th ARCOM became the 99th Regional Support Command (RSC). While an RSC is allowed to wear the insignia and use the same number as a previous infantry division, it is not entitled to its lineage and honors. For four successive days the battalion held this sector against combined German tank and infantry attacks, launched with fanatical determination and supported by heavy artillery. [17]:51, On another day, the 3rd Battalion took 50 Germans prisoner and killed or wounded more than 800 Germans, losing only five dead and seven wounded themselves. At the end of the day, the veterans of the 26th Infantry still held their groundand looked out on a battlefield strewn with destroyed German armor and scores of enemy dead. The Allied victory against the Axis was a long journeyone that actually took much longer than the war itself. The division crossed the Danube near Eining on the 27th and after a stubborn fight the Isar at Landshut on 1 May. The 395th Regiment's success earned it many difficult assignments. Byers, Carl F. MAJ, "Operations of Company G, 395th Infantry, 99th Division, in the Reduction of a Fortified Position of the Siegfried Line, West of Schleiden, Germany, 14-15 December 1944". Two men who had been sent on foot to regimental headquarters to seek reinforcements were later captured. Unknown to the Allies, the Germans were preparing a surprise counter-offensive through the Ardennes with the goal of splitting the Allied armies and recapturing the Belgian port city of Antwerp. . Lieutenant Colonel McClernand Butler, commander of 3/395. The 395th Infantry had mostly held their lines, and now with the battle hardened 2nd Infantry Division on the way to back them up, the lines of defense near Elsenborn appeared to be significantly harder to pierce. . A group When the Ardennes Offensive ended, Gen. Lauer received verbal commendations from Field Marshal Sir Bernard L. Montgomery, 21st Army Group Commander, and Gen. Courtney Hodges, First Army Commander, on the vigorous and effective defense contributed by the 99th. More often than not, the noises thought to have been heard arent anything at all, and the forest resumes its eerie silence. The 395th was held in the United States until more room was available for the unit to enter Europe. By the end of the December 16, much of the American front lines in the Ardennes had been broken by the German assault. On 25 October 1981, the entire platoon was recognized with a Presidential Unit Citation. Originally planned as a Pennsylvania unit, While the supply situation improved in October, the manpower situation was still critical. It then intersected a main eastwest road at Bullingen. info@nationalww2museum.org provides support December 1944. [6] On more than one occasion, BAR gunners would allow Germans to get within feet of their positions before opening fire, with the objective of increasing the odds of killing the attacking Germans. The German 20th Infantry Division was an infantry division of Nazi Germany.HistoryThe was established in 1934 under the cover name. The Germans would never take Hfen, nor most of their other ambitious objectives in the Ardennes, due in large part to the soldiers of 3/395 and the 99th ID as a whole. 99th Infantry Division Historical Society 99th Infantry Division Battle Babies The 99th Infantry Division, nicknamed "Battle Babies" and compromised of the 393rd, 394th, 395th Infantry Regiments and supporting units, spent approximately 151 days in combat during World War Two. Led by 20-year-old Lieutenant Lyle Bouck Jr., they delayed the advance of the 1st SS Panzer Division, the spearhead of the entire German 6th Panzer Army, for nearly 20 hours. The division lost about 20% of its effective strength, including 465 killed and 2,524 evacuated due to wounds, injuries, fatigue, or trench foot. Against light resistance, it crossed the Dill River and pushed on to Krofdorf-Gleiberg, taking Giessen 29 March. In early December, much of the Allied forces were established in a general defensive line from the North Sea to the Swiss border. Formerly nicknamed the "Checkerboard Division," which referred to its shoulder patch, in late 1944 having not yet seen battle, the division was nicknamed the "Battle Babies. The enemy artillery was so intense that communications were generally out. The platoon seriously disrupted the entire German Sixth Panzer Army's schedule of attack along the northern edge of the offensive. Specific units were charged with penetrating Germany's West Wall. This quick infusion of personnel into the 99th Division occurred in March 1944, when more than 3000 joined the division. On the east lay a section of the Monschau Forest. 395 th Regiment Constituted 23 July 1918 in the National Army as the 395th Infantry and assigned to the 99th Division Demobilized 30 November 1918 Reconstituted 24 June 1921 in the. During the Battle of the Bulge, the regimentat times virtually surrounded by Germanswas one of the few units that did not yield ground to the attacking Germans. Category: 395thIR On this page, we honor the memory of the men of the 99th Infantry Division and pay tribute to their extraordinary contributions to the war effort. The 99th Infantry Division was formed in 1942 and deployed overseas in 1944. Originally planned as a Pennsylvania unit, the horizontal band of white and blue. One Wehrmacht officer captured at Hfen asked his interrogators which unit had defended the town. At the going down of the sun And in the morning We will remember them." 324th Engineer Combat Battalion Albertson Dale W Bass Robert D Brown Edwin C Busk Not only did your command assist