Back to Normandy - Recently Added Listings - 90 Infantry Division (USA) https://backtonormandy.org/ Thu, 28 Mar 2024 21:56:11 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.3 90 Infantry Division (USA) landed on D-day in Normandy France https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/divisions-infantry/90-infantry-division-usa/212924-d-day418.html This unit - 90 Infantry Division (USA) - participated with the Normandy Landings on June 6th 1944. According to the postion on the map you can see where the unit probably has landed on one of the five landing beaches or inland as a paratrooper or in a glider.

If you have more information about the 90 Infantry Division (USA), please contact Back to Normandy]]>
fredvogels Thu, 19 May 2016 00:00:00 +0100 https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/divisions-infantry/90-infantry-division-usa/212924-d-day418.html
90 Inf. Div., 4 Inf. Div., 82 Airb. Div. in Écausseville https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/divisions-infantry/90-infantry-division-usa/126487-90-inf-div-4-inf-div-82-airb-div-in-ecausseville.html

Units: 90th Infantry Division / 4th Infantry Division / 82nd Airborne Division

Date: 9 June 1944 / 11 June 1944

Locations: Sainte-Honorine-des-Pertes / Écausseville (?) / Amfreville / Manche/ Calvados

Characters: (unknown)

Themes: tank / artillery / prisoner / corpse / the proud / Cauquigny

Duration: 10:17 min

Cameraman: Shelton / Nelson

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fredvogels Mon, 02 Nov 2015 16:37:37 +0100 https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/divisions-infantry/90-infantry-division-usa/126487-90-inf-div-4-inf-div-82-airb-div-in-ecausseville.html
90 Infantry Division (USA) enters Chambois. https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/divisions-infantry/90-infantry-division-usa/126181-90-infantry-division-usa-enters-chambois.html

90 Infantry Division (USA) enters Chambois. 

German prisoners at Chambois. 

Units: 90th Infantry Division

Date: 19-August-44

Locations: Chambois / Mantis / Orne

Characters: (unknown)

Themes: prisoner / corpse / Char / nazi flag

Time: 6:07 min

Cameraman: Anders / Lubitsh

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fredvogels Sun, 18 Oct 2015 09:57:43 +0100 https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/divisions-infantry/90-infantry-division-usa/126181-90-infantry-division-usa-enters-chambois.html
90 Infantry Division (USA) firing vehicles (Falaise Gap) https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/divisions-infantry/90-infantry-division-usa/126179-90-infantry-division-usa-firing-vehicles-falaise-gap.html

90 Infantry Division (USA) firing at Germani vehicles trying to escape to the North (Falaise Gap)

Date: 18 August 1944 / 19 August 1944

Locations: Chambois / Chartres / Luce / Orne

Characters: (unknown)

Themes: Falaise Pocket / injured / hospital

Duration: 6:57 min

Cameraman: Komko

When you recognize anybody or anything in this footage, please reply at the bottom of this record.

 

 

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fredvogels Sun, 18 Oct 2015 09:07:56 +0100 https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/divisions-infantry/90-infantry-division-usa/126179-90-infantry-division-usa-firing-vehicles-falaise-gap.html
90 Infantry Division (USA) landing in Normandy https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/divisions-infantry/90-infantry-division-usa/104781-90-infantry-division-usa-landing-in-normandy.html

At ten in the morning, D-Day, the LCIs (Landing Craft, Infantry) containing the 1st and 3rd Battalions, 359th Regiment, and the 915th Field Artillery Battalion (Group A), began to release their troops to smaller boats for the 90th's initial landings on enemy-held soil.

The Engineers had cleared a ten-foot passage through the water, too narrow a passage for the LCIs. Mines, wire, I-beams and constant shelling were the hazards to be hurdled, but the landing boats threaded safely through. As the boats approached the shore the troops leaped into the hip-deep water with weapons held high overhead, raced across the artillery-churned sands of Utah-Beach, past the burning vehicles caught in previous barrages, and found momentary protection at a seawall 400 yards distant.

The beach was constantly shelled, and inevitable casualties were suffered. Pfc. David F. Atcuson (Private First Class) was the first to fall, the first among many in the 90th to give his life. At four in the afternoon the disembarking of Group A was completed.

Still attached to the 4th Infantry Division, the two battalions moved immediately to an assembly area near Saint-Martin-de-Varreville, approximately two kilometers west of the beach. That same evening, Pfc. Samuel C. Maples, outposting the assembly area, detected elements of an enemy patrol and fired his BAR (Browning Automatic Rifle). Two Germans were killed, one wounded, and one taken prisoner. And so the 90th Division for the first time drew blood.

Meanwhile, on D-Day, the remainder of the 90th Division set sail for France, utilizing four transports for the movement : the Susan B. Anthony, the Excelsior, the Explorer, and the Beinville. The following morning, the Susan B. Anthony, standing off Utah-Beach, struck a mine and sank within two hours.

The sinking ship, transporting the Division's advance detachment and the 359th Regiment (minus Group A) was quickly abandoned without loss of life, and its troops assembled in the vicinity of Reuville, about five kilometers inland. Only individual equipment was salvaged, from the doomed vessel, and for days thereafter the 2nd Battalion of the 359th found it necessary to resort to improvisation to supplement its inadequate arms.

