88th Infantry Division (United States)

The 88th Infantry Division was an infantry division of the United States Army that saw service in both World War I and World War II. It was one of the first of the Organized Reserve divisions to be called into federal service, created nearly "from scratch" after the implementation of the draft in 1940. Previous divisions were composed of either Regular Army or National Guard personnel. Much of the experience in reactivating it was used in the subsequent expansion of the U.S. Army.

88th Division
88th Infantry Division
88th Infantry Division shoulder sleeve insignia.
Active1917–1919
1921–1947
Country United States of America
Branch United States Army
TypeInfantry
SizeDivision
Nickname(s)"Fighting Blue Devils"
"Clover Leaf Division"
EngagementsWorld War I

World War II

Commanders
Notable
commanders		Paul Wilkins Kendall
Insignia
Distinctive Unit Insignia

By the end of World War II the 88th Infantry fought its way to the northernmost extreme of Italy. In early May 1945 troops of its 349th Infantry Regiment joined the 103d Infantry Division of the VI Corps of the U.S. Seventh Army, part of the 6th Army Group, which had raced south through Bavaria into Innsbruck, Austria, in Vipiteno in the Italian Alps.[1]

World War I
  • Activated: 5 August 1917, Camp Dodge, Iowa
  • Overseas: 7 September 1918
  • Major operations: Did not participate as a division
  • Casualties: Total-78 (KIA-12; WIA-66)
  • Commanders:
  • Inactivated: 10 June 1919, Camp Dodge, Iowa

Composition

Initially, personnel for the division were furnished by Selective Service men from Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, and North Dakota. The 88th Division, like many National Army divisions, suffered heavily from transfers to Regular Army and National Guard units preparing to go overseas, delaying its combat readiness. In October and November 1917, men were transferred to the 34th and 87th Divisions. In February 1918, 12,000 men arrived from Iowa and Minnesota to bring the division to full strength, but, subsequently, about 16,000 men were transferred to the 30th, 33rd, 35th, 82nd, and 90th Divisions. In May and June 1918, 10,000 Selective Service men, mostly from Missouri, Nebraska, and South Dakota, joined the division.

The division was composed of the following units:[2][3]

Square Division example: 1940 US Infantry Division. On the far left can be seen two Brigades of two Regiments each
  • Headquarters, 88th Division
  • 175th Infantry Brigade
    • 349th Infantry Regiment
    • 350th Infantry Regiment
    • 338th Machine Gun Battalion
  • 176th Infantry Brigade
  • 163rd Field Artillery Brigade
    • 337th Field Artillery Regiment (155 mm)
    • 338th Field Artillery Regiment (75 mm)
    • 339th Field Artillery Regiment (155 mm)
    • 313th Trench Mortar Battery
  • Headquarters Troop, 88th Division
  • 337th Machine Gun Battalion
  • 338th Engineer Regiment
  • 313th Field Signal Battalion
  • 313th Train Headquarters and Military Police
    • 313th Ammunition Train
    • 313th Supply Train
    • 313th Engineer Train
    • 313th Sanitary Train
      • 349th, 350th, 351st, and 352nd Ambulance Companies and Field Hospitals

Interwar period

The division was reconstituted in the Organized Reserve on 24 June 1921 and assigned to the states of Minnesota, Iowa, and North Dakota. The headquarters was organized on 2 September 1921.

World War II

Combat chronicle
  • First Entered combat: Advance party on night of 3–4 January 1944 in support of Monte Cassino attacks.[4]
  • First Organization Committed to Line: 2nd Battalion, 351st Infantry Regiment plus attachments[5]
  • First combat fatality: 3 January 1944
  • Began post war POW Command: 7 June 1945. Responsible for guarding and later repatriating 324,462 German POWs.[6]

The 88th Infantry Division was one of the first all-draftee divisions of the United States Army to enter the war. Ordered into active military service at Camp Gruber, Oklahoma, the division, commanded by Major General John E. Sloan, arrived at Casablanca, French Morocco on 15 December 1943, and moved to Magenta, Algeria, on 28 December for intensive training. Destined to spend the war fighting on the Italian Front, the 88th Division arrived at Naples, Italy on 6 February 1944, and concentrated around Piedimonte d'Alife for combat training. An advance element went into the line before Monte Cassino on 27 February, and the entire division relieved the battered British 46th Infantry Division along the Garigliano River in the Minturno area on 5 March. A period of defensive patrols and training followed. The 88th formed part of Major General Geoffrey Keyes's II Corps, part of the U.S. Fifth Army, under Lieutenant General Mark W. Clark.

After being inspected by the Fifth Army commander on 5 May, the 88th Division, six days later, drove north to take Spigno, Mount Civita, Itri, Fondi, and Roccagorga, reached Anzio, 29 May, and pursued the enemy into Rome, being the first unit of the Fifth Army into the city on 4 June, two days before the Normandy landings, after a stiff engagement on the outskirts of the city. An element of the 88th is credited with being first to enter the Eternal City. After continuing across the Tiber to Bassanelio the 88th retired for rest and training, 11 June. The division went into defensive positions near Pomerance on 5 July, and launched an attack toward Volterra on the 8th, taking the town the next day. Laiatico fell on the 11th, Villamagna on the 13th, and the Arno River was crossed on the 20th although the enemy resisted bitterly.

