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65th Infantry Division (United States)

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65th Infantry Division
65th Infantry Division shoulder sleeve insignia
Active16 August 1943–31 August 1945
Country United States
Branch United States Army
TypeInfantry
SizeDivision
Nickname(s)"Battle-Axe"
EngagementsWorld War II

The 65th Infantry Division—nicknamed the "Battle-Axe Division"—was an infantry division of the United States Army that served in World War II. Its shoulder patch is a white halberd on a blue shield.

The entire length of Pennsylvania Route 65 is named the 65th Infantry Division Memorial Highway in its honor.

The home arena for the United States Military Academy at West Point's men's and women's basketball teams is named Christl Arena in honor of First Lieutenant Edward C. Christl, who served with the division during World War II and was killed in action in Austria on May 4, 1945.[1]

World War II

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  • Activated: 16 August 1943 at Camp Shelby, Mississippi
  • Overseas: 10 January 1945.
  • Campaigns: Rhineland, Central Europe.
  • Days of combat: 55.
  • Awards:
    • Medal of Honor - 1 Private First Class (Frederick C. Murphy), Medical Detachment, 259th Infantry, Siegfried Line at Saarlautern, Germany, 18 March 1945.
    • Distinguished Service Cross - 6
    • Distinguished Service Medal - 1
    • Silver Star Medal - 77
    • Legion of Merit - 14
    • Soldier's Medal - 4
    • Bronze Star Medal - 686
    • Air Medal - 19
  • Commanders: Major General Stanley Eric Reinhart (August 1943 – 1 August 1945) and Brig. Gen. John E. Copeland (1 August 1945 to disbandment).
  • Disbanded: 31 August 1945 in Germany.

Initial training

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The 65th Infantry Division was activated on 16 August 1943 at Camp Shelby, Mississippi, under the command of Major General Stanley E. Reinhart. As mobilization requirements were outpacing the induction rate, the complete quota of enlisted fillers for the division was not received until the end of the year, delaying the start of basic training until early January 1944. Unit training began on schedule in the spring, but in late May, the division received orders to begin processing infantry privates for shipment as overseas replacements. By July, the 65th Infantry Division had lost about 7,000 men, with officer losses from April to July exceeding one-third, or about 250, particularly lieutenants and captains. When the Army Specialized Training Program was heavily reduced in March 1944, the division was overstrength, so it did not receive any of these high-quality personnel. Replacements for outgoing enlisted men first arrived in May, in the form of 1,100 reassigned Air Corps cadets. In June and July, this was followed by a steady trickle of about 3,000 men from miscellaneous sources such as returns from overseas (about 700), from disbanded antiaircraft and tank destroyer units, and volunteers for the infantry from other branches of the Army. In July, the division sent about 1,000 men aged nineteen or over to overseas replacement depots, from which it received a roughly equal number of eighteen year old graduates of replacement training centers.

In late July. major withdrawals ended and a program of modified unit retraining was begun, but a steady trickle of men continued to leave; losses in August aggregated 1,173. In late September, the division was alerted for overseas movement to occur in mid-January 1945, a "bombshell," as no movement had been anticipated before mid-1945. Roughly 1,000 men unqualified for overseas service were dropped, and the division received 2,000 new men in the three months subsequent to being alerted. In mid-October, another startling call came, as movement dates had been pushed up to 13 November for the infantry regiments, with equipment to be packed by 28 October. This disrupted the beginning of modified combined training, but the personnel readiness date was shortly pushed back to 24 December and the equipment date to 10 December. After an abbreviated program of combined training using a large amount of equipment borrowed from other units, the last elements of the division departed Camp Shelby on New Year's Eve 1944.

Combat chronicle

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The 65th Infantry Division landed at Le Havre, France, 21 January 1945, and proceeded to Camp Lucky Strike, where training continued until 1 March, when the division moved forward to relieve the 26th Infantry Division. First elements entered the line, 5 March 1945, and the division as a whole took over aggressive defense of the sector along the Saar, from Orscholz to Wadgassen, on 8 March 1945. On 17 March, the division attacked across the Saar, crossing the river at Dillingen and captured Saarlautern, 19 March, as Siegfried Line defenses cracked. Capturing Neunkirchen, 21 March 1945, the division raced to the Rhine, crossed the river at Oppenheim, 30 March, and ran into heavy German resistance and counterattacks. Langensalza fell on 5 April, Struth on the 7th, and Neumarkt on the 22nd.

Continuing its advance against crumbling German opposition, the division crossed the Danube 4 miles below Regensburg, 26 April, took the city, 27 April, seized Passau, cross the Inn River, 4 May, and occupied Linz, Austria, on the 5th. Germans surrendered en masse. On 9 May, as hostilities officially ended in Europe, the troops of the 65th made contact with the Russians at Erlauf.[2]

Order of Battle

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  • Headquarters, 65th Infantry Division
  • 259th Infantry Regiment
  • 260th Infantry Regiment
  • 261st Infantry Regiment
  • Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 65th Infantry Division Artillery
    • 720th Field Artillery Battalion (155 mm)
    • 867th Field Artillery Battalion (105 mm)
    • 868th Field Artillery Battalion (105 mm)
    • 869th Field Artillery Battalion (105 mm)
  • 265th Engineer Combat Battalion
  • 365th Medical Battalion
  • 65th Cavalry Reconnaissance Troop (Mechanized)
  • Headquarters, Special Troops, 65th Infantry Division
    • Headquarters Company, 65th Infantry Division
    • 765th Ordnance Light Maintenance Company
    • 65th Quartermaster Company
    • 565th Signal Company
    • Military Police Platoon
    • Band
  • 65th Counterintelligence Corps Detachment

Attached Units

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  • 707th Tank Battalion (attached 6 Apr 45 only)
  • 748th Tank Battalion (attached 7 Apr 45-past 9 May 45)
  • 749th Tank Battalion (attached 29 Mar 45-6 Apr 45)
  • 691st Tank Destroyer Battalion (attached 4 Mar 45-6 Apr 45)
  • 808th Tank Destroyer Battalion (attached 5 Apr 45-past 9 May 45)
  • 546th AAA Automatic Weapons Battalion (attached 4 Mar 45-past 9 May 45)

Source: Order of Battle: U.S. Army World War II by Shelby Stanton.

Casualties

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  • Total battle casualties: 1,230[3]
  • Killed in action: 233[3]
  • Wounded in action: 927[3]
  • Missing in action: 3[3]
  • Prisoner of war: 67[3]

Assignments in ETO

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References

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  1. ^ Noles, Jim (2018). Undefeated: From Basketball to Battle -- West Point's Perfect 1944 Season. Philadelphia: Casemate Publishers.
  2. ^ The Army Almanac: A Book of Facts Concerning the Army of the United States. Combat chronicle: 65th Infantry Division Archived 23 July 2004 at the Wayback Machine. U.S. Government Printing Office. 1950.
  3. ^ a b c d e Army Battle Casualties and Nonbattle Deaths, Final Report (Statistical and Accounting Branch, Office of the Adjutant General, 1 June 1953)
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