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Researching
World War II
Unit Histories, Documents
Monographs, Books and Reports on CD
PDF Remastered and Keyword Searchable
This grouping of information is for the World War 2 Researcher or Family Member
and is designed to be suitable both as a Research Tool and as a Family Heirloom keepsake.
Top - Order of Battle - Chronology Map - Files - History - Campaigns - Bottom
45th Infantry
"Thunderbird"
Division
Order of Battle
157th Infantry Regiment
179th Infantry Regiment
180th Infantry Regiment
45th Infantry Division Artillery
158th Field Artillery Battalion (105mm)
160th Field Artillery Battalion (105mm)
171st Field Artillery Battalion (105mm)
189th Field Artillery Battalion (155mm)
45th Reconnaissance Troop (Mechanized)
120th Engineer Combat Battalion
120th Medical Battalion
45th Infantry Division Military Police Platoon
45th Infantry Division Special Troops
45th Quartermaster Company
45th Signal Company
700th Ordnance Light Maintenance Compan
45th Counter Intelligence Corps Detachment
Casualties Killed - 1,510
Wounded - 7,246
Missing - 1,436
Captured - 266
Battle Casualties - 10,458
Non-Battle Casualties - 15, 991
Total Casualties - 26,449
Commanders
Maj. Gen. William S. Key
September 1940 - October 1942
Maj. Gen. Troy H. Middleton
October 1942 - December 1943
Maj. Gen. William W. Eagles
December 1943 - December 1944
Maj. Gen. Robert T. Frederick
December 1944 - September 1945
Brig. Gen. Henry J. D. Meyer
September 1945 - Inactivation
Campaigns
Sicily 9 Jul - 17 Aug 43 Naples-Foggia 9 Sep 43 - 21 Jan 44 Anzio 22 Jan - 24 May 44 Rome-Arno 22 Jan - 9 Sep 44 Southern France 15 Aug - 14 Sep 44 Rhineland 15 Sep 44 - 21 Mar 45 Ardennes-Alsace 16 Dec 44 - 25 Jan 45 Central Europe 22 Mar - 11 May 45
Medals
Medal of Honor Recepients - 8
Distinguished Service Cross - 54
Legion of Merit - 30
Silver Star - 1,230
Soldiers Medal - 36
Bronze Star - 3,314
Air Medal - 53
Distinguished Unit Citations - 7
Days of Combat - 511
Medal of Honor Recepients
Van T. Barfoot, 2nd Lt.
157th Infantry - 45th Infantry Division
nr. Carano, Italy
May 23, 1944
Ernest Childers, 2nd Lt.
45th Infantry Division
Oliveto, Italy
September 22, 1943
Almond E. Fisher, 2nd Lt.
Company E, 157th Infantry - 45th Infantry Division
nr. Grammont, France
September 12-13, 1944
William J. Johnston, Pfc.
Company G, 180th Infantry - 45th Infantry Division
nr. Padiglione, Italy
February 17-19, 1944
Jack C. Montgomery, 1st Lt.
45th Infantry Division
nr. Padiglione, Italy
February 22, 1944
James D. Slaton, Cpl.
157th Infantry - 45th Infantry Division
nr. Oliveto, Italy
September 23, 1943
Jack L. Treadwell, Cpt.
Company F, 180th Infantry - 45th Infantry Division
nr. Nieder-Wurzbach, Germany
March 18, 1945
Edward G. Wilkin, Cpl.
