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The 103rd Infantry Division ("Cactus Division") was a
unit Unit may refer to: Arts and entertainment * UNIT, a fictional military organization in the science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'' * Unit of action, a discrete piece of action (or beat) in a theatrical presentation Music * ''Unit'' (a ...
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 ...
that served in the U.S. Seventh Army of the
6th Army Group The 6th United States Army Group was an Allied Army Group that fought in the European Theater of Operations during World War II. Made up of field armies from both the United States Army and the French Army, it fought in France, Germany, Aus ...
during
World War II 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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
. It was variously assigned to the VI Corps, XV Corps, and XXI Corps. By war's end it was part of VI Corps' dash across Bavaria into the Alps, reaching Innsbruck, Austria, taking the
Brenner Pass The Brenner Pass (german: link=no, Brennerpass , shortly ; it, Passo del Brennero ) is a mountain pass through the Alps which forms the border between Italy and Austria. It is one of the principal passes of the Eastern Alpine range and ha ...
, and earning the honor of linking up with the U.S. Fifth Army coming north from
Vipiteno Sterzing (; it, Vipiteno ) is a comune in South Tyrol in northern Italy. It is the main town of the southern Wipptal, and the Eisack River flows through the medieval town. History Origin The town traces its roots to 14 B.C., when Nero Claudi ...
, Italy, joining the Italian and Western European fronts on 4 May 1945.Fifth Army History • Race to the Alps, Chapter VI : Conclusio

"4 May; the Reconnaissance Troop, 349th Infantry 8th Division met troops from
03rd Infantry Division Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * Second#Sexagesimal divisions of calendar time and day, 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (d ...
VI Corps of Seventh Army at 1051 at Vipiteno, 9 miles south of Brenner."


Interwar period

The division was constituted in the
Organized Reserve The United States Army Reserve (USAR) is a Military reserve force, reserve force of the United States Army. Together, the Army Reserve and the Army National Guard constitute the Army element of the reserve components of the United States Armed F ...
on 24 June 1921 and assigned to the states of
Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...
,
Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States. It is the list of U.S. states and territories by area, 6th largest and the list of U.S. states and territories by population, 14 ...
, and
New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe, New Mexico, Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque, New Mexico, Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Albuquerque metropolitan area, Tiguex , Offi ...
. The headquarters was organized on 31 August 1921 at the
Colorado State Capitol The Colorado State Capitol Building, located at 200 East Colfax Avenue in Denver, Colorado, United States, is the home of the Colorado General Assembly and the offices of the Governor of Colorado and Lieutenant Governor of Colorado. History ...
in
Denver, Colorado Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the United ...
, and was moved on 29 March 1922 to the Kittredge Building in Denver and remained there until the division was ordered into active military service for World War II.


World War II

*Campaigns: Ardennes-Alsace,
Rhineland The Rhineland (german: Rheinland; french: Rhénanie; nl, Rijnland; ksh, Rhingland; Latinised name: ''Rhenania'') is a loosely defined area of Western Germany along the Rhine, chiefly its middle section. Term Historically, the Rhineland ...
,
Central Europe Central Europe is an area of Europe between Western Europe and Eastern Europe, based on a common historical, social and cultural identity. The Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) between Catholicism and Protestantism significantly shaped the ...
*Awards: Distinguished Service Cross (United States)-12; Distinguished Service Medal (United States)-1;
Silver Star The Silver Star Medal (SSM) is the United States Armed Forces' third-highest military decoration for valor in combat. The Silver Star Medal is awarded primarily to members of the United States Armed Forces for gallantry in action against an ...
-299; LM-3; SM-14; BSM-2,669; AM-92 *Commanders: Maj. Gen. Charles C. Haffner Jr. (November 1942 – January 1945), Maj. Gen. Anthony C. McAuliffe (January–July 1945), Brig. Gen. John N. Robinson (August 1945 to inactivation).


