30th Infantry Division - Old Hickory

Activated 16 Sep 1940 •  Entered Combat 11 Jun 44 Normandy  •  Days of Combat 282  •  Casualties 18,446

Division Chronicle

Activated on 16 Sep 1940

Fort Jackson, SC  Sep 1940 - Oct 1942

Camp Blanding, FL  Oct 1942 - Nov 1943

Camp Atterbury, IN  Nov 1943 - Feb 1944

Camp Myles Standish, MA  Feb 1944 

The 30th Infantry Division arrived in England, 22 February 1944, and trained until June. It landed at Omaha Beach, Normandy, 10 June 1944, secured the Vire-et-Taute Canal, crossed the Vire River, 7 July, and, beginning on 25 July spearheaded the St. Lo break-through. 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.

Division Organization 1944

117th Infantry Regiment

119th Infantry Regiment

120th Infantry Regiment 

30th Division Artillery

118th Field Artillery Battalion

197th Field Artillery Battalion

230th Field Artillery Battalion

113th Field Artillery Battalion

105th Engineer Combat Battalion

105th Medical Battalion 

30th Reconnaissance Troop 

Hqs Company, 30th Division

Headquarters, Special Troops

Military Police Platoon, 30th Div.

30th Quartermaster Company

30th Signal Company

730th Ordnance (Lt Maint) Co.