75^th Infantry Division

The 75th Infantry Division arrived in France in December 1944 and was rushed immediately to the Ardennes as the German counteroffensive struck. Entering defensive positions along the Ourthe River on December 23, its regiments fought in severe winter conditions around Sadzot before pulling back to the Aisne. On January 8 it relieved the 82nd Airborne Division along the Salm River and attacked across it on January 15 at Salmchâteau and Bach, clearing the Grand Bois by January 22 and taking Aldringen on January 24 to conclude the Ardennes offensive.

Campaign map image

World War II Campaign Map of the 75th Infantry Division. Map courtesy of HistoryShots.

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Shifting to Alsace in late January, the division crossed the Colmar Canal on February 1 with two regiments attacking at Andolsheim, fought through the Forêt Domaniale de Kolbsheim, and reached the Rhine-Rhône Canal south of Neuf-Brisach on February 8. After rehabilitation at Lunéville, it returned to action along the Maas in Holland, the 291st Infantry Regiment fighting the Battle of Ossenberg on March 7-9 before the division crossed the Rhine on March 24-30.

Attacking through the Ruhr, the division breached the Dortmund-Ems Canal at Waltrop on April 4 and took two bridges intact over the Ruhr at Witten on April 11, its regiments accepting the surrender of Herdecke on April 14 before ending the campaign under military government duties in Westphalia. Its combat record carried it from emergency commitment in the Ardennes to the heart of Germany's industrial region.