16012 BAR GUNNER US 29TH INFANTRY DIVISION

American 29th Infantry Division, commonly known as " Blue and Gray Division " was formed in July 1917. Unlike the 1st Infantry Division, it was sent to the Western Front only at the beginning of the summer of 1918. She managed to take part in the Battle of Meuse-Argonne in June 1918, but it was her first and last great battle in World War I. The unit was demobilized in May 1919. However, in 1923 it was re-formed. As early as 1942, the unit was transferred from the USA to Great Britain, where it was prepared for the landing on the continent. Its troops first attacked Omaha Beach on June 6, 1944, and later fought in northern France (including Saint-Lo). After the campaign in Normandy, the unit was responsible for the siege of Brest from August 25 to September 18, 1944. From December 1944 to the end of February 1945, she was stationed in Belgium . 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 3,900 killed and about 15,500 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.