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FACT SHEET ON THE 34th INFANTRY DIVISION

NICKNAME: Red Bull Division.

SHOULDER PATCH: A bovine skull, in red, on an olla of black. An olla is a Mexican water flask and is suggestive of division's training in New Mexico.

SLOGAN: "Attach, Attack, Attack!"

SOURCE OF DIVISION: National Guard units from North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa and Minnesota.

HISTORY: Organized at Camp Cody, Now Mexico, on 17 Oct. 1917. Elements of the division went overseas between Sept. and Oct. 1918. Most of the division personnel was sent to other organizations. Headquarters and the permanent cadre returned to U.S. in Dec. 1918. (The 135th Infantry dates back to the early Nebraska Militia Brigade, 1854. Participated in Indian campaigns, Civil War, and all succeeding wars. "Buffalo Bill" Cody and "Black Jack" Pershing were former members. In 1898 the 135th took possession of Wake Island for U.S.)

INDUCTION DATE: 10 February 1941.

INACTIVATION DATE: 3 November 1945, Hampton Roads, Va.

TRAINING: After basic training at Camp Claiborne, La., division took part in Third Army maneuvers in Louisiana which started 21 Sept. 1941. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor certain units were dispatched to key places in the southern states for security purposes.

LEFT THIS COUNTRY: Elenents shipped out between 14 Jan. and 13 May 1942 for Northern Ireland. By end of May entire division was in Ireland.

OVERSEAS TRAINING: Trained in Northern Ireland where it held maneuvers with armored and Infantry units. Had amphibious training in Scotland. Had small unit training in Algiers. Later trained under the Fifth Army at the Invasion Training Center.

BATTLE CREDITS (Division): Tunisia, Naples-Foggia, Rome-Arno, Northern Apennines and Po Valley.

AWARDS: lst Battalion, 168th Inf. Rogt. received Distinguished Unit Citation for action on Mount Pantano 29 Nov. to 3 Dec. 1943; 2d Battalion, 168th Inf. Regt. received Distinguished Unit Citation for action 6 to 13 Jan. 1944. Up to 31 May 1945, men of the division had won 15,000 Purple Hearts; 9 Medals of Honor; 98 Distinguished Service Crosses; 116 Legions of Merit; 1074 Silver Stars; 1954 Bronze Star Medals; 7 British awards; 7 French awards; 6 Italian awards; 1 Distinguished Flying Gross; 34 Air Medals with 52 Oak Leaf Clusters.

SUCCESSIVE COMMANDING GENERALS: Maj. Gen. Ellard A. Walsh from Feb. to Aug. 1941; Maj. Gen. Russell P. Hartle, Aug. 1941 to May 1942; Maj. Gen. Charles W. Ryder from May 1942 to July 1944; Maj. Gen. Charles L. Bolte from July 1944 to inactivation.

CURRENT COMMANDING GENERAL: Maj. Gen. Bolte was born in Chicago, Ill., on 8 May 1895. He was graduated from Armour Institute of Technology with a bachelor of science degree in 1917. Meanwhile he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Infantry Reserve in 1917 and commissioned in the Regular Amy on 25 Oct. 1917. Sailed for France with the 58th Infantry Regiment and took part in the Aisne-Marne, St. Mihiel and Meuse-Argonne offensives. Returned to U.S. in 1919. From then until 1926 he held various staff positions. In 1927 he was graduated from the Infantry School, was assigned as an instructor at the school later. Graduated from the Command and General Staff School 1932. Four year tour of duty in China followed. Was graduated from Army War College in 1937 where he remained as an instructor until assignment in 1940 to the War Planning Group. In 1941 he began a tour of duty in London and in Jan. 1942, was assigned as Chief of Staff of U.S. Forces in the United Kingdom. The following July he was appointed Chief of Staff of the newly formed European Theater of Operations. He returned to U.S. late in 1942 for duty with Army Ground Forces in Washington, D. C. In 1943 he was appointed commanding general of the 69th Infantry Division and in July 1944, as commanding general of the 34th.

COMPONENT UNITS: 133rd, 135th and 168th Infantry Regiments; 151st, 125th and 175th (L) and 185th (M) Field Artillery Battalions.

