4th Infantry Division
The US Army's 4th Infantry Division was deployed to the European theater in 1944 during World War II. An active division that existed before the conflict, it was mobilized and trained in the United States and then in the United Kingdom in preparation for amphibious operations planned in Western Europe.
The division took part in the Normandy landings on June 6, 1944, as part of Operation Overlord, landing on Utah Beach. After securing the beachhead, it advanced inland and took part in the fighting in the Normandy bocage. It joined the 82nd Airborne Division at Sainte-Mère-Eglise, before taking part in operations to capture Montebourg and cut off the Cotentin Peninsula, contributing to the isolation and subsequent capture of the port of Cherbourg at the end of June 1944.
During the summer of 1944, the 4th Infantry Division continued operations in Normandy, then took part in the American breakthrough from July onwards. It advanced through France, crossed the Seine, then moved eastwards towards the German border. In the fall of 1944, the division was engaged in the Lorraine campaign, taking part in fighting along the Moselle River and in operations in difficult weather conditions.
During the winter of 1944-1945, the 4th Infantry Division was engaged in the Battle of the Bulge, where it took part in defensive and offensive operations to contain and then repel the German offensive. After the front stabilized, it resumed its advance towards Germany.
In 1945, the division took part in the final Allied offensive. It crossed the Rhine, operated in the Rhineland, then advanced into central Germany, taking part in the reduction of pockets of resistance, the capture of cities, and the taking of prisoners until the German surrender in May 1945.
The 4th Infantry Division's service record includes campaign credits for Normandy, Northern France, Lorraine, the Ardennes-Alsace, the Rhineland, and Central Europe. Its involvement covered all the main phases of American ground operations on the Western Front, from the Normandy landings to the end of fighting in Germany.
