The shoulder sleeve insignia of the division was designed by its then commander Maj. Gen. Charles L. Bolte with the red, white, and blue being the colors of the United States forming a "6" and a "9".[3]
Inactivated: 16 September 1945. Camp Kilmer, New Jersey
Structure
Order of battle
Headquarters, 69th Infantry Division
271st Infantry Regiment
272nd Infantry Regiment
273rd Infantry Regiment
Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 69th Infantry Division Artillery
724th Field Artillery Battalion (105 mm)
879th Field Artillery Battalion (105 mm)
880th Field Artillery Battalion (105 mm)
881st Field Artillery Battalion (155 mm)
269th Engineer Combat Battalion
369th Medical Battalion
69th Cavalry Reconnaissance Troop (Mechanized)
Headquarters, Special Troops, 69th Infantry Division
Headquarters Company, 69th Infantry Division
769th Ordnance Light Maintenance Company
69th Quartermaster Company
569th Signal Company
Military Police Platoon
Band
69th Counterintelligence Corps Detachment
Combat chronicle
Sign at Weissenfels castle gate commemorating the taking of the town in April 1945
The 69th Infantry Division arrived in England, on 12 December 1944, where it continued its training.
It landed in Le Havre, France, on 24 January 1945, and moved to Belgium to relieve the 99th Division, on 12 February, and hold defensive positions in the Siegfried Line. The division went over to the attack, on 27 February, capturing the high ridge east of Prether to facilitate use of the Hellenthal-Hollerath Highway.
In a rapid advance to the east, the 69th took Schmidtheim and Dahlem, 7 March. The period from 9 to 21 March was spent in mopping up activities and training. The division resumed its forward movement to the west bank of the Rhine, crossing the river and capturing the fortress of Ehrenbreitstein, on 27 March.
Two days later, division patrols in the area between the Elbe and the Mulde Rivers contacted elements of the Soviet 5th Guards Army at Strehla, in the vicinity of Riesa and again at Torgau on Elbe Day. Until VE-day, the 69th patrolled and policed its area. Occupation duties were given to the division until it left for home and inactivation on 7 September.
The Army Almanac: A Book of Facts Concerning the Army of the United States U.S. Government Printing Office, 1950 reproduced at http://www.history.army.mil/html/forcestruc/cbtchron/cbtchron.html Archived 21 March 2021 at the Wayback Machine.
Notes
^"World War II Divisional Combat Chronicles". history.army.mil. Retrieved 11 March 2016.
^"United States Holocaust Memorial Museum". United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Holocaust Encyclopedia. Retrieved 11 March 2016.
^"Infantry Divisions - 038 69th Infantry Division - World War II Archives of Wartime Publications". wartimepress.com. Archived from the original on 20 June 2011. Retrieved 1 October 2017.
^ a b c d eArmy Battle Casualties and Nonbattle Deaths, Final Report (Statistical and Accounting Branch, Office of the Adjutant General, 1 June 1953)