6th Infantry Division (United States)

6th Infantry Division
Division badge
Lineup	1917 to 1921 1939 to 1994
Country	United States
Armed forces	United States Armed Forces
Armed forces	United States Army
Branch of service	infantry
Type	Infantry division
Fort Richardson	Anchorage
Nickname	Sight Seein 'Sixth
motto	Sight Seein 'Sixth
Butcher	Second World War Pacific War
insignia
Distinctive Unit Insignia

The 6th Infantry Division ( German  6th US Infantry Division ) was a large unit of the US Army that was active in World War I and World War II as well as during the Cold War and the Gulf War .

history

First World War

The 6th Infantry Division was established in November 1917 and came to France in June 1918 . It was used there as part of the American Expeditionary Forces in the Vosges and in the Meuse-Argonne offensive . By the end of the war in November 1918, the division had lost 38 men in combat and also had 348 wounded. General John J. Pershing praised the division for its frontline service. After the end of the war, the association remained stationed in France and Germany. At the same time, it also received its official emblem, a red star. In June 1919, the division returned to the United States, where it was stationed in Camp Grant, Illinois , and was demobilized on September 30, 1921.

Second World War

The division was reorganized in 1939. In the summer of 1943, the division came to Hawaii and Papua New Guinea for various training units for use in the Pacific . In June 1944 she finally came to Dutch New Guinea and was mainly used for combat patrols. In the same summer there was a battle with the Japanese in the battle of Lone Tree Hill in the north of the island. This was followed by the landing on Vogelkop , known as the Battle of Sansapor, at the end of July. By the end of the year, fuse operations followed on the coast.

On January 6, 1945, the division landed with other units in the Philippines . The division managed to push the Japanese opponents back to Cabanatuan and later to Muñoz . Technical Sergeant Donald E. Rudolph did so much for this mission that he was awarded the Medal of Honor . During the Raid at Cabanatuan on January 27, the 6th Infantry Division helped free Allied prisoners of war. In February 1945, fighting for the Bataan peninsula finally followed in the 6th Army . After that, the Division advanced in the Association of XIV. Corps (General Griswold ) to Manila before where they at the Battle of Manila took part. Division commander Major General Patrick was fatally wounded on March 14th during the fighting for Mataba Mountain in the area south of Montalban . Corporal Melvin Mayfield helped during the battle despite a wound in the destruction of an observer post and other targets and was awarded the Medal of Honor as the second member of the division. This was followed by further missions against the other Japanese defenders until July. The 6th Infantry Division was then stationed in the Cagayan Valley before Japan surrendered on September 2nd. 410 soldiers of the division died in World War II and 1957 were wounded. After the end of the war, it was shipped to Korea , where the division was deactivated in 1949.

Cold War and Gulf War

The division was reorganized in Fort Ort, California on October 4, 1950 , before being deactivated again in 1956. In 1967 it was reactivated for a short time, but the division was not sent to the Vietnam War . In July 1968 it was deactivated again. In April 1986 the division was reactivated, this time in Anchorage . She was retained there for use in the Arctic . Parts of the unit were nevertheless assigned to the Multinational Force and Observers on the Sinai Peninsula in 1990 . But as early as August 1990, other parts of the division came to the Middle East as part of Operation Desert Shield to liberate Kuwait . On July 6, 1994, the division was finally dissolved. Only sub-units such as the engineer units were later neuaufgestellt yet again being subordinated to another division.

organization

During the First World War, the division had this line-up:

• 11th Infantry Brigade
  • 51st Infantry Regiment
  • 52nd Infantry Regiment
  • 17th Machine Gun Battalion
• 12th Infantry Brigade
  • 53rd Infantry Regiment
  • 54th Infantry Regiment
  • 18th Machine Gun Battalion
• Divisional Troops
• 16th Machine-Gun Battalion
• 3rd Artillery Battalion
• 11th Artillery Battalion
• 78th Artillery Battalion

During the Second World War, the division was set up as follows:

• 1st Infantry Regiment
• 20th Infantry Regiment
• 63rd Infantry Regiment
• 1st Field Artillery Battalion
• 51st Field Artillery Battalion
• 53rd Field Artillery Battalion
• 80th Field Artillery Battalion
• 6th Signal Company
• 706th Ordnance Company
• 6th Quartermaster Company
• 6th Reconnaissance Troop
• 6th Engineer Battalion
• 6th Medical Battalion
• 6th Counter Intelligence Detachment

Division commanders

• Colonel Charles E. Tayman (November 26, 1917 - December 28, 1917)
• Brigade General James Brailsford Erwin (December 29, 1917 - August 27, 1918)
• Major General Walter P. Gordon (August 28, 1918 - June 1, 1919)
• Brigade General Clement Augustus Trott (October 1939 - October 1940)
• Brigade General. Frederick E. Uhl (October 1940 - December 1940)
• Major General Clarence S. Ridley (January 1941 - August 1942)
• Major General Durward S. Wilson (September 1942 - October 1942)
• Major General. Franklin C. Sibert (October 1942 - August 1944)
• Major General Edwin Davies Patrick (August 1944 - March 1945)
• Major General Charles E. Hurdis (March 1945 - April 1946)
• Col. George M. Williamson, Jr. (April 1946 - June 1946)
• Major General Albert E. Brown (June 1946 - September 1946)
• Brigade General John T. Pierce (September 1946 - October 1946)
• Major General Orlando Ward (October 1946 - January 1949)

Web links

• Division formation and history (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Melvin Mayfield be Find A Grave