BAKER COMPANY
1 BTTN. 117 REGT. 30th INFANTRY DIVISION

HISTORY

The 30th Infantry Division was activated in September. 1917 at camp Sevier, South Carolina, Nicknamed “Old Hickory”, after Andrew Jackson, the 30th was comprised of National Guard units of North and South Carolina, and Tennessee.

Serving in the Allied Expeditionary Force, the 30th distinguished itself in the battle of Somme, Le Selle, Ypres, Saint Mihiel and in the Meuse-Argonne. At the end of WWI, the 30th was deactivated from Federal Service and reverted to its National Guard role in its respective states.

The beginning of World War II saw the 30th reactivated in September 1940. Receiving replacements from nearly every state in the union, the 30th received training at Camp Forrest, Tennessee and Camp Atterbury, Indiana, and then departed for Europe in 1944.

In June of 1944, after being fully trained and prepared, the division crossed the English Channel to join in the greatest invasion of all time. The 30th was employed as a replacement division to compensate for the losses to the 29th Infantry Division on D-Day.

The balance of the 30th went to the beaches of Normandy on Omaha Beach on D-Day plus 4, June 10th, and was immediately thrown against the German Army.

Spearheading “Operation Cobra”, the 30th distinguished itself during the breakthrough and opened the way for Patton’s Third Army to drive into Brittany and on to Best. In combat the Division became known as the “Workhorse of the Front”. It was dubbed by the German high Command as “Roosevelt’s SS Troops” because of its relentless pressure on the German’s elite First SS Division during the breakout at St. Lo and again at Mortain.

The 30th again saw action against the First SS during the Battle of the Bulge, during the Ardennes Offensive in winter 1944-45. “Old Hickory” extracted so many casualties to the 1st SS; the elite enemy unit was no longer able to do battle.

The 30th continued on across Germany, eventually linking up with elements of the Russian Army at Magdeburg on the Elbe River in April 1945.

Immediately following the end of the war in Europe, the 30th spent its time in an Occupation role near the border of Czechoslovakia. Coming home to the U.S. aboard the Queen Mary, the Division was deactivated in November 1945 at Fort Jackson, South Carolina.

For more info on this storied Division go to www.oldhickory30th.com and www.30thinfantry.org.