BLOOD & FIRE A Brief History of the "Blood and Fire" Division By Mag Froberg

The 63rd Infantry Division (WW II) was activated at Camp Blanding, Florida on June 15, 1943, shortly after the Casablanca Conference in which Prime Minister Winston Churchill called for the allied forces to make their enemies "bleed and burn in expiation of their crimes against humanity." Prompted by that vow, the division commander, General Louis E. Hibbs adopted those words as the division motto and embraced the vengeful nickname "Blood and Fire." After training at Camp Van Dorn in Centreville, Mississippi, the 63rd Infantry Division carried its insignia, a bloddied sword set against a background of flame, into battle late in 1944 in the Alsace district of France.

At first, the infantry regiments were introduced in piece-meal fashion to combat conditions at the front line. The 253rd and the 255th Infantry Regiments occupied defensive positions along the Rhine River north of Strasbourg in mid December as a part of "Task Force Harris." Then as December 31st approached and the higher echelons of command suspected an enemy attack upon the 7th Army positions, each regiment was attached to a different line division to bolster their respective defensive strengths. The 253rd Infantry was attached to the 44th Infantry Division in the Sarreguemines area, the 254th Infantry was attached to the 3rd Infantry Division in the Colmar area and the 255th Infantry was attached to the 100th Infantry Division in the Bitche area.

On New Years Eve the German 17th SS Panzer Grenadier Division launched the initial attack of "Operation Northwind" in a blinding snow storm. The 3rd Battalion of the 253rd Infantry suffered badly as it was entrenched directly in the path of the attack at Gros Rederching. The Panzer Grenadiers moved on to Achen, France where they were finally stopped by the 255th Infantry. At Colmar, the 254th attacked positions of the German 19th Army and captured the key to the battle, Hill 216. Later the Regiment moved on to become embroiled in a pitched battle at Jebsheim which finally fell on January 29th after a four day engagement.

In February, 1945, the 63rd Infantry Division consolidated as a fighting unit after the Special Troops, Artillery, Medical, and Engineer Battalions and Division Headquarters had arrived from the States, led the American 7th Army back onto German soil north of Sarreguemines, France for the final time.

The 253rd Infantry and the 1st Battalion of the 255th Infrantry Regiment moved forward about ten miles before encountering substantial resistance at the limestone quarry near Bubingen, Germany. Three days later, the German defenders relinquished the high ground overlooking the Siegfried Line and the 63rd secured its position confronting the highly touted defensive system of bunkers and tank traps.

In early March, the 254th Infantry Regiment was the first unit of the 7th Army to break through the vaunted Siegfried Line east of Saarburcken after five days of very heavy fighting. A weakness consisting of a deep valley west of Ensheim provided an entry point into the line where the infantry could attack the bunkers with explosive charges. The 255th Infantry broke through the line shortly after in its sector to the east.

Later that month, the 255th Infantry Regiment captured the university city of Heidelberg and in mid April, 1945 the 253rd Infantry Regiment forced the withdrawal of the German 17th SS Panzer Grenadier Division from its defensive position east of Heilbronn after six days of artillery duels and very determined infantry combat. By the end of April, the entire 63rd Infantry Division had chased the German forces south through Wurttemberg and Bavaria, across the Danube River at Gunzburg and on to Landsberg where its last prize was the capture of the prison at Landsberg, the place where Adolph Hitler wrote "Mein Kampf."

During World War II, units of the 63rd Infantry Division were awarded four Distinguished Unit Citations and the French Croix de Gueree with Palm. Two of its members were awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. 3960 men of the 63rd were wounded in battle and 1002 lost their lives in the 119 days the division was in combat.

After the war was completed, the 63rd Infantry Division Headquarters, the 862nd and 718th Field Artillery Battalions, and parts of the 253rd Infantry Regiment were inactivated at Camp Miles Standish, Massachusetts on the 27th of September, 1945. Similarly the 255th and 254th Infantry Regiments were inactivated on the 29th of September, 1945 at Camp Kilmer, New Jersey. And on the same date the 861st and 863rd Field Artillery Battalions with the remaining portions of the 253rd Infantry Regiment were inactivated at Camp Patrick Henry, Virginia.

On February 22, 1952, the 63rd Infantry Division and its integral units were allotted to the Organized Reserve Corps and assigned to the Sixth Army. The division was activated March 1, 1952 with units spread across southern California. The three infantry regiments were inactivated at Los Angeles on May 1, 1959 and in accordance with the army reorganization plan, the Headquarters and Headquarters Companies were consolidated with the 3rd Battle Group. The 253rd was consolidated with the 31st Infantry, the 254th with the 30th Infantry and the 255th with the 27th Infantry.

On the same date, the 861st Field Artillery Battalion was inactivated at Santa Monica, the 862nd at North Hollywood, the 863rd at Pasadena and the 718th Field Artillery Battalion at South Gate, California. On the other hand, the 263rd Engineer Battalion and the 363rd Medical Battalion remained active with the Sixth Army until December 31, 1965 when the 263rd was inactivated at Van Nuys and the 363rd was inactivated at Bell, California.

The proud spirit of the 63rd Infantry Division is carried on by the 63rd Army Reserve Command located at Los Alamitos, California. Its members have carried the "Blood and Fire" patch as far as Kuwait and Iraq in Operation Desert Storm.

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