36^th Infantry Division

The 36th Infantry Division entered combat at Salerno on September 9, 1943, the 141st Infantry Regiment and 142nd Infantry Regiment leading the landing in the Paestum area under heavy fire and helping hold the beachhead against strong German counterattacks. The 142nd Infantry took Altavilla on September 11 but was forced out the next day; after the division secured the Salerno Plain it returned to combat in November, the 143rd Infantry Regiment taking part of Mount Sammucro on December 7 while the 142nd Infantry renewed its assault up key Mount Lungo on December 15 as the 143rd attacked San Pietro.

Campaign map image

World War II Campaign Map of the 36th Infantry Division. Map courtesy of HistoryShots.

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In January 1944, the 141st Infantry Regiment and 143rd Infantry attacked across the Rapido River near Cassino on January 20, one of the most costly single operations of the Italian campaign; the bridgehead was defeated by January 22, and further attempts in February also failed before the division was withdrawn for rehabilitation. After rejoining the Anzio operations, the 141st Infantry took Velletri after heavy fighting on June 1, 1944, and the division entered Rome on June 4 before advancing up Highway 1 to take Magliano and Piombino.

In August 1944, the division landed in southern France and the 141st Infantry initiated the fierce Battle of Montélimar on August 23; a German counterattack on August 25 temporarily separated the 141st and 142nd Infantry along the Roubion before the gap was restored on August 27. Advancing into the Vosges, the division fought the Battle for Bruyères October 15–18 in difficult terrain; a battalion of the 141st Infantry became isolated in the Forêt Domaniale de Champ on October 23 and was rescued by the attached 442nd Infantry Regiment after heavy combat on October 30.

The division continued through Alsace and into southern Germany in 1945, the 141st and 142nd Infantry crossing the Lech River on April 29, 1945, and the 141st Infantry taking Bad Tölz on May 1 before the division entered Austria as German resistance ended. Its campaign extended from the Mediterranean landings through France and into the final operations in central Europe.