Index of the General Orders of the 41st Infantry Division, in WWII
Statistics:
Silver
Star Medals 560
Soldier’s Medals 52
Bronze Star Medals 1,618
Air Medals 79
Purple Heart Medals 1,062
Army Commendation Ribbons 90
Combat Infantryman Badges 5
Combat Medic Badges 439
Battle Losses 980
Total Awards 3,905
This book has 72 pages
ISBN 978-1-932891-57-7
ISBN 1-932891-57-9
Library of Congress Control Number 2005-283289
41st Division's WWII Order of Battle
Headquarters Company
162nd Infantry Regiment
163rd Infantry Regiment
186th Infantry Regiment
Headquarters Battery, 41st Division
Artillery
146th Field Artillery Battalion
167th Field Artillery Battalion
205th Field Artillery Battalion
218th Field Artillery Battalion
41st Cavalry Reconnaissance Troop, Mechanized
116th Engineer Combat Battalion
116th Medical Battalion
41st Counter Intelligence Corps Detachment
Headquarters, Special Troops
741st Ordnance Light Maintenance Company
41st Quartermaster Company
41st Signal Company
Military Police Platoon
WWII Campaigns
New Guinea
Southern Philippines
Luzon
This is the forty-first in a series of indexes of all the divisions, corps, armies and commands of the US Army during WWII. Others will be published as they are completed.
This work includes all decorations cited in the general orders of the 41st Infantry Division.* Please note that many decorations presented to members of the 41st Infantry Division may have been cited in general orders of other commands. Most awards of the Purple Heart Medal were cited in the general orders of the hospitals that the men were evacuated to and, therefore, are not included in the work. This index does not attempt to list all of the awards of the Bronze Star Medal that were retroactively awarded under Change 13 to Army Regulation 600-45, Department of the Army, 4 November 1947. Most awards of the CIB and CMB were made in general orders of the respective infantry regiments. I have made no attempt to list the unit awards, awards of specific Battle Stars, and Good Conduct Medals.
Prior to the creation of the Bronze Star Medal commanders issued Letters of Commendation for deeds of service that did not meet the criteria for an existing decoration. Some Letters of Commendation were announced in general orders but had no corresponding awards. After the creation of the Bronze Star Medal some of the Letters of Commendation were revoked and Bronze Star Medals issued in their place. It is my understanding that those Letters of Commendation for combat service, issued prior to the creation of the Bronze Star Medal that were not revoked could qualify for a Bronze Star Medal under Change 13 to Army Regulation 600-45, Department of the Army, 4 November 1947. If the action was not combat related, the citation would qualify for the Army Commendation Ribbon, as the citation was made by a Major General. Prior to the creation of the Bronze Star Medal I have listed each recipient of a Letter of Commendation as receiving an Army Commendation Ribbon since there is no concrete answer as to what decoration they would be entitled to under later changes to the regulation.
Most 41st Infantry Division’s general orders do not contain the recipient’s unit assignment information. The recipient’s branch of service is listed in its place. Some of these general orders had the numerical designation of recipients penciled into the margin; when this information was present, it was included in this work. Please note that some members of tank destroyer battalions were actually members of the field artillery branch; likewise, members of tank battalions are commonly assigned to the infantry or cavalry branch. So the branch of service is only a lead in determining what unit an individual served in.
This index also includes the names from the Adjutant General’s Battle Death Report of the 41st Infantry Division. This lists all the men from the 41st Infantry Division who gave their lives in combat.
*The following general orders were missing from the files at the National Archives:
|
(GO#29,1943,41DIV) |
(GO#88,1945,41DIV) |
How to read the sources: (GO#46,1945,41DIV) is broken down as “GO” (General Order), “#” (Number 46, 1945), “41DIV” (41st Infantry Division). Information cited as (41DIVAGOBD) is from the Adjutant General’s 1947 Battle Death Report for the 41st Infantry Division. Entries that are in italics are men who gave their lives in combat.
Every effort has been made to minimize errors and misspelled names. An error may be attributable to the source document, or may have occurred while transcribing the names/units. Some of the original documents are of very poor print quality, making them difficult to decipher. Corrections with supporting documentation can be sent to D-Day Militaria