16026 US 1ST INFANTRY DIVISION "THE BIG RED ONE"

The American 1st Infantry Division, commonly known as the "Big Red One", was formed in May 1917. Its first commander was General William Sibert. After forming and completing basic training, the division was relatively quickly transferred to France, where training continued. In October 1917, she entered the fight. During World War I, the unit took part in several skirmishes and clashes, including the Battle of Meuse-Argonne in 1918. It began its long combat route during the next world war with participation in Operation Torch in November 1942, i.e. the landing of the Allied forces in North Africa. In the period from November 1942 to May 1943, she fought in North Africa, including the last battles with the Axis forces in Tunisia. Later it was used in combat during Operation Husky, that is during the landing in Sicily in July 1943. After the fighting in Sicily and southern Italy, it was transferred to Great Britain, where it was prepared for the Normandy landing. Its troops stormed Omaha Beach on June 6, 1944, and later fought in northern France. Then the unit took part in heavy fights for the forest Hürtgen. At the beginning of the German counteroffensive in the Ardennes, it was quickly moved to the fighting area and contributed significantly to slowing down and then stopping the German attack. At the beginning of 1945, it was already operating in Germany, including Remagen. It also took part in the crossing of the Rhine and the occupation of western Germany in April-May 1945. During World War II, the division lost about 3,600 killed and about 15,200 wounded.Already after the first experiences of fighting in North Africa at the turn of 1942-1943, the US Army changed the position of the American infantry division. From 1943 onwards, each infantry division had three full-time infantry regiments, in turn composed of three infantry battalions. In addition, the infantry regiment also included other units, for example: an anti-tank company, an artillery company or a staff company. In total, the US Army's infantry regiment numbered approximately 3,100 soldiers. It should also be remembered that the division also included a strong artillery component consisting of four artillery battalions - 3 light and 1 medium, most often armed with 105 and 155 mm howitzers. There was also, among others, an engineering battalion, a repair company, a reconnaissance unit and a Military Police platoon. In total, the US Infantry Division numbered approximately 14,200 people from 1943. It quite clearly dominated the artillery over the German division and had much better and - above all - fully motorized means of transport, which made it a highly mobile tactical formation. It also had much richer "individual" anti-tank weapons in the form of a large number of bazooka launchers, of which there were over 500 in the entire division.