75th Infantry Division

Activated 15 Apr 1943  •  Entered Combat 24 Dec 1944  •  Days of Combat 94  •  Casualties 4,324

DIVISION CHRONICLE

The 75th Infantry Division arrived in England, 22 November 1944; headquarters having arrived on 2 November. After a brief training program, the Division landed at Le Havre and Rouen, 13 December, and bivouacked at Yvetot on the 14th. When the Von Rundstedt offensive broke in the Ardennes, the 75th was rushed to the front and entered defensive combat, 23 December, alongside the Ourthe River, advanced to the Aisne and entered Grandmenil, 5 January 1945. The Division relieved the 82d A/B Division along the Salm River, 8 January, and strengthened its defensive positions until 17 January when it attacked, taking Vielsalm and other towns in the area. Shifting to the Seventh Army area in AlsaceLorraine, the 75th crossed the Colmar Canal, 1 February, and took part in the liberation of Colmar and in the determined fighting between the Rhine River and the Vosges Mountains. It crossed the Rhine Canal and reached the Rhine, 7 February. After a brief rest at Luneville, it returned to combat, relieving the 6th British Airborne Division on a 24-mile defensive front along the Maas River, near Roermond, Holland, 21 February. From 13 to 23 March, the 75th patrolled a sector along the west bank of the Rhine from Wesel to Homburg and probed enemy defenses at night. On 24 March, elements crossed the Rhine in the wake of the 30th and 79th Divisions. Pursuance of the enemy continued as the 75th cleared the Haard Forest, 1 April, crossed the DortmundEms Canal on the 4th, and cleared the approaches to Dortmund, which fell to the 95th Division, 13 April. After taking Herdecke, 13 April, the Division moved to Brambauer for rest and rehabilitation, then took over security and military government duties in Westphalia.