106th Inf Div History

Division History:
Who was the 106th Infantry Division of World War II? The organic units of the 106th Infantry Division were the 106th Division Headquarters Company; 106th Signal Company; 806th Ordnance (LM) Company; 106th Quartermaster Company; 106th Reconnaissance Troop; 106th Military Police Platoon; the 422nd, 423rd and 424th Regiments; 589th, 590th, 591st Field Artillery Battalions (105mm Howitzers) and the 592nd Field Artillery Battalion (155mm Howitzers); 81st Engineer Combat Battalion and 331st Medical Battalion. The Division was activated in Fort Jackson, South Carolina on March 15, 1943. After completing Tennessee Maneuvers in late March 1944 the Division was transferred to Camp Atterbury Indiana, near Columbus just south of Indianapolis, Indiana. While there the Division lost over 7,000 enlisted men and 600 officers who were sent to replacement depots. Many of the 106th men were sent to the Fort Meade, Maryland Replacement Depot and ended up in divisions that became a part of the invasion of Europe in June of 1944.

Over the summer of 1944 the Division was filled with replacements from other training units., the Army Air Corps, Army Specialized Training Program (ASTP), Coast Artillery and AAA Artillery units and others. In October 1944 the Division shipped overseas to England for a brief period of training, then shipped across the channel to the LeHavre, France area. On 11 December 1944 the men of the 106th replaced the U.S. 2nd Division on line. The 2nd Division, in the Schnee Eifel area of the German/Belgium border east of St.Vith, Belgium, was replaced man for man and gun for gun. The normal coverage, for a Division on the front line, was approximately five miles. The 106th's positions extended for 21 miles and jutted out, like a thumb, into Germany in a salient extending approximately 7 miles.

On 11 December, the average age of the men of the 106th was 22 years. I was a 19 year old Sergeant machine-gun squad leader in "M" Company, 423rd Infantry Regiment. We were equipped with 30 caliber water-cooled machine guns and 81 mm mortars. Our responsibility was heavy weapons support for I, K and L Companies (the third Battalion) of the 423rd Infantry Regiment.

On 16 December, 1944 the Germans launched their ARDENNES OFFENSIVE. The 106th positioned in the Schnee Eifel salient was hit with their full force. After three days the 422nd and 423rd Regiments were surrounded and completely cut off from the rest of the U.S. Army. The 424th Regiment, whose position was south of the 422nd and 423rd, were able to fight and withdraw. They joined the 112th Regiment of the 28th Division, who were in position just south of the them. The two regiments, the 424th of the 106th and the 112th of the 28th, formed a Regimental Combat Team. They were successful during the oncoming days of January to help repel the German forces from the former Allied positions. The battle which lasted from 16 December 1944 to 25 January 1945 was known in the U.S. Forces journals and history books as The Battle of the Bulge. European historians refer to the same battle as The ARDENNES OFFENSIVE.

The 106th Infantry Division, when they caught to brunt of the German Offensive on 16 December 1944:

Had been on the Continent only 15 days.
Had been in place in a "quiet" sector for orientation.
Had the youngest troops (average age - 22) of any American Division on line.
Had been in their new positions only five days.
Had no prior warning that the Germans were going to attack.
Occupied a front line that covered over three times the normal distance.

The history of the 106th Infantry Division is well documented in a book that was written, shortly after the war, by Colonel Ernst Dupuy a renowned World War II historian. Entitled ST. VITH: A Lion in the WAY. It is available in some libraries (ISBN 0-89839-092-3). A reprint of the book may be available from Battery Press, Inc., PO Box 198885 - Uptown Station; Nashville, TN 37219. ($36.95 ppd, the prices have varied) There are very few copies left and there will be no reprints.
Go to Books

Read my War Diary

Contact 106^th Infantry Division Association

For loads of information on the 106^th as well as other WWII Infantry Divisions that trained at Camp Atterbury, Indiana
Go to http://www.indianamilitary.org/