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Divisional information
Divisional troops
Assignments
Detachments


Divisional information Top

History
15.10.1940 Activated
15.12.1945 Returned to the United States
31.12.1945 Inactivated

Individual Awards

Medal of Honor Recipients
BAKER, Thomas A. [posthumously]
Rank and organization: Sergeant, U.S. Army, Company A, 105th Infantry, 27th Infantry Division.
Place and date: Saipan, Mariana Islands, 19 June to 7 July 1944.
Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty at Saipan, Mariana Islands, 19 June to 7 July 1944. When his entire company was held up by fire from automatic weapons and small-arms fire from strongly fortified enemy positions that commanded the view of the company, Sgt. (then Pvt.) Baker voluntarily took a bazooka and dashed alone to within 100 yards of the enemy. Through heavy rifle and machinegun fire that was directed at him by the enemy, he knocked out the strong point, enabling his company to assault the ridge. Some days later while his company advanced across the open field flanked with obstructions and places of concealment for the enemy, Sgt. Baker again voluntarily took up a position in the rear to protect the company against surprise attack and came upon 2 heavily fortified enemy pockets manned by 2 officers and 10 enlisted men which had been bypassed. Without regard for such superior numbers, he unhesitatingly attacked and killed all of them. Five hundred yards farther, he discovered 6 men of the enemy who had concealed themselves behind our lines and destroyed all of them. On 7 July 1944, the perimeter of which Sgt. Baker was a part was attacked from 3 sides by from 3,000 to 5,000 Japanese. During the early stages of this attack, Sgt. Baker was seriously wounded but he insisted on remaining in the line and fired at the enemy at ranges sometimes as close as 5 yards until his ammunition ran out. Without ammunition and with his own weapon battered to uselessness from hand-to-hand combat, he was carried about 50 yards to the rear by a comrade, who was then himself wounded. At this point Sgt. Baker refused to be moved any farther stating that he preferred to be left to die rather than risk the lives of any more of his friends. A short time later, at his request, he was placed in a sitting position against a small tree . Another comrade, withdrawing, offered assistance. Sgt. Baker refused, insisting that he be left alone and be given a soldier's pistol with its remaining 8 rounds of ammunition. When last seen alive, Sgt. Baker was propped against a tree, pistol in hand, calmly facing the foe. Later Sgt. Baker's body was found in the same position, gun empty, with 8 Japanese lying dead before him. His deeds were in keeping with the highest traditions of the U.S. Army.
O'BRIEN, William J. [posthumously]
Rank and organization: Lieutenant Colonel, U.S. Army, 1st Battalion, 105th Infantry, 27th Infantry Division.
Place and date: Saipan, Marianas Islands, 20 June through 7 July 1944.
Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty at Saipan, Marianas Islands, from 20 June through 7 July 1944. When assault elements of his platoon were held up by intense enemy fire, Lt. Col. O'Brien ordered 3 tanks to precede the assault companies in an attempt to knock out the strongpoint. Due to direct enemy fire the tanks' turrets were closed, causing the tanks to lose direction and to fire into our own troops. Lt. Col. O'Brien, with complete disregard for his own safety, dashed into full view of the enemy and ran to the leader's tank, and pounded on the tank with his pistol butt to attract 2 of the tank's crew and, mounting the tank fully exposed to enemy fire, Lt. Col. O'Brien personally directed the assault until the enemy strongpoint had been liquidated. On 28 June 1944, while his platoon was attempting to take a bitterly defended high ridge in the vicinity of Donnay, Lt. Col. O'Brien arranged to capture the ridge by a double envelopment movement of 2 large combat battalions. He personally took control of the maneuver. Lt. Col. O'Brien crossed 1,200 yards of sniper-infested underbrush alone to arrive at a point where 1 of his platoons was being held up by the enemy. Leaving some men to contain the enemy he personally led 4 men into a narrow ravine behind, and killed or drove off all the Japanese manning that strongpoint. In this action he captured S machineguns and one 77-mm. fieldpiece. Lt. Col. O'Brien then organized the 2 platoons for night defense and against repeated counterattacks directed them. Meanwhile he managed to hold ground. On 7 July 1944 his battalion and another battalion were attacked by an overwhelming enemy force estimated at between 3,000 and 5,000 Japanese. With bloody hand-to-hand fighting in progress everywhere, their forward positions were finally overrun by the sheer weight of the enemy numbers. With many casualties and ammunition running low, Lt. Col. O'Brien refused to leave the front lines. Striding up and down the lines, he fired at the enemy with a pistol in each hand and his presence there bolstered the spirits of the men, encouraged them in their fight and sustained them in their heroic stand. Even after he was seriously wounded, Lt. Col. O'Brien refused to be evacuated and after his pistol ammunition was exhausted, he manned a .50 caliber machinegun, mounted on a jeep, and continued firing. When last seen alive he was standing upright firing into the Jap hordes that were then enveloping him. Some time later his body was found surrounded by enemy he had killed His valor was consistent with the highest traditions of the service.
SALOMON, Ben L. [posthumously]
Rank and organization: Captain, U.S. Army, 2d Battalion, 105th Infantry Regiment, 27th Infantry Division.
Place and date: Saipan, Marianas Islands, 7 July 1944.
Citation: Captain Ben L. Salomon was serving at Saipan, in the Marianas Islands on July 7, 1944, as the Surgeon for the 2d Battalion, 105th Infantry Regiment, 27th Infantry Division. The Regiment's 1st and 2d Battalions were attacked by an overwhelming force estimated between 3,000 and 5,000 Japanese soldiers. It was one of the largest attacks attempted in the Pacific Theater during World War II. Although both units fought furiously, the enemy soon penetrated the Battalions' combined perimeter and inflicted overwhelming casualties. In the first minutes of the attack, approximately 30 wounded soldiers walked, crawled or were carried into Captain Salomon's aid station, and the small tent soon filled with wounded men. As the perimeter began to be overrun, it became increasingly difficult for Captain Salomon to work on the wounded. He then saw a Japanese soldier bayoneting one of the wounded soldiers lying near the tent. Firing from a squatting position, Captain Salomon quickly killed the enemy soldier. Then, as he turned his attention back to the wounded, two more Japanese soldiers appeared in the front entrance of the tent. As these enemy soldiers were killed, four more crawled under the tent walls. Rushing them, Captain Salomon kicked the knife out of the hand of one, shot another and bayoneted a third. Captain Salomon butted the fourth enemy soldier in the stomach and a wounded comrade then shot and killed the enemy soldier. Realizing the gravity of the situation, Captain Salomon ordered the wounded to make their way as best they could back to the regimental aid station, while he attempted to hold off the enemy until they were clear. Captain Salomon then grabbed a rifle from one of the wounded and rushed out of the tent. After four men were killed while manning a machine gun, Captain Salomon took control of it. When his body was later found, 98 dead enemy soldiers were piled in front of his position. Captain Salomon's extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit, and the United States Army.

