30th Infantry Division (United States)

Infobox Military Unit
unit_name= 30th Infantry Division


caption=30th Infantry Division shoulder sleeve insignia
dates= 1917-1918
1940-1945
country= United States
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branch= U.S. Army
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nickname=Old Hickory
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battles=World War I
World War II
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identification_symbol_2_label=US Infantry
previous=29th Infantry Division
next=31st Infantry Division

The 30th Infantry Division was a unit of the United States Army in World War I and World War II. It was nicknamed the "Old Hickory" division, in honor of Andrew Jackson, due to it being composed of National Guard units from his old stomping grounds.

World War I

The division was originally activated as the 9th Division (drawing units from NC, SC, and TN) under a 1917 force plan, but changed designation after the outbreak of World War I. [ [http://www.history.army.mil/books/Lineage/M-F/chapter2.htm Chapter II: Genesis of Permanent Divisions ] ] It was formally activated under its new title in October 1917, as a National Guard Division from North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Tennessee)
*Organization :*117th, 118th, 119th, 120th Infantry Regiments:*113th, 114th, 115th Artillery Battalions:*113th, 114th, 115th Machine Gun Companies:*105th Engineers Battalion
*Major operations: Ypres-Lys, Somme offensive
*Casualties: Total-8,415. (KIA-1,237; WIA-7,178)
*Commanders: Maj. Gen. J. F. Morrison (28 August 1917), Brig. Gen. William S. Scott (19 September 1917), Maj. Gen. C. P. Townsley (14 October 1917), Brig. Gen. Samson L. Faison (1 December 1917), Maj. Gen. C. P. Townsley (6 December 1917), Brig. Gen. Samson L. Faison (17 December 1917), Brig. Gen. L. D. Tyson (22 December 1917), Brig. Gen. G. G. Gatley (28 December 1917), Brig. Gen. Samson L. Faison (1 January 1918), Brig. Gen. L. D. Tyson (30 March 1918), Brig. Gen. Samson L. Faison (7 April 1918), Maj. Gen. G. W. Read (3 May 1918), Brig. Gen. R. H. Noble (12 June 1918), Maj. Gen. G. W. Read (14 June 1918), Maj. Gen. Samson L. Faison (15 June 1918), Maj. Gen. F. H. Lewis (18 July 1918), Brig. Gen. Samson L. Faison (23 December 1918).

World War II

*Activated: 16 September 1940
*Assigned to Camp Atterbury, Indiana 11-10-1943 to 01-26-1944 [http://www.IndianaMilitary.org]
*Overseas: 11 February 1944
*Campaigns: Normandy, Northern France, Rhineland, Ardennes-Alsace, Central Europe
*Days of combat: 282
*Distinguished Unit Citations: 8
*Awards: MH-6 ; DSC-50 ; DSM-1 ; SS-1,773 ; LM-12; DFC-3 ; SM-30 ; BSM-6,616 ; AM-154.
*Commanders: Maj. Gen. Henry D. Russell (16 September 1940-April 1942), Maj. Gen. William H. Simpson (May-July 1942), Maj. Gen. Leland S. Hobbs (9 September 1942-September 1945), Maj. Gen. Albert C. Cowper (September 1945 to inactivation.)
*Returned to U.S.: 19 August 1945
*Inactivated: 25 November 1945. (See National Guard.)

Organization

* 117th, 118th (detached Aug. 1942), 119th and 120th Infantry Regiments
* 113th, 119th, 197th and 230th Field Artillery Battalions
* 105th Engineer Combat Battalion
* 30th Cavalry Reconnaissance Troop [Mechanized]
* 30th Infantry Division Band
* 531st Anti-Aircraft Artillery / Automatic Weapons (AAA/AW) Battalion
* (see all attached units: [$http://www.30thinfantry.org/command.shtml$] )

Combat Chronicle

The 30th Infantry Division arrived in England, February 22, 1944, and trained until June. It landed at Omaha Beach, Normandy, June 11, 1944, secured the Vire-et-Taute Canal, crossed the Vire River, 7 July, and, beginning on July 25 spearheaded the St. Lo break-through. The day after the division relieved the 1st Infantry Division near Mortain on August 6, the German drive to Avranches began. Fighting in place with all available personnel, the 30th frustrated enemy plans and broke the enemy spearhead (Operation Luttich) in a week of violent struggle, August 7-12th. The division drove east through Belgium, crossing the Meuse River at Vise and Liège, 10 September. Elements entered the Netherlands on the 12th, and Maastricht fell the next day. Taking up positions along the Wurm River, the 30th launched its attack on the Siegfried Line, October 2, 1944, and succeeded in contacting the 1st Division, October 16th, and encircling Aachen.

After a rest period, the division eliminated an enemy salient northeast of Aachen, November 16, pushed to the Inde River at Altdorf, November 28, then moved to rest areas. On December 17 the division rushed south to the Malmedy-Stavelot area to help block the powerful enemy drive in the Battle of the Ardennes. It launched a counteroffensive on January 13, 1945 and reached a point 2 miles south of St. Vith, January 26, before leaving the Battle of the Bulge and moving to an assembly area near Lierneux, January 27, and to another near Aachen to prepare for the Roer offensive. The Roer River was crossed, February 23, 1945, near Julich.

The 30th moved back for training and rehabilitation, March 3, and on March 24 made its assault crossing of the Rhine. It pursued the enemy across Germany, mopping up enemy pockets of resistance, took Hamelin, April 7, Braunschweig on the 12th, and helped reduce Magdeburg on the 17th. The Russians were contacted at Grunewald on the Elbe River. After a short occupation period, the 30th began moving for home, arriving August 19, 1945.

Assignments in the ETO

*18 February 1944: XIX Corps, First Army.
*15 July 1944: VII Corps
*28 July 1944: XIX Corps
*1 August 1944: XIX Corps, First Army, 12th Army Group
*4 August 1944: V Corps
*5 August 1944: VII Corps
*13 August 1944: XIX Corps
*26 August 1944: XV Corps, Third Army, 12th Army Group, but attached to First Army
*29 August 1944: XIX Corps, First Army, 12th Army Group
*22 October 1944: Ninth Army, 12th Army Group
*17 December 1944: Ninth Army, 12th Army Group, but attached to V Corps, First Army, 12th Army Group
*21 December 1944: XVIII (Abn) Corps, and attached, with the First Army, to the British 21st Army Group
*18 January 1945: XVIII (Abn) Corps, First Army, 12th Army Group
*3 February 1945: XIX Corps, Ninth Army, 12th Army Group
*6 March 1945: XVI Corps
*30 March 1945: XIX Corps
*8 May 1945: XIII Corps

General

*Nickname: The Old Hickory Division. Was called Roosevelt's SS by some German Army units that encountered the 30ID on the battlefield.
*Shoulder patch: Oval "OH" monogram containing the numeral XXX in the center all in blue on a maroon field.
*CPT. Edward McArdle of the 230th Field Artillery Battalion, 30th DIVARTY, was a recipient of the Silver Star. He was later co-owner of the Washington, D.C.-area McArdle Printing Company.

References

* [http://www.IndianaMilitary.org 30th Infantry Division at Camp Atterbury, Indiana, includes re-constructed Roster]
*"The Army Almanac: A Book of Facts Concerning the Army of the United States" U.S. Government Printing Office, 1950 reproduced at [http://www.army.mil/cmh-pg/lineage/cc/cc.htm CMH] .