Company C, 157th Infantry - 45th Infantry Division
Siegfried Line in Germany
March 18, 1945
Top - Order of Battle - Chronology Map - Files - History - Campaigns - Bottom
1942 14 Jan- The first contingent of the 34th Division embarks at Brooklyn. 1940 16 Sep- The 45th Infantry Division was federalized into the Active duty force. 1942 15 Aug- Division reconstituted as the 45th Airborne activated at Camp Claiborne, Louisiana. Oct- Division moved to Fort Bragg, North Carolina and began its training under the Airborne Command and trained at Fort Sill, Camp Barkeley, Fort Devens, Pine Camp and Camp Pickett. The division trained in amphibious assault techniques at Fort Devens in preparation for the invasion of Italy. 1943 8 Jun- The Division sailed for the Mediterranean region. 22 Jun- The 45th Division landed in North Africa and trained at Arzew, French Morocco. 10 Jul- The Division was one of the leading units in the amphibious assault on Sicily. 26 Jul- Division fought for four days to defeat Italian and German forces on Motta Hill. 1 Aug- The Division withdrew from the front line for rest and rear-guard patrol duty. 10 Sep- The Division conducted its second landing at Agropoli and Paestrom. 17 Sep- The 45th pushed to the Calore River after a week of heavy fighting. 20 Sep- American forces were finally able to break out and establish a more secure beachhead. 3 Nov- Division crossed the Volturno River and took Venafro. 1944 9 Jan- The division inched forward into the mountains reaching St. Elia, north of Cassino, before moving to a rest area. 30 Jan- VI Corps moved out, it encountered heavy resistance and for the next four months the division stood its ground during repeated German counterattacks. 23 May- The Division went on the offensive, crossing the Tiber River by June 4. 16 Jun- Division withdrew for rest in preparation for another assault. 15 Aug- The Division landed at St. Maxime, France during Operation Dragoon. 12 Sep- Seventh Army and the Third United States Army advance from Normandy and spearhead the drive for the Belfort Gap. 24 Sep- Took the strongly defended city of Epinal. 30 Sep- Division crossed the Moselle River and entered the western foothills of the Vosges, taking Rambervillers. 23 Oct- Division remained in the area a month waiting for other units to catch up before crossing the Mortagne River. 25 Nov- After a one month rest the Division resumed its advance attacking the forts north of Mutzig and crossed the Zintzel River and pushed through the Maginot defenses. 1945 1 Jan- The 45th Infantry Division was reassigned to VI Corps on New Year's day. 2 Jan- The Division fought defensively along the German border, withdrawing to the Moder River. 17 Feb- TheDivision was pulled off the line for rest and training. 17 Mar- The 45th moved north to the Sarreguemines area and smashed through the Siegfried Line. 21 Mar- Homburg taken. 26 Mar- Crossed the Rhine between Worms and Hamm. 3 Apr- Aschaffenburg falls 20 Apr- Nuremberg falls. 27 Apr- The Division crossed the Danube River and liberated 32,000 captives of the Dachau concentration camp. 29 Apr- The Division captured Munich during the next two days, occupying the city until V-E Dayand the surrender of Germany. May- The Division remained in Munich and set up collection points and camps for the massive numbers of surrendering troops of the German armies. Jun- The Division returned to New York and from there went to Camp Bowie, Texas. 7 Dec- The Division was deactivated from the active duty force. 1946 10 Sep- The 45th Infantry Division was reconstituted as a National Guard unit.
Top - Order of Battle - Chronology Map - Files - History - Campaigns - Bottom
45th Infantry Division
in World War II
CD 1
Open all files from the folders on the CDs
Install Adobe Acrobat PDF Reader from CD 1
The files below are found on CD 1
GI Stories
History of the
45th Infantry Division
CD 1
39 Pages - PDF
1 Jul - 22 Aug 43
45th-Infantry Division
Sicilian Campaign
G3 Journal
Operation Husky
Part 1
CD 1
28 Pages - PDF
13 - 14 Jul 43
45th Infantry Division
179th Infantry Regiment
Operations
Grammicele, Siciliy
CD 1
27 Pages - PDF
2 Nov 43 - 3 Jan 44
45th Infantry Division
