71st Infantry Division

“Travel with us and meet everyone in Europe.”

That was the slogan of the 71st Infantry Division when V-E Day came around.

One of the most popular pastimes of the 71st Doughs was trying to figure out just where they had been, and under what commands they had served.

When the 71st reached France in February 1945, it was with the Seventh Army. It then was switched to the Fifteenth Army, and later served with the Third Army. It was with the XV Corps and the XXII Corps. As one GI quipped, “We just missed the K-9 Corps.”

In its time in action the 71st served alongside the 100th, 42d, 44th, 3d, 104th, 26th, and 5th Infantry Divisions, and the 10th and 12th Armored outfits. The 71st went into action in the bitter cold of March 1945, and for 15 days its mission was the destruction of German pockets west of the Rhine. When the 71sters hit the Siegfried Line, they kept right on going, breaching the famed defense wall to capture Pirmasens. When the Doughs swept through this city they liberated 8,000 slave laborers.

The 71st then drove across the Hardt Mountains and the Rhine plains, and cleaned up Nazi resistance on the west bank of the Rhine near Ludwigshafen and Speyer.

One of the most important achievements of the 71st was the cutting of the Berlin-Munich highway, main escape route from the capital of the Bavarian mountains. It was in this drive that ne 71st bagged upwards of 30 German generals.

The Division crossed the Danube in assault boats at several places east of Regensburg. It was in on the capture of Mannheim, aiding the 44th Division. This city fell when, after military officials had refused to heed the mayor’s request that the city yield to the Americans, the Yanks turned 26 battalions of artillery fire on the place.

On V-E Day the 71st was south of Linz, Austria, on the Enns River, and later it moved to Augsburg, Germany.

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

The division insignia is am Arabic design bearing close similarity to the numerical designation of the division. It appears as a blue "71" on a white circular background which is trimmed in red. It has no heraldic significance.

COMMAND AND STAFF

Commanding General

6 Feb 45

Maj. Gen. Willard G. Wyman

Assistant Division Commander

6 Feb 45

Brig. Gen. Onslow S. Rolfe

Artillery Commander

6 Feb 45

Brig. Gen. Frank A. Henning

Chief of Staff

6 Feb 45

Col. Oscar R. Johnston

Assistant Chief of Staff G-1

6 Feb 45

Lt. Col. Morton P. Brooks

Assistant Chief of Staff G-2

6 Feb 45

Lt. Col. Kenneth W. Foster

Assistant Chief of Staff G-3

6 Feb 45

Lt. Col. Norman H. Lankenau

Assistant Chief of Staff G-4

6 Feb 45

Lt. Col. Clifton D. Blackford

Assistant Chief of Staff G-5

22 Feb 44 [i.e., 1945]

Maj. Rendle H. Russell

Adjutant General

6 Feb 45

Lt. Col. Claudius Beall, Jr.

Commanding Officer, 5th Infantry

6 Feb 45

Col. Sidney G. Wooten

Commanding Officer, 14th Infantry

6 Feb 45	Col. Donald Beeler
19 Mar 45	Col. Carfl E. Lundquist

Commanding Officer, 66th Infantry

6 Feb 45

Col. Augustus J. Regnier

STATISTICS

Chronology

Activated	15 July 1943
Arrived ETO	6 February 1945
Arrived Continent (D+245)	6 February 1945
Entered Combat--First Elements	10 March 1945
Entered Combat--Entire Division	12 March 1945
Days in Combat	49

Casualties (Tentative)

Killed	145
Wounded	599
Missing	31
Captured	13
Battle Casualties	788
Non-Battle Casualties	1,081
Total Casualties	1,879
Percent of T/O Strength	13.3

Campaigns

Rhineland
Central Europe

Individual Awards

Distinguished Service Cross	1
Silver Star	166
Soldiers Medal	7
Bronze Star	651
Air Medal	40

Prisoners of War Taken 107,406

COMPOSITION

5th Infantry
14th Infantry
66th Infantry
71st Reconnaissance Troop (Mechanized)
271st Engineer Combat Battalion
371st Medical Battalion
71st Division Artillery
607th Field Artillery Battalion (105mm Howitzer)
608th Field Artillery Battalion (105mm Howitzer)
609th Field Artillery Battalion (105mm Howitzer)
564th Field Artillery Battalion (155mm Howitzer)
Special Troops
771st Ordnance Light Maintenance Company
251st Quartermaster Company
571st Signal Company
Military Police Platoon
Headquarters Company
Band

ATTACHMENTS

Antiaircraft Artillery

530th AAA AW Bn (Mbl)

15 Mar 45-10 May 45

Armored

749th Tk Bn	15 Mar 45-23 Mar 45
761st Tk Bn	28 Mar 45-10 May 45

Chemical

Co B, 91st Cml Mort Bn	5 Apr 45-15 Apr 45
Co A, 91st Cml Mort Bn	13 Apr 45-15 Apr 45
Co C, 97th Cml Mort Bn	15 Apr 45-17 Apr 45
Co A, 81st Cml Mort Bn	21 Apr 45-23 Apr 45
81st Cml Mort Bn (- Co A)	25 Apr 45-27 Apr 45

Field Artillery

93d Armd FA Bn	25 Mar 45-27 Mar 45
242d FA Bn (105mm How)	25 Mar 45-29 Mar 45
69th Armd FA Bn	25 Mar 45-29 Mar 45
744th FA Bn (8" How)	2 May 45-3 May 45
204th FA Gp	2 May 45-6 May 45
622d FA Bn	2 May 45-6 May 45

Tank Destroyer

635th TD Bn (T)

15 Mar 45-10 May 45