Combat chronicle

The 103rd Infantry Division was ordered into active military service on 15 November 1942 at Camp Claiborne, Louisiana. The officer and enlisted cadre came from the 85th Infantry Division at Camp Shelby, Mississippi, and the enlisted fillers arrived from reception centers located across nearly the entire country, comprising installations in the 4th, 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th Service Commands ( Camp Grant, Illinois, 4,060; Fort Custer, Michigan, 3,845;
Fort Leavenworth, Kansas Fort Leavenworth () is a United States Army installation located in Leavenworth County, Kansas, in the city of Leavenworth. Built in 1827, it is the second oldest active United States Army post west of Washington, D.C., and the oldest perma ...
, 1,307;
Camp Dodge, Iowa Camp Dodge is a military installation in the city of Johnston, Iowa. Centrally located near the capital of Iowa, it currently serves as the headquarters of the Iowa National Guard. History Original construction of the post began in 1907, to pro ...
, 1,036;
Fort Snelling, Minnesota Fort Snelling is a former military fortification and National Historic Landmark in the U.S. state of Minnesota on the bluffs overlooking the confluence of the Minnesota and Mississippi Rivers. The military site was initially named Fort Saint Anth ...
, 990; Eighth and Ninth Service Command reception centers, 921;
Fort Bragg, North Carolina Fort Bragg is a military installation of the United States Army in North Carolina, and is one of the largest military installations in the world by population, with around 54,000 military personnel. The military reservation is located within Cu ...
, 600;
Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia Fort Oglethorpe is a city predominantly in Catoosa County with some portions in Walker County in the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 10,423. It is part of the Chattanooga, TN–GA Metropolitan Sta ...
, 600;
Fort McPherson, Georgia Fort McPherson was a U.S. Army military base located in Atlanta, Georgia, bordering the northern edge of the city of East Point, Georgia. It was the headquarters for the U.S. Army Installation Management Command, Southeast Region; the U.S. Arm ...
, 537;
Jefferson Barracks, Missouri The Jefferson Barracks Military Post is located on the Mississippi River at Lemay, Missouri, south of St. Louis. It was an important and active U.S. Army installation from 1826 through 1946. It is the oldest operating U.S. military installation ...
, 526;
Fort Jackson, South Carolina Fort Jackson is a United States Army installation, which TRADOC operates on for Basic Combat Training (BCT), and is located within the city of Columbia, South Carolina. This installation is named for Andrew Jackson, a United States Army gene ...
, 218). After nearly two years of training, the 103rd departed the United States for Europe on 5 October 1944. The division arrived at
Marseilles Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Fra ...
, France, 20 October 1944. It relieved the 3d Division at Chevry on 8 November, arrived at Docelles (Vosges) on 9 November, and attacked west of St. Dié, 16 November, in its drive through the
Vosges The Vosges ( , ; german: Vogesen ; Franconian and gsw, Vogese) are a range of low mountains in Eastern France, near its border with Germany. Together with the Palatine Forest to the north on the German side of the border, they form a single ...
. Meeting heavy resistance all the way, it crossed the Meurthe River, took St. Dié on 23 November and captured Diefenbach on 29 November and Selestat on 4 December. The division crossed the Zintzel river at Griesbach, 10 December 1944. Pushing through Climbach, the 103rd crossed the Lauter River into Germany, 15 December, and assaulted the outer defenses of the
Siegfried Line The Siegfried Line, known in German as the ''Westwall'', was a German defensive line built during the 1930s (started 1936) opposite the French Maginot Line. It stretched more than ; from Kleve on the border with the Netherlands, along the we ...
