U.S. 90th Infantry Division
Encyclopedia
The 90th Infantry Division ("Tough 'Ombres") was a unit of the United States Army
that served in World War I
and World War II
.
Its heraldic descendant is the 90th Sustainment Brigade.
The 90th Infantry Division landed in England, 5 April 1944, and trained from 10 April to 4 June.
First elements of the division saw action on D-Day
, 6 June, on Utah Beach
, Normandy
, the remainder entering combat 10 June, cutting across the Merderet River
to take Pont l'Abbe in heavy fighting. After defensive action along the river Douve
, the division attacked to clear the Foret de Mont-Castre (Hill 122), clearing it by 11 July, in spite of fierce resistance. An attack on the island of Saint-Germain-sur-Sèves
failing, 23 July, the 90th bypassed it and took Périers
, 27 July.
On 12 August, the division drove across the Sarthe River
, north and east of Le Mans
, and took part in the closing of the Falaise Gap, by reaching 1st Polish Armored Division in Chambois
, 19 August. Historian Max Hastings
, analysing the Normandy campaign, wrote of the 90th that it "had shown itself to be one of the least effective formations among the Allied armies in Normandy".
It then raced across France, through Verdun
, 6 September, to participate in the siege of Metz
, 14 September-19 November, capturing Maizières-lès-Metz
, 30 October, and crossing the Moselle River
at Kœnigsmacker
, 9 November. Elements of the 90th Infantry assaulted and captured the German-held Fort de Koenigsmacker
9–12 November.
On 6 December 1944, the division pushed across the Saar River
and established a bridgehead north of Saarlautern (present-day Saarlouis
), 6–18 December, but with the outbreak of the Gerd von Rundstedt
's (Army Group A) drive, the Battle of the Bulge
, withdrew to the west bank on 19 December, and went on the defensive until 5 January 1945, when it shifted to the scene of the Ardennes
struggle, having been relieved along the Saar River by the 94th Infantry Division. At the Saar river the 90th Infantry troops murdered Waffen-SS prisoners in such a systematic manner that headquarters had to issue express orders to take Waffen-SS men alive so as to be able to obtain information from them. It drove across the Our River
, near Oberhausen
, 29 January, to establish and expand a bridgehead. In February, the division smashed through Siegfried Line
fortifications to the Prüm River
.
After a short rest, the 90th continued across the Moselle River to take Mainz
, 22 March, and crossed the rivers Rhine, the Main, and the Werra
in rapid succession. Pursuit continued to the Czech
border, 18 April 1945, and into the Sudetes mountain range. The division was en route to Prague
when they came upon the remaining 1500 emaciated prisoners left behind by the SS at Flossenbürg concentration camp
. Today, a memorial wall at the former camp honors the 90th as the liberators of Flossenbürg concentration camp
. A week later, word came that the war in Europe
ended on 8 May 1945.
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
that served in World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
and World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
Its heraldic descendant is the 90th Sustainment Brigade.
World War I
- Activated: August 1917.
- Overseas: June 1918.
- Major Operations: St. Mihiel, MeuseArgonne.
- Casualties: Total-7,549 (KIA-1,091; WIA-6,458).
- Commanders: Maj. Gen. Henry T. Allen (25 August 1917), Brig. Gen. Joseph A. Gaston (23 November 1917), Brig. Gen. W. H. Johnston (27 December 1917), Maj. Gen. Henry T. Allen (1 March 1918), Brig. Gen. Joseph P. O'Neil (24 November 1918), Maj. Gen. Charles H. Martin (30 December 1918).
- Returned to U.S. and inactivated: June 1919.
World War II
- Activated: 25 March 1942.
- Overseas: 23 March 1944.
- Distinguished Unit Citations: 5.
- Campaigns: Normandy, Northern France, Ardennes-Alsace, Rhineland, Central EuropeCentral Europe CampaignAfter crossing the Rhine the Western Allies fanned out overrunning all of western Germany from the Baltic in the north to Austria in the south before the Germans surrendered on 8 May 1945. This is known as the "Central Europe Campaign" in United States military histories.By the early spring of...