Campaigns

Commanding General (CG)
00.10.1940 Maj.-Gen. William N. Haskell
00.11.1941 Brig.-Gen Ralph McT. Pennell
00.11.1942 Maj.-Gen. Ralph C. Smith
00.06.1944-Inactivation Maj.-Gen. George W. Griner (Jr.)

Divisional troops Top

Infantry

105th Infantry Regiment 00.00.0000-00.00.0000
106th Infantry Regiment 00.00.0000-00.00.0000
165th Infantry Regiment 00.00.0000-00.00.0000

Field Artillery (FA)

Headquarters & Headquarters Battery 00.00.0000-00.00.0000
104th FA Battalion (105mm Howitzer) 00.00.0000-00.00.0000
105th FA Battalion (105mm Howitzer) 00.00.0000-00.00.0000
106th FA Battalion (155mm Howitzer) 00.00.0000-00.00.0000
249th FA Battalion (105mm Howitzer) 00.00.0000-00.00.0000

Other troops

Headquarters & Headquarters Company 00.00.0000-00.00.0000
Headquarters Special Troops 00.00.0000-00.00.0000
102nd Engineer Combat Battalion 00.00.0000-00.00.0000
27th Mechanized Cavalry Reconnaissance Troop 00.00.0000-00.00.0000
102nd Medical Battalion 00.00.0000-00.00.0000
27th Quartermaster Company 00.00.0000-00.00.0000
27th Signal Company 00.00.0000-00.00.0000
727th Ordnance Light Maintenance Company 00.00.0000-00.00.0000
27th Counter-Intelligence Corps Detachment 00.00.0000-00.00.0000
Military Police Platoon 00.00.0000-00.00.0000


Assignments Top

Date Assigned to Corps Assigned to Army Attached to Army Assigned to Army Group Attached to Army Group
10.03.1942 Hawaiian Department
14.08.1943
Central Pacific Area Command
13.04.1944 XXIV Corps        
15.04.1944 V Amphibious Corps        
01.07.1944
Central Pacific Base Command
30.07.1944
Army Garrison Force Saipan
07.09.1944
South Pacific Base Command
26.11.1944   Tenth Army      
09.04.1945 XXIV Corps        
19.07.1945
Army Garrison Force APO 331
30.07.1945   Tenth Army      


Detachments Top

Unit Attached to  
Entire Division V Amphibious Corps 13.09.1943-00.00.0000
Entire Division Okinawa Island Command 02.05.1945-00.00.0000

Sources & links: 27th Brigade
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