. On 22 December, the division moved west to the
Sarreguemines Sarreguemines (; German: ''Saargemünd'' , Lorraine Franconian: ''Saargemìnn'') is a commune in the Moselle department of the Grand Est administrative region in north-eastern France. It is the seat of an arrondissement and a canton. As of the ...
area where an active defense was maintained. The enemy offensive did not develop in its sector and the 103rd moved to Reichshofen, 14 January 1945, to take up positions along the Sauer River. On 15 January, General Anthony "Nuts" McAuliffe was redeployed from the
Battle of the Bulge The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Offensive, was the last major German offensive campaign on the Western Front during World War II. The battle lasted from 16 December 1944 to 28 January 1945, towards the end of the war in ...
and given command, which he retained until July 1945. Defensive patrols were active and a limited attack on Soufflenheim on 19 January was repulsed by the enemy. On 20 January, the division withdrew to the Moder and repulsed German advances near Muehlhausen, 23–25 January. The 103rd's offensive began on 15 March 1945. Crossing the Moder and Zintzel rivers and taking Muehlhausen against sharp opposition, the division moved over the Lauter river and penetrated the defenses of the Siegfried Line. As German resistance disintegrated, the 103rd reached the Upper Rhine Valley, 23 March, and engaged in mopping up operations in the plain west of the River Rhine. In April 1945, it received occupational duties until 20 April when it resumed the offensive, pursuing a fleeing enemy through Stuttgart and taking
Münsingen Münsingen (Highest Alemannic: ''Münsige'') is a municipality in the Bern-Mittelland administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. On 1 January 2013 the former municipality of Trimstein merged into Münsingen, and on 1 January ...
on 24 April. On 27 April, elements of the division entered Landsberg, where Kaufering concentration camp, a subcamp of Dachau, was liberated.''Report After Action: The Story of the 103d Infantry Division'', Ralph Mueller and Jerry Turk; 1945, Wagner'sche Universitats-Buchdruckerie, Innsbruck, Tyrol, Austria; distributor, The Infantry Journal, Washington 6, D. C., pp. 131–135 The men of the division crossed the
Danube River The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...
near Ulm on 26 April. On 3 May 1945, members of its 409th Infantry Regiment captured Innsbruck, Austria with little to no fighting. The 411th Infantry Regiment continued on to take the
Brenner Pass The Brenner Pass (german: link=no, Brennerpass , shortly ; it, Passo del Brennero ) is a mountain pass through the Alps which forms the border between Italy and Austria. It is one of the principal passes of the Eastern Alpine range and ha ...
and earn the honor of linking up with the 88th Infantry Division of the Fifth Army, which had been fighting its way north up the Italian peninsula. Troops met at
Vipiteno Sterzing (; it, Vipiteno ) is a comune in South Tyrol in northern Italy. It is the main town of the southern Wipptal, and the Eisack River flows through the medieval town. History Origin The town traces its roots to 14 B.C., when Nero Claudi ...
, Italy, near the Austrian border, on 4 May 1945, joining the Italian and Western European fronts. After
Victory in Europe Day Victory in Europe Day is the day celebrating the formal acceptance by the Allies of World War II of Germany's unconditional surrender of its armed forces on Tuesday, 8 May 1945, marking the official end of World War II in Europe in the Easte ...
, the division received occupational duties until it left for home and inactivation. It returned to the continental U.S. on 10 September 1945, and was inactivated on 22 September 1945 at
Camp Kilmer Located in Central New Jersey, Camp Kilmer is a former United States Army camp that was activated in June 1942 as a staging area and part of an installation of the New York Port of Embarkation. The camp was organized as part of the Army Service ...
, New Jersey.


