92nd Infantry Division...rounds out US Black Military History

The 92nd Infantry Division was a unit of the United States Army in World War I and World War II. Organized in October 1917 at Camp Funston, Kansas, the unit was formed with African American soldiers from all states. Before leaving for France in 1918, the buffalo was selected as the divisional insignia due to the Buffalo Soldiers nickname, given to African American cavalrymen by Native Americans in the 19th century. The Buffalo Soldiers Division divisional nickname was inherited from the 367th Infantry, one of the first units of the division organized. The 92nd Infantry Division was a part of the 5th Army that served in the Italian Theater during World War II. It was also the only infantry

unit comprised entirely of African Americans, or, as they were referred to at the time – Colored Troops, to see combat in Europe. During their time in Italy, from August of 1944 through the end of the war in May 1945, the 92nd advanced more than 3,000 square miles and captured more than 20,000 German prisoners. They also suffered heavy casualties – with more than a quarter of the unit killed or wounded in action. For their Deeds the 92nd earned more than 12,000 decorations and citations – including two Medals of Honor.

The division was reactivated as an infantry division on 15 October 1942 at Fort Huachuca, Arizona. After two years of training, the 370th Infantry Regiment would be sent overseas in August 1944 and temporarily attached to the 1st Armored Division. The rest of the division would be sent overseas in September of that year, and the division as a whole would see heavy combat during the remainder of the Italian Campaign. Between August 1944 and May 1945 the 92nd Division suffered 3,200 casualties, and the factoring in of losses from the 442nd Regimental Combat Team (442nd RCT) and other units attached to the division brings the total up to 5,000 casualties.

During the division's participation in the Italian Front, the Buffalo Soldiers made contact with units of many nationalities: beyond the attached 442nd RCT, they also had contact with the segregated troops of the British and French colonial empires (Black Africans, Moroccans, Algerians, Indians, Gurkhas, Arab and Jewish Palestinians) as well as with exiled Poles, Greeks and Czechs, anti-fascist Italians and the nonsegregated troops of the Brazilian Expeditionary Force.


92nd Division 1942–1945 was comprised of the following units:

• 365th Infantry Regiment
• 370th Infantry Regiment
• 371st Infantry Regiment
• 597th Field Artillery Battalion (105mm)
• 598th Field Artillery Battalion (105mm)
• 599th Field Artillery Battalion (105mm)

Support Units:

 

• 92nd Military Police Platoon
• 92nd Quartermaster Company
• 92nd Signal Company
• 92nd Cavalry Reconnaissance Troop (Mechanized)
• 792nd Ordnance (Light Maintenance) Company
• 317th Engineer Battalion
• 317th Medical Battalion
• 600th Field Artillery Battalion (155mm)

Attached Units:

• 366th Infantry Regiment (Nov, 1944 – Feb, 1945)
• 442nd Infantry Regiment (Nisei) (April 1945 – )
• 473rd Regimental Combat Team (formed from anti-aircraft units) (February 1945 – May 1945).
• 758th Tank Battalion (Colored)
• 679th Tank Destroyer Battalion (Colored)
• 894th Tank Destroyer Battalion
• 701th Tank Destroyer Battalion

 

Task Force 1 (February 1945):

• 3rd Battalion / 366th Infantry Regiment
• Company B, 317th Engineer Battalion
• 760th Tank Battalion
• 84th Chemical Mortar Battalion (4.2" [107mm])
• 27th Armored Field Artillery Battalion

 

 

"DEEDS, NOT WORDS"