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5th Infantry Division
The 5th Infantry Division was activated on 2 October 1939 under the command of Brigadier General Campbell Hodges. After the U.S. entry in World War II, it was sent to Iceland in 1942, under the command of Major General Cortlandt Parker to relieve British troops occupying this vital link on the Atlantic convoy routes.
Commanded by Major General Stafford L. Irwin the 5th Infantry Division landed on Utah Beach, 9 July 1944. 3 days after the initial D-Day Invasion landings. Successful attacks led them through Vidouville and Angers, then in August they crossed the Seine at Fontainebleau, followed by crossing the Marne to seize Reims by the end of August.
The division then prepared for the assault on Metz. In mid-September a bridgehead was established and secured across the Moselle, south of Metz. The first attempts to sieze Metz in September and October failed, but a new push was renewed in November and Metz fell after a heavy 10-day battle. In early December the division had crossed the German border and reached the Saar River. When the Germans started their Ardennes Offensive on the 16th of December, the 5th Infantry was launched against the southern flank of the Bulge two days later where they remained in contact with the enemy until the end of January 1945.
Following the collapse of and victory in the Battle of the Bulge, the 5th Division moved back toward Germany and breached the Siegfried line and crossed the Rhine in March and into Frankfurt-am-Main by the end of the month.
In April the 5th Infantry Division fought in the Ruhr Pocket and was in Czechoslovakia on VE Day.

 | Nickname(s): Red Diamond, Red Devils
Motto: We Will
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5th Infantry Division Winter War
5th Infantry Division in Western Europe
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5th Infantry Division Films
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5th Infantry Division Liberation of Western Europe Series May 1944 - November 1944 $24.99
DVD Details |
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5th Infantry Division Winter War: The Bulge and Beyond Series December 1944 - March 1945 $24.99
DVD Details |
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5th Division WWII Units
2nd Infantry Regiment
10th Infantry Regiment
11th Infantry Regiment
19th Field Artillery Battalion
21st Field Artillery Battalion
46th Field Artillery Battalion
50th Field Artillery Bn.
5th Medical Bn.
7th Combat Engineers
5th Quartermaster Company
5th Signal Company
5th Reconnaissance Troop
705th Ordnance Company
449th AAA.-AW. Bn
735th Tank Bn.
737th Tank Bn.
803d Tank Destroyer Bn.
818th Tank Destroyer Bn.
5th Division WWII Campaigns:
Normandy
Northern France
Rhineland
Ardennes-Alsace
Central Europe
5th Infantry Commanders
Maj Gen S Leroy Irwin
Maj Gen Albert E Brown
Combat Reels salutes the veterans of the 5th Infantry Division of World War II and their valuable contribution to U.S. military history.
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