- Awards: MH-4 ; DSC-54 ; DSM-4 ; SS1,418 ; LM-19; DFC-4 ; SM-55 ; BSM-6,140 ; AM-121.
- Commanders: Maj. Gen. Henry Terrell, Jr.Henry Terrell, Jr.Henry Terrell, Jr. was a Major General in the United States Army. Terrell commanded the 90th Infantry Division from March 1942 to January 1944 during World War II.-External links:*...
(March 1942 – January 1944), Brig. Gen. Jay W. MacKelvie (January–July 1944), Maj. Gen. Eugene M. Landrum (July–August 1944), Maj. Gen. Raymond S. McLainRaymond S. McLainRaymond Stallings McLain was a general of the United States Army, rising to the rank of Lieutenant General....
(August–October 1944), Maj. Gen. James A. Van Fleet (October 1944 – February 1945), Maj. Gen. Lowell W. Rooks (February–March 1945), Maj. Gen. Herbert L. Earnest (March–November 1945). - Returned to U.S.: 16 December 1945.
- Inactivated: 27 December 1945.
Combat chronicle
First elements of the division saw action on D-Day
D-Day
D-Day is a term often used in military parlance to denote the day on which a combat attack or operation is to be initiated. "D-Day" often represents a variable, designating the day upon which some significant event will occur or has occurred; see Military designation of days and hours for similar...
, 6 June, on Utah Beach
Utah Beach
Utah Beach was the code name for the right flank, or westernmost, of the Allied landing beaches during the D-Day invasion of Normandy, as part of Operation Overlord on 6 June 1944...
, Normandy
Normandy
Normandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is in France.The continental territory covers 30,627 km² and forms the preponderant part of Normandy and roughly 5% of the territory of France. It is divided for administrative purposes into two régions:...
, the remainder entering combat 10 June, cutting across the Merderet River
Merderet
The Merderet is a 36 km long river in Normandy, France which is tributary to the Douve River. It runs roughly north-south down the middle of the Cotentin peninsula from Valognes to the junction with the Douve at Beuzeville la Bastille.-Hydrology:...
to take Pont l'Abbe in heavy fighting. After defensive action along the river Douve
Douve
The Douve or Ouve is a river, 79 kilometres in length, which rises in the commune of Tollevast, near Cherbourg in the department of Manche. Ouve is considered its old name : Ouve appears to have been misspelled over the course of time as "Douve river" and then as "River of the Douve"...
, the division attacked to clear the Foret de Mont-Castre (Hill 122), clearing it by 11 July, in spite of fierce resistance. An attack on the island of Saint-Germain-sur-Sèves
Saint-Germain-sur-Sèves
Saint-Germain-sur-Sèves is a commune in the Manche department in Normandy in north-western France.Prior to Operation Cobra in World War II it was an impediment, a small island in a stretch of marshy area. The position was held by a kampfgruppe of the Das Reich Division and the 6th Parachutist...
failing, 23 July, the 90th bypassed it and took Périers
Périers, Manche
Périers is a commune in the Manche department in Normandy in north-western France.-History:Périers was liberated by the 2nd Battalion, 359th Infantry Regiment, 90th Division, of the United States Army, on July 27, 1944.-Heraldry:...
, 27 July.
On 12 August, the division drove across the Sarthe River
Sarthe River
The Sarthe is a river in western France. Together with the river Mayenne it forms the river Maine, which is a tributary to the river Loire.Its source is in the Orne département, near Moulins-la-Marche...
, north and east of Le Mans
Le Mans
Le Mans is a city in France, located on the Sarthe River. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department and the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Le Mans. Le Mans is a part of the Pays de la Loire region.Its inhabitants are called Manceaux...
, and took part in the closing of the Falaise Gap, by reaching 1st Polish Armored Division in Chambois
Chambois
Chambois is a commune in the Orne département in north-western France. The city is remarkable for its Norman keep and was part of the Falaise pocket in 1944.-Norman keep:The Norman keep or Donjon was built in the 12th century...
