US Army Training Center - Yearbook (Fort Jackson, SC)

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l ' G it Advancing to the front and on 5 December 1943 a convoy be ' - th or the invasion of western Europe Infantry Division sailed from N: - In- drew ne , training program was expended bH1'ka'Ci011- an i nsified and on 1 uly 1944 the division North Ireland, Where a varied program of train- Europe. ATI' ' Jul 01' D-Day plus 23, the ing was instigated W - .4 . as .,,.. . - to . .., .' 3 . a Beach on the Cher- small-unit. tactics. While there, the ' ' I a, where Hnal preparations for inspected by General Dwight D. Eisenho - g - e to battle were completed. the late Lieutenant General George S. Patton. On 7 July, three days after crossing the Eng-

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Tanks on guard in cover of the shelled building by German submarines, it to patrol the Atlantic Coast. For six weeks Win- ter of 1942, units of the division patrolledfithe ard In March, 1943, the 8th moved tof,Qa1iip'1.aguna, Arizona, and participated in maneuvers. During this period of training shores from North Carolina to the F1orida.mIf1e59g,ifpffsitxgyas de-motorized and again designated a stand- In April, 1942, after having Jackson, it became the 8th Motorigedfflgiision. In September of that year the divisiongvvas ordered to participate in the Tennessee-lllianeuvers and from there headed for a nevwhjhome at Fort Leon- K'-L .. N, E ardffirifantry division. Returning from desert maneiiverskto Camp Forrest, Tennessee, prepara- tions vvere' immediately begun for an overseas movementsrw1.-3i1QQ.EfNovember the division arrived at the Camp 'il- liner, New Jersey, staging area,

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lish Channel, the 8th tasted battle. The division Went gallantly on to cross the Ay River on the 26th, pushed through through Rennes on 8 Aug- ust, and attacked Brest in September. The Crozon Peninsula was cleared on 19 September and the division drove across France to Luxembourg, moved to the Hurtgen Forest in Germany on 20 November, cleared Hurtgen on the 28th and Brandenburg on 3 December and pushed on to the Roer. That river was crossed on 23 February, Duren taken on the 25th and the Erft Canal on the 28th. The 8th reached the Rhine near Ro- denkirchen on 7 March and maintained positions along the river near Koln. On 6 April the divi- sion attacked northwest to aid in the destruction of enemy forces in the Ruhr Pocket, and by the 17th had completed its mission. After security duty, the division, under operational control of the British Second Army, drove across the Elbe on 1 May and had penetrated to Schwerin, Ger- many, when the War in Europe ended. Returning to the United States, the division was again returned to an inactive status at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri on 20 November 1945. Battle credits during World War I include the Streamer Without Inscription, and during World War II, Battle Streamers indicating the Normandy, Northern France, Rhineland and Cen- Seeking out Nazi snipers Flame thrower - an important weapon of World War II ik