 World War II: Basic
facts
Activated: 15 July
1943.
Overseas: 6
January 1945. Campaigns: North Apennines, Po Valley.
Awards: MH-1
; DSC-3 ; DSM-1 ; SS-449 ; LM-7; SM-15 ; BSM-7, 729.
Commanders: Maj.
Gen. Lloyd E. Jones (July 1943-November 1944), Maj. Gen. George P. Hays
(November 1944-15 November 1945), Maj. Gen. Lester J. Whitlock (9 August
1948).
Returned to U. S.:
11 August 1945.
Inactivated: 30
November 1945.
Redesignated: 10th
Infantry Division, 10 June 1948.
Reactivated: 1
July 1948.
The 10th Mountain
Division saw its first actual combat in Italy, although previously the 87th
Mountain Infantry Regiment had participated in the assault landing on Kiska,
15-17 August 1943, only to find the island completely deserted by the
Japanese.
Elements of the Division
began arriving in Italy in late December 1944, and after a brief training
period entered combat, 8 January 1945, near Cutigliano and Orsigna.
Preliminary defensive actions were followed, 19 February 1945, by a
concerted attack on the Silla-Mount Belvedere sector, and the peak was
cleared after several days of heavy fighting.
In early March the
Division fought its way north of Canolle, taking several more peaks, and
moving to within 15 miles of Bologna. Maintaining defensive positions for
the neat 3 weeks, the Division jumped off again in April, captured
Mongiorgio, 20 April, and entered the Po Valley, seizing the strategic
points, Pradalbino and Bomporto.
The 10th crossed the Po
River, 23 April, reached Verona, 25 April, and ran into heavy opposition at
Torbole and Nago. After an amphibious crossing of Lake Garda, it secured
Gargnano and Porto di Tremosine, 30 April, as German resistance in Italy
ended.
After the Germans
surrender in Italy, 2 May 1945, the Division went on security duty,
receiving the surrender of various German units and screening the areas of
occupation.
General
Nickname:
Mountain Division.
Shoulder patch:
White bordered blue powder keg on which are superimposed two crossed red
bayonets.
Association
[in 1950]: 10th
Mountain Division Alumni Association, Inc., c/o National Ski Patrol System,
415 Lexington Avenue, New York, N. Y.
Publications [as of 1950]:
America's Ski Troopers by Mr. Kenneth S.
Templeton, editor; Manz Corp., Evanston, Ill.; 1945.
History of the 10th
Mountain Division by unit members; Albert Love Enterprises, 1090
Capitol Avenue, Atlanta 2, Ga., 1947.
Mountaineers
by Mr. Theodore Lockwood, editor; Artcraft Press, 1863 Arapahoe Street,
Denver 2, Colo. : 1946
Pictorial History
by unit members; Albert Love Enterprises, 1090 Capitol Avenue, Atlanta
2, Ga., 1944.
Night Climb (Story of
the Tenth Division) by Frank Harper; Longmans Green & Co., New
York.
|