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fredvogels Fri, 23 Jan 2015 09:48:23 +0100 https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/divisions-infantry/90-infantry-division-usa/104781-90-infantry-division-usa-landing-in-normandy.html
90 Infantry Division (USA) arrived in England https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/divisions-infantry/90-infantry-division-usa/104780-90-infantry-division-usa-arrived-in-england.html

By April 9th, the entire Division had arrived in England and was assigned to billets. The main body of troops was stationed generally north and east of the cities of Cardiff and Newport, Wales. The 1st and 3rd Battalions of the 359th Infantry Regiment, however, were attached to the 4th Infantry Division and were located in Devonshire. These two Battalions were known as Group A.

A period of intensive training followed, consisting of mine detection, village fighting, assault on fortified positions, hedgerow fighting, artillery firing problems, road marches and obstacle courses. The rough edges were polished off, and "coordination" between units became more than a word, more than a goal, but an accomplished fact. Through April and May there ran through the world the symptoms of "invasion fever".

D-Day might come at any hour, any day. The course of history hung on the ability of a group of Americans and British to seize a beach, hold it and expand it. In Germany, the Wehrmacht confidently awaited der Tag, knowing full well that they were more than a match for the untried, untested American Army. They pointed their guns at the sea and predicted a dark and desperate fate for whomever dared to storm the ramparts of Festung Europa.

In England, Allied armies waited tensely for the signal. Fully armed and trained, with plans completed and sealed, the doughs and the redlegs and the engineers and the medics, the tankers, the supply troops, the cooks and the wiremen, the airmen and the sailors, the Generals and the Privates, all were alert, all listened and waited. April dragged to its inevitable end, and May stretched out till it fused with June.

And still no word. The Germans declared it was all a gigantic hoax. There was to be no invasion, for our Generals had finally realized how impossible such an attempt would be, how foolhardy and suicidal to brave the armed might of Hitler's Reich. But the troops in England were not taking their orders from Germany in June of '44. Instead they waited impatiently.

photo: Camp Croft Co C Feb 1944

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fredvogels Fri, 23 Jan 2015 09:41:20 +0100 https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/divisions-infantry/90-infantry-division-usa/104780-90-infantry-division-usa-arrived-in-england.html
90 Infantry Division (USA) to Europe https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/divisions-infantry/90-infantry-division-usa/104779-90-infantry-division-usa-to-europe.html

Everything was in readiness on March 22nd, and on that day the troops entrained for New York City. There, without delay, they boarded their ships, and on the 23rd, with no fanfare or ceremony, sailed out of New York Harbor... destination England and points east. Only the Lady on Bledloe Island waved her hand in farewell. The 90th waved farewell in reply, and set its course for victory.

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fredvogels Fri, 23 Jan 2015 09:35:23 +0100 https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/divisions-infantry/90-infantry-division-usa/104779-90-infantry-division-usa-to-europe.html
90 Infantry Division (USA) to Camp Kilmer, New Jersey https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/divisions-infantry/90-infantry-division-usa/104778-90-infantry-division-usa-to-camp-kilmer-new-jersey.html

On January 23rd, Brigadier General Jay W. McKelvie assumed command of the Division, and in March the unit moved to its staging area at Camp Kilmer, New Jersey. There followed a brief period of final physical checkups, issue of clothing and supplies and last minute changes.

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fredvogels Fri, 23 Jan 2015 09:30:10 +0100 https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/divisions-infantry/90-infantry-division-usa/104778-90-infantry-division-usa-to-camp-kilmer-new-jersey.html
90 Infantry Division (USA) training and building https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/divisions-infantry/90-infantry-division-usa/104777-90-infantry-division-usa-training-and-building.html

Reorganized on the triangular pattern, the Division consisted of the 357th, 358th and 359th Infantry Regiments, 315th Engineers, 315th Medical Battalion, 415th Quartermaster Battalion, 90th Signal Company and 90th Reconnaissance Troops. Division Artillery, commanded by Brigadier General John E. Lewis, was composed of three 105 mm howitzer battalions, the 343rd, 344th and 915th, plus one battalion of 155 mm howitzers, the 345th.

The early days consisted of basic training, thoroughly necessary and thoroughly detested by every soldier. Upon completion of "basic" the Division stood a four-day inspection conducted by top-ranking Mexican officers, led by General Francisco Urquizo. The Mexicans expressed enthusiastic admiration for the military appearance of the unit and said it was typical of the newly re-activated organizations in the American Army. Nothing yet to indicate that the 90th was other than "typical", other than "representative", that it would one day become a driving force, a powerful slashing spearhead on the European continent.

Early in 1943 the Division took part in maneuvers in Louisiana for approximately two months and then returned to Camp Barkeley for additional training in village fighting, attack on fortified areas, close combat, and other subjects required to face a well-trained enemy. In September, 1943 came the "call of the desert", and the 90th packed up its belongings in order to engage in desert maneuvers in Arizona and California. Sand, dust and heat, plus the 93rd Division were the opponents during the three-month period which ended in December.

In December training was over. The school teachers and soda-jerks and bookkeepers and farmhands were civilians no longer, but soldiers. And as soldiers they awaited the summons to action. In that same month the orders came. The Division was going to a pre-staging area to prepare for overseas shipment. Excitement ran high, and rumors were as thick as mosquitoes in New Jersey, which, coincidentally, was the 90th's destination. Fort Dix, New Jersey.

By January 8th, 1944, the entire unit had detrained at Fort Dix. Replacements were received, from the 63rd Division principally, and the men of the 90th went home on furloughs to make their farewells, and last-minute readjustments and plans, and to promise faithfully that they would return properly bedecked with medals and with Hitler's moustache tucked securely away for a souvenir. The talk of medals, no doubt, was made in jest, but as the months wore on there were to be thousands of decorations for the men of the 90th, decorations earned on the field of combat for deeds of conspicuous valor.