180th Infantry Regiment
Operations
Venafro to Casale, Italy
CD 1
25 Pages - PDF
22 Jan - 31 May 44
The German
Operation at Anzio
CD 1
167 Pages - PDF
7 - 8 Feb 44
45th Infantry Division
157th Infantry Regiment
Operations
Moletta River Line
Anzio Campaign
CD 1
32 Pages - PDF
16 Feb 44
45th Infantry Division
179th Infantry Regiment
Infantry in Defense
of a Wide Front
CD 1
115 Pages - PDF
22 - 24 May 44
45th Infantry Division
157th Infantry Regiment
Operations
Battle at Anzio
Anzio Campaign
CD 1
24 Pages - PDF
15 Mar 45
45th Infantry Division
157th Infantry Regimet
Regiment in a
Night Attack
Palatinate, France
CD 1
30 Pages - PDF
17 - 20 Apr 45
45th Infantry Division
180th Infantry Regiment
Operations
Nuremberg, Germany
CD 1
43 Pages - PDF
45th Infantry Division
Connecticut Men
History
CD 1
16 Pages - PDF
Order of Battle
US ARMY
European Theater
of Operations
CD 1
618 Pages - PDF
9 Jul - 17 Aug 43
Sicily
Campaign
CD 1
29 Pages - PDF
Sicily and the
Surrender of Italy
CD 1
630 Pages - PDF
9 Sep 43 - 21 Jan 44
Naples-Foggia
Campaign
CD 1
32 Pages - PDF
22 Jan - 24 May 44
Anzio
Campaign
CD 1
28 Pages - PDF
22 Jan - 9 Sep 44
Rome-Arno
Campaign
CD 1
31 Pages - PDF
15 Aug - 14 Sep 44
Southern France
Campaign
CD 1
32 Pages - PDF
15 Sep 44 - 21 Mar 45
Rhineland
Campaign
CD 1
36 Pages - PDF
16 Dec 44 - 25 Jan 45
Ardennes-Alsace
Campaign
CD 1
56 Pages - PDF
The Ardennes
Battle of the Bulge
CD 1
00 - Pages - PDF
22 Mar - 11 May 45
Central Europe
Campaign
CD 1
36 Pages - PDF
Pictorial Record
War Against
Germany Europe
and Adjacent Areas
CD 1
458 Pages - PDF
1941 - 1945
US Army
World War II
Chronology
CD 1
672 Pages - PDF
Research Guide
National Archives
Finding Information of
Personal Participation
in World War II Guide
CD 1
5 Pages - PDF
Form SF-180
Records Request
Request for
Personnel Records
CD 1
3 Pages - PDF
Guide to
Research Resources Relating to
World War II
CD 1
20 Pages - PDF
World War II
Situation Maps
Europe
CD 1
82 Pages - PDF The files below are found on CD 2
VE Day
Eisenhower Flyer
CD 2
1 Page - PDF
Rank
Insignia of Grade
CD 2
1 Page - PDF
Chart
Enlisted Men's
Uniform Insignias
CD 2
1 Page - PDF
Patch
Identification
Guide
CD 2
19 Pages - PDF
Mines - Booby Traps
Identification Guide
CD 2
80 Pages - PDF
Aircraft
Nose Art
CD 2
34 Pages - PDF
Aircraft
Recognition Guide
CD 2
17 Pages - PDF
Aircraft
Insignia Poster
CD 2
1 Page - PDF
US
World War II
Posters
CD 2
249 Pages - PDF
German
World War II
Posters
CD 2
75 Pages - PDF
Comic Book
Covers
CD 2
8 Pages - PDF
Song Lyrics
Army
HIT KIT
of Popular Songs
CD 2
6 Pages - PDF
Troopships
of World War II
CD 2
391 Pages - PDF
British
Grenadier Guards
1939 - 1945
Campaigns
BEF - 1939 - 1940
Tunisia 1942 - 1943
Italy - 1943 - 1945
Europe 1944 - 1945
CD 2
93 Pages - PDF
Film
The
BIG PICTURE
Documentary Film
"Combat Infantryman"
An Official
Television Report
to the Nation
From the
United States Army
CD 2
Film Info - PDF
Film: 27m14s - MP4
Newsreels
"Allied Vise Tightens
On Rhineland"
Universal Newsreel
7 Dec 44
Film: 7m17s
"Nazis Surrender"
Universal Newsreel
14 May 45
Film: 7m24s
"The Year 1945"
United Newsreel
Film: 8m34s
CD 2
Newsreels - Folder
1 Sep 39 - 10 May 42
Graphic History
Of The War
CD 2
76 Pages - PDF
1985
Veterans
Remerbrances
of World War II
40th Anniversary
of VE Day
CD 2
141 Pages - PDF
Brief History
of World War II
CD 2
55 Pages - PDF
APOs
Army
Postal Service
Addresses
CD 2
149 Pages - PDF
The files below are found on CD 3
Music
"Singing Soldiers"
Winners Second
All Army Soldier
Singing Contest
1954-55
19 Song LP Record
2 Album Set
CD 3
Info - PDF
Files - Folder
Music
What Do You
Do In The Infantry ?
American Military March
Semper Fidelis (Marines)
CD 3
Files - Folder
D-Day
Radio Broadcasts
13 - BBC/CBS/NBC
Normandy Invasion
Broadcasts
24 - CBS Invasion
1 Hour Broadcasts
CD 3
Files - Folder
Cartoons
11
BANNED
World War II
Cartoons
Bugs Bunny
Donald Duck
Popeye
Superman
more ...
CD 3
Info - PDF
Files - Folder
Top - Order of Battle - Chronology Map - Files - History - Campaigns - Bottom
45th Infantry
"Thunderbird"
Division
45th Infantry Division History
The 45th Division landed in North Africa, 22 June 1943, and trained at Arzew, French Morocco.
