Division History  |  30th Infantry Division   LoneSentry.com

[Webmaster Note: The following division information is reproduced from the public domain publication, The Army Almanac: A Book of Facts Concerning the Army of the United States, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1950. Portions of the information may be out of date. Only minor formatting changes and typographical corrections have been made.]

World War I

Activated: October 1917 (National Guard Division from North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Tennessee).
Major operations: Ypres-Lys, Somme offensive.
Casualties: Total - 8,415. (KIA - 1,237; WIA - 7,178).
Commanders: Maj. Gen. J. F. Morrison (28 August 1917), Brig. Gen. William S. Scott (19 September 1917), Maj. Gen. C. P. Townsley (14 October 1917), Brig. Gen. Samson L. Faison (1 December 1917), Maj. Gen. C. P. Townsley (6 December 1917), Brig. Gen. Samson L. Faison (17 December 1917), Brig. Gen. L. D. Tyson (22 December 1917), Brig. Gen. G. G. Gatley (28 December 1917), Brig. Gen. Samson L. Faison (1 January 1918), Brig. Gen. L. D. Tyson (30 March 1918), Brig. Gen. Samson L. Faison (7 April 1918), Maj. Gen. G. W. Read (3 May 1918), Brig. Gen. R. H. Noble (12 June 1918), Maj. Gen. G. W. Read (14 June 1918), Maj. Gen. Samson L. Faison (15 June 1918), Maj. Gen. F. H. Lewis (18 July 1918), Brig. Gen. Samson L. Faison (23 December 1918).

World War II

Activated: 16 September 1940.
Overseas: 11 February 1944.
Campaigns: Normandy, Northern France, Rhineland, Ardennes-Alsace, Central Europe.
Days of combat: 282.
Distinguished Unit Citations: 8.
Awards: MH-6; DSC-50; DSM-1; SS-1,773; LM-12; DFC-3; SM-30; BSM-6,616; AM-154.
Commanders: Maj. Gen. Henry D. Russell (16 September 1940-April 1942), Maj. Gen. William H. Simpson (May-July 1942), Maj. Gen. Leland S. Hobbs (9 September 1942-September 1945), Maj. Gen. Albert C. Cowper (September 1945 to inactivation).
Returned to U.S.: 19 August 1945.
Inactivated: 25 November 1945.

Combat Chronicle

The 30th Infantry Division arrived in England, 22 February 1944, and trained until June. It landed at Omaha Beach, Normandy, 15 June 1944, secured the Vire-et-Taute Canal, crossed the Vire River, 7 July, and, beginning on 25 July spearheaded the St. Lo breakthrough. The day after the Division relieved the 1st Infantry Division near Mortain on 6 August, the German drive to Avranches began. Fighting in place with all available personnel, the 30th frustrated enemy plans and broke the enemy spearhead in a week of violent struggle, 7 to 12 August. The Division drove east through Belgium, crossing the Meuse River at Vise and Liege, 10 September. Elements entered Holland on the 12th, and Maastricht fell the next day. Taking up positions along the Wurm River, the 30th launched its attack on the Siegfried Line, 2 October 1944, and succeeded in contacting the 1st Division, 16 October, and encircling Aachen. After a rest period, the Division eliminated an enemy salient northeast of Aachen, 16 November, pushed to the Inde River at Altdorf, 28 November, then moved to rest areas. On 17 December the Division rushed south to the Malmedy-Stavelot area to help block the powerful enemy drive in the Battle of the Ardennes. It launched a counteroffensive on 13 January 1945 and reached a point 2 miles south of St. Vith, 26 January, before leaving the Battle of the Bulge and moving to an assembly area near Lierneux, 27 January, and to another near Aachen to prepare for the Roer offensive. The Roer River was crossed, 23 February 1945, near Julich. The 30th moved back for training and rehabilitation, 6 March, and on 24 March made its assault crossing of the Rhine. It pursued the enemy across Germany, mopping up enemy pockets of resistance, took Hamelin, 7 April, Braunschweig on the 12th, and helped reduce Magdeburg on the 17th. The Russians were contacted at Grunewald on the Elbe River. After a short occupation period, the 30th began moving for home, arriving 19 August 1945.

Assignments in the ETO

18 February 1944: XIX Corps, First Army. // 15 July 1944: VII Corps. // 28 July 1944: XIX Corps. // 1 August 1944: XIX Corps, First Army, 12th Army Group. // 4 August 1944: V Corps. // 5 August 1944: VII Corps. // 13 August 1944: XIX Corps. // 26 August 1944: XV Corps, Third Army, 12th Army Group, but attached to First Army. // 29 August 1944: XIX Corps, First Army, 12th Army Group. // 22 October 1944: Ninth Army, 12th Army Group. // 17 December 1944: Ninth Army, 12th Army Group, but attached to V Corps, First Army, 12th Army Group. // 21 December 1944: XVIII (Abn) Corps, and attached, with the First Army, to the British 21st Army Group. // 18 January 1945: XVIII (Abn) Corps, First Army, 12th Army Group. // 3 February 1945: XIX Corps, Ninth Army, 12th Army Group. // 6 March 1945: XVI Corps. // 30 March 1945: XIX Corps. // 8 May 1945: XIII Corps.

General

Nickname: Old Hickory.
Shoulder patch: Oval monogram containing numeral XXX in the center all in blue on a maroon field.
Publication: Work Horses of the Western Front - The Story of the 30th Infantry Division; by Mr. Robert L. Howitt, unit historian; The Infantry Journal, Washington, D.C.; 1947.

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