Overseas Movement: Reorganization



On June 15, the 89th Light was officially re-designated the 89th Infantry Division and its first mission was to prepare for overseas shipment. The task that lay ahead was a formidable one. The table of organization of a standard division required the addition of thousands of new men. This was at the time when the War Department was revising its original estimates as to the numbers of infantry needed to keep a steady flow moving overseas. As a result, thousands of Army Specialized Training Program (ASTP) and aviation cadets were being hurriedly transferred to infantry units. These men had little or no training as infantrymen and after months of classroom work were not in anything like the physical condition essential to the doughboy's unrelenting job. Yet these were the "fillers" who arrived at Hunter Liggett and Camp Butner, numbering in the range of 3,000.

In addition, the Division received technicians -- radio operators, repairmen, mechanics, armorers, and cooks, many recently graduated from specialist's schools all over the country. The majority of the Division non-coms were Veterans of Hunter Liggett and Louisiana, but many new non-coms were needed. These men had to be selected and trained in the job of leading other men in combat.

The massive job of training began all over. There were other aspects to the enormous task of readying an infantry division for combat: schools for officers, to prepare them in one of their most vital jobs and training of their men; schools for non-coms, to develop potential noncommissioned officers and teach them to handle and gain the confidence of their men. Physical conditioning, weapons use and maintenance, and many other tasks had to be undertaken.

In October, with this under their belts (and some time for recreation and meeting the lovely southern bells from Durham, Raleigh, and other nearby cities) the Division plunged into their final training. The first objective completed, the Division shifted into high gear. The new emphasis shifted to unit training. Unit commanders took their outfits into the field for combat firing exercises. Each infantry battalion was tested in a two-day combat firing problem, while each infantry platoon went through a dozen realistic combat firing exercises. All artillery battalions passed their AGF firing tests. The 340th made an almost perfect record.

Subsequent training was intense, realistic and combat oriented and too complicated to describe in this summary. During the period, the rumors as to what would happen and where we would go were flying all over the place. Early in November General George C. Marshall, Army Chief of Staff, visited the 89th and discussed some subjects of great interest. He explained that for several months the Army's practice had been to send separate infantry regiments, due to the unrepentantly heavy losses among infantry units in the ETO. The 89th, however, would revert to the original policy and ship as a unit. Delays in shipping outfits during previous months was due to the difficulty of providing them with port facilities, until Antwerp could be taken and secured as a debarkation point. One import objective was to gain a firm foothold in Belgium before snow increased the difficulty of operation.

It now appeared that the Division might ship out to the ETO as a unit. On November 10, the Division was once more alert, this time for shipment by December 26. Second Army inspections and checks were carried out intensively and when they subsided, the 89th took stock. Deficiencies in training levels in certain fields were corrected. Additional graining in the use of the flamethrower was specified for a minimum of four men in each infantry squad, etc. During one command post exercise, the commanding officer of the 354th had just finished briefing his battalion commanders, and called on this executive officer for a few words. "Gentlemen", said the colonel, "we are soon going into combat, and it is necessary for us to keep our eyes open and observe everything we can." He then executed a smart about-face and marched head on into a tree.

<< Maneuvers: Hunter Liggett | Overseas Movement: Movement to France >>