Organization and Work of a Division
An Infantry Division is commanded by a Major General. Assisted by his staff he directs the work and activities of the division. The enlisted men attached to Division Headquarters are men whose training enables them to be of greatest value to the staff officers. These men care for the greater part of the "paper work" of a division, including compiling of payrolls, statistics of casualties, divisional records, etc. Attached to Division Headquarters is a post-office detachment and the Ordnance and Quartermaster men who conduct the Divisional Supply Dump. The men of the Headquarters Troop are the mounted orderlies of the staff officers. Others run the staff cars, serve as dispatch bearers and do important guard duty.
The chief aim of a division is to make the work of the Infantry effective, and the special direction of the Infantry is in the hands of two Brigadier Generals, each commanding an Infantry brigade composed of two Infantry regiments and Brigade Headquarters. The immediate commander of each of the two Infantry regiments is a Colonel. Each regiment contains 12 "Line" companies of 250 men each, a machine-gun company, a supply company, and a Headquarters company which contains the regimental band and small detachments of bombers and sappers, signal corps men, Trench Mortar men, intelligence men, pioneers and medical men. The Infantry-men (or Doughboys) are armed with rifles and automatic revolvers, and sometimes with automatic rifles and hand grenades. It is the doughboys who make the "hopover" (i.e. go over the top), and it is the doughboys who do the hand to hand fighting, suffer the greatest losses, endure the most severe hardships, win the most medals, and to whom is justly accorded the greatest credit in time of battle.
There are three Machine-Gun Battalions attached to each division; one is attached to each Infantry brigade, and one is attached to division Headquarters. In an offensive, part of the machine-guns are advanced with the Infantry, while other machine-guns are placed in reserve to break up a counter-attack and protect the Infantry. The machine-gun was one of the most effective of the newer weapons extensively used in the war.
The Artillery of a division normally consists of two regiments of light Artillery shooting threeinch shells and one regiment of heavy Artillery shooting 3.8-inch shells or larger. These three regiments are hrigaded together and are commanded by a Brigadier General. In the present war, practically all of the American Field Artillery used the famous "French 75" which shoots a shell nearly three inches in diameter. The Field Artillery is usually stationed from a half mile to five miles behind the Infantry. It is chiefly used to destroy fortifications and, by means of the barrage, to drive the enemy back before the advance of the Infantry.
The Trench Mortar Battalion of a division is attached to the Artillery brigade. It is especially useful in destroying trenches and in blowing up machine-gun emplacements.
The Engineers of a division are divided into bridge builders, road makers, etc. In performing these duties, they have a most important part in battle operations. Sometimes an Infantry advance is not possible until the engineers have bridged a stream or a swamp. Often the rate of the advance of the Infantry is dependent upon the speed with which the Engineers make shell-torn roads passable so that Artillery, ammunition and supplies can go forward. Because of the importance of their work, the Engineers are often working under heavy shell fire. On several occasions during the war, American Engineers dropped their tools, seized their rifles and turned the tide of hattle.
The trains of a division are in charge of a Colonel who is known as Commander of Trains. The Ammunition Train, Supply Train and Sanitary Train have Lieutenant Colonels as their immediate commanders, and the Colonel has direct command of Train Headquarters and the Military Police.
In battle operations, the Military Police have three specific duties: they convey prisoners from the Front lines where they were captured by the Infantry to the Divisional intelligence and examining post, and thence to the temporary prison pen. The second task is picking up stragglers, examining suspicious persons and directing walking wounded to the first aid stations. The third and perhaps most important duty is keeping the roads clear and traffic moving according to changing priority orders. This work includes enforcing orders as to one-way traffic and shuttle roads, organizing forces to move mired trucks, etc. The cross-roads where the M. P. 's have their posts are favorite targets for the enemy's guns. The enlisted men of Train Headquarters serve as M. P. 's in emergencies and do the Headquarters work for the various Trains.
The Ammunition Train consists normally of four wagon companies and four truck companies. This very important unit carries rifle ammunition to the Infantry, and shells to the Artillery. Usually, the moving of ammunition is accomplished under cover of darkness, but in the big offensives the ammunition trucks are kept going day and night.
The Supply Train of the division is entirely motorized and carries rations and forage from the dumps as far forward as it is possible to go. The work of these trains, traveling over miry and shell torn roads and often under shell fire, is dangerous, hard and important work.
The small Engineers Train is usually attached to the Engineers regiment and is kept more than busy hauling supplies, etc.
The Sanitary Train of a division consists of four field hospitals and four ambulance companies. The wounded are brought from the battlefield to these hospitals where the wounds or first aid dressings are inspected. Here the patients generally receive their injection of antitetanus serum, emergency operations are performed, and then the wounded are sent back in the ambulances to the evacuation hospital, and transported from there by train to a base hospital. Bed Cross doctors frequently assist the regular Army physicians in this work. The wonderful and merciful work of these units cannot be praised too highly.
Although the Field Signal Battalion is one of the smaller units of a division, its work is of great interest and importance, because with the Signal Corps rests largely the communication of the division. In many cases the Signal Corps men work ahead of the Infantry, laying telephone wires. By utilizing telephones, telegraph, buzzer system, wireless, pigeons, fireworks and motor cycles, the lines of communication between the Infantry and the Artillery and their branches and Headquarters are kept open and working, and through the cooperation of all the units, the division is maintained a highly efficient responsive fighting machine.
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