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Changes: 35th Infantry Division (United States)

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35th Infantry Division
35th Infantry Division SSI
35th Infantry Division shoulder sleeve insignia
Active 1917–1919
1935–1945
1946–1963
1963–1968 (Kansas)
1984–present
Country United States
Branch Army National Guard
Type Infantry
Size Division
Headquarters Fort Leavenworth
Nickname(s) Santa Fe (Special Designation)[1]
Engagements Mexican Revolution
*Battle of Ambos Nogales
World War I
*Meuse-Argonne
World War II
*Operation Overlord
*Northern France Campaign
*Battle of the Bulge
*Operation Grenade
*Rhineland Campaign
*Central Europe
Kosovo War
Katrina Relief
Commanders
Notable
commanders		 Maj. Gen. William H. Simpson

The 35th Infantry Division ("Santa Fe"[1]) has been a formation of the National Guard since World War I.

It is headquartered at Fort Leavenworth and its personnel come from Illinois, Kansas and Missouri.

Lineage

  • 18 July 1917 – Constituted
  • 25 August 1917 – organized at Camp Doniphan, Oklahoma (National Guards of Missouri and Kansas)[2]
  • 30 May 1919 – demobilized at Camp Funston, Kansas.
  • 13 September 1935 – reorganized at Kansas City, Missouri with training at Camp Robinson, Arkansas (units from Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska)
  • 7 December 1945 – inactivated at Camp Breckinridge, Kentucky
  • 5 October 1946 – portion organized in Topeka, Kansas; 3 April 1947 at Sedalia, Missouri; 4 April 1947 at Kansas City
  • 1 April 1963 – Kansas portion becomes Headquarters 69th Infantry Brigade
  • 13 May 1968 – ordered to federal service Topeka
  • 13 December 1969 – released from service and reverted to state control
  • 25 August 1984 – Organized as Headquarters, 35th Infantry Division, and headquartered at Fort Leavenworth[3]

World War I

  • Casualties: Total – 7,296 (KIA – 1,018 ; WIA – 6,278).
  • Commanders: Maj. Gen. William M. Wright (25 August 1917), Brig. Gen. L. G. Berry (18 September 1917), Maj. Gen. William M. Wright (10 December 1917), Brig. Gen. Nathaniel F. McClure (15 June 1918), Maj. Gen. Peter E. Traub (2 November 1918), Brig. Gen. T. B. Dugan (25 November 1918), Maj. Gen. Peter E. Traub (7 December 1918), Brig. Gen. Thomas Dugan (27 December 1918).
  • Returned to U.S. and inactivated: April 1919.
 
35th Infantry Division (United States)

Combat Chronicle

The division was organized in August 1917 as a National Guard formation with troops from Kansas and Missouri, after a few months as the 14th Division. It consisted of the 69th Infantry Brigade (137th and 138th Infantry Regiments) and the 70th Infantry Brigade (139th and 140th Infantry Regiments).

It went overseas in May 1918. Upon arrival in France, the 35th Division was garrisoned near the front in Alsace. It received limited training from the French Army.

The Division saw combat in the Meuse-Argonne offensive where it collapsed after five days of fighting.[4]

During World War I, Battery D of the 129th Field Artillery Regiment had, as a battery commander, Captain Harry S. Truman, later President of the United States.

World War II

Combat Chronicle

The Division was activated on 23 December 1940, as a National Guard Division from Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska. The division was transferred to the Western Defense Command following the debacle of Pearl Harbor. In California, in March 1942 the division underwent 'triangularization' losing two of its regiments and both brigade headquarters.[5] From here the division moved north for further training at Camp San Luis Obispo where a third regiment was added to complete the three regiment organization. Added to the 137th Infantry Regiment from Kansas and the 134th Infantry Regiment from Nebraska was the 320th Infantry Regiment (draftees).

The division departed for Europe on 12 May 1944. It arrived in the United Kingdom on 25 May 1944, and received further training. It landed on Omaha Beach, Normandy, 5–7 July 1944, and entered combat 11 July, fighting in the Normandy hedgerows, north of Saint-Lô. The Division beat off 12 German counterattacks at Emelie before entering Saint-Lô, 18 July. After mopping up in the Saint-Lô area, it took part in the offensive action southwest of Saint-Lô, pushing the Germans across the Vire River, 2 August, and breaking out of the Cotentin Peninsula. While en route to an assembly area, the Division took part in the attempt to stop Operation Luttich, secure the Mortain-Avranches corridor and to relieve the 30th Division, which was taking a severe beating from the Germans' assault, 7–13 August.