Camp Croft Co B Nov.10, 1943 - March 18,1944

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fredvogels Fri, 23 Jan 2015 09:19:16 +0100 https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/divisions-infantry/90-infantry-division-usa/104777-90-infantry-division-usa-training-and-building.html
90 Infantry Division (USA) is born! https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/divisions-infantry/90-infantry-division-usa/104776-90-infantry-division-usa-is-born.html

The 90th Infantry Division was born on the soil of Texas, drew its strength from the North and South and East and West, grew to lusty manhood on the beaches of France, and fed itself on victories plucked from the forests and wrenched from the rivers of Europe.

The new division was born quietly but proudly at Camp Barkeley, Texas, on March 25, 1942. Quietly, because no one knew that this was a unit whose destiny it was to smash the German defenses in Normandy, to break the enemy's back in the Foret de Mont-Castre, and later to break his heart on the banks of the Moselle. Quietly it was born because no one knew of the victories that lay before it, of Chambois and Oberwampach and the Saar and Koenigsmacker, of the triumphant thrust across the soil of France, and the part the 90th was to play in the reduction of the impregnable fortress of Metz.

The newspapers said, "The 90th Infantry Division was re-activated under command of Major General Henry Terrell, Jr." But they had no way of knowing that its men would storm the bulwarks of the vaunted Siegfried Line, race to the shores of the Rhine, cross the Moselle once more, and crown its career with an epic march across the Hessen and Thuringian hills and thence into the Sudetenland of Czechoslovakia, cutting the German body in half. The 90th Division was born proudly, too, rich in the tradition of past accomplishments. Its forbears in the previous war, although arriving late in France, did not arrive too late to play important and vital roles in the drive at Saint-Mihiel and in the Meuse-Argonne offensive. So much for the future and so much for the past. In 1942 the 90th Infantry Division was merely young and eager, confidently watching its muscles grow.

On its left sleeve it wore an olive drab patch with the red inscription. To inquisitive strangers the 90th patiently explained that in past days the letters stood for Texas and Oklahoma, for originally the division was made up almost exclusively of men of those two states. Later, however, the division drew its men from every corner of every state in the nation, and the T-O came to represent, by common consent, "Tough 'Ombres".

Photo: 2nd Platoon, Co B 15th Bn Camp Wheeler, Ga

January 1945

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fredvogels Fri, 23 Jan 2015 09:09:24 +0100 https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/divisions-infantry/90-infantry-division-usa/104776-90-infantry-division-usa-is-born.html
90 Infantry Division takes Pont-L'Abbé https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/divisions-infantry/90-infantry-division-usa/104786-90-infantry-division-takes-pont-l-abbe.html

Pont-L'Abbé fell on the third day, and three days later Amfreville and Gourbesville, slightly to the north, were securely in the 90th's hands. Weary, mud begrimed and bloody, the Division was able to report... "Mission accomplished". In the meantime, on June 12th, Major General Eugene M. Landrum assumed command of the 90th.

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fredvogels Fri, 23 Jan 2015 00:00:00 +0100 https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/divisions-infantry/90-infantry-division-usa/104786-90-infantry-division-takes-pont-l-abbe.html
90 Infantry Division takes Gourbesville https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/divisions-infantry/90-infantry-division-usa/104788-90-infantry-division-takes-gourbesville.html

Pont-L'Abbé fell on the third day, and three days later Amfreville and Gourbesville, slightly to the north, were securely in the 90th's hands. Weary, mud begrimed and bloody, the Division was able to report... "Mission accomplished". In the meantime, on June 12th, Major General Eugene M. Landrum assumed command of the 90th.

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fredvogels Fri, 23 Jan 2015 00:00:00 +0100 https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/divisions-infantry/90-infantry-division-usa/104788-90-infantry-division-takes-gourbesville.html
90 Infantry Division (USA) to Reims https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/divisions-infantry/90-infantry-division-usa/104808-90-infantry-division-usa-to-reims.html On August 26th the 90th began to move. Swinging slightly south of Paris the combat teams of the Division moved eastward through Fontainebleau and on toward the cathedral city of Reims. The names of disputed battlefields of the previous war were briefly noted and passed... the Marne, Château-Thierry, the Aisne and Reims at last. Verdun and the River Meuse fell to advance elements of the XX Corps further to the east.]]> fredvogels Fri, 23 Jan 2015 00:00:00 +0100 https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/divisions-infantry/90-infantry-division-usa/104808-90-infantry-division-usa-to-reims.html 90 Infantry Division (USA) at Cattenom https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/divisions-infantry/90-infantry-division-usa/104823-90-infantry-division-usa-at-cattenom.html

At November 13th a ferry service had been installed and a new bridge had been constructed at Cattenom. The armor and artillery began rolling now in earnest. This was the added punch needed to continue the drive. The bridgehead was secure, and the Division, though six of its infantry battalions were operating at only 50 % strength, aimed its next blow toward the objective, contact with the 5th Division.

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fredvogels Fri, 23 Jan 2015 00:00:00 +0100 https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/divisions-infantry/90-infantry-division-usa/104823-90-infantry-division-usa-at-cattenom.html
90 Infantry Division (USA) to Habscheid https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/divisions-infantry/90-infantry-division-usa/104840-90-infantry-division-usa-to-habscheid.html

On February 5th the 90th Division opened a demonstration against Habscheid and Hollnich. Vehicles and armor moved freely in the front line area, artillery fired volley after volley into the towns. Armor of the 712th Tank Battalion fired on pillboxes. During the hubhub, the 4th Infantry took advantage of the diversion and sliced forward to take Brandscheid, its immediate objective just within the Siegfried Line.

