8-ID Order of Battle (44/45)
Hqs & Hqs Company
13th Infantry Regiment
28th Infantry Regiment
121st Infantry Regiment
8th Recon Troop (Mecz)
12th Engineer Combat Battalion
8th Medical Battalion
Hq Battery, 8th Infantry Division Artillery
43rd Field Artillery Battalion (105-MM HOW)
45th Field Artillery Battalion (105-MM HOW)
56th Field Artillery Battalion (105-MM HOW)
28th Field Artillery Battalion (155-MM HOW)
Special Troops
708th Ordnance Light Maintenance Company
8th Quartermaster Company
8th Signal Company
Military Police Platoon
Band
8-ID Detachments
Antiaircraft Artillery
445th AAA-AW Bn (Mbl), Jul 11, 1944 – May 12, 1945
Armored
709th Tank Bn, Jul 13, 1944 – Jan 26, 1945.
CCR (5-AD), Nov 20, 1944 – Dec 15, 1944.
Able Co 745th TB, Feb 6, 1945 – Feb 7, 1945.
740th Tank Bn, Feb 6, 1945 – Mar 13, 1945.
740th Tank Bn, Apr 6, 1945 – May 12, 1945.
CCR (13-AD), Apr 14, 1945 – Apr 17, 1945.
Cavalry
89th Cav Recon Sq (-Trs C&D) (9-AD), Oct 23, 1944 – Nov 10, 1944.
13th Cav Group, Dec 25, 1944 – Feb 5, 1945
Chemical
86th Cml Mort Bn, Jul 7, 1944 – Sept 20, 1944.
86th Cml Mort Bn, Nov 19, 1944 – Dec 24, 1944.
Charlie Co 87th Cml Bn, Feb 9, 1945 – Mar 10, 1945.
Dog Co 87th Cml Bn, Feb 9, 1945 – Mar 10, 1945.
Charlie Co 95th Cml Mort Bn, Apr 4, 1945 – Apr 18, 1945.
Dog Co 95th Cml Mort Bn, Apr 4, 1945 – Apr 18, 1945.
Baker Co 89th Cml Mort Bn, Apr 29, 1945 – May 12, 1945.
Charlie Co 89th Cml Mort Bn, Apr 29, 1945 – May 12, 1945.
Field Artillery
174th FA Group, Aug 16, 1944 – Sept 20, 1944.
196th FA Group, Aug 20, 1944 – Sept 20, 1944.
402d FA Group, Sept 13, 1944 – Sept 20, 1944.
969th FA Group – October 2 1944 – November 10 1944.
687th FA Group, Oct 2, 1944 – Nov 10, 1944.
76th FA Bn (105-MM HOW), Nov 19, 1944 – Dec 21, 1944.
18th FA Bn (105-MM HOW), Nov 20, 1944 – Dec 6, 1944.
188th FA Bn (155-MM HOW), Nov 26, 1944 – Dec 11, 1945.
987th FA Bn (155-MM GUN), Nov 26, 1944 – Dec 11, 1944.
7th FA Bn (1-ID)(105-MM HOW), Feb 6, 1945 – Feb 7, 1945.
188th FA Bn (155-MM HOW), Feb 8, 1945 – Feb 28, 1945.
210th FA Group, May 2, 1945 – May 12, 1945.
548th FA Group, May 2, 1945 – May 12, 1945.
965th FA Group, May 2, 1945 – May 12, 1945.
Infantry
2nd Ranger Bn, Dec 17, 1944 – Dec 20, 1944.
52nd AIB (9-AD), Oct 23, 1944 – Oct 30, 1944.
60th AIB (9-AD), Nov 2, 1944 – Nov 9, 1944.
112th RCT (28-ID), Feb 4,,1945 – Feb 11, 1945.
2nd Ranger Bn, Nov 19, 1944 – Dec 16, 1944.
311th IR (78-ID), Dec 9, 1944 – Dec 23, 1944.
16th RCT (1-ID), Feb 6, 1945 – Feb 7, 1945.
Able Co 1st ECB (1-ID), Feb 6, 1945 – Feb 7, 1945.
1/343-IR (86-ID), Apr 6, 1945 – Apr 7, 1945.
Tank Destroyer
644-TDB (SP), Jul 15, 1944 – Apr 28, 1945.
893-TDB (SP), Nov 19, 1944 – Dec 10, 1944.
817-TDB (T), Dec 9, 1944 – Feb 8, 1945.
Charlie Co 634-TDB (SP), Feb 6, 1945 – Feb 7, 1945.
Engineer
Charlie Co 12-ECB to 82-A/B, May 1, 1945 – May 1, 1945.
4-ID Attachments
Field Artillery
28-FAB to 4-AD, Jul 27, 1944 – Aug 3, 1944.
56-FAB to 83-ID, Aug 6, 1944 – Aug 15, 1944.
45-FAB to 6-AD, Aug 18, 1944 – Aug 21, 1944.
28-FAB to 6-AD, Aug 18, 1944 – Aug 21, 1944.
43-FAB to 82-A/B, Apr 29, 1945 – May 1, 1945.
56-FAB to 82-A/B, Apr 30, 1945 – May 1, 1945.
