might keep pace with modern communication and transport facilities and to provide commanders with the greatest possible amount of offensive power through reduction in passive defensive elements.[1]
Reorganization of infantry and armored divisions began shortly after publication of the new tables. Infantry and armored divisions, including those most recently activated in the United States, adopted the new organizations between 1 August and 11 November 1943. Overseas commands reorganized their infantry divisions as soon as possible but had the authority to delay the changes if units were under alert, warning, or movement orders or if they were engaged in maneuvers or active operations against an enemy. The divisions needed time to retrain. Except for the 3d and 34th Infantry Divisions, the eight infantry divisions in the European and Mediterranean theaters were reorganized by the beginning of the new year. The 34th came under the tables immediately prior to its participation in the Anzio campaign in March 1944 and the 3d after Rome fell in June. Of the twelve infantry divisions in the Pacific theater, eight were converted by the beginning of 1944 and the remaining four by the following August.[2]
Reorganization of the three overseas armored divisions followed a somewhat different course. The 1st Armored Division adopted the new structure while in a rest and training area in Italy in 1944. The 2d and 3d Armored Divisions retained the 1942 configuration throughout the war. During the fall of 1943 the commander of the European Theater of Operations, General Devers, who had been a leading spokesman for the heavy armored division decided that the war was too advanced to permit changes in those units.[3]
When the divisions in the Pacific adopted the new tables, MacArthur restructured the Americal Division to conform to other infantry divisions. On 1 May 1943 he placed it under the tables prepared by the Reduction Board, the only division to use them, but in September it was reorganized under the 15 July structure. Because of the unit's widely acclaimed combat record, which included a Presidential Citation (Navy) for its elements' service on Guadalcanal, the War Department retained its name rather than give it a numerical designation.[4]
Light Divisions
Early in 1943 Army Ground Forces developed a new type of unit, the light division, which the Operations Division of the Army Staff had suggested earlier as a possibility for the Pacific theater. Planners thought such a division could function in a variety of combat conditions, such as jungles and mountains, simply by varying the unit's mode of transportation. Initially, McNair, who disliked special units, opposed the idea because of the unique training it required. Given the shortage of shipping in the fall of that year, the Operations Division again put forth the proposal. By this time planners had extended the idea to include amphibious operations. When preparing for the invasion of North Africa, the Solomon Islands, and New Guinea, infantry divisions had to be reorganized,
- ↑ WD Cir 256, 1943.
- ↑ Ltr, TAG to CGs, AGF and other addresses, 20 Aug 43, sub: Utilization of Personnel, AG 320.2 (31 Jul 43) PE-A-M-C, Ltr, TAG to CGs, AGF and XIII Corps, 30 Jul 43, sub: Redesignation and Reorganization of 4th Motorized Division, Ltr, TAG to CGs, AGF and other addresses, 2 Aug 43, sub: Reorganization of Infantry Divisions, AG 322 (28 Jul 43) OB-I-GNGCT-M, Ltr, TAG to CGs, AGF and Third Army, 20 Sep 43, sub: Reorganization of the 38th Infantry Division, AG 322 (18 Sep 43) OB-I-GNGCT-M, Ltr, TAG to CGs, AGE and other addresses, 23 Sep 43, sub: Reorganization of the 93d Infantry Division, AG 322 (22 Sep 43) OB-I-GNGCT, Ltr, TAG to CinC, Southwest Pacific Area and other addresses, 12 Oct 43, sub: Constitution of Units, AG 322 (6 Oct 43) OB-I-GNCGT-M, Ltr, TAG to CG, North African Theater of Operations, 29 Jul 43, sub: Reorganization of the 34th Infantry Division, AG 322 (26 Jul 43) OB-I-GNGCT, Ltr, TAG to CG, South Pacific Area, 20 Sep 43, sub: Reorganization of the Americal Division, AG 322 (17 Sep 43) OB-I-GNGCT, Ltr, TAG to CG U.S. Army Forces. Central Pacific Area, sub: Reorganization of the 33d Infantry Division, AG 322 (30 Sep 43) OBI-GNGCT-M, Ltr, TAG to AGE and other addresses, 15 Sep 43, sub: Reorganization of Armored Divisions, AG 322 (10 Sep 43) OB-I-GNGCT-M, Ltr, TAG to CGs, AGE and Third Army, 31 Aug 43, sub: Reorganization of the 4th Armored Division, AG 322 (29 Aug 43) OB-I-GNGCT-M, Ltr, TAG to CGs, AGF and Armored Command, 3 Sep 43, sub: Reorganization of the 16th Armored Division, AG 322 (1 Sep 43) OB-I-GNGCT-M, and Ltr, TAG to CGs, AGF and Armored Command, 3 Sep 43, sub: Reorganization of the 20th Armored Division, AG 322 (1 Sep 43) OB-I-GNGCT-M, all AG Reference files, DAMH-HSO; Historical Data Cards, Divisions. The sixty infantry divisions in the United States did not include the 89th Infantry Division, which was reorganized as a light division on 1 August 1943 (see below).
- ↑ GO 118, Fifth Army, 1944, 1st Armd Div file, DAMH-HSO; Ltr, Devers to A.C. Gillem Jr., 29 Nov 43, Devers Papers, MHI.
- ↑ Memo, AGF to TAG, 1 Apr 43, sub: Reorganization of the Americal Division, 320.2/19 (PTO) (S)-GNGCT/06414 (3–18–43), 320.2 4–1–43 (18), RG 407, NARA; Ltr, TAG to CG, South Pacific Area, 3 Apr 43, sub: Reorganization of the Americal Division, AG 320.2 (4–1–43) OB-I-GNGCT, AG Reference files, DAMH-HSO; Ltr, TAG to CG, South Pacific Area, 20 Sep 43, sub: Reorganization of Americal Division; Cronin, Under the Southern Cross, pp. 104, 128; Department of the Army (DA) GO 73, 1948.