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fredvogels Fri, 23 Jan 2015 00:00:00 +0100 https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/divisions-infantry/90-infantry-division-usa/104840-90-infantry-division-usa-to-habscheid.html
90 Infantry Division (USA) to Hollnich https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/divisions-infantry/90-infantry-division-usa/104841-90-infantry-division-usa-to-hollnich.html

On February 5th the 90th Division opened a demonstration against Habscheid and Hollnich. Vehicles and armor moved freely in the front line area, artillery fired volley after volley into the towns. Armor of the 712th Tank Battalion fired on pillboxes. During the hubhub, the 4th Infantry took advantage of the diversion and sliced forward to take Brandscheid, its immediate objective just within the Siegfried Line.

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fredvogels Fri, 23 Jan 2015 00:00:00 +0100 https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/divisions-infantry/90-infantry-division-usa/104841-90-infantry-division-usa-to-hollnich.html
90 Infantry Division (USA) captured Arzfeld https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/divisions-infantry/90-infantry-division-usa/104849-90-infantry-division-usa-captured-arzfeld.html

On the 22nd, Task Force Spiess ran roughshod over the lines, capturing four towns, 300 prisoners, and quantities of enemy material. Holzehen, Arzfeld, Windhausen... with increasing impetus the names of German towns were written into the records of places captured by the 90th.

Lichtenborn, protected by five enemy tanks and infantry, was also gathered into the fold.

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fredvogels Fri, 23 Jan 2015 00:00:00 +0100 https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/divisions-infantry/90-infantry-division-usa/104849-90-infantry-division-usa-captured-arzfeld.html
90 Infantry Division (USA) captured Windhausen https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/divisions-infantry/90-infantry-division-usa/104850-90-infantry-division-usa-captured-windhausen.html

On the 22nd, Task Force Spiess ran roughshod over the lines, capturing four towns, 300 prisoners, and quantities of enemy material. Holzehen, Arzfeld, Windhausen... with increasing impetus the names of German towns were written into the records of places captured by the 90th.

Lichtenborn, protected by five enemy tanks and infantry, was also gathered into the fold.

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fredvogels Fri, 23 Jan 2015 00:00:00 +0100 https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/divisions-infantry/90-infantry-division-usa/104850-90-infantry-division-usa-captured-windhausen.html
90 Infantry Division (USA) captured Lichtenborn https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/divisions-infantry/90-infantry-division-usa/104851-90-infantry-division-usa-captured-lichtenborn.html

On the 22nd, Task Force Spiess ran roughshod over the lines, capturing four towns, 300 prisoners, and quantities of enemy material. Holzehen, Arzfeld, Windhausen... with increasing impetus the names of German towns were written into the records of places captured by the 90th.

Lichtenborn, protected by five enemy tanks and infantry, was also gathered into the fold.

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fredvogels Fri, 23 Jan 2015 00:00:00 +0100 https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/divisions-infantry/90-infantry-division-usa/104851-90-infantry-division-usa-captured-lichtenborn.html
90 Infantry Division (USA) captured Boppard https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/divisions-infantry/90-infantry-division-usa/104868-90-infantry-division-usa-captured-boppard.html Boppard and Saint-Goar fell to the 90th on the 17th, and the area between the two Rhine cities was cleared with little opposition.]]> fredvogels Fri, 23 Jan 2015 00:00:00 +0100 https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/divisions-infantry/90-infantry-division-usa/104868-90-infantry-division-usa-captured-boppard.html 90 Infantry Division (USA) captured Saint-Goar https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/divisions-infantry/90-infantry-division-usa/104869-90-infantry-division-usa-captured-saint-goar.html

Boppard and Saint-Goar fell to the 90th on the 17th, and the area between the two Rhine cities was cleared with little opposition.

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fredvogels Fri, 23 Jan 2015 00:00:00 +0100 https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/divisions-infantry/90-infantry-division-usa/104869-90-infantry-division-usa-captured-saint-goar.html
90 Infantry Division (USA) clearing westbank Rhein Bingen https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/divisions-infantry/90-infantry-division-usa/104870-90-infantry-division-usa-clearing-westbank-rhein-bingen.html By the 18th the 90th had cleared the west bank of the Rhine from Boppard to Bingen and extended southward along the Nahe River. ]]> fredvogels Fri, 23 Jan 2015 00:00:00 +0100 https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/divisions-infantry/90-infantry-division-usa/104870-90-infantry-division-usa-clearing-westbank-rhein-bingen.html 90 Infantry Division (USA) clearing westbank Rhein Trechtingshausen https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/divisions-infantry/90-infantry-division-usa/104871-90-infantry-division-usa-clearing-westbank-rhein-trechtingshausen.html By the 18th the 90th had cleared the west bank of the Rhine from Boppard to Bingen and extended southward along the Nahe River. ]]> fredvogels Fri, 23 Jan 2015 00:00:00 +0100 https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/divisions-infantry/90-infantry-division-usa/104871-90-infantry-division-usa-clearing-westbank-rhein-trechtingshausen.html 90 Infantry Division (USA) clearing westbank Rhein Niederheimbach https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/divisions-infantry/90-infantry-division-usa/104872-90-infantry-division-usa-clearing-westbank-rhein-niederheimbach.html By the 18th the 90th had cleared the west bank of the Rhine from Boppard to Bingen and extended southward along the Nahe River. ]]> fredvogels Fri, 23 Jan 2015 00:00:00 +0100 https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/divisions-infantry/90-infantry-division-usa/104872-90-infantry-division-usa-clearing-westbank-rhein-niederheimbach.html 90 Infantry Division (USA) clearing westbank Rhein Bacharach https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/divisions-infantry/90-infantry-division-usa/104873-90-infantry-division-usa-clearing-westbank-rhein-bacharach.html

By the 18th the 90th had cleared the west bank of the Rhine from Boppard to Bingen and extended southward along the Nahe River.

