44^th Infantry Division

The 44th Infantry Division landed at Cherbourg on September 15, 1944, and entered combat on October 18 when it relieved the 79th Infantry Division at Forêt de Parroy near Lunéville. The 71st Infantry Regiment went into line on October 23 followed by the 324th Infantry Regiment the next day, and the division repulsed a heavy German counterattack on October 25–26. On November 13 the 71st and 324th Infantry attacked to force a passage through the Vosges Mountains, taking Avricourt on November 17 and Sarrebourg on November 21. A German counterattack on November 25 was checked at Schalbach, and in December the division fought the Battle for Fort Simserhof near Hottviller December 13–19 before displacing east of Sarreguemines.

Campaign map image

World War II Campaign Map of the 44th Infantry Division. Map courtesy of HistoryShots.

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The German NORDWIND Counteroffensive struck on January 1, 1945, driving the division back toward Rimling; the 324th Infantry eliminated the resulting salient in attacks beginning February 15. The division crossed the Rhine at Worms on March 26–27, turned south along the river, and took Heidelberg — evacuated by the Germans — on March 29 before continuing east.

The 324th Infantry crossed the Danube at Ehingen on April 23, cleared New Ulm on April 25, and the 71st Infantry Regiment crossed the Iller at Dietenheim and cleared Voehringen. The division cleared Füssen and Wertach on April 28 as the 114th Infantry Regiment entered Austria near Steinbach. Pushing through the Fern Pass into the Inn Valley, the 324th Infantry seized Imst on May 4 and Landeck on May 5 as the German Nineteenth Army surrendered at Innsbruck.

Though its combat service began late in the war, the Four Fours fought from the Vosges Mountains through the final penetration of Germany into the Austrian Alps.