100^th Infantry Division

The 100th Infantry Division arrived at Marseille in October 1944 and entered combat in the Vosges near Saint-Rémy on November 1. The 397th and 399th Infantry Regiments crossed the Meurthe River at Baccarat, outflanking Raon-l'Étape, which fell on November 18 after the 397th Infantry seized the Quarry Strongpoint. The division cleared Moyenmoutier and advanced over the Vosges before shifting to the Saarburg sector in late November, where it held a bridgehead while rehabilitating.

Campaign map image

World War II Campaign Map of the 100th Infantry Division. Map courtesy of HistoryShots.

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Moving into the Bitche sector in December, the division fought the Battle for Fort Schiesseck from December 14-20 — a Maginot fortification guarding the approaches to the town — before being ordered to defensive positions due to the Ardennes counteroffensive. Operation NORDWIND's opening strike on January 1, 1945 pushed the division back from forward positions, but it held and stabilized by mid-January.

The offensive resumed on March 15; Bitche fell the next day and the division reached the Rhine on March 24. Crossing on March 31 near Neckargemünd, it relieved the 63rd Infantry Division and attacked southeast. The 398th Infantry Regiment established a bridgehead across the Neckar at Neckargartach in heavy fighting, and the division then fought the Battle for Heilbronn from April 4-12 in protracted house-to-house and street fighting before the city fell. Sweeping past Stuttgart and into Bavaria, its regiments reached the Murr River in the third week of April, the advance tapering into occupation duties as German resistance in the south collapsed.