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The 26th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade, formerly the 26th Infantry Division is a unit of the United States Army that served in World War I and World War II. It was originally activated as the 5th Division in early 1917, but this became the 26th Division after a few months' service. Prior to becoming a maneuver enhancement brigade, it was a modular infantry brigade combat team.
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World War I
- Activated and Inducted into Federal Service: July 1917 (National Guard Division from Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont).
- Overseas: October 1917.
- Major Operations: Champagne-Marne, Aisne-Marne, St. Mihiel, Meuse-Argonne
- Days of combat: 210
- Casualties: Total-13,664 (KIA-1,587 ; WIA-12,077)
- Commanders:
- Maj. Gen. C. R. Edwards (22 August 1917)
- Brig. Gen. P. E. Traub (12 October 1917)
- Brig. Gen. C. H. Cole (22 October 1917)
- Brig. Gen. P. E. Traub (31 October 1917)
- Maj. Gen. C. R. Edwards (11 November 1917)
- Brig. Gen. P. E. Traub (25 November 1917)
- Maj. Gen. C. R. Edwards (1 December 1917)
- Brig. Gen. Frank E. Bamford (25 October 1918)
- Maj. Gen. Harry C. Hale (19 November 1918)
- Inactivated, and returned to National Guard service: May 1919
World War II
- Activated and Inducted into Federal Service at Boston, Massachusetts: 16 January 1941
- Overseas: 26 August 1944
- Campaigns: Northern France, Rhineland, Ardennes-Alsace, Central Europe
- Days of combat: 210
- Distinguished Unit Citations: 1
- Awards: MH-1 ; DSC-43 ; DSM-1 ; SS-955 ; LM-11; SM-47 ; BSM-5,558 ; AM-81
- Commanders:
- Maj. Gen. Roger W. Eckfeldt (January 1940-August 1943)
- Maj. Gen. Willard S. Paul (August 1943-1 June 1945)
- Brig. Gen. Harlan N. Hartness (June-July 1945)
- Maj. Gen. Stanley E. Reinhart (July-November 1945)
- Maj. Gen. Robert W. Grow (November-December 1945)
- Inactivated in Germany and returned to National Guard service: 1945-12-29
Organization
- Headquarters Company, 26th Infantry Division
- 101st, 104th and 328th Infantry Regiments
- Headquarters & Headquarters Battery, 26th Infantry Division Artillery
- 101st, 102nd, 180th, and 263rd Field Artillery Battalions
- Headquarters Special Troops
- 26th Military Police Platoon
- 39th Signal Company
- 726 Ordnance Company (Light Maint)
- 26th Quartermaster Company
- 26th Reconnaissance Troop (MECH)
- 101st Engineer Combat Battalion
- 114th Medical Battalion
- 26th Counter Intelligence Corps Detachment
Combat Chronicle
The 26th Infantry Division landed in France at Cherbourg and Utah Beach, 1944-09-07, but did not enter combat as a division until 7 October. Elements were on patrol duty along the coast from Carteret to Siouville, 13-30 September, and the 328th Infantry saw action with the 80th Division to which it was attached, 5-15 October. On 7 October the 26th relieved the 4th Armored Division in the Salonnes-Moncourt-Canal du Rhine au Marne sector, and maintained defensive positions; a limited objective attack was launched, 22 October, in the Moncourt woods. On 8 November the division went on the offensive, took Dieuze, 20 November, advanced across the Saar River to Saar Union, and captured it, 2 December, after house-to-house fighting.
Reaching Maginot fortifications, 5 December, it regrouped, entering Saareguemines 8 December. Rest at Metz was interrupted by the Von Rundstedt offensive. The division moved north to Luxembourg, 19-21 December, to take part in the Battle of the Bulge break-through. It attacked at Rambrouch and Grosbous, 22 December, beat off strong German counterattacks, captured Arsdorf on Christmas Day after heavy fighting, attacked toward the Wiltz River, but was forced to withdraw in the face of determined enemy resistance; after regrouping, 5-8 January 1945, it attacked again, reached the Wiltz River, and finally crossed it, 20 January. The division continued its advance, took Grumelscheid, 21 January, and crossed the Clerf River, 24 January. The 26th then shifted to the east bank of the Saar, and maintained defensive positions in the Saarlautern area, 29 January-6 March 1945.
The division's drive to the Rhine jumped off on 13 March 1945, and carried the division through Merzig, 17 March, to the Rhine, 21 March, and across the Rhine at Oppenheim, 25-26 March. It took part in the house-to-house reduction of Hanau, 28 March, broke out of the Main River bridgehead, drove through Fulda, 1 April, and helped reduce Meiningen, 5 April. Moving southeast into Austria, the division assisted in the capture of Linz, 4 May. It had changed the direction of its advance, and was moving northeast into Czechoslovakia, across the Vltava River, when the cease-fire order was received. 26th Infantry Division was in Passau, Germany on 1945-08-14 when World War II was declared over, and was deactivated in Germany.
Assignments in the ETO
- 28 August 1944: Ninth Army, 12th Army Group
- 5 September 1944: III Corps
- 28 September 1944: Third Army, 12th Army Group
- 1 October 1944: XII Corps
- 12 December 1944: III Corps
- 28 January 1945: XX Corps
- 23 March 1945: XII Corps
Post WWII History
- 1945-12-29: Inactivated at Camp Myles Standish, Massachusetts
- 1946-11-13: Released From Active Duty, and returned to the Massachusetts Army National Guard
- 18 March 1957: Headquartered at Dorchester, Massachusetts
- 1 March 1963: Redesignated as 1st Brigade, 26th Infantry Division, Headquartered at Waltham, Massachusetts.
- 1 September 1993: Reorganized as 26th Infantry Brigade, 42nd Infantry Division
- 1995: Assigned as 26th Brigade of the 29th Infantry Division
- 2005: Reorganized into the 26th Brigade Combat Team, 42nd Infantry Division
- 1 September 2008: Reorganized into the 26th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade
General
- Nickname: Yankee Division.
- Shoulder patch: Khaki colored, in the shape of a diamond. In the center, in blue are the letters "Y" and "D" in the form of a monogram.
- During the Vietnam era, the Khaki colored patch was replaced by a shoulder patch consisting of a subdued olive drab green diamond patch with the letters "Y" and "D" in black. This version was used on all but the dress uniform. The dress patch version was a green diamond with blue letters.
- Since the need for newer camouflage design such as desert patterns and ACU-type, the standard khaki/blue has been recolored into the ACU-matching subdued grey and black. This is only for camouflaging purposes, and does not affect the dress-form of the patch designed for the dress uniforms.
See also
References
- The Army Almanac: A Book of Facts Concerning the Army of the United States U.S. Government Printing Office, 1950 reproduced at CMH.
External links
- Information pertaining to the 26th Infantry Division as a liberating unit at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
- 26th Infantry Division "Yankee Division" WWII Historical Re-enactment Group
- 26th Yankee Division Veterans Association
- 26th Yankee Division Band
Wikipedia content modification information:
- This page was last modified on 29 September 2008, at 01:13.
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