Casualties

*Total battle casualties: 4,558Army Battle Casualties and Nonbattle Deaths in World War II, Final Report (Statistical and Accounting Branch Office of the Adjutant General, 1 June 1953) *Killed in action: 720 *Wounded in action: 3,329 *Missing in action: 88 *Prisoner of war: 421


Order of battle

Components of the 103rd Infantry Division included:Sources: 1. The Army Almanac: A Book of Facts Concerning the Army of the United States, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1950. 2. Order of Battle of the United States Army, World War II, European Theater of Operations, Office of the Theater Historian, Paris, France, December 194

/ref> * Headquarters, 103rd Infantry Division * 409th Infantry Regiment * 410th Infantry Regiment * 411th Infantry Regiment * Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 103rd Infantry Division Artillery ** 382nd Field Artillery Battalion (105 mm) ** 383rd Field Artillery Battalion (105 mm) ** 384th Field Artillery Battalion (155 mm) ** 928th Field Artillery Battalion (105 mm) * 328th Engineer Combat Battalion * 328th Medical Battalion * 103rd Cavalry Reconnaissance Troop (Mechanized) * Headquarters, Special Troops, 103rd Infantry Division ** Headquarters Company, 103rd Infantry Division ** 803rd Ordnance Light Maintenance Company ** 103rd Quartermaster Company ** 103rd Signal Company ** Military Police Platoon ** Band * 103rd Counterintelligence Corps Detachment


Assignments in the European Theater of Operations

*1 November 1944: United States Seventh Army,
6th Army Group The 6th United States Army Group was an Allied Army Group that fought in the European Theater of Operations during World War II. Made up of field armies from both the United States Army and the French Army, it fought in France, Germany, Aus ...
*6 November 1944: VI Corps, Seventh Army *22 December 1944: XV Corps, Seventh Army *9 January 1945: XXI Corps, Seventh Army *16 January 1945: VI Corps, Seventh Army *29 March 1945: Seventh Army, 6th Army Group *19 April 1945: VI Corps, Seventh Army


Attached units

The following units, or their constituents, were attached for a time to the 103rd Infantry Division during its career:


''Antiaircraft Artillery''

* 353d Anti-Aircraft Artillery Battalion * 354th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Battalion


''Armored''

* 43rd Tank Battalion * 47th Tank Battalion * 48th Tank Battalion * 191st Tank Battalion * 756th Tank Battalion * 761st Tank Battalion * 781st Tank Battalion


''Field Artillery''

* 69th Armored Field Artillery Battalion * 242nd Field Artillery Battalion


''Tank Destroyer''

* 601st Tank Destroyer Battalion * 614th Tank Destroyer Battalion * 824th Tank Destroyer Battalion


Post war

The 103rd was activated as an Organized Reserve Corps division on 7 May 1947 in
Des Moines, Iowa Des Moines () is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small part of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moine ...
. Its combat elements were reorganized and redesignated as the 205th Infantry Brigade and the 103rd Operational Headquarters in February 1963. The 103rd Operational Headquarters was redesignated as the 103rd Command Headquarters (Divisional) in June 1963. In December 1965, the unit was reorganized as the 103rd Support Brigade. In September 1977, the unit was redesignated and reorganized as the 103rd Corps Support Command (COSCOM), the first Corps Support Command in the
United States Army Reserve The United States Army Reserve (USAR) is a reserve force of the United States Army. Together, the Army Reserve and the Army National Guard constitute the Army element of the reserve components of the United States Armed Forces. Since July 2020, ...
. On 15 September 1993, the 103rd COSCOM inactivated, followed by the creation of two new reserve units: 19th Theater Army Area Command (CONUS) and 3d COSCOM (CONUS). On 14 February 2006, the 103rd was redesignated as Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 103rd Sustainment Command. The 103rd Expeditionary Sustainment Command was activated as a reserve command, effective 16 September 2006. The division shoulder patch is worn by the United States Army Reserve
103rd Sustainment Command (Expeditionary) The 103rd Expeditionary Sustainment Command (ESC) is a subordinate command of 377th Theater Sustainment Command (United States). The 103rd Sustainment Command (Expeditionary) is located on the Fort Des Moines Joint Reserve Complex in Des Moines ...
.


References


External links

* https://web.archive.org/web/20031002001003/http://nuspel.org/reminiscences.pdf
103d Infantry Division Collection
Special Collections at The University of Southern Mississippi. {{Army Divisions (United States) 103d Infantry Division, U.S. Infantry Division, U.S. 103d Military units and formations established in 1921 Military units and formations disestablished in 1945 1921 establishments in the United States Infantry divisions of the United States Army in World War II