Infantry
13-IR to 4-AD, Jul 27, 1944 – Aug 3, 1944.
121-RCT to 83-ID, Aug 6, 1944 – Aug 15, 1944.
1/28-IR to 6-AD, Aug 8, 1944 – Aug 18, 1944.
28-IR to 6-AD, Aug 18, 1944 – Aug 21, 1944.
3/121-IR to Com Z, Sept 26, 1944 – Nov 19, 1944.
3/121-IR to 5-AD, Dec 17, 1944 – Dec 21, 1944.
13-IR to 3-AD, Feb 26, 1945 – Mar 17, 1945.
3/13-IR to 3-AD, Mar 17, 1945 – Mar 19, 1945.
13-IR to 82-A/B, Apr 28, 1945 – Apr 30, 1945.
121-IR to 82-A/B, Apr 29, 1945 – Apr 30, 1945.
Command Posts
1943
Dec 15, 1943, Belfast, N Ireland
1944
Mar 1, 1944, Knockmore, N Ireland
Mar 15, 1944, Omagh, N Ireland
Jun 30, 1944, (Afloat)
Jul 4, 1944, Utah Beach (landed), France
Jul 9, 1944, La Fosseraie, France
Jul 25, 1944, La-Haye-du-Puits, France
Jul 27, 1944, St-Patrice-de-Claids, France
Jul 28, 1944, La-Haye-du-Puits (vic SE), France
Aug 5, 1944, Betton (vic E), France
Aug 18, 1944, Lesneven, France
Aug 30, 1944, Plouvien, France
Sept 14, 1944, La Fontaine Blanche, France
Sept 20, 1944, La Bosere, France
Sept 22, 1944, Lanviguer, France
Sept 30, 1944, Grosbous, Luxembourg
Oct 3, 1944, Wiltz, Luxembourg
Nov 19, 1944, Rott, Germany
Dec 17, 1944, Germeter, Germany
Dec 27, 1944, Zweifall, Germany
1945
Jan 16, 1945, Groshau, Germany
Feb 10, 1945, Merode, Germany
Feb 25, 1945, Düren, Germany
Mar 2, 1945, Bergerhausen, Germany
Mar 28, 1945, Hachenburg, Germany
Mar 31, 1945, Haiger, Germany
Mar 7, 1945, Siegen, Germany
Apr 9, 1945, Buschhutten, Germany
Apr 11, 1945, Olpe, Germany
Apr 12, 1945, Kierspe, Germany
Apr 13, 1945, Meinerzhagen, Germany
Apr 14, 1945, Filde, Germany
Apr 15, 1945, Milspe, Germany
Apr 23, 1945, Elberfeld, Germany
Apr 27, 1945, Gerdau, Germany
May 2, 1945, Hagenow, Germany
May 3, 1945, Schwerin, Germany
Narrative
During WW-2, the 8-ID was sent to Europe to fight against the Axis. After training in Ireland, the Division landed on Utah Beach (Normandy), on July 4, 1944, and entered combat 3 days later, on July 7. Shortly after its arrival, the division captured Rennes. Fighting through the hedgerows, it crossed the Ay River on July 26, pushed through Rennes on August 8, and attacked Brest in September. When Gen Charles Canham, who was at the time the deputy commander of the 8-ID, arrived to accept the surrender of German troops in Brest, the commander of the Brest garrison, Gen Hermann-Bernhard Ramcke asked the lower-ranking man to show his credentials. Canham pointed to his nearby troops and said these are my credentials. That phrase has since become the 8th Infantry Division’s motto.
The Crozon Peninsula was cleared on September 19, and the division drove across France to Luxembourg, moved to the Hürtgen Forest on November 20, cleared Hürtgen on November 28, and Brandenberg on December 3. The 8-ID pushed then on to the Roer, a river that was crossed on February 23, 1945. Düren was taken on the 25 and the Erft Canal crossed on the 28. The 8th reached the Rhine near Rodenkirchen on March 7 and maintained positions along the river near Koln. In early March 1945, the 8-ID had advanced into the Rhineland.
On April 6, the division attacked northwest to aid in the destruction of enemy forces in the Ruhr Pocket, and by April 17, had completed its mission. After security duty, the division, under the operational control of the British 2-A, drove across the Elbe on May 1 and advanced into Schwerin when the war in Europe ended. On May 2, 1945, as it advanced into northern Germany, the 8-ID encountered the Neuengamme Concentration Camp Wöbbelin subcamp, near the city of Ludwigslust. The SS had established Wöbbelin in early February 1945 to house concentration camp prisoners who had been evacuated from other Nazi camps to prevent their liberation by the Allies. Wöbbelin held some 5000 inmates, many of whom suffered from starvation and disease. The sanitary conditions at the camp when the 8-ID and the 82-A/B liberated the place were deplorable. There was little food or water, and some prisoners had resorted to cannibalism. In the first week after the liberation, more than 200 inmates died. In the aftermath, the US Army ordered the townspeople in Ludwigslust to visit the camp and bury the dead. The 8th Infantry Division was recognized as a liberating unit by the US Army’s Center of Military History and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1988.
