63rd Infantry Division — “Blood and fire”
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The 63rd Infantry Division had its beginning at Casablanca in January 1943, when Prime Minister Churchill of Great Britain coined the phrase that the Axis powers would “Bleed and Burn in expiation of their crimes against humanity”. From that statement, Brigadier General Louis E. Hibbs, soon to become the division’s commander, designed the shoulder insignia and the slogan “Blood and Fire”.
The 63rd Infantry Division was activated on June 15, 1943 at Camp Blanding Florida, using a cadre from the 98th Infantry Division. The 98th Division came from Camp Breckinridge, Kentucky’s 98th Infantry Division. Following initial cadre training the division relocated some 650 miles to Camp Van Dorn, Mississippi, arriving there during the latter part of August 1943.
During the month of September 1943, men from reception centers all over the country rapidly brought the division up to strength, and intensive basic training commenced. In November 1943 the men of the division had completed basic and small unit training and were anticipating advance and larger unit maneuvers. This, however was not to be.
In December 1943, all privates, privates first class, along with some noncommissioned and junior officers were reassigned to other divisions alerted for overseas movement. The process of receiving replacements and training them only to have them reassigned as fillers for other divisions alerted for overseas movement was repeated twice again before the division was at long last alerted as a unit for overseas assignment.
During March and April 1944 the division was brought to full strength with replacements coming from training centers as well as men from the Army Specialist Training Program and the Army Air Corps Cadet Training Program. The latter two programs had been cut-back and their participants released for assignment to the Infantry.
As the division reached full strength again, training started anew. By November 1944 after 17 months of training the Division made its way to Europe. On 6 November 1944, the 63rd Infantry Division advance party left Camp Van Dorn, by train for Camp Shanks, New York and ultimate shipment to France. The advance party or forward element of the division was known as Task Force Harris and consisted of the three Infantry Regiments,; the 253rd, 254th and 255th plus a small supporting staff. The Task Force was commanded by Brigadier General Frederick M. Harris.
Task Force Harris arrived in Marseille, France on 8 December 1944 and after a few days in a staging area moved by road and rail to Camp d’Oberhoffen, France located about midway betwen Colmar and Sarreguemines. By the end of December 1944, Task Force Harris was disbanded and all three regiments were reassigned to various divisions of the 6th Army Group. The 253rd was attached to the 44th Infantry Division in the Sarreguemines-Riming area; the 254th was attached to the 3rd Infantry Division in the Colmar Area, and the 255th was attached to the 100th Infantry Division near Bitche.
Thus the three regiments, separated from 63rd Infantry Division control were destined to make their own history until reunited with the Division in Mid-February 1945. From mid-February 1945 until the end of the war, the 63rd Infantry Division made a path of Blood and Fire from Sarreguemines through the Siegfried Line to Worms, Mannheim, Heidelberg, Gunzburg and ending in Landsberg Germany at the end of April 1945 when the division was pulled from the line for a much needed rest. The 63rd Infantry Division served for 119 days in Combat in the European African Middle Eastern Theater; during this time they served in the campaigns of RHINELAND, ARDENNES-ALSACE, and CENTRAL EUROPE.
By war’s end the 63rd Infantry Division served for 119 days in Combat in the European African Middle Eastern Theater; during this time they served in the campaigns of RHINELAND, ARDENNES-ALSACE, and CENTRAL EUROPE. Its Infantry Regiments had been awarded seven (7) Distinguished Unit Awards (Now known as Presidential Unit Citations) and a French Croix de Guerre with palm. During he period of December 1944 to May 1945 the division suffered over 1000 killed, more than 5000 wounded, over 1000 missing in action, 63 captured by the enemy and over 4000 non-battle casualties. Division forces captured over 21,000 enemy soldiers. In September 1945 the “Blood and Fire” division was restaffed with “high point men” from other divisions, returned to the United States and on 29th of September 1945 was inactivated. The Division was made up of these units.
253rd Infantry regiment
254th Infantry Regiment
255th Infantry regiment
718th Field Artillery battalion (155mm) – 63rd Infantry Division
861st Field Artillery battalion (105mm) – 63rd Infantry Division
862nd Field Artillery battalion (105mm) – 63rd Infantry Division
863rd Field Artillery battalion (105mm) – 63rd Infantry Division
263rd ENGINEER COMBAT BATTALION
363rd Medical Battalion – 63rd Infantry Division
63rd Division attached units
63rd Infantry Division Band
63rd Div. HQ & HQ Co. and Special Troops HQ, medics
63rd Infantry Division Military Police Platoon
63rd Infantry Division – Quartermaster Company
63rd Cav. Reconnaissance Troop
563rd Signal Company
763rd Ordnance Company (Light Maintenance)
Unknown – 63rd Infantry Division
692nd Tank Destroyer Battalion
Medals of Honor
First Lieutenant James E. Robinson, Jr., KIA 4/06/1945
Staff Sergeant John R. Crews
Distinguished Service Cross
S/SGT. Jack M. Collette 20710921 KIA 4/26/1945
General Anthony F. Daskevich O-1692601, 753rd Tank
PFC Walter J. Dilbeck, Jr. 35841476
Captain Robert H. Meade O423346
S/Sgt. Clifford B. Myrice 35835207
Colonel Angelo Enrico Pilla O-1290123
PFC Eugene B. Reich 33662432
PFC, Gerald B. Stegemeyer 36817433
Lt. Colonel Robert E. Tucker O19938
Captain Robert S. Young O1312101 KIA 4/15/1945
Blood and fire Newspaper
SOP for 63rd Infantry Division
63rd Infantry Division Memorial Services
Itineraries of every 63rd Infantry Division unit from the time they arrived in Europe until just after the war was over.