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fredvogels Fri, 23 Jan 2015 00:00:00 +0100 https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/divisions-infantry/90-infantry-division-usa/104873-90-infantry-division-usa-clearing-westbank-rhein-bacharach.html
90 Infantry Division (USA) clearing westbank Rhein Hirzenach https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/divisions-infantry/90-infantry-division-usa/104874-90-infantry-division-usa-clearing-westbank-rhein-hirzenach.html

By the 18th the 90th had cleared the west bank of the Rhine from Boppard to Bingen and extended southward along the Nahe River.

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fredvogels Fri, 23 Jan 2015 00:00:00 +0100 https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/divisions-infantry/90-infantry-division-usa/104874-90-infantry-division-usa-clearing-westbank-rhein-hirzenach.html
90 Infantry Division (USA) clearing westbank Rhein Bad Salzig https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/divisions-infantry/90-infantry-division-usa/104875-90-infantry-division-usa-clearing-westbank-rhein-bad-salzig.html

By the 18th the 90th had cleared the west bank of the Rhine from Boppard to Bingen and extended southward along the Nahe River.

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fredvogels Fri, 23 Jan 2015 00:00:00 +0100 https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/divisions-infantry/90-infantry-division-usa/104875-90-infantry-division-usa-clearing-westbank-rhein-bad-salzig.html
90 Infantry Division (USA) clearing Münster Sarmsheim https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/divisions-infantry/90-infantry-division-usa/104876-90-infantry-division-usa-clearing-muenster-sarmsheim.html

By the 18th the 90th had cleared the west bank of the Rhine from Boppard to Bingen and extended southward along the Nahe River.

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fredvogels Fri, 23 Jan 2015 00:00:00 +0100 https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/divisions-infantry/90-infantry-division-usa/104876-90-infantry-division-usa-clearing-muenster-sarmsheim.html
90 Infantry Division (USA) reached Hanau https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/divisions-infantry/90-infantry-division-usa/104883-90-infantry-division-usa-reached-hanau.html On the 26th the 90th reached the Main River, and by the next morning resistance had ceased on the near bank. The Division was aligned from Hanau on the right to Rumpenheim on the left, just east of Frankfort. The month of March had seen three river barriers crossed ; the Kyll, the Moselle and the Rhine. And now the 90th Division prepared to cross the last major river which barred its way into the heart of Germany.]]> fredvogels Fri, 23 Jan 2015 00:00:00 +0100 https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/divisions-infantry/90-infantry-division-usa/104883-90-infantry-division-usa-reached-hanau.html 90 Infantry Division (USA) JOHN D. HAWK "BUD" https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/divisions-infantry/90-infantry-division-usa/104772-90-infantry-division-usa-john-d-hawk-bud.html

Sergeant, U.S. Army, Company E,

359th Infantry, 90th Infantry Division.

Entered service at: Bremerton, Wash.

Birth: San Francisco, Calif.

Place and date: Near Chambois, France, 20 August 1944.

G.O. No.: 55, 13 July 1945.

He manned a light machinegun on 20 August 1944, near Chambois, France, a key point in the encirclement which created the Falaise Pocket. During an enemy counterattack, his position was menaced by a strong force of tanks and infantry. His fire forced the infantry to withdraw, but an artillery shell knocked out his gun and wounded him in the right thigh.

Securing a bazooka, he and another man stalked the tanks and forced them to retire to a wooded section. In the lull which followed, Sgt. Hawk reorganized 2 machinegun squads and, in the face of intense enemy fire, directed the assembly of 1 workable weapon from 2 damaged guns. When another enemy assault developed, he was forced to pull back from the pressure of spearheading armor.

Two of our tank destroyers were brought up. Their shots were ineffective because of the terrain until Sgt. Hawk, despite his wound, boldly climbed to an exposed position on a knoll where, unmoved by fusillades from the enemy, he became a human aiming stake for the destroyers. Realizing that his shouted fire directions could not be heard above the noise of battle, he ran back to the destroyers through a concentration of bullets and shrapnel to correct the range.

He returned to his exposed position, repeating this performance until 2 of the tanks were knocked out and a third driven off. Still at great risk, he continued to direct the destroyers' fire into the Germans' wooded position until the enemy came out and surrendered. Sgt. Hawk's fearless initiative and heroic conduct, even while suffering from a painful wound, was in large measure responsible for crushing 2 desperate attempts of the enemy to escape from the Falaise Picket and for taking more than 500 prisoners.

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fredvogels Fri, 23 Jan 2015 00:00:00 +0100 https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/divisions-infantry/90-infantry-division-usa/104772-90-infantry-division-usa-john-d-hawk-bud.html
90 Infantry Division (USA) FOSTER J. SAYERS https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/divisions-infantry/90-infantry-division-usa/104773-90-infantry-division-usa-foster-j-sayers.html

Private First Class, U.S. Army, Company L, 357th Infantry, 90th Infantry Division.

Entered service at: Howard, Pa.

Birth: Marsh Creek, Pa.

Place and date: Near Thionville, France, 12 November 1944.

Killed in action. G.O. No.: 89, 19 October 1945.

He displayed conspicuous gallantry above and beyond the call of duty in combat on 12 November 1944, near Thionville, France. During an attack on strong hostile forces entrenched on a hill he fearlessly ran up the steep approach toward his objective and set up his machinegun 20 yards from the enemy.