It landed in Sicily, 10 July, in its first major amphibious operation and moved inland under minor opposition. The enemy resisted fiercely at Motta Hill, 26 July, before losing the fourday battle of "Bloody Ridge." On 1 August, the Division withdrew for rest and patrols.
On 10 September 1943, the second landing at Salerno occurred. Against stiff resistance, the 45th pushed to the Calore River, 27 September, crossed the Volturno River, 3 November, and took Venafro. Until 9 January 1944, the Division inched forward into the mountains reaching St. Elia north of Cassino before moving to a rest area.
The 45th landed at Anzio, 22 January 1944, and for 4 months stood its ground against violent assaults. It went over to the attack, 23 May, crossed the Tiber River, 4 June, outflanking Rome and withdrew for rest and training on the 16th.
The 45th participated in its fourth assault landing, 15 August 1944, at St. Maxime in Southern France. Against slight opposition, it spearheaded the drive for the Belfort Gap. It took the strongly defended city of Epinal, 24 September, crossed the Moselle River and entered the western foothills of the Vosges, taking Rambervillers on the 30th, and crossing the Mortagne River, 23 October.
After a brief rest the 45th cracked the forts north of Mutzig, an anchor of the Maginot Line, 25 November, crossed the Zintzel River and pushed through the Maginot defenses.
From 2 January 1945, the Division fought defensively along the German border, withdrawing to the Moder River. On 17 February, it went back for rest and training.
The 45th moved north to the Sarreguemines area and smashed at the Siegfried Line, 17 March, taking Homburg on the 21st and crossing the Rhine between Worms and Hamm on the 26th. The advance continued, Aschaffenburg falling, 3 April, and Nurnberg on the 20th. The Division crossed the Danube, 27 April, took Munich on the 30th and as war ended was stationed near Dachau.
Top - Order of Battle - Chronology Map - Files - History - Campaigns - Bottom
45th Infantry
Division
Campaigns of World War II
Sicily 9 Jul - 17 Aug 43 Naples-Foggia 9 Sep 43 - 21 Jan 44 Anzio 22 Jan - 24 May 44 Rome-Arno 22 Jan - 9 Sep 44 Southern France 15 Aug - 14 Sep 44 Rhineland 15 Sep 44 - 21 Mar 45 Ardennes-Alsace 16 Dec 44 - 25 Jan 45 Central Europe 22 Mar - 11 May 45
Sicily Campaign
9 July - 17 August 1943
On the night of 9–10 July 1943, an Allied armada of 2,590 vessels launched one of the largest combined operations of World War II—the invasion of Sicily. Over the next thirty-eight days, half a million Allied soldiers, sailors, and airmen grappled with their German and Italian counterparts for control of this rocky outwork of Hitler’s “Fortress Europe.” When the struggle was over, Sicily became the first piece of the Axis homeland to fall to Allied forces during World War II. More important, it served as both a base for the invasion of Italy and as a training ground for many of the officers and enlisted men who eleven months later landed on the beaches of Normandy.
Naples - Foggia
9 September 1943 - 21 January 1944
The Allied goals, established before the invasion of Italy, were to gain control of the Mediterranean, keep pressure on the Germans while building for the cross-Channel attack, and force Italy to withdraw from the war. All agreed that bases in Italy would provide support for the air war against German sources of supply in the Balkans and the German industrial heartland itself. These sound strategic goals were valid in 1943 and have stood the test of time. By late August, the Italian government had decided to withdraw from the war and break relations with Germany. The fall of Sicily had enhanced Allied control of the Mediterranean but had not assured it. Prior to the invasion of Italy, therefore, the Allied goals were far from being totally satisfied, and an eager world watched as the Allies launched first Operation BAYTOWN and then Operation AVALANCHE to invade the European continent.
Anzio
22 January - 24 May 1944
The four months of this campaign would see some of the most savage fighting of World War II.
Following the successful Allied landings at Calabria, Taranto, and Salerno in early September 1943 and the unconditional surrender of Italy that same month, German forces had quickly disarmed their former allies and begun a slow, fighting withdrawal to the north. Defending two hastily prepared, fortified belts stretching from coast to coast, the Germans significantly slowed the Allied advance before settling into the Gustav Line, a third, more formidable and sophisticated defensive belt of interlocking positions on the high ground along the peninsula’s narrowest point.