, 19 August. Historian Max Hastings
Max Hastings
Sir Max Hugh Macdonald Hastings, FRSL is a British journalist, editor, historian and author. He is the son of Macdonald Hastings, the noted British journalist and war correspondent and Anne Scott-James, sometime editor of Harper's Bazaar.-Life and career:Hastings was educated at Charterhouse...
, analysing the Normandy campaign, wrote of the 90th that it "had shown itself to be one of the least effective formations among the Allied armies in Normandy".
It then raced across France, through Verdun
Verdun
Verdun is a city in the Meuse department in Lorraine in north-eastern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department.Verdun is the biggest city in Meuse, although the capital of the department is the slightly smaller city of Bar-le-Duc.- History :...
, 6 September, to participate in the siege of Metz
Metz
Metz is a city in the northeast of France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers.Metz is the capital of the Lorraine region and prefecture of the Moselle department. Located near the tripoint along the junction of France, Germany, and Luxembourg, Metz forms a central place...
, 14 September-19 November, capturing Maizières-lès-Metz
Maizières-lès-Metz
Maizières-lès-Metz is a commune in the Moselle department in Lorraine in north-eastern France.It was the original home of the German de Maizière family which, being Huguenots, had to emigrate from France to Prussia in the 17th century...
, 30 October, and crossing the Moselle River
Moselle River
The Moselle is a river flowing through France, Luxembourg, and Germany. It is a left tributary of the Rhine, joining the Rhine at Koblenz. A small part of Belgium is also drained by the Mosel through the Our....
at Kœnigsmacker
Kœnigsmacker
Kœnigsmacker is a commune in the Moselle department in Lorraine in north-eastern France.Kœnigsmacker was the birthplace of Father Jean-Vincent Scheil , a French Dominican scholar and Assyriologist, who was one of the discoverers of the Code of Hammurabi in Persia. The area was the scene of fighting...
, 9 November. Elements of the 90th Infantry assaulted and captured the German-held Fort de Koenigsmacker
Fort de Koenigsmacker
The Fort de Koenigsmacker is a fortification located to the northeast of Thionville in the Moselle department of France. It was built by Germany next to the town of the same name in the early 20th century after the annexation of the Moselle following the Franco-Prussian War...
9–12 November.
On 6 December 1944, the division pushed across the Saar River
Saar River
The Saar is a river in northeastern France and western Germany, and a right tributary of the Moselle. It rises in the Vosges mountains on the border of Alsace and Lorraine and flows northwards into the Moselle near Trier. It has two headstreams , that both start near Mont Donon, the highest peak...
and established a bridgehead north of Saarlautern (present-day Saarlouis
Saarlouis
Saarlouis is a city in the Saarland, Germany, capital of the district of Saarlouis. In 2006, the town had a population of 38,327. Saarlouis, as the name implies, is located at the river Saar....
), 6–18 December, but with the outbreak of the Gerd von Rundstedt
Gerd von Rundstedt
Karl Rudolf Gerd von Rundstedt was a Generalfeldmarschall of the German Army during World War II. He held some of the highest field commands in all phases of the war....
's (Army Group A) drive, the Battle of the Bulge
Battle of the Bulge
The Battle of the Bulge was a major German offensive , launched toward the end of World War II through the densely forested Ardennes mountain region of Wallonia in Belgium, hence its French name , and France and...
, withdrew to the west bank on 19 December, and went on the defensive until 5 January 1945, when it shifted to the scene of the Ardennes
Ardennes
The Ardennes is a region of extensive forests, rolling hills and ridges formed within the Givetian Ardennes mountain range, primarily in Belgium and Luxembourg, but stretching into France , and geologically into the Eifel...
struggle, having been relieved along the Saar River by the 94th Infantry Division. At the Saar river the 90th Infantry troops murdered Waffen-SS prisoners in such a systematic manner that headquarters had to issue express orders to take Waffen-SS men alive so as to be able to obtain information from them. It drove across the Our River
Our River
The Our is a river of Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany. It is a left tributary to the river Sauer/Sûre. Its total length is 78 km....
, near Oberhausen
Oberhausen
Oberhausen is a city on the river Emscher in the Ruhr Area, Germany, located between Duisburg and Essen . The city hosts the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen and its Gasometer Oberhausen is an anchor point of the European Route of Industrial Heritage. It is also well known for the...
