83rd Infantry Division ( United States ) The 83rd Infantry Division ( " Thunderbolt " ) was a formation of the United States Army in World War I and World War II . World War I . The division was activated in September 1917 , and went overseas in June 1918 . It was designated a depot division . Thus it supplied over 195 , 000 officers and enlisted men as replacements in France without seeing action as a complete formation . Certain division units saw action , such as the 332nd Infantry Regiment , in Italy . Its commanders were Maj . Gen . Edwin F . Glenn ( 25 August 1917 ) , Brig . Gen . Frederick Perkins ( 13 January 1918 ) , Brig . Gen . Willard A . Holbrook ( 23 March 1918 ) , and finally Maj . Gen . Edwin F . Glenn ( 3 April 1918 ) . It was inactivated in October 1919 . World War II . Combat chronicle . The 83d Infantry Division arrived in England on 16 April 1944 . After training in Wales , the division landed at Omaha Beach , 18 June 1944 , and entered the hedgerow struggle south of Carentan , 27 June . Taking the offensive , the 83d reached the St . Lo - Periers Road , 25 July , and advanced against strong opposition as the Normandy campaign ended . After a period of training , elements of the division took Châteauneuf - d ' Ille - et - Vilaine , 5 August , and Dinard , 15 August , and approached the heavily fortified area protecting St . Malo . Intense fighting reduced enemy strong points and a combined attack against the Citadel Fortress of St . Servan caused its surrender , 17 August . While elements moved south to protect the north bank of the Loire River , the main body of the division concentrated south of Rennes for patrolling and reconnaissance activities . Elements reduced the garrison at Ile de Cézembre , which surrendered , 2 September . On 16 September 1944 : the only surrender of a German Major General B . H . Elster to US - troops with 18 , 850 men and 754 officers at the Loire bridge of Beaugency . The movement into Luxembourg was completed on 25 September . Taking Remich on the 28th and patrolling defensively along the Moselle , the 83d resisted counterattacks and advanced to the Siegfried Line defenses across the Sauer after capturing Grevenmacher and Echternach , 7 October . As the initial movement in operation " Unicorn , " the division took Le Stromberg Hill in the vicinity of Basse Konz against strong opposition , 5 November , and beat off counterattacks . Moving to the Hurtgen Forest , the 83d thrust forward from Gressenich to the west bank of the Roer . It entered the Battle of the Bulge , 27 December , striking at Rochefort and reducing the enemy salient in a bitter struggle . The division moved back to Belgium and the Netherlands for rehabilitation and training , 22 January 1945 . On 1 March , the 83d advanced toward the Rhine in Operation Grenade , and captured Neuss . The west bank of the Rhine from north of Oberkassel to the Erft Canal was cleared and defensive positions established by 2 March and the division renewed its training . The 83d crossed the Rhine south of Wesel , 29 March , and advanced across the Munster Plain to the Weser , crossing it at Bodenwerder . As opposition disintegrated , Halle fell on 6 April . The division crossed the Leine , 8 April , and attacked to the east , pushing over the Harz Mountain region and advancing to the Elbe at Barby . That city was taken on the 13 April . The 83rd established a bridgehead over the river . On 11 April 1945 the 83rd encountered Langenstein , a subcamp of the Buchenwald concentration camp . At the camp , the troops found approximately 1 , 100 inmates . The inmates were malnourished and in extremely poor physical condition . The 83rd reported the death rate at the camp to be 500 per month . Also , that the prisoners had been forced to work 16 hour days in nearby mines , and were shot if they became too weak to work . After liberation , the death rate continued at approximately 25 – 50 people per day , due to the severe physical debilitation of the prisoners . To slow the spread of sickness and death , the 83rd ordered the local German mayor to supply the camp with food and water . Also , medical supplies were requisitioned from the U . S . Army ' s 20th Field Hospital . In addition , the 83rd recovered documents for use by war crimes investigators .