During the four months of the Anzio Campaign the Allied VI Corps suffered over 29,200 combat casualties (4,400 killed, 18,000 wounded, 6,800 prisoners or missing) and 37,000 noncombat casualties. Two-thirds of these losses, amounting to 17 percent of VI Corps’ effective strength, were inflicted between the initial landings and the end of the German counteroffensive on 4 March. Of the combat casualties, 16,200 were Americans (2,800 killed, 11,000 wounded, 2,400 prisoners or missing) as were 26,000 of the Allied noncombat casualties. German combat losses, suffered wholly by the Fourteenth Army, were estimated at 27,500 (5,500 killed, 17,500 wounded, and 4,500 prisoners or missing), figures very similar to Allied losses.
The Anzio Campaign continues to be controversial, just as it was during its planning and implementation stages. The operation, according to U.S. Army Center of Military History historian Clayton D. Laurie, clearly failed in its immediate objectives of outflanking the Gustav Line, restoring mobility to the Italian campaign, and speeding the capture of Rome.
Yet the campaign did accomplish several goals. The presence of a significant Allied force behind the German main line of resistance, uncomfortably close to Rome, represented a constant threat. The Germans could not ignore Anzio and were forced into a response, thereby surrendering the initiative in Italy to the Allies. The 135,000 troops of the Fourteenth Army surrounding Anzio could not be moved elsewhere, nor could they be used to make the already formidable Gustav Line virtually impregnable.
Rome - Arno
22 January - 9 September 1944
The Allied operations in Italy between January and September 1944 were essentially an infantryman’s war where the outcome was decided by countless bitterly fought small unit actions waged over some of Europe’s most difficult terrain under some of the worst weather conditions found anywhere during World War II.
Southern France
15 August - 14 September 1944
The Allied invasion of southern France in the late summer of 1944, an operation first code-named ANVIL and later DRAGOON, marked the beginning of one of the most successful but controversial campaigns of World War II. However, because it fell both geographically and chronologically between two much larger Allied efforts in northern France and Italy, both its conduct and its contributions have been largely ignored. Planned originally as a simultaneous complement to OVERLORD, the cross-Channel attack on Normandy, ANVIL actually took place over two months later, on 15 August 1944, making it appear almost an afterthought to the main Allied offensive in northern Europe. Yet the success of ANVIL and the ensuing capture of the great southern French ports of Toulon and Marseille, together with the subsequent drive north up the Rhone River valley to Lyon and Dijon, were ultimately to provide critical support to the Normandy-based armies finally moving east toward the German border.
Rhineland
15 September 1944 - 21 March 1945
The Rhineland Campaign, although costly for the Allies, had clearly been ruinous for the Germans. The Germans suffered some 300,000 casualties and lost vast amounts of irreplaceable equipment. Hitler, having demanded the defense of all of the German homeland, enabled the Allies to destroy the Wehrmacht in the West between the Siegfried Line and the Rhine River. Now, the Third Reich lay virtually prostrate before Eisenhower’s massed armies.
Ardennes - Alsace
16 December 1944 - 25 January 1945
In August 1944, while his armies were being destroyed in Normandy, Hitler secretly put in motion actions to build a large reserve force, forofferding its use to bolster Germany’s beleaguered defenses. To provide the needed manpower, he trimmed existing military forces and conscripted youths, the unfit, and old men previously untouched for military service during World War II.
In September Hitler named the port of Antwerp, Belgium, as the objective. Selecting the Eifel region as a staging area, Hitler intended to mass twenty-five divisions for an attack through the thinly held Ardennes Forest area of southern Belgium and Luxembourg. Once the Meuse River was reached and crossed, these forces would swing northwest some 60 miles to envelop the port of Antwerp. The maneuver was designed to sever the already stretched Allied supply lines in the north and to encircle and destroy a third of the Allies’ ground forces. If successful, Hitler believed that the offensive could smash the Allied coalition, or at least greatly cripple its ground combat capabilities, leaving him free to focus on the Russians at his back door.
Central Europe
22 March - 11 May 1945
By the beginning of the Central Europe Campaign of World War II, Allied victory in Europe was inevitable. Having gambled his future ability to defend Germany on the Ardennes offensive and lost, Hitler had no real strength left to stop the powerful Allied armies. Yet Hitler forced the Allies to fight, often bitterly, for final victory. Even when the hopelessness of the German situation became obvious to his most loyal subordinates, Hitler refused to admit defeat. Only when Soviet artillery was falling around his Berlin headquarters bunker did the German Fuehrer begin to perceive the final outcome of his megalomaniacal crusade.
Top - Order of Battle - Chronology Map - Files - History - Campaigns - Bottom
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