The following units were attached to the 63rd Infantry Division during the periods indicated. Members of these Inf Div Assn” to the right of this paragraph).
436th AAA AW Bn Mobile————————————– 11 Feb-1 May 45.
353d AAA SL Bn, 1st Plat, Btry C————————— 16 Feb-30 Apr 45
749th Tank Bn, Co A———————————————–2 Mar-4 Mar 45
43d Tank Bn, Co C (12th Armd Div)————————–9 Mar-12 Mar 45
70th Tank Bn——————————————————–12 Mar-18 Mar 45
740th Tank Bn——————————————————-17 Mar-28 Mar 45
Combat Command A 6th Armd Div ————————–19 Mar-20 Mar 45.
Consisting of the following units *15th Tank Bn–*9th
Armd Inf Bn–*212th Armd FA Bn–*86th Cav Recon Sq, Trp A–*25th Armd Engr Bn, Co B.
753d Tank Bn- ——————————————————31 Mar-28 May 45
92d Cav Recon Sq (12th Armd Div)————————–15 Mar-16 Mar 45
116th Cav Recon Sq———————————————-15 Mar-20 Mar 45
101st Cav Recon Sq———————————————-17 Mar-20 Mar 45
117th Cav Recon Sq———————————————- 2 Apr-19 Apr 45
99th Chem Mortar Bn Co A————————————-22 Feb-22 Mar 45
99th Chem Mortar Bn(-Co C)———————————–17 Mar-21 Mar 45
83d Chem Mortar Bn, Co A————————————–31 Mar-19 Apr 45
99th Chem Mortar Bn (-Co B)———————————–19 Apr-28 May 45
256th Engr Combat Bn——————————————-14Mar-20 Mar 45
6638th Mine Clearing Platoon———————————-14 Mar-20 Mar 45
1271st Engr Combat Bn——————————————29 Mar-14 Apr 45
2827th Engr Combat Bn—————————————–12 Apr-18 Apr 45
286th Engr Combat Bn——————————————-18 Apr-27 Apr 45
18th FA Bn (105 How)———————————————13 Mar-21 Mar 45
522d FA Bn (105 How)——————————————–13 Mar-22 Mar 45
93d Armd FA Bn- ————————————————– 21-24 Mar 45
59th Armd FA Bn————————————————– 31 Mar-4 Apr 45
36th FA Group——————————————————19 Apr-28 May 45
162d FA Bn (105 How)——————————————–8 May-28 May 45
65th Infantry (- Co A & C)————————————— 30 Apr-12 May 45
822d TD Bn Self Prop——————————————— 6 Feb-17 Mar 45
776th TD Bn Self Prop——————————————- 16 Mar-21 Mar 45
822d TD Bn Self prop——————————————— 21 Mar-28 May 45
692d TD Bn self prop——————————————— 30 Mar-31 Mar 45
Detachments- 63rd Division units attached to other units.
254th Inf to 3rd Inf Div– 28 Dec 44-9 Feb 45
255th Inf to 100th Inf Div— 31 Dec 44- 19 Jan 45
253rd Inf to 44th Inf Div–31 Dec 44 – 6 Feb 45
255th Inf to 44th Inf Div–19 Jan 45 – 6 Feb 45
254th Inf to 100th Inf Div–9 Feb – 17 Feb 45
63rd Div Arty to 45th Inf Div--24 Mar – 27 Mar 45
2d Bn, 254th Inf to 6th Army Group–31 Mar 45- 5 Apr 45
2d Bn, 253rd Inf to 35th AAA Brigade–16 Apr – 20 Apr 45
It is extremely vital to remember that without the hard work and research from these 4 men that much of the history of the 63rd Infantry Division would not be known today. These are the men that preserved the history before I did.
Colonel Michael Baymor,
Colonel Fred Clinton D/254th, B/363d, Ranger Platoon
S/Sgt. Magnus L Froberg C/253rd;
PFC William “Bill” J. Scott E/254th;
and the 63rd Infantry Division Association.