Key Timberwolf Dates
Each
Timberwolf can read between the lines - -
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31 July 1942
The first officer assigned to the Division to report to Camp Adair was Capt. Clyde L.
Pennington, Division Automotive Officer. The first enlisted man to report was S/S William
E. Allen.
7 Aug 1942
Major General Gilbert R. Cook opened his headquarters as commanding general of the
Division at Camp Adair, Oregon. The strength report for August shows a total of 31
officers and 8 enlisted men.
15 Sept 1942
The 104th Infantry Division formally activated with ceremonies at Camp Adair, Oregon. At
1000 hours, the 684 officers and 1,435 enlisted men, then in the division, marched to the
central parade grounds, and stood at attention before the speakers platform - - As the
first notes of a bugle sounded the Division Commander's party reached the platform and the
troops in the field came to attention. - - Lt. Col. Frank Worthington, Division Chaplain,
pronounced the invocation and Lt. Col. A.M. Button read the orders of activation.
14 Dec 1942
Basic training for the newly arrived recruits started and the soldiers soon learned why
natives along the Willamette Valley hibernated each winter. The strength report showed a
total of 819 officers and 15,112 enlisted men.
13 March 1943
Basic training ended.
6-7 Aug 1943
The division moved out of Camp Adair to the Oregon desert in the vicinity of Sisters-Bend,
Oregon. The strength report showed a total of 934 officers, 38 warrant officers, and
10,713 enlisted men.
15 Oct 1943
Major General Terry de la Mesa Allen assumed command of the 104th Inf Div.
7 Nov 1943
The Division moved by train from Bend, Oregon, to Camp Hyder, Arizona in the
California-Arizona maneuver area.
29 Nov 1943
The Division moved to Camp Horn, Arizona (6 miles to the west).
9 Feb 1944
The arduous training in the Camp Horn area was completed and the Division moved northwest
of Yuma for Corps maneuvers.
4 March 1944
The Division moved to Camp Granite, Calif.
15 March 1944
The Division moved to Camp Carson, Colorado.
16 July 1944
Lt. Col. Wm. Summers, 3rd Bn, 413th Inf., received the following directive, "Stop
your problem and move your troops to the barracks at once, the Division has been alerted
for movement overseas."
10 Aug 1944
The advance party under Brigadier General Bryant E. Moore, Assistant Division Commander,
left Camp Carson by rail, arrived at Fort Hamilton, NY, and sailed on 17 Aug.
15-17 Aug 1944
The remainder of the Division, in 24 trains, moved out of Camp Carson, closing on camp
Kilmer, NJ on 20 Aug.
25-26 Aug 1944
The Division filed into coaches at Camp Kilmer and rode to New York harbor. Marching onto
ferry boats, the men heavily loaded, rode silently to the piers.
27 Aug 1944
By early morning all troops were loaded. At noon on this bright Sunday the ships slipped
away from the docks.
7 Sept 1944
We passed Portland Cape, England, on Monday night and woke up in the harbor of Cherbourg
on Tuesday morning, 7 Sept. (Our 415th Regiment, aboard the U.S.A.T Cristobal,
landed on the famous Utah Beach)
7 Oct 1944
At 1030 Division Headquarters received the following warning order from III Corps:
"Be prepared to move the Division by rail and motor forward on or about 15
October."
14 Oct 1944
At 0600 the advance party composed of officers and men from all Division units, moved out
and the Division was informed that it would move to the vicinity of Vilvorde, Belgium,
north of Brussels.
15-16 Oct 1944
6,523 troops of the 413th, 414th, 415th & Div Special Troops boarded dilapidated
"40 & 8" freight cars at La Haye du Puits.
16 Oct 1944
Brig. Gen. Bryant E. Moore, Assistant Div. Commander, and the Division G-3 reported to
Headquarters, First Canadian Army at Antwerp.
18 Oct 1944
At 1750 the Division was informed by SHAEF that the 692nd Tank Destroyer Battalion, 555th
Antiaircraft Artillery Automatic Weapons (Mobile) Battalion and the 750th Tank Battalion
were attached to the Division effective upon their arrival in Belgium.
22 Oct 1944
The I British Corps directed that the 104th Inf Div relieve the 49th Inf Division
(British) during the period 23-25 Oct.
23 Oct 1944
In the early hours, Regimental Combat Team 413 moved from its bivouac area completing the
relief of the 56th Brigade (British) at 1700.
25 Oct 1944
At 1030 0n 25 Oct a patrol of Company E, 414th Inf Regt gained contact with the enemy in
the vicinity of the Custom House on the Wuustwezel-Breda highway just north of the Holland
frontier.
