63rd Infantry Division

At the Casablanca Conference, early in 1943, the Allies vowed to make their enemies “bleed and bum in expiation of their crimes against humanity.” That struck the men of the 63d Division, when their outfit was activated the following June, as an estimable idea, and the division promptly adopted the vengeful nickname “Blood and Fire.”

After a year and a half of training in the States, the 63d sailed for Europe to do what it could about helping to carry out the Casablanca promise. Late in 1944, the men who wear the blood-tipped dagger thrust into the German lines for the first time.

The first fight of one regiment—the 254th Infantry—was especially notable. Attached to the 3d Infantry Division during the fierce struggle for the Colmar bridgehead on the Seventh Army front from January 22 to February 6, the whole regiment was among units cited for outstanding performance of duty in that sector. Struggling forward through knee-deep snow that concealed deadly land mines, the 254th helped to cut off Colmar from the Rhine in what was officially described as “one of the hardest fought and bloodiest campaigns of the war.”

In February, with the whole Division reassembled, the 63d crossed the Saar north of Sarreguemines and led the Seventh Army back onto German soil, from which it had been forced to pull back, and the Division captured the fortress town of Ommersheim. A few weeks later, the 63d led the Army into the lower Siegfried Line on a two-mile front, just south of Saarbrucken.

Early in April, the Blood-and-Fire men destroyed the 17th SS Division, fought through the Hardthauser Woods, crossed the Neckar River, and forced the enemy to retreat to new positions south of the Kocher River.

Then when the Germans in the south began to fall back in disorganization, the 63d was one of the outfits that pursued them relentlessly, striking at the near-beaten enemy forces. It chased ihe Germans through Württemberg and Bavaria down to the Danube, crossing the river at Günzburg and going on down to Landsberg, at the edge of the Bavarian Alps.

The Germans, who were great ones for burning books, always regarded Heidelberg as their principal seat of learning. It was thus perhaps only justice that the “Blood-and-Fire” Division should have been the American outfit that fought its way into the university city and captured it at the end of March.

Funny thing, too: there wasn’t a single book deliberately burned.

From Fighting Divisions, Kahn & McLemore, Infantry Journal Press, 1945-1946.

"Blood and Fire Division"

The division insignia is a blood-tipped golden sword on a sheet of crimson flame. The Commanding General, Major General L. B. Hibbs, inspired by the promise to the enemy of President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill at Casablanca in 1943 "To bleed and burn in expiation of their crimes against humanity", developed this emblem. A card showing the emblem explaining its significance, and containing the signatures of 10 civil and military leaders of Great Britain and the United States who were participants at the Casablanca Conference, has been placed in War Department archives.

COMMAND AND STAFF

Commanding General

8 Dec 44

Maj. Gen. Louis E. Hibbs

Assistant Division Commander

8 Dec 44

Brig. Gen. Frederick L. Harris

Artillery Commander

8 Dec 44

Brig. Gen. Edward J. McGaw

Chief of Staff

8 Dec 44

Col. Earl G. Wheeler

Assistant Chief of Staff G-1

8 Dec 44

Lt. Col. John E. Brooks, Jr.

Assistant Chief of Staff G-2

8 Dec 44

Lt. Col. John M. Hardaway

Assistant Chief of Staff G-3

8 Dec 44	Lt. Col. Morris O. Edwards
6 Mar 45	Lt. Col. Robert S. Redfield

Assistant Chief of Staff G-4

8 Dec 44

Lt. Col. Frank T. Ritter, Jr.

Assistant Chief of Staff G-5

1 Jan 45

Lt. Col. Halkey K. Ross

Adjutant General

8 Dec 44

Lt. Col. Ralph Lavergna

Commanding Officer, 253d Infantry

8 Dec 44	Col. Edward P. Lukert
10 Mar 45	Col. Morris O. Edwards

Commanding Officer, 254th Infantry

8 Dec 44

Col. Joseph H. Warren

Commanding Officer, 355th Infantry

8 Dec 44	Col. Edward A. Chazal
21 Mar 45	Col. James F. Hatcher

STATISTICS

Chronology

Activated	15 June 1943
Arrived ETO	14 January 1945
Arrived Continent (D+151)	14 January 1945
Entered Combat--First Elements	22 December 1944
Entered Combat--Entire Division	6 February 1945
Days in Combat	119

