U.S. 2nd Infantry Division (2ID) World War Two
(A tribute to our brave combat veterans) by Kraig J. Rice www.7-star-admiral.com

The division landed on Omaha Beach on D-Day + 1 (June 7, 1944) in Normandy, France. The 2ID was part of General Omar Bradley's First Army. Our brave men fought their way across Europe and were in Pilsen, Czechoslovakia, when the war against Germany was over with on May 8, 1945.

A Brief History of "the Indianhead Division" During World War 2
(copied from the division's history)

WORLD WAR II (1941 – 1945) Battle Legacy:

October 1943, transferred from Fort Sam Houston to Ireland
10 months training as part of Operation Overload, the Normandy invasion
June 7, 1944 (D Day +1) the division stormed Omaha Beach
After 39 day battle, Division liberated vital port city Brest on September 18, 1944
From positions around St. Vith, Belgium, sized Roer River Dam on December 11, 1944
Division held key roads leading to Liege and Antwerp during Battle of the Bulge
February 6, 1945 resumed offensive against fleeing Wehrmacht
Transferred from First Army to Patton’s Third Army
Last days of war spent moving across Czechoslovakia, halting at Pilsen
Met Soviet allies in Pilsen

THE EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS:

As part of the build up for operation Overload, the Normandy invasion, the 2d Infantry Division was transferred from fort Sam Houston to Ireland in October, 1943. There it spent ten months undergoing extensive training. On 7 June, 1944, D-Day + 1, the division stormed ashore at bloody Omaha Beach. While other units were stalled by the determined German resistance to the west, the Indianheads blasted through the hedgerows of Normandy. After fierce, 39-day battle, the 2d Division, fighting in the streets and alleyways, finally took their objective as the vital port city of Brest, which was liberated on 18 September, 1944. Once mop up operations were complete in the Normandy region, the division turned west and plunged headlong across France. From positions around St. Vith, Belgium, the Second was ordered, on 11 December, 1944, to attack and seize the Roer River dams. Having pierced the dreaded Siegfried Line, the division was advancing when Nazi Field Marshal Gerd Von Rundstedt unleashed a powerful German offensive in the Ardennes. Throughout this Battle of the Bulge the 2d Infantry Division held fast, preventing the enemy from seizing key roads leading to the cities of Liege and Antwerp.

Resuming the offensive on 6 February, 1945, the division joined the race to annihilate the fleeing Wehrmacht. Transferred from the First Army to Patton’s Third Army, the Indianheads spent their last days of the European War in a dash across Czechoslovakia, finally halting in the town of Pilsen. This city became a meeting point between invading armies from east and from west. It was in Pilsen that the soldiers of the 2nd Infantry Division first met their Soviet allies who represented the forces of communism that they would face so often in the future, no longer as allies.

Division Order of Battle in WW II:

9th Infantry Regiment 23rd Infantry Regiment 38th Infantry Regiment Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 2nd Infantry Division Artillery 12th Field Artillery Battalion (155 Mm) 15th Field Artillery Battalion (105 Mm) 37th Field Artillery Battalion (105 Mm) 38th Field Artillery Battalion (105 Mm) 2nd Engineer Combat Battalion 2nd Medical Battalion Headquarters Special Troops, Headquarters Company, 2nd Infantry Division 2nd Infantry Division 702nd Ordnance Company 2nd Quartermaster Company 2nd Reconnaissance Troop 2nd Signal Company 2nd Military Police Platoon 2nd Infantry Division Band Headquarters 2nd Infantry Division Units Attached Throughout Combat: 612th Tank Destroyer Battalion 741st Tank Battalion 462nd Anti-Aircraft Artillery Battalion 2nd Counterintelligence Corps Detachment Photo Interpretation Team No. 6 Order Of Battle Team No. 8 Military Intelligence Interpreter Team No. 415 Interrogation Prisoner of War Team No. 25 Interrogation Prisoner of War Team No. 27 Interrogation Prisoner of War Team No. 28 Detachment "I", 165th Signal Photo Company Air Support Party, IX Tactical Air Command

The division participated in the Normandy, Northern France, the Rhineland, Ardennes-Alsace, and the Central Europe Campaigns of World War Two. The Division suffered 3,031 killed in action and 12,785 wounded in action during the war.

The Second Infantry Division arrived back home at Ft. Swift, Texas on July 22, 1945.

Charles Daniel Curley Jr