1st Infantry Division

1st Infantry Division Patch. Big red one

The 1st American Infantry Division was put into action for the first time in 1917 during the First World War. It was the first American unit to fight in France. A brigade composed of 4 infantry battalions, an artillery regiment and an engineer unit arrived on the front line on October 23, 1917 at Sommerviller, southeast of Toul. It was inserted between two French divisions of the 7th Army. Then the entire division, more than 20,000 men, took part in the Battle of Cantigny on the Somme front, from May 28 to 31, 1918. This was its first major engagement during the Great War.

It began the Second World War with Operation Torch in North Africa, landing near Oran. It then fought Erwin Rommel's Afrika Korps and then took part in Operation Husky, the landing in Sicily. It was found at Omaha Beach on June 6, 1944, where it suffered heavy losses alongside the 29th American Infantry Division. It ended the war in Germany, near Czechoslovakia in 1945. The division lost 21,023 men (probably including wounded and prisoners) while 43,743 soldiers served there. They collected 20,752 medals, including 16 Medals of Honor.