Realizing it would be necessary to attract full attention of the dug-in Germans while his company crossed an open area and flanked the enemy, he picked up his gun, charged through withering machinegun and rifle fire to the very edge of the emplacement, and there killed 12 German soldiers with devastating close-range fire.

He took up a position behind a log and engaged the hostile infantry from the flank in an heroic attempt to distract their attention while his comrades attained their objective at the crest of the hill. He was killed by the very heavy concentration of return fire; but his fearless assault enabled his company to sweep the hill with minimum of casualties, killing or capturing every enemy soldier on it.

Pfc. Sayers' indomitable fighting spirit, aggressiveness, and supreme devotion to duty live on as an example of the highest traditions of the military service.

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fredvogels Fri, 23 Jan 2015 00:00:00 +0100 https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/divisions-infantry/90-infantry-division-usa/104773-90-infantry-division-usa-foster-j-sayers.html
90 Infantry Division (USA) EDWARD A. BENNETT https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/divisions-infantry/90-infantry-division-usa/104774-90-infantry-division-usa-edward-a-bennett.html

Corporal, Company B, 358th Infantry, 90th Infantry Division.

Entered service Middleport, Ohio

Place of Action Heckhuscheid, Germany Gen. Order No. 95

Date of issue 30 October 1945

Date of Action February1945

He was advancing with Company B across open ground to assault Heckhuscheid, Germany, just after dark when vicious enemy machinegun fire from a house on the outskirts of the town pinned down the group and caused several casualties.

He began crawling to the edge of the field in an effort to flank the house, persisting in this maneuver even when the hostile machine gunners located him by the light of burning buildings and attempted to cut him down as he made for the protection of some trees.

Reaching safety, he stealthily made his way by a circuitous route to the rear of the building occupied by the German gunners. With his trench knife he killed a sentry on guard there and then charged into the darkened house. In a furious hand-to-hand struggle he stormed about a single room which harbored 7 Germans.

Three he killed with rifle fire, another he clubbed to death with the butt of his gun, and the 3 others he dispatched with his .45 caliber pistol. The fearless initiative, stalwart combat ability, and outstanding gallantry of Cpl. Bennett eliminated the enemy fire which was decimating his company's ranks and made it possible for the Americans to sweep all resistance from the town. 

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fredvogels Fri, 23 Jan 2015 00:00:00 +0100 https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/divisions-infantry/90-infantry-division-usa/104774-90-infantry-division-usa-edward-a-bennett.html
90 Infantry Division (USA), Forrest Eugene Everhart, Sr https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/divisions-infantry/90-infantry-division-usa/104775-90-infantry-division-usa-forrest-eugene-everhart-sr.html

Technical Sergeant, Company H, 359th Infantry, 90th Infantry Division

Birthplace Bainbridge, Ross County, Ohio

Place of Action Near Kerling, France

Date of issue 10 September 1945

Gen. Order No. 77

Date of Action 12 November 1944

He commanded a platoon that bore the brunt of a desperate enemy counterattack near Korling, France, before dawn on 12 November 1944. When German tanks and self-propelled guns penetrated his left flank and overwhelming infantry forces threatened to overrun the 1 remaining machinegun in that section, he ran 400 yards through woods churned by artillery and mortar concentrations to strengthen the defense.

With the 1 remaining gunner, he directed furious fire into the advancing hordes until they swarmed close to the position. He left the gun, boldly charged the attackers and, after a 15-minute exchange of hand grenades, forced them to withdraw leaving 30 dead behind. He re-crossed the fire-swept terrain to his then threatened right flank, exhorted his men and directed murderous fire from the single machinegun at that position.

There, in the light of bursting mortar shells, he again closed with the enemy in a hand grenade duel and, after a fierce 30-minute battle, forced the Germans to withdraw leaving another 20 dead. The gallantry and intrepidity of T/Sgt. Everhart in rallying his men and refusing to fall back in the face of terrible odds were highly instrumental in repelling the fanatical enemy counterattack directed at the American bridgehead across the Moselle River.

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fredvogels Fri, 23 Jan 2015 00:00:00 +0100 https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/divisions-infantry/90-infantry-division-usa/104775-90-infantry-division-usa-forrest-eugene-everhart-sr.html
90 Infantry Division remainder arrived Utah Beach https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/divisions-infantry/90-infantry-division-usa/104783-90-infantry-division-remainder-arrived-utah-beach.html

On June 8th the remainder of the 90th Division arrived at Utah-Beach and began debarkation at noon. By midnight all foot elements had assembled in their allocated positions in a "goose-egg" bounded by Turqueville, Reuville, Audouville-la-Hubert, and Ecoquenéauville, with the Division command post in the village of Loutres.

Warning orders were received that evening. "The 90th will attack..." This was what the long months of training were for, the marching and crawling and the endless, repetitious harping on details. Schooldays had ended, and now began the final examinations.

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fredvogels Fri, 23 Jan 2015 00:00:00 +0100 https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/divisions-infantry/90-infantry-division-usa/104783-90-infantry-division-remainder-arrived-utah-beach.html
90 Infantry Division remainder arrived Audouville-la-Hubert https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/divisions-infantry/90-infantry-division-usa/104784-90-infantry-division-remainder-arrived-utah-beach.html

On June 8th the remainder of the 90th Division arrived at Utah-Beach and began debarkation at noon. By midnight all foot elements had assembled in their allocated positions in a "goose-egg" bounded by Turqueville, Reuville, Audouville-la-Hubert, and Ecoquenéauville, with the Division command post in the village of Loutres.