COMBAT HIGHLIGHTS: First American division to be sent to the European Theater of Operations, the 34th's first mission as part of the Eastern Assault Force was to land near Algiers, North Africa. On 8 Nov. 1942, it landed on the shores of North Africa. By 11 Nov. 1942, an armistice was consummated. During the months that followed the 34th was an emaciated division. Various units were pulled out to serve several purposes in opening of the Tunisian campaign. Though a great many of its men saw bitter fighting, the functioning was not divisional at this period. By the middle of March 1943, the 34th once more resumed the offensive as a division in the Sbeitla-Hadjeb el Aioun sector. This was open warfare. There were no flanks, no front and practically no rear. Fondouk Gap was the first objective. It was a head on assault. Losses were heavy and on 1 April the division was ordered to abandon its effort. After a few days holding action the attack was renewed, and in cooperation with British units, the Germans were driven out. On 1 May 1943, a brilliant victory of the 34th - the capture of Hill 609 - was completed; from then on the 34th pushed the Germans back with comparative ease until the end of the Tunisian campaign on 11 May 1943. The 34th was held in reserve for the landing at Salerno, Italy, on 9 Sept. 1943. Shortly after the landing it was in action and captured Montemiletto and Benevento in rapid succession. The34th pushed ahead to cross the Volturno, taking undisputed possession of the east bank. By the year's end the division was given a respite, after 76 successive days of contact with the enemy. Early in Jan. 1944 the division was once more attacking. So successful was this effort that the enemy pulled back into the Gustav Line. On 24-25 Jan. 1944, a furious attack was launched by the division, the ultimate objective being Cassino. By mid-February an exhausted division had achieved its objective. On 11 March the 34th was ordered to prepare for the beachhead operation at Anzio and took much of the pounding on that sector until May, when the long awaited break-out took place. By 3 June the enemy was in full retreat. The 34th, along with the lst Armored Division, was given the mission of an all-out pursuit of the enemy north and northwest of Rome. In mid-June came a rest, but by 26 June the unit was back in the line. Then came the crossing of the Cecina River and the battling of tough SS troops. But the 34th captured in succession Castallina, Pastina, Fauglia and then Leghorn, the latter city being taken 19 July 1944. In Sept. 1944, the 34th was in the vanguard of the American assault on the Nazi's Gothic Line. Then came the relative slackening off in activity in October when the 34th dug into defensive positions about eight miles south of Bologna, feeling out the enemy and waiting. The new year brought more activity, and by Feb. 1945, plans were under way for the drive on Bologna. In March the division began the slow but steady drive against the Germans which by April 1945, had developed into headlong retreat. At the war's end the division could take credit for having helped liberate thousands of square miles of Italy, with a record of more than 500 combat days. Elements arrived in the U.S. in late Oct. and inactivation came thereafter.

HEROES: Medal of Honor awards (P)-posthumous
Pvt. Furman L. Smith of Central, S.C. (P) for 31 May 1944 action near Lanuvio, Italy: 2d Lt. Thomas W. Wigle of Detroit Mich., (P) for 14 Sept. 1944 action in vicinity of Monte Frassino; Capt. William W. Galt of South Great Falls, Mont. (P) for 29 May 1944 action at Villa Crocetta, Italy; Pvt. Robert Booker (P) of Gallaway, Neb. for action in Tunisia in March 1943; PFC Leo Powers of Adler, Mont. for 3 Feb. 1944 action at Cassino; Lt. Ernest Dervishian of Richmond, Va. for 23 May 1944 action; lst Lt. Beryl R. Newman of Baraboo, Wis. for May 1944 action near Cisterna, Italy; S/Sgt. George J. Hall of Brooklyn, N.Y. for 23 May 1944 action at Anzio; St. Paul Riordan of Kansas City, Kan, (P) for 12 Feb. 1944 action at Cassino.

ADDITIONAL SOURCES OF INFORMATION: Infantry Journal, May 1944,"The Fight for a Hill"; Infantry Journal, June 1944, "Street Fighting in Cassino"; Infantry Journal, Sept. 1944, "Crossing the Volturno"; Yank, 2 Feb. 1945, Iron Man Battalion"; "Fighting Divisions" - Infantry Journal, Washington, D. C.; "The Story of the 34th Division from Louisiana to Pisa" published by I&E,
MTOUSA. Copies from The Adjutant General of Iowa, State Capitol, Des Moines 19, Iowa. "Volturno", "To Bizarte with the II Corps," "Salerno," and "The Winter Line" American Forces in Action Series, prepared by Historical Division, Special Staff. Copies from Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office, Washington 25, D. C.

DIVISION ASSOCIATION: 34th Infantry Division Association, Brig. Gen. Norman E. Hendricson, USA, 5101 10th Avenue, South, Minneapolis, Minn.