45 42nd Infantry Division Patch20th Armored Division Patch Units at the Main Dachau Concentration Camp191st
                Tank Battalion Shoulder Patch XV Corps 692th Tank Destroyer Battalion 8th Air Force
Afternoon of April 29 to Afternoon of May 1, 1945

LEFT to RIGHT: Unit Insignia of the 45th Infantry Division, 42nd Infantry Division, 20th Armored Division, XV Corps, Eight Air Force*, 692th Tank Destroyer Battalion

45th Infantry Division:

42nd Infantry Division:
20th Armored Division:
XV Corps
*Eighth Air Force
 

Brigadier General Charles Y. Banfill, Deputy Commander for Operations, U.S. Eighth Air Force was with the units of the 42nd ID at Dachau. He was accompanying the 42nd to observe the effects of supporting aerial operations.

General Banfill was in the equivalent of a non-divisional unit and therefore his presence at Dachau did not meet the U.S. Army Center of Military History criteria for his unit to be recognized as a co-liberating division of Dachau.

Details:

The U.S. Army Center of Military History (CMH) officially recognizes the 45th and 42nd Infantry Divisions, and the 20th Armored Division, as the three co-Liberating Divisions of the main Dachau concentration camp.

These Divisions comprised close to 40,000 troops, across 48 component units.

It appears a few hundred soldiers from each of the co-Liberating Divisions, plus those of non-Divisional XV Corps, arrived at the concentration camp within the CMH-specified 48-hour Liberation period from 29 April to 1 May, 1945.

Service units were outside the concentration camp supporting liberation activities.

Additional combat units were in the vicinity, enroute to or at other assignments including the planned attack on Munich on 30 April, 1945.


Sources:

45th Infantry Division

The Rock Of Anzio: From Sicily To Dachau, A History Of The U.S. 45th Infantry Division by Flint Whitlock

Frank Byrchata, son of a veteran of the 158th Field Artillery Battalion.

Col. Hugh Foster, Retired

C Company at Dachau by Dan P. Dougherty


42nd Infantry Divisions


692nd Tank Destroyer Battalion: Capt. Roy Wellburn

Bud Gahs, Anti-Tank Company, 222nd Infantry Regiment

20th Armored Division:


Official reporting, as well as letters accounts, and photographs shared by "20th Armored Division In World War II" Group Members.  These will be included and detailed in our larger upcoming post on or about 25 April, 2022.

U.S. Army Center for Military History
documentation designating the 20th Armored Division a co-liberating division of Dachau, pages 15 (Company D) and pages 18, 20 (Assault Gun Platoon).

XV Corps

The family of Rudoph Cahn
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The 45th Infantry Division in World War II: An Unofficial Guide to Resources

Last Major Update:May 12, 2023
Minor Revision or Correction:December 20, 2021
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Posted: April 2, 2021

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Web page researched and composed by Leonard H. Cizewski. Rich Mintz, and Govan Yee
.

Greg Webber shared the information about his father Lt. Elmer Webber, Co. A, 191st TB.

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