17th Infantry Division (United States)
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The 17th Division of the
United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...
was formed twice during the
First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. It was then recreated a third time as a
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
'phantom division' as part of Fortitude South II.Holt. 2005. p. 903.


First World War

The 17th Division first appeared on the rolls of the U.S. Army as a National Guard division. After being activated as a National Guard division, it was quickly redesignated the 38th Division. The 17th Division was reestablished in 1918 as a war service ( National Army) division. The 17th Division included the 33rd Infantry Brigade (September 1918 – February 1919), with the
5th Fifth is the ordinal form of the number five. Fifth or The Fifth may refer to: * Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, as in the expression "pleading the Fifth" * Fifth column, a political term * Fifth disease, a contagious rash tha ...
and 83rd Regiments, and the 34th Brigade with the 29th and 84th Regiments.McGrath, 2009, p. 167. It also included the 17th Field Artillery Brigade. The 5th Infantry Regiment was assigned on 27 July 1918 to the 17th Division and relieved on 10 February 1919. The 17th Division was intended to be a replacement and school division. The 17th Division did not go overseas and demobilized in January 1919 at Camp Beauregard,
Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...
.Beamish, 2005, p. 566.


Second World War

In 1943-44 it was decided to 'reform' the 17th Infantry Division as a military deception. The division was depicted as arriving in England in June 1944, where it came under the control of US XXXVII Corps, US 14th Army, initially the division was located around
Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...
, Staffordshire prior to the division moving to
Hatfield Peverel Hatfield Peverel is a village and civil parish at the centre of Essex, England. It is located 6 miles (10 km) north-east from Chelmsford, the nearest large city, which it is connected by road and rail. The parish includes the hamlets of ...
in
Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and Grea ...
during July 1944. Depicted as one of the assault divisions in the Pas de Calais landings it would have landed to the left of the US 59th Infantry Division and been followed by the US 25th Armored Division of the US XXXIII Corps.Hesketh. 1999. p. 418. In the aftermath of Fortitude South II was depicted as moving to the region around Brighton- Burgess Hill during August 1944 where it was notionally placed under the command of US XXXIII Corps. In October 1944 the division moved to South Wales and was disposed of by announcing that it had been disbanded to provide replacements for other units. In addition to the usual divisional support units the 17th Infantry Division was notionally composed of: * 293rd Infantry Regiment * 336th Infantry Regiment * 375th Infantry Regiment


Notes


References

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:017 017th Infantry Division, U.S. Operation Quicksilver (deception plan) formations Military units and formations established in 1917 Military units and formations disestablished in 1919 United States Army divisions of World War I