What route did the 39th Infantry Regiment take from St Lo to Wittscheidt in 1944 and what battles did they participated in?

Answer 1

I know the route that the 39th Inf. Regt. took from when it landed on Utah Beach, June 10, 1944 to the vicinity of Wittscheidt on Oct. 10, 1944. I also know the battles & campaigns that the 39th was in during that time period. Richard V. Horrell WW 2 Connections.com

Answer 2

This excerpt is from Grunts.com History of the 39th Infantry Division Related Web Sites: 39th Separate Infantry Brigade, 7th Infantry Division (LIGHT) The 39th Infantry Division was first activated on July 18, 1917 and was comprised of soldiers from Arkansas, Mississippi and Louisiana. On August 25, 1917 the Division reported to Camp Beauregard, LA for training. Due to a shortage of weapond, ammunition and other supplies, the 39th was not able to meet its training deadlines (like many other units) and instead served as a training unit for other Divisions heading overseas. The 39th Division did not serve overseas in France and was demobilized on January 23, 1919. After demobilization, the 39th continued to be headquartered at Camp Beauregard. Its primary mission was to assist in the training of other National Guard units as well as regular state duties. When World War Two began, Camp Beauregard became very active with the creation of the 3rd Armored Division. Many of the troops of the 39th volunteered for service with the new Division and shipped with the 3rd Armored to Europe in 1944. The 39th Division itself was never activated for service in World War Two, instead its Soldiers were assigned to other overseas units. This is probably the answer you're looking for. Sorry about the previous one. Frank 39th Infantry Regiment World War II Reactivation of the 9th Division, inactive for more than twenty years after it was demobilized in 1919, was on Aug 1, 1940 at Fort Bragg, NC (formerly Camp Greene). The division was planned as an assault unit and received amphibious warfare training in early 1942. Designated as the 9th Infantry Division on Aug 1, 1942. The 39th Infantry Regiment along with the 47th and 60th Infantry Regiments rounded out the infantry. Also attached at that time the 15th Engineer Combat Battalion and the 9th Medical Battalion. The 39th Infantry Regiment was the first to ship overseas. Departing Camp Drum, New York on Sep 26, 1942. The 39th IR went first to England to await the North Africa invasion. The division saw its first action on Nov 8, 1942, when the 39th IR landed east of Algiers, the sister regiments, the 47th IR at Safi and the 60th IR at Mehdia. The first of many outstanding achievements was the division artillery’s 100 hour forced march from Tlemcen, Algeria covering a distance of 777 miles, on slippery, winding road to Kasserine Pass at the Tunisian front. German General Rommel’s thrust was blunted, than stopped cold. The Division Artillery was credited with halting the German advances against American troops, earning the Division’s first, of 19, Distinguish Unit Citations. The 9th ID entered combat as a division for the first time on Mar 28, 1943 in southern Tunisia in El Guettar, where bitter battles was fought for hills 290, 369 and 772. On Apr 11, 1943 the division moved northward and attacked Sedjenane sector enveloping the Green Bald Hill positions. Djebel, Dandys, Mrata and Cheniti were other captured towns on the way to attack Bizerti and entering the city on May 8, 1943. The entire 9th ID embarked for Sicily. Outside the Palermo Harbor on Aug 1, 1943, the troop transports were under a two hour aerial attack by German aircraft but suffered no losses. The 39th IR led the attack on Tronia. They advanced east to attack and occupy Randazzo, key point in the enemy’s last line before Messina. The division stayed until Aug 20, 1943 when it was announced officially that the entire Sicilian Campaign was over . The 9th ID was withdrawn and sent to England, departing the Mediterranean Theater on Nov 25, 1943, to begin preparation for the Normandy amphibious landing. The 9th ID landed on Utah Beach (D+4) Jun 10, 1944. The 39th IR was temporarily attached to the 4th ID. During this period of attachment, the 39th IR cleared the beaches from Taret de Ravenoville to the Montebouge-Quineville ridgeline. Which has been used by the Germans to shell the Utah Beach area. The division was first committed to action on June 14, 1944 in an attack toward Columbe. The 9th ID on Jun 16, 1944 reinforced by one regiment of the 90th ID attacked to establish a bridgehead across the Douve. Along with elements of the 82nd Airborne Division, the 9th ID secured jump off points along Douve. On Jun 17-18 1944 reaching the West Coast of Cotentin, the 9th ID cutoff all German retreat to the south. The 9th ID began its drive to Cherborg, attacking the main fortification belt in Cotentin peninsula. The 9th ID arrived in the Taute sector, south of Carentan, on Jul 9, 1944. On Jul 11, 1944 the German Panzer Lehr Division, in the Le Desert sector hit the 9th ID but slowly advanced against determined resistance and reached the Periers-St Lo road on Jul 18, 1944, after sustaining very high casualties. At one point the 82nd AD was too spent to exploit an attack. The 9th ID moved into the positions and pushed 13 miles in two days, to be the first Allied Force to liberate the belgian town of Momignies. The 9th ID began its attack on Hitler’s Deutschland on Sep 14, 1944. The 47th IR was the first Allied unit to completely breach the Siegfried Line, the 39th and 60th IR meantime drove into the Hurtgen Forest. The American troops came to refer to the Hurtgen as the “Death Factory” continuing for 3 long months. On Oct 6, 1944 the 39th and 60th IR began their first attack on Schmidt. By Oct 16, 1944 the advance was halted at Germeter, with a gain of but 3,000 yards at a total cost of 4,500 men. When the German Ardennes Offensive struck, on Oct Dec 16, 1944, the battle was a bitter one for the 9th ID. It repulsed a German attack in this area aimed to expanding the base of the “Bulge”. It held a defensive sector from Kalterherberg in the Hurtgen to Elsenborn in the Ardennes through out Jan 1945. The 9th ID was the first to establish a bridgehead east of the Rhine after crossing the Remagen, In helping close the Ruhr pocket, the 9th ID withstood a savage attempt to break out, then moved in to mop up. The 9th ID was with the 9th Army in north central Europe when VE Day was announced. Aug 1, 1945 found just about all the division veterans gone. They had participated in 8 Campaigns, spent 304 days in combat, and suffered over 22,000 casualties and 4,581 KIAs. These men who wore the 9th Infantry Division Octofoil must never be forgotten.