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

Moving to the Netherlands to hold a defensive line along the Roer, 22 February, the Division attacked across the Roer, 23 February, pierced the Siegfried Line, reached the Rhine at Wesel, 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, 12 April. Making the 295-mile dash in 2 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, 5 September, and arrived in New York City, 10 September 1945.

Assignments in the European Theater of Operations

  • 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, 12th 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, Seventh Army, 6th 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.

During World War II, the 320th Infantry Regiment had, as an operations officer (S-3), Maj. Orval Faubus, later Governor of Arkansas. The 134th Infantry Regiment had, as Commander of Company C and 1st Battalion Commander, Lt. Col. John E. Davis, later Governor of North Dakota.

Cold War to present

After several activations and reactivations in the immediate postwar years, the 35th Infantry Division (Mechanized) was reactivated on 25 August 1984 from the 67th Infantry Brigade (Mechanized) of Nebraska, the 69th Infantry Brigade (Mechanized) of Kansas, and the 149th Armored Brigade from Kentucky.[6] It continues in service today.

In 1984-85, the 69th Infantry Brigade was reported to comprise the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the 137th Infantry Regiment, the 1st Battalion, 635th Armored Regiment, 1st Battalion, 127th Field Artillery Regiment, E Troop, 114th Cavalry, and the 169th Engineer Company.[7]

Bosnia

The 35th Infantry Division Headquarters Commanded Task Force Eagle of Multi-National Division North in Bosnia and Herzegovina as part of SFOR-13 (Stabilization Force) 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 R. Mason was the commander. He later went on to command the 35th Infantry Division. The Division received the Army Superior Unit Award for its service in Bosnia. The 35th Division was notable for its smooth coordination of Inter-Brigade Operations.[citation needed] Division Liaison Officers served in the towns of Mostar, Sarajevo, Banja Luka, Zenica and Doboj.

Hurricane Katrina

The 35th provided headquarters control for the National Guard units deployed to Louisiana in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.[8] while the 38th Division did the same for Mississippi.

Kosovo

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 the command elements from 7 November 2007 until 7 July 2008, when they were succeeded by the 110th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade of the Missouri Army National Guard.

Current Structure

35th US Infantry Division

Structure 35th Infantry Division

35th Infantry Division SSI 35th Infantry Division exercises Training and Readiness Oversight of the following elements, they cannot be considered organic:[9]

Attached units

In popular culture

In the 1970 World War II-era film Kelly's Heroes (starring Clint Eastwood), the American soldiers portrayed in the film are primarily from the 35th Infantry Division.

References

PD-icon This article incorporates public domain material from the United States Army Center of Military History document ""35th Infantry Division WWII Combat Chronicle" from The Army Almanac: A Book of Facts Concerning the Army of the United StatesU.S. Government Printing Office, 1950".

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Special Designation Listing". United States Army Center of Military History. 21 April 2010. Archived from the original on 9 June 2010. http://web.archive.org/web/20100609010028/http://www.history.army.mil/html/forcestruc/spdes-123-arng.html. Retrieved 14 July 2010. 
  2. ↑ http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/agency/army/35id.htm
  3. ↑ http://www.il.ngb.army.mil/ARMY/UNITWEB/B1_178INF/History35ID.htm
  4. ↑ Ferrel R. H., Collapse at Meuse-Argonne: The Failure of the Missouri-Kansas Division, University of Missouri Press, 2004
  5. ↑ History of the Santa Fe Division, accessed December 2012.
  6. ↑ David Isby and Charles Kamps Jr., Armies of NATO's Central Front, Jane's Publishing Company, 1985, p.383
  7. ↑ Isby and Kamps, 1985, 383.
  8. ↑ Maj. Les A. Melnyk, News analysis: Guard transformation taking shape, Army News Service, 13 January 2006
  9. ↑ AUSA, Torchbearer Special Report, 7 November 2005; http://www.ausa.org/SiteCollectionDocuments/ILW%20Web-ExclusivePubs/Torchbearer/TBearComp1v12.pdf
  10. ↑ http://www.tioh.hqda.pentagon.mil/Heraldry/ArmyDUISSICOA/ArmyHeraldryUnit.aspx?u=4416
  11. ↑ http://www.tioh.hqda.pentagon.mil/Heraldry/ArmyDUISSICOA/ArmyHeraldryUnit.aspx?u=4419
  12. ↑ http://www.tioh.hqda.pentagon.mil/Heraldry/ArmyDUISSICOA/ArmyHeraldryUnit.aspx?u=4422

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