After a period of rest and training, the 88th Division, now commanded by Major General Paul Wilkins Kendall, opened its assault on the Gothic Line on 21 September, and advanced rapidly along the Firenzuola-Imola road, taking Mount Battaglia (Casola Valsenio, RA) on the 28th. The enemy counterattacked savagely and heavy fighting continued on the line toward the Po Valley. The strategic positions of Mount Grande and Farnetto were taken on 20 and 22 October. From 26 October 1944 to 12 January 1945, the 88th entered a period of defensive patrolling in the Mount Grande-Mount Cerrere sector and the Mount Fano area. From 24 January to 2 March 1945, the division defended the Loiano-Livergnano area and after a brief rest returned to the front. The drive to the Po Valley began on 15 April. Monterumici fell on the 17th after an intense artillery barrage and the Po River was crossed at Revere-Ostiglia on 24-25 April, as the 88th pursued the enemy toward the Alps. The cities of Verona and Vicenza were captured on the 25th and 28th and the Brenta River was crossed on 30 April. The 88th was driving through the Dolomite Alps toward Innsbruck, Austria where it linked up with the 103rd Infantry Division, part of the U.S. Seventh Army, when the hostilities ended on 2 May 1945.[1] The end of World War II in Europe came six days later. Throughout the war the 88th Infantry Division was in combat for 344 days.

Casualties
  • Total battle casualties: 13,111[7]
  • Killed in action: 2,298[7]
  • Wounded in action: 9,225[7]
  • Missing in action: 941[7]
  • Prisoner of war: 647[7]

Units
Triangular Division example: 1942 U.S. infantry division. The brigades of the Square division have been removed, and there are three regiments directly under divisional control.
Free Territory of Trieste- Miramare Park – Blue Devils Plaque

Units assigned to the division during World War II included:

  • Headquarters, 88th Infantry Division
  • 349th Infantry Regiment
  • 350th Infantry Regiment
  • 351st Infantry Regiment
  • Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 88th Infantry Division Artillery
    • 337th Field Artillery Battalion
    • 338th Field Artillery Battalion
    • 339th Field Artillery Battalion
    • 913th Field Artillery Battalion
  • 313th Engineer Combat Battalion
  • 313th Medical Battalion
  • 88th Cavalry Reconnaissance Troop (Mechanized)
  • Headquarters, Special Troops, 88th Infantry Division
    • 788th Ordnance Light Maintenance Company
    • 88th Quartermaster Company
    • 88th Signal Company
    • Military Police Platoon
    • Band
  • 88th Counterintelligence Corps Detachment

Post war

After the war, the 88th Infantry Division absorbed some personnel and units from the 34th Infantry Division and served on occupation duty in Italy guarding the Morgan Line from positions in Italy and Trieste until 15 September 1947 when the Italian peace treaty came into force. The 351st Infantry was relieved from assignment to the division on 1 May 1947 and served as temporary military Government of the Free Territory of Trieste, securing the new independent State[8] between Italy and Yugoslavia on behalf of the United Nations Security Council.[9] Designated TRUST (Trieste United States Troops), the command served as the front line in the Cold War from 1947 to 1954, including confrontations with Yugoslavian forces.
In October 1954 the mission ended upon the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding of London[10] establishing a temporary civil administration in the Anglo-American Zone of the Free Territory of Trieste, entrusted to the responsibility of the Italian Government.[11]
TRUST units, which included a number of 88th divisional support units, all bore a unit patch which was the coat of arms of the Free Territory of Trieste superimposed over the divisional quatrefoil, over which was a blue scroll containing the designation "TRUST" in white.

TRUST shoulder patch

Cold War and beyond

The 88th Army Reserve Command (ARCOM) was formed at Fort Snelling in January 1968, as one of 18 ARCOMs which were organized to provide command and control to Army Reserve units.[12][13] The initial area of responsibility for the 88th ARCOM included Minnesota and Iowa, and this area was later expanded to include Wisconsin. Army Reserve Commands were authorized to use the number and shoulder sleeve insignia of infantry divisions with the same number. However, ARCOMs did not inherit the lineage and honors of the divisions because it was against Department of the Army policy for a Table of Distribution and Allowances organization, such as an ARCOM, to perpetuate the lineage and honors of a Table of Organization and Equipment formation, like the 88th Infantry Division.

In 1996, when the Army Reserve's command structure was revised, the 88th Regional Support Command (88th RSC) was established at Fort Snelling. Its mission was to command and control Army Reserve units in a six state region, which included Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio. In addition, the 88th RSC ensured operational readiness, provided area support services, and supported emergency operations in its area of responsibility.

In 2003, the Army Reserve's command structure was again revised, and the 88th Regional Readiness Command (88th RRC) was formed at Fort Snelling with responsibility for USAR units in the same six states included in the 88th RSC. Various Combat Support units mobilize and deploy to Operation Iraqi Freedom in late 2003-mid 2004.