Warning orders were received that evening. "The 90th will attack..." This was what the long months of training were for, the marching and crawling and the endless, repetitious harping on details. Schooldays had ended, and now began the final examinations.

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fredvogels Fri, 23 Jan 2015 00:00:00 +0100 https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/divisions-infantry/90-infantry-division-usa/104784-90-infantry-division-remainder-arrived-utah-beach.html
90 Infantry Division remainder arrived Ecoquenéauville https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/divisions-infantry/90-infantry-division-usa/104785-90-infantry-division-remainder-arrived-ecoqueneauville.html

On June 8th the remainder of the 90th Division arrived at Utah-Beach and began debarkation at noon. By midnight all foot elements had assembled in their allocated positions in a "goose-egg" bounded by Turqueville, Reuville, Audouville-la-Hubert, and Ecoquenéauville, with the Division command post in the village of Loutres.

Warning orders were received that evening. "The 90th will attack..." This was what the long months of training were for, the marching and crawling and the endless, repetitious harping on details. Schooldays had ended, and now began the final examinations.

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fredvogels Fri, 23 Jan 2015 00:00:00 +0100 https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/divisions-infantry/90-infantry-division-usa/104785-90-infantry-division-remainder-arrived-ecoqueneauville.html
90 Infantry Division (USA) five thousand Germans surrendered https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/divisions-infantry/90-infantry-division-usa/104797-90-infantry-division-usa-five-thousand-germans-surrendered.html

August 20th, five thousand Germans surrendered to the 90th Division. The following day the slaughter continued, with 5,500 additional prisoners flooding the cages. The battle of the Falaise Gap was over, the Seventh German Army, except for the scraps which had squeezed through before the trap was hermetically sealed, was no longer in existence. The fighting potential of the German nation had received so lethal a blow that it was never fully to recover.

The 90th had begun the action merely in a supporting role, but before the smoke had cleared the Division had become the motivating force in closing the vital gap. It had withstood the fiercest assaults of which crack German units were capable and had hurled them back. In a period of four days it had taken more than 13,000 prisoners, killed or wounded an estimated 8,000 of the enemy, but itself suffered less than 600 casualties. More than 300 enemy tanks, 250 self-propelled guns, 164 artillery pieces, 3,270 vehicles, and a variety of other types of equipment and weapons were destroyed. So ended the greatest Allied triumph on the soil of France, the most complete and humiliating defeat ever suffered by the German armed forces. But the 90th was not content to rest on its laurels. By this time the men of the T-O Division knew they were "hot," and so did the Germans who were soon to face them... the brawling 90th... spoiling for a fight.

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fredvogels Fri, 23 Jan 2015 00:00:00 +0100 https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/divisions-infantry/90-infantry-division-usa/104797-90-infantry-division-usa-five-thousand-germans-surrendered.html
90 Infantry Division (USA) waited for further orders just south of Périers https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/divisions-infantry/90-infantry-division-usa/104799-90-infantry-division-usa-waited-for-further-orders-just-south-of-periers.html

On July 26th the front flamed into action. The VII Corps, in the east, leveled the city of Saint-Lô in a tremendous artillery and aerial bombardment. Behind that bombardment came the American troops, sweeping through the breach in the enemy lines.

On the same day the VIII Corps, with the 79th, 8th, 90th and 83rd Infantry Divisions in order from right to left, struck southward toward Coutances. Since the enemy on the Island was alerted it would have been madness to attempt a breakthrough at that point. Therefore, the 90th sidestepped that focal point of resistance.

The first day the entire VIII Corps met resistance of the stiffest nature. Whatever gains were made were costly and negligible. The action by the VII Corps at Saint-Lô, however, was the main effort.

A breakthrough seemed imminent. If the Germans continued resistance in the path of the 90th, and should the VII Corps swing to the west, a gigantic trap would have been sprung. Would the enemy withdraw from the closing trap ?

That question was answered the following day. Coiled and ready, the 90th struck. By nightfall Périers was in the hands of the Division. The Island was no longer German. The 4th and 6th Armored Divisions threw their lumbering tanks into high gear and spearheaded the drive to Coutances and Avranches, even further to the south.

The German line was shattered, the breakthrough had come. The Germans who had invented the military art of "blitzkrieg" were now to see it as it should be done. The 90th waited for further orders just south of Périers, poised expectantly.

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fredvogels Fri, 23 Jan 2015 00:00:00 +0100 https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/divisions-infantry/90-infantry-division-usa/104799-90-infantry-division-usa-waited-for-further-orders-just-south-of-periers.html
90 Infantry Division (USA) drive south along the Périers / Saint-Sauveur-Lendelin road https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/divisions-infantry/90-infantry-division-usa/104798-90-infantry-division-usa-drive-south-along-the-periers-saint-sauveur-lendelin-road.html

With the VIII Corps on the right and VII Corps on the left, a new offensive was planned, an offensive designed to push out of the narrow neck of the Normandy peninsula and into the plains of France. The 90th's mission in the scheme of things was to drive south along the Périers / Saint-Sauveur-Lendelin road.

During the brief lull preceding the battle the 90th surveyed its positions and studied the terrain to be taken. Directly in its path and immediately in front was an obstacle, formidable and heavily defended. If the division was to make progress in the coming offensive that obstacle must first be surmounted. The decision was made and plans were perfected to eliminate the enemy stronghold... the Island.

