1st Infantry Division History in WWIIBig Red OneFighting First "No Mission Too Difficult, No Sacrifice Too Great"
"Duty First"
The 1st Infantry Division is the oldest continuously serving division in the United States Army. The Big Red One, as the Division is commonly known, entered World War II at Oran, North Africa, as part of the "Torch" Invasion, the first American campaign against Germany. The initial lessons of combat were harsh and many men were casualties in the following campaign in Tunisia. On May 9, 1943, the commander of the German "Afrika Korps" surrendered his force of 40,000.
The Division then moved on to take Sicily in "Operation Husky." The1st Division stormed ashore at Gela, July 10, 1943, and quickly overpowered the preliminary Italian defenses.
On D-Day, June 6,1944, the Big Red One stormed ashore at Omaha Beach. Soon after H-Hour, the Division's 16th Regiment was fighting for its life on a strip of beach near Coleville-sur-Mer. The beach was so congested with the dead and dying, there was no room to land reinforcements. Col. George Taylor, commander of the 16th Infantry Regt., told his men, "Two kinds of people are staying on this beach! The dead and those who are going to die! Now, let's get the hell out of here!" Slowly, the move inland got underway. The Division continued its push into Germany, crossing the Rhine River. On Dec. 16, 24 enemy divisions, 10 of which were armored, launched a massive counterattack in the Ardennes sector, resulting in what became known as the Battle of the Bulge.
On Jan. 15, 1945, the First Infantry attacked and penetrated the Siegfried line for the second time and occupied the Remagen bridgehead.
On Easter Sunday, April 1, 1945, the Division marched 150 miles to the east of Siegen. On April 8, the Division crossed the Weser river into Czechoslovakia. The war was over May 8, 1945. At the end of World War II, the Division had suffered 21,023 casualties and 43,743 men had served in its ranks. Its soldiers had won a total of 20,752 medals and awards, including 16 Congressional Medals of Honor. Over 100,000 prisoners had been taken. Following the war, the First Divisionremained in Germany as occupation troops, until 1955, when the Division moved to Fort Riley, Kansas.
PRIMARY SOURCES: http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/agency/army/1id.htm http://64.78.33.72/history/http://www.1id.army.mil/bigredone/history.aspx