in effectively frustrating that particular part of the plan, but it also inflicted such heavy losses on the enemy that he was unable to carry out other contemplated missions in other sectors of the Allied front. The Medal of Honor was awarded T/Sgt Vernon McGarity, Company L, 393rd Infantry, 99th Infantry Division, for actions taken near Krinkelt, Belgium, on 16 December 1944 during the opening phases of the Ardennes Offensive. He found that his 600 riflemen were assigned an extremely large area about 6,000 yards (5,500m) long without any units in reserve. With ammunition supplies dwindling rapidly, the men obtained German weapons and utilized ammunition obtained from casualties to drive off the persistent foe. As they did so, another German assault hit them, this time with support from 5 MKV Panther tanks. The camp was newly built, and the barracks were covered in tar paper. Troops were fatigued by weeks of continuous combat, Allied supply lines were stretched extremely thin, and supplies were dangerously depleted. Although 3/395 had only 600 men to defend a large area, they had been told that the German army, or Wehrmacht, was no longer capable of major offensive operations and that their winter in the Ardennes would be a quiet one. It attacked toward the Monschau Forest, on 1 February, mopping up and patrolling until it was relieved for training and rehabilitation, on 13 February. The US Armys 99th Infantry Division, recently arrived in Europe and untested in combat, was assigned to the northern shoulder of the Allied front line in the Ardennes Forest. Family lore, The 99th Infantry Division Artefacts Collection. The last drive began on 23 April. Up to that point, the Army had married a battalion of tanks to a battalion of infantry in support of the tanks. The 99th Division was constituted at Camp Wheeler, Georgia, on 23 July 1918. Butler's uncle, General Edward J. McClernand, fought in the Indian Wars and was awarded the Medal of Honor. . [7]:3 American press reports from the European theater foretold the imminent fall of the Third Reich, and many men in Lt. Col. Butler's battalion thought that the war just might be over before they got there. Although cut up and surrounded in part, the 99th was one of the only divisions that did not yield to the German attack, and held their positions until reinforcements arrived. As the American defenders began to assess casualties and ammunition supplies, the 12th SS hit them again. When three hours later a third SS assault hit the defenders, it too was stopped. EN. Battle of the Bulge The distinctive unit insignia was originally approved for the 395th Regiment Infantry, Organized Reserves on 16 June 1931. Told it was the 3rd Battalion, 395th Infantry, he said, "It must have been one of your best formations." This was the road network the Germans needed to meet their objectives. Staff Sergeant, Service Company, 395th Infantry Regiment, 99th Infantry Division, ETO, participated in the Battle of the Bulge, the Ruhr Pocket, and the Occupation of Germany, recipient of the Bronze Star. On May 34, 1945, as the 99th moved deeper into Bavaria, it liberated one of a number of Dachau subcamps near the town of Mhldorf. EN RU CN DE ES. 3/395, soon to be nicknamed Butlers Blue Battlin Bastards, was one of the only US Army units that did not retreat in the opening days of the battle. Yet, despite their successful defense and reinforcement from the 2nd Division, the 395th was in a precarious position on the morning of the December 17. After failing to capture Monschau on the battles second day, the 326th Volksgrenadier Division turned its attention back to Hfen on December 18th. A few miles to the east lay the Siegfried Line, the enemys final defensive line guarding the German heartland. Troops Fight at Elsenburn Ridge", "Bob Galloway, the Battle of the Bulge, and the 99th Infantry Division", "Heidelberg staff retraces historical Battle of the Bulge route", United States Army Center of Military History, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=395th_Infantry_Regiment_(United_States)&oldid=1076569987, 395th Infantry Regiment: Lt. Col. Griffin, 3rd Battalion: Lt. Col. McClernand Butler (1 November 1942 30 April 1945) Lt. Col. J.A. And while the defense of the crossroads of hell was gallant to be sure, it was not the back breaker that most people assume it to have been. The 99th Infantry Division, the "Checkerboard" division, gained its nickname from the division's insignia. During the battle to come, if the Germans succeeded in taking Hfen, their ranks would be swelled rapidly, and the 99th and 2nd Infantry Divisions would be outflanked and could be attacked from the rear. represents the iron district of Pennsylvania. Ehrenfried-Oskar Bge. 395 Infantry Regiment Medical Detachment (99th Infantry Division) Report, January 1945. The three heavy German assaults had worn down the ammunition supply, particularly that of the machine gunners, and had left the defenders mostly helpless. So fierce in fact that the German commander pulled his tanks back for fear of running into a superior American force, deciding to hold his positions until the following morning. It was like a golf course, so I used the night for concealment."[6]. On 5 March 1941, as the United States began to mobilize for the possibility of war, McClernand Butler became a second lieutenant in the Regular Army. As many as half a million civilians remained in Stalingrad when the Germans approached in the late summer of 1942. The 5 th Infantry Division was moved from Saarlautern, Luxembourg to the area of south and southwest of Echternach.