In its 2005 BRAC Recommendations, DoD recommended to realign Fort Snelling, MN by disestablishing the 88th Regional Readiness Command. This recommendation was part of a larger recommendation to re-engineer and streamline the Command and Control structure of the Army Reserve that would create the Northwest Regional Readiness Command at Fort McCoy, WI.

In 2008, the 88th Regional Readiness Command (88th RRC) moved to Fort McCoy, Wisconsin. The mission was changed to provide base operations support to the new 19 state region, Welcome Home Warrior ceremonies, and the Yellow Ribbon weekends. The units assigned to the 88th RSC include 6 Army Reserve Bands and the Headquarters Company. It may supervise the 643rd Area Support Group at Whitehall, Ohio.

Operation Allies Welcome

The 88th was ordered to support Operation Allies Refuge in August 2021 as the core of Task Force McCoy. From August 2021 until February 2022, the task force assisted in feeding, housing, clothing, and providing assistance to the more than 12,600 Afghans resettling in the United States. Major subordinate elements of the task force included the Fort Mccoy Garrison, the 181st Infantry Brigade, 302nd Maneuver Enhancement Brigade, 720th MP Battalion, and the 1st Squadron, 32nd Cavalry.[14]

Current

The division shoulder patch is worn by the United States Army Reserve 88th Readiness Division at Fort Snelling, Minnesota; the division lineage is perpetuated by the 88th RD. RDs such as the 88th have the same number as inactivated divisions and are allowed to wear the shoulder patch, and division lineage and honors are inherited by an RD.

General
  • Shoulder patch: A blue (for Infantry) quatrefoil, formed by two Arabic numeral "8s". A rocker above it with the nickname "Blue Devils" was often worn.
  • During World War II, the Germans thought the 88th was an elite stormtrooper Division. This was most likely due to parallels between the "Blue Devil" nickname and patch rocker and the German SS's use of the Totenkopf death's head insignia.

Decorations
Ribbon Award Year Orders
Army Meritorious Unit Commendation Afghanistan Retrograde 2021-2022
Permanent Orders 032-0001 announcing award of the Army Meritorious Unit Commendation

See also

References
  1. Fifth Army History • Race to the Alps, Chapter VI : Conclusion Archived 13 April 2017 at the Wayback Machine "On 3 May the 85th and 88th [Infantry] Divisions sent task forces north over ice and snow 3 feet deep to seal the Austrian frontier and to gain contact with the American Seventh Army, driving southward from Germany. The 339th Infantry [85th Division] reached Austrian soil east of Dobbiaco at 0415, 4 May; the Reconnaissance Troop, 349th Infantry [88th Division], met troops from [103rd Infantry Division] VI Corps of Seventh Army at 1051 at Vipiteno, 9 miles south of Brenner."
  2. http://www.history.army.mil/html/books/023/23-2/CMH_Pub_23-2.pdf Archived 24 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine Order of Battle in the Great War P393
  3. "Infantry organization and History" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 22 May 2017.
  4. Delaney, p. 37
  5. Delaney, p. 45
  6. Delaney, p. 359
  7. Army Battle Casualties and Nonbattle Deaths, Final Report (Statistical and Accounting Branch, Office of the Adjutant General, 1 June 1953)
  8. Article 21 and Annex VII, Instrument for the Provisional Regime of the Free Territory of Trieste. See: https://treaties.un.org/doc/Publication/UNTS/Volume%2049/v49.pdf
  9. see: United Nations Security Council Resolution 16, 10 January 1947: http://www.un.org/en/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=S/RES/16(1947)
  10. UNTS Vol.235, 3297 Memorandum of Understanding of London
  11. Memorandum of Understanding of London, article 2: see https://treaties.un.org/doc/Publication/UNTS/Volume%20235/v235.pdf
  12. Wilson 1998.
  13. Isby & Kamps 1985, p. 388.
  14. https://www.army.mil/article/254323/operation_allies_welcome_concludes_at_fort_mccoy_last_afghans_depart_post#:~:text=As%20of%208%20a.m.%20Feb.%2015%2C%20the%20last,who%20assisted%20the%20United%20States%E2%80%99%20interests%20in%20Afghanistan./ Operation Allies Welcome concludes at Fort McCoy
Bibliography
  • The Army Almanac: A Book of Facts Concerning the Army of the United States U.S. Government Printing Office, 1950 reproduced at http://www.history.army.mil/html/forcestruc/cbtchron/cbtchron.html Archived 21 March 2021 at the Wayback Machine. (public domain, work of U.S. government)
  • About Face: The Odyssey of an American Warrior, by David Hackworth: pp 35, 308.
  • Brown, John Sloan. Draftee Division: the 88th Infantry Division in World War II. Lexington, KY: University Press of Kentucky, 1986. ISBN 0813115817
  • Delaney, John P. The Blue Devils in Italy: a history of the 88th Infantry Division in World War II. Washington: Infantry Journal Press, [1947] OCLC 2617939 1988 reprint is also available.
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