The Island was so called because of the surrounding terrain features. Bounded on the north by the River Sèves and on all other sides by treacherous swamps and bogs, it was shaped like a deflated football approximately three kilometers in length and one kilometer in width. The only path of approach was across the Sèves, and the only path to the Sèves was open terrain too well observed by the strongly entrenched enemy.

The 1st and 2nd Battalions of the 358th made the assault behind a well-conceived artillery preparation. The attack was foredoomed to failure, however, for with the exception of the Island comparative quiet reigned all along the Normandy front. This allowed all enemy artillery within range to concentrate its fire on one focal point... the assaulting troops of the 90th. The "incoming mail" was accurate and demoralizing.

Never before had the Division been subjected to such sustained massed fire. Machine gun fire and mortars from the southern banks of the Sèves added their weight of fire and succeeded in delaying the attack. That delay enabled the enemy to estimate correctly the situation and to draw more troops to the point of attack. A sheet of impenetrable fire was placed across the Sèves. Yet elements of one company braved the fire and landed on the southern banks.

Lacking reinforcements, however, they soon withdrew. In the afternoon the 1st Battalion forced a crossing of the Sèves, overcame immediate resistance, and drove deep into the Island. But a man with a rifle is no match for a tank. The 90th's armor waited impatiently for a bridge across the Sèves, but the German artillery and mortars successfully denied the Engineers the opportunity to throw a bridge across the river.

In the evening the fire had become so intense that only one company of the 2nd Battalion was able to effect a crossing to support the troops now isolated on the Island. That night a violent counterattack consisting of armor and crack parachute troops was repulsed on the Island. Everything had gone wrong, and to make matters even worse, a dense fog had descended on the area denying the use of liaison planes for vitally needed observation. The following morning came more misfortune. The Sèves overflowed its banks.

That, together with the intense enemy fire, continued to deny the 90th's armor a bridge across the river. A new enemy counter-attack on the Island itself succeeded in disorganizing the marooned elements on the far banks. Only limited quantities of ammunition and supplies could be furnished the assaulting troops across the flooded river. In the face of such decided obstacles, both man-made and natural, an immediate withdrawal was definitely indicated. Many escaped the trap by swimming the Sèves. Others failed to reach the river and were captured by the enemy. The battle for the Island was ended.

Nowhere, except in this one instance, has the 90th Division in its combat history, failed to take its assigned objective. But nowhere in its history has any military organization exhibited greater devotion to duty than did those who, despite insuperable odds, drove forward into the ill-fate campaign of Sèves. Ever since D-Day, the 90th, together with all other Divisions in the invading forces, had suffered from lack of "elbow room". Fenced into a narrow corridor bounded by the sea, broad maneuvers and wide end runs were impossible.

Up to the latter days of July the possibility remained ever imminent that the enemy might draw sufficient reserves to launch an overwhelming counter-offensive aimed at driving the Allies into the sea... with the added possibility that such an offensive might conceivably succeed.

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fredvogels Fri, 23 Jan 2015 00:00:00 +0100 https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/divisions-infantry/90-infantry-division-usa/104798-90-infantry-division-usa-drive-south-along-the-periers-saint-sauveur-lendelin-road.html
90 Infantry Division (USA) liberated Saint-Hilaire-du-Harcouët https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/divisions-infantry/90-infantry-division-usa/104800-90-infantry-division-usa-liberated-saint-hilaire-du-harcouet.html

As July drew to its victorious close it was evident to the eagerly watching world that a breakthrough of decisive importance had been achieved. Even as the desperate enemy clung to his remaining defenses, the blunt-nosed armor of the Allies roared over the highways of France, cutting, slicing, slashing communications. The condition of the enemy was one of confusion, bewilderment, and near panic.

Quick to seize the golden opportunity, the Americans, the British, the French and Poles plunged forward out of the hedgerows and into the plains of France. On July 30th, Major General Raymond S. McLain assumed command of the 90th, and two days later the Division was placed under XV Corps control, passing from the 1st to the 3rd Army, commanded by Lt. General George S. Patton.

The mission of the 90th was to proceed from Périers to the vicinity of Saint-Hilaire-du-Harcouët and there secure the bridges over the Sélune River and protect the nearby dams. Thus began the triumphant march through France.

Ahead lay the broad expanse of a country awaiting liberation. Saint-Hilaire-du-Harcouët was hilarious. Only a brief struggle with German rear-guards ensued, then the town belonged to the 90th Division. The town and the people too. They stood in the streets and cheered and waved and yelled until their throats were hoarse. They laughed until the tears rolled down their cheeks. Here and there a few tears dropped quietly, tears of thanksgiving and reverence and gratitude for the deliverance of la belle France.

American troops, riding in jeeps, on tanks, in trucks, were pelted with bouquets of flowers, presented ceremoniously with wine and cider. If the wine happened to be sour or the cider watered, it made no difference. The beach and Pont-L'Abbé and the Hill and the Island were memories now. Sherman's famous comment may have been right last week or the week before, but today... well, war is what you make it.

It was the same in every town and village. The little girls dressed in their Sunday best, tightly gripping a bouquet of daisies and reciting hesitantly welcome to les Américains, while their proud parents looked on and prompted them when they forgot.

And Monsieur le Mayor with his cutaway and stripped pants and his trimmed moustache waving frantically for quiet so he could make his speech. And then you moved on to the next town and the same thing happened everywhere you went, only sometimes the welcoming committee was a little put out because the Americans wouldn't stop long enough to receive the keys to the city formally.

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fredvogels Fri, 23 Jan 2015 00:00:00 +0100 https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/divisions-infantry/90-infantry-division-usa/104800-90-infantry-division-usa-liberated-saint-hilaire-du-harcouet.html