, 29 January, to establish and expand a bridgehead. In February, the division smashed through Siegfried Line
Siegfried Line
The original Siegfried line was a line of defensive forts and tank defences built by Germany as a section of the Hindenburg Line 1916–1917 in northern France during World War I...
fortifications to the Prüm River
Prüm River
The Prüm is a river in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, left tributary of the Sauer. Its total length is 85 km. The Prüm rises in the Schneifel hills, north of the town of Prüm, close to the border with Belgium. It flows southward through Prüm, Waxweiler, Holsthum, and Irrel. The Prüm discharges to...
.
After a short rest, the 90th continued across the Moselle River to take Mainz
Mainz
Mainz under the Holy Roman Empire, and previously was a Roman fort city which commanded the west bank of the Rhine and formed part of the northernmost frontier of the Roman Empire...
, 22 March, and crossed the rivers Rhine, the Main, and the Werra
Werra
The Werra is a river in central Germany, the right-source river of the Weser. The Werra has its source near Eisfeld in southern Thuringia. After 293 km the Werra joins the river Fulda in the town of Hann. Münden, forming the Weser....
in rapid succession. Pursuit continued to the Czech
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
border, 18 April 1945, and into the Sudetes mountain range. The division was en route to Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
when they came upon the remaining 1500 emaciated prisoners left behind by the SS at Flossenbürg concentration camp
Flossenbürg concentration camp
Konzentrationslager Flossenbürg was a Nazi concentration camp built in May 1938 by the Schutzstaffel Economic-Administrative Main Office at Flossenbürg, in the Oberpfalz region of Bavaria, Germany, near the border with Czechoslovakia. Until its liberation in April 1945, more than 96,000 prisoners...
. Today, a memorial wall at the former camp honors the 90th as the liberators of Flossenbürg concentration camp
Flossenbürg concentration camp
Konzentrationslager Flossenbürg was a Nazi concentration camp built in May 1938 by the Schutzstaffel Economic-Administrative Main Office at Flossenbürg, in the Oberpfalz region of Bavaria, Germany, near the border with Czechoslovakia. Until its liberation in April 1945, more than 96,000 prisoners...
. A week later, word came that the war in Europe
European Theatre of World War II
The European Theatre of World War II was a huge area of heavy fighting across Europe from Germany's invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939 until the end of the war with the German unconditional surrender on May 8, 1945...
ended on 8 May 1945.
Assignments in the ETO
- 5 March 1944: Third Army.
- 23 March 1944: Third Army, but attached to First Army.
- 27 March 1944: VII Corps.
- 19 June 1944: VIII Corps.
- 30 July 1944: Third Army, but attached to First Army.
- 1 August 1944: XV Corps, Third Army, 12th Army Group.
- 17 August 1944: Third Army, 12th Army Group, but attached to V Corps, First Army.
- 25 August 1944: XV Corps, Third Army, 12th Army Group.
- 26 August 1944: XX CorpsXX Corps (United States)The XX Corps of the United States Army fought from northern France to Austria in World War II. Constituted by redesignating the IV Armored Corps, which had been activated at Camp Young, California on 5 September 1942, XX Corps became operational in France as part of Lieutenant General George S....
- 6 January 1945: III Corps.
- 26 January 1945: VIII Corps.
- 12 March 1945: XII Corps.
General
- Nickname: Tough 'Ombres; originally called the Texas-Oklahoma Division which was represented by the T & O on the shoulder patch.
- Shoulder patch: A khaki-colored square on which is superimposed a red letter "T", the lower part of which bisects the letter "O", also in red.
External links
- Tough 'Ombres! The Story of the 90th Infantry Division
- Official Website of the Tough 'Ombres
- 90th Infantry Division Preservation Group – Living History & Reenactment Articles
- "Tough 'Ombres!", Company "B", 359th Regiment, 90th Infantry Division Living History & Reenactment – Tough 'Ombres!
- Raw Combat Footage of the 90th Infantry Division – Combat Reels