XIX_Corps_Units_(D)_28th

28th INFANTRY DIVISION "KEYSTONE"

The red keystone, official emblem of the State of Pennsylvania, is the official shoulder sleeve insignia of the 28th Division which was originally a Pennsylvania National Guard organization. The Germans called it the "Bloody Bucket" because of the blood-red keystone insignia and vicious fighting tactics during the Normandy Campaign.


ACTIVATED
17 February 1941, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.


ARRIVAL EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)
18 October 1943


ARRIVAL CONTINENT (FRANCE)
22 July 1944 ( D + 46 )


ENTERED COMBAT (ETO)
First elements 22 July 1944 Entire Division 27 July 1944


COMMANDING GENERAL (ETO)

( 18 October 1943 - 12 August 1944 )	( 13 August 1944 )	( 14 August 1944 - to inactivation 13 December 1945 )

Maj. Gen. Lloyd D. Brown	Brig. Gen. James E. Wharton	Maj. Gen. Norman D. Cota

ORGANIC UNITS

	109th Infantry Regiment
	110th Infantry Regiment
	112th Infantry Regiment
	28th Cavalry Reconnaissance Troop ( Mechanized )
	103rd Engineer Combat Battalion
	103rd Medical Battalion

28th Division Artillery
	107th Field Artillery Battalion (105 Howitzer)
	109th Field Artillery Battalion (105 Howitzer)
	229th Field Artillery Battalion (105 Howitzer)
	108th Field Artillery Battalion (155 Howitzer)

Special Troops
	728th Ordnance Light Maintenance Company
	28th Quartermaster Company
	28th Signal Company
	Military Police Platoon
	Headquarters Company
	Band

ASSIGNMENTS ( ETO )

		22 October 1943, V Corps, First Army.
		14 April 1944, XX Corps, Third Army.
		24 April 1944, Third Army, but attached to First Army.
		26 July 1944, XIX Corps.
		30 July 1944, XIX Corps, First Army.
		1 August 1944, XIX Corps, First Army, 12th Army Group.
		28 August 1944, V Corps.
		19 November 1944, VIII Corps.
		20 December 1944, VIII Corps, Third Army, 12th Army Group.
		5 January 1945, VIII Corps, Third Army, 12th Army Group, but attached to Oise Section, Communications Zone, for supply.
		6 January 1945, VIII Corps, Third Army, 12th Army Group.
		8 January 1945, Third Army, 12th Army Group.
		9 January 1945, Fifteenth Army, 12th Army Group.
		16 January 1945, Fifteenth Army, 12th Army Group, but attached to Seventh Army, 6th Army Group.
		20 January 1945, French II Corps.
		28 January 1945, XXI Corps.
		14 February 1945, Fifteenth Army, 12th Army Group, but attached to Seventh Army, 6th Army Group.
		19 February 1945, 12th Army Group.
		21 February 1945, V Corps, First Army, 12th Army Group.
		16 March 1945, VIII Corps, Third Army, 12th Army Group.
		22 March 1945, V Corps, First Army, 12th Army Group.
		28 March 1945, III Corps.
		7 April 1945, First Army, 12th Army Group.
		10 April 1945, Fifteenth Army, 12th Army Group.
		13 April 1945, XXII Corps.
		26 April 1945, XXIII Corps.


CAMPAIGNS (ETO)

	NORMANDY ( 6 June 1944 - 24 July 1944 ) (active)
	NORTHERN FRANCE ( 25 July 1944 - 14 September 1944 ) (active)
	RHINELAND ( 15 September 1944 - 21 March 1945 ) (active)
	ARDENNES-ALSACE ( 16 December 1944 - 25 January 1945 ) (active)
	CENTRAL EUROPE ( 22 March 1945 - 11 May 1945 ) (active)

COMBAT CHRONICLE

The 28th Infantry Division after training in England, landed in Normandy, France, 22 July 1944, and entered the hedgerow struggle north and west of St. Lo. Inching their way forward against desperate opposition, the men of the 28th took Percy, 1 August, and Gathemo, 10 August. On the 12th, Brigadier General Wharton was killed a few hours after assuming command. The Division began to roll north and east, 20 August, meeting light resistance except at Le Neubourg, 24 August, and Elbeuf on the 25th. After parading through Paris, 29 August, it continued its sustained drive through France and Luxembourg to the German border, assembling near Binsfeld, 11 September: It began hammering at the Siegfried Line, 12 September, destroying pillboxes and other fortifications, moved north to Elsenborn, 1 October, then returned on the 6th for patrols and rotation of troops. The 28th smashed into the Hurtgen Forest, 2 November 1944, and in the savage seesaw battle which followed, Vossenack and Schmidt changed hands several times. On 19 November, the Division moved south to hold a 25-mile sector along the Our River in Luxembourg. The Von Rundstedt offensive broke loose, 16 December, along the entire Division front. The 28th fought in place using all available personnel and threw off the enemy timetable before withdrawing to Neufchateau, 22 December, for reorganization. The Division moved to a defensive position along the Meuse River from Givet to Verdun, 2 January 1945, then to a patrol of the Vosges Mountains, 17 February. From 1 to 5 February, it participated in the reduction of the Colmar Pocket, headed for the Rhine and crossed the Rhine-Rhone Canal, 6 February. After an attack toward the Ahr River, 6 March, the 28th engaged in training, rehabilitation, and holding defensive positions. Beginning 7 April it performed occupation duties at Julich and Kaiserlautern until it left France.

ARRIVAL BACK IN THE UNITED STATES

2 August 1945, Boston, Port of Embarkation.