NOTE: Three Inf Regts and improvised Div Hq under command of Asst Div Comdr arrived 8 Dec 44. D Day Southern France 15 Aug 44

Casualties (Tentative)

Killed	735
Wounded	3,417
Missing	332
Captured	63
Battle Casualties	4,547
Non-Battle Casualties	3,472
Total Casualties	8,019
Percent of T/O Strength	56.9

Campaigns

Rhineland
Central Europe

Individual Awards

Distinguished Service Cross	1
Legion of Merit	3
Silver Star	293
Soldiers Medal	9
Bronze Star	2,692
Air Medal	25

Prisoners of War Taken 21,542

COMPOSITION

253d Infantry
254th Infantry
255th Infantry
63d Reconnaissance Troop (Mechanized)
263d Engineer Combat Battalion
363d Medical Battalion
63d Division Artillery
861st Field Artillery Battalion (105mm Howitzer)
862d Field Artillery Battalion (105mm Howitzer)
863d Field Artillery Battalion (105mm Howitzer)
718th Field Artillery Battalion (155mm Howitzer)
Special Troops
861st Ordnance Light Maintenance Company
63d Quartermaster Company
563d Signal Company
Military Police Platoon
Headquarters Company
Band

ATTACHMENTS

Antiaircraft Artillery

436th AAA AW Bn (Mbl)	11 Feb 45-1 May 45
1st Plat, Btry C, 353d AAA SL Bn	16 Feb 45-30 Apr 45

Armored

Co A, 749th Tk Bn	2 Mar 45-4 Mar 45
Co C, 43d Tk Bn (12th Armd Div)	9 Mar 45-12 Mar 45
70th Tk Bn	12 Mar 45-18 Mar 45
740th Tk Bn	17 Mar 45-28 Mar 45
CC A (6th Armd Div)	19 Mar 45-20 Mar 45
15th Tk Bn (6th Armd Div)	19 Mar 45-20 Mar 45
9th Armd Inf Bn (6th Armd Div)	19 Mar 45-20 Mar 45
212th Armd FA Bn (6th Armd Div)	19 Mar 45-20 Mar 45
Tr A, 86th Cav Rcn Sq (6th Armd Div)	19 Mar 45-20 Mar 45
Co B, 25th Armd Engr Bn (6th Armd Div)	19 Mar 45-20 Mar 45
753d Tk Bn	31 Mar 45-28 May 45

Cavalry

92d Cav Rcn Sq (12th Armd Div)	15 Mar 45-16 Mar 45
116th Cav Rcn Sq	15 Mar 45-20 Mar 45
101st Cav Rcn Sq	17 Mar 45-20 Mar 45
117th Cav Rcn Sq (-)	2 Apr 45-19 Apr 45

Chemical

Co A, 99th Cml Mort Bn	22 Feb 45-7 Mar 45
Co A, 99th Cml Mort Bn	8 Mar 45-22 Mar 45
99th Cml Mort Bn (- Co C)	17 Mar 45-21 Mar 45
Co A, 83d Cml Mort Bn	31 Mar 45-19 Apr 45
99th Cml Mort Bn (- Co B)	19 Apr 45-28 May 45

Engineer

1271st Engr C Bn

13 Apr 45-14 Apr 45

Field Artillery

18th FA Bn (105mm How)	13 Mar 45-21 Mar 45
522d FA Bn (105mm How)	13 Mar 45-22 Mar 45
93d Armd FA Bn	21 Mar 45-24 Mar 45
59th Armd FA Bn	31 Mar 45-4 Apr 45
36th FA Gp	19 Apr 45-28 May 45
162d FA Bn (105mm How)	8 May 45-10 Jun 45

Infantry

65th Inf (- Cos A&C) (Non-Div)

30 Apr 45-12 May 45

Tank Destroyer

822d TD Bn (SP)	6 Feb 45-17 Mar 45
776th TD Bn (SP)	16 Mar 45-21 Mar 45
822d TD Bn (SP)	21 Mar 44-28 May 45
692d TD Bn (SP)	30 Mar 45-31 Mar 45