100th Infantry Division - Century

Activated 15 Nov 1942  •  Entered Combat 9 Nov 1944  •  Days of Combat 163  •  Casualties 5,038

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Commanding Generals

Maj. Gen. Withers A. Burress   (Nov 42 - Sep 45) 

 

Campaigns

Rhineland (15 Sep 44 - 21 Mar 45)
Ardennes-Alsace (16 Dec 44 - 25 Jan 45)
Central Europe (22 Mar 45 - 11 May 45)

 

This campaign map shows the journey of the 100th Infantry Division throughout World War II. The map is available for purchase at HistoryShots.com.

 
 
 
 

Division Chronicle

The 100th Infantry Division landed at Marseilles, France, 20 October 1944, and sent its first elements into combat at St. Remy in the Vosges Mountains, 1 November 1944. The Division as a whole began the relief of the 45th at Baccarat, 5 November, assuming control of the sector, 9 November. The attack jumped off, 12 November, the Division driving against the German winter line in the Vosges Mountains. The Division took Bertrichamps and Clairupt, pierced the German line, and seized Raon l'Etape and St. Blaise, 16-26 November. Later in November, elements assisted in holding the Saverne Gap bridgehead while the bulk of the Division went into reserve.

In December, the Division went on the offensive in the vicinity of Bitche. Wingen and Lemberg were occupied m fierce fighting, 6-10 December and Reyersweiler fell, 1113 December. Fort Schiesseck capitulated after a heavy assault, 20 December. With the outbreak of the Von Rundstedt offensive, the Division was ordered to halt the attack and to hold defensive positions, south of Bitche, as part of the Seventh Army mission during the Bulge battle. German counterattacks of 1 and 8-10 January 1945 were repulsed; thereafter the sector was generally quiet and the Division prepared for a resumption of the offensive. On 15 March 1945, the attack jumped off and on 16 March, Bitche fell to the 100th. Taking Neustadt and Ludwigshafen, the Division reached the Rhine, 24 March.

Crossing the Rhine, 31 March, it moved south in the wake of the 10th Armored Division and then east across the Neckar River, establishing and enlarging a bridgehead, 4-11 April. Heilbronn fell in house-to-house fighting, 12 April, and the Division resumed its rapid pursuit of the enemy, reaching Stuttgart by 21 April. The 100th was mopping up along the Neckar, southeast of Stuttgart, 23 April, when it was pinched out of VI Corps, and confined its action to patrolling the sector east of Stuttgart. Shifting to Goppingen, 30 April, the Division engaged in occupational duties as the war in Europe ended.