106th Infantry Division (United States) - History

History

The 106th Infantry Division's Headquarters and Headquarters Company was constituted on paper on 5 May 1942 in the Army of the United States. It was actually activated on 15 March 1943 at Fort Jackson, South Carolina with a cadre from the 80th Infantry Division. Following Basic and Advanced Infantry Training, the Division moved on 28 March 1944 to Tennessee to participate in the Second Army #5 Maneuvers.

During World War II, the 106th Infantry Division relieved the 2nd Infantry Division in the Schnee Eifel on 11 December 1944, with its 424th Infantry Regiment was sent to Winterspelt. The Ardennes-Alsace Campaign attack was thrown in force at the 106th on 16 December 1944.

The division's 422nd and 423rd Infantry Regiments were encircled and cut off from the remainder of the Division by a junction of enemy forces in the vicinity of Schonberg. They regrouped for a counterattack but were blocked by the enemy and lost to the Division on 18 December 1944. The two Regiments surrendered to the Germans on 19 December 1944.

The rest of the Division, reinforced by the 112th Infantry Regiment of the 28th Infantry Division, withdrew over the Our River, and joined other units at Saint Vith. Along with the city of Bastogne to the south, St. Vith was a road and rail junction city considered vital to the German goal of breaking through Allied lines to split American and British forces and reach the Belgian port city of Antwerp. A scratch force of 106th Division personnel, in particular the division's 81st Engineer Combat Battalion, was organized and led by the 81st's 28-year-old commanding officer, Lt. Col. Thomas Riggs, in a five-day holding action (17–21 December) on a thin ridge line a mile outside St. Vith, against German forces vastly superior in numbers and armament (only a few hundred combat-green Americans against many thousands of veteran Germans). For this heroic stand, the 81st Engineer Combat Battalion was later awarded the Distinguished Unit Citation for gallantry.

The stubborn defense of St. Vith by the 106th has been credited with ruining the German timetable for reaching Antwerp and thus dooming the Bulge offensive for the Germans. The battle of the surrounded 101st Airborne Division at Bastogne is better known in the popular history of the war, but the contribution to victory of the Golden Lions is equally important.

The 81st and its allied units, including 168th Engineer Combat Battalion, all pulled back from St. Vith on 21 December 1944, under constant enemy fire, and withdrew over the Saint River at Vielsalm on 23 December. The following day, the 424th Regiment, attached to the 7th Armored Division, fought a delaying action at Manhay until ordered to an assembly area. From 25 December 1944 to 9 January 1945, the Division received reinforcements and supplies at Anthisnes, Belgium, and returned to the struggle, securing objectives along the Ennal-Logbierme line on 15 January after heavy fighting. After being pinched out by advancing divisions, the 106th assembled at Stavelot on 18 January for rehabilitation and training. It moved to the vicinity of Hunningen, 7 February 1945, for defensive patrols and training.

In March, the 424th advanced along the high ground between Berk and the Simmer River and was again pinched out at Olds on 7 March 1945. A period of training and security patrolling along the Rhine River followed, until 15 March 1945 when the Division moved to St. Quentin for rehabilitation and the reconstruction of lost units.

The division was reconstituted on 16 March 1945 when the 3rd Infantry Regiment (the Old Guard) and the 159th Infantry Regiment were attached to replace the two lost regiments. The division then moved back to Germany on 25 April 1945, where, for the remainder of its stay in Europe, the 106th handled POW enclosures and engaged in occupational duties.

In the meantime, the 422nd Infantry Regiment and the 423rd Infantry Regiment were reconstituted from replacements in France on 15 April 1945, were attached to the 66th Infantry Division in training status, and were still in this status when the Germans surrendered on 8 May 1945.

At the end of the war the division had seen 63 days of combat. It had suffered 417 KIA, 1,278 WIA, and 53 died of wounds. It lost 6,697 personnel taken prisoner. Of that total, 6,500 POWs were eventually returned to American military control after being released at war's end. The remainder were listed MIA.