5 Nov 1944
The 104th Div Headquarters received a TWX from Headquarters First United States Army,
directing it to move to the vicinity of Aachen, Germany.
7 Nov 1944
At 0100 tactical reconnaissance parties from all units left for Germany. By 2200 the
Division (less the 414th) closed in its assembly area south of Aachen, Germany
8 Nov 1944
The 1600 relief of the 16th Inf (1st Inf Div) began by the 415th and completed by 0025 9
Nov.
10 Nov 1944
Shortly before noon General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Commander of all Allied Forces in the
European Theater, General Omar Bradley, Commander Twelfth Army Group, and Lt General J.
Lawton Collins, Commander of the VII Corps, called on the Division Commander at Grenzhof,
Germany.
16 Nov 1944
At 0325 the G-3 at Division Headquarters received the following message from VII Corps:
"This is D-Day, H-Hour is at 1245" (Operation Queen).
6 Feb 1945
The Division was directed to prepare plans for the crossing of the Roer River.
23 Feb 1945
At 0245 in the black of the night, the Roer River line burst into a ball of fire - the
thunderous battle flamed along a 22 mile front. At 0330 the barrages shifted to the east
and the Timberwolves commenced crossing the flooded Roer (Operation Grenade).
5 March 1945
At 0923 the Timberwolves drove into Cologne and by 2100 four battalions had a firm grip on
the great industrial center ("the third largest rubble pile in Germany").
21 March 1945
The Division was directed by VII Corps to move to the Remagen bridgehead in the vicinity
of Honnef.
25 March 1945
The 3rd Armored Division, with the 414th attached was directed to pass through the 1st Div
& the 104th at 0400 to seize Altenkirchen, 25 miles to the east, and to be prepared to
continue its advance to the Dill River.
1 April 1945
At 1400 units of the 3rd Armored, with the 1st Battalion, 414th Infantry, mounted on its
tanks, linked up with the 2nd Armored Division of the Ninth Army at Lippstadt. The iron
ring of infantry and tanks was locked around the Ruhr. Over 335,000 German troops had been
encircled and the great industrial area could no longer support the Hitler war machine.
9 April 1945
At 0400 the 3rd Battalion, 413th Inf, crossed the Weser River in assault boats and was
quickly followed by the 2nd Battalion.
11 April 1945
Patrols of the 2nd Battalion, 414th, with the 3rd Armored had reached Nordhausen &
found a large German concentration camp for political prisoners, discovering 5,000 corpses
among the 6,000 inmates in various stages of decay.
14 April 1945
After bitter fighting, units of the 413th clinched the city of Bad Lauterberg.
15 April 1945
The battle for Halle raged from 0800 to 1055 19 April during which time General De Witt's
troops resisted, house to house from the northern to the southern extremities.
21 April 1945
A message was received from VII Corps directing the Division to remain along the west
banks of the Mulde until further orders. The offensive action of the Timberwolf Division
in World War II had ended. Since 25 March the 104th had advanced 375 miles, had captured
19,152 prisoners, & played a vital role in trapping the 335,000 Germans troops in the
Ruhr pocket and the 65,000 Nazis in the Harz Mountains.
24 April 1945
Visual contact between the 104th Div and the Russian forces was first made on this day at
1305.
6 May 1945
When the Russians closed up to the east bank of the Mulde River, it was announced that the
Division had officially broken contact with the enemy, after 195 consecutive days of
arduous combat (reportedly more consecutive days than any other division in the ETO).
7 May 1945
A representative of the German high command signed the unconditional surrender - -
8 May 1945
Prime Minister Churchill announced "V-E Day".
11 June 1945
The Division began its movement from Germany to Camp Lucky Strike near Dieppe, 25 miles
from Le Havre, France.
26 June & 2 July 1945
The Division embarked for the United States on two ships.
3 July & 11 July 1945
The SS Monterey & the SS Eriesson docked near the pier we had left in Aug 1944.
1 Aug 1945
The Division advance parties reassembled at Camp San Louis Obispo, California..
5 Aug 1945
The first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima.
9 Aug 1945
The second atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki.
15 Aug 1945
Japan Surrenders.
2 Sept 1945
The President of the United States announced "V-J Day".
15 Sept 1945
The 104th Infantry Division on its third birthday passed in final review before its
commander, Major General Terry de la Mesa Allen.
20 Dec 1945
The War Department ordered the inactivation of the 104th Infantry Division.
Its mission in World War II had been accomplished.
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This page last updated: 9 September, 2008
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