US Army Training Center - Yearbook (Fort Carson, CO)

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fffkfory of fire 91W Dfiflklbn - - Me 0la' Rehhblesu Morocco . Tunisia , Sicily . Normandy St. Lo Rhur Pocket To the soldiers of the 9th Infantry Division these names are as real as the steel-grey of the guns they shoulder. For these names comprise the for- midable record of the 9th - the Old Reliable, The men in this division may not have fought these battles, but you can be sure they know the story of troops which battered and hammered their wav across the sands of Africa, the hills of Sicily and into the hordes of enemv defenders on the European continent during SVorld War II. In July, 1936 the 9th Division celebrated its 38th anniversary as a combat- readv combat-proven team . Its history stretches back to july 1918 at Camp Sheridan, Ala, when present units of the 9th saw action during YVorld Har I campaigns. The 39th Infantry. the Falcons. saw action on the battlefields of France as they joined in the Aisne-Nlarne offensive which proved to be the turning point of WYYI and eventually cleared the wav for Allied victory. The whole division was reactivated on August 1, 1940, and began training for its YVorld IVar II role at ft. Bragg, N. C. Elements of the 9th began leaving for the North African Theater of Operation in late 1942. Major combat achievements include spearheading the invasion of North Africa and Sicily, cutting off the Cotentin Peninsula in France and reducing the Ruhr Pocket.

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The Division was the first across the Rhine. The Old Reliables first went into action on November 8, 1942, when the 39th 'Regimental Combat Team landed at Algiers, the 47th Team hit the beach at Safi, Morocco and the 60th smashed into the beach at Port Lyautey, Morrocco. While the 60th was fighting at Maknassy, Tunisia, the remainder of the Division moved to El Guettar, attacking the enemy on the Gafsa-Gabes axis in order to relieve pressure on British forces to the south. In following weeks, the Division continued its steady drive toward Bizerte, On May 7, 1943, its troops rolled through the city to mop up final resistance in Tunisia. Next came Sicily, where, on August 9, it went into action at Troina. Three days lat-er, one element had reached Floresta and another had occupied Badazzo, keypoint of the enemy's last defense before Messina. The Divisio11 remained in position until August 20, when it was officially announced that the enemy had been defeated in Sicily. Leaving the island in November of 1943, the 9th went to England to train for the invasion of France, landing in Normandy on D-Day, june 6. The 39th saw action first, capturing Quinneville. Following that the Divi- sion drove across the Dueve River, reaching the east coast near St. Lo, D'Ourville and Barneville on june 17.