135th Infantry Regiment History

Minneapolis (1941 February)
to Trieste (1945 September)

 34th Infantry Division Association
 
34th Inf Div Assn -> history -> 135inf.html • SiteMap

135th Infantry Regiment
"To The Last Man"

  

34th Infantry Division
"Attack, Attack, Attack!"
135th Infantry Regiment   34th Infantry Division
 

On 7 January 2010 two files were reloaded with corrections: the first file of the Ray Rudolph collection, The Background of the 135th Infantry, and the third file of the Gold Star collection, Cassino, Anzio. All PDF files of the Gold Star and John Breit collections were also optimized for faster loading and better viewing.

We bring together here three World War II narrative histories of the 135th Infantry Regiment. They all originated in the combat theater, prepared by soldiers serving in the regiment at that time. They are all official documents of the regiment, and are not here 'corrected' by later observers.

The lineage and honors, going back to - and beyond - the Minnesota Volunteers, raised in April 1861 and serving at Gettysburg, are carried today (2010) by the 2nd Battalion, 135th Infantry, 1st Brigade Combat Team, of the Minnesota National Guard and the 34th Infantry Division.

The first of the three collections, largely prepared by Ray Rudolph, on the S-3 staff of the regiment, brought together the monthly historic reports from Minneapolis (1941 February) to Monte Cassino (1944 February). His replacement continued the effort up to the breakthrough at the Gothic Line (1944 September) but was then captured by the Germans. We thank Ray, long-time Secretary/Treasurer of our Tri-State Chapter, for the donation of his personal copy of those papers.

The other two collections are about 700 pages each, original material - sometimes barely readable - and have been scanned and loaded as PDF files. They are in part narrative history but present a wealth of important material. Both collections list command and staff assignments to company level and identify casualties in detail. They are major portions of the regiment's required monthly operational reports.

The second collection, from the archives of the Gold Star Military Museum, Iowa National Guard, at Camp Dodge IA, was scanned this past summer by Lt.Col. (Ret.) Mike Musel. Further material, unique to this collection, includes unit strength and location reports, some communication logs, and many of the personnel citations and awards which tell the story of its soldiers - the hearts of the regiment - in detail.

The final collection is from the personal papers of Col. (Ret.) John Breit, commanding the 135th Infantry Regiment in the Po Valley Campaign and during the Italian occupation. These papers were donated to the Gold Star Military Museum by William Breit, the colonel's son, and scanned last year by Pat Skelly. Extensive 'Lessons Learned in Combat' and Awards and Citations reports are included at the end of this collection.

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Ray Rudolph, text, 34 pages, 824 KB

The Background of the 135th Infantry (p. 0)
Preparations for Combat (pp. 1-3), 1941 February
Induction into Federal Service (p. 1)
Camp Claiborne and Fort Dix (pp. 1-2)
Northern Ireland and England (pp. 2-3)
Algerian Campaign - Landing At Algiers (pp. 3-6), 1942 October
Tunisian Campaign - Oran to Fondouk (pp. 6-9), 1942 November
Landing at Oran (p. 6)
Pichon - First Action against the Germans (pp. 6-7)
Defense of the Sbiba Valley (pp. 7-8)
El Ala - Pichon Diversion (p. 8)
First Fondouk (pp. 8-9)
Second Fondouk (p. 9)
Tunisian Campaign - Hill 609 (pp. 9-12), 1943 April
Italy and the Crossings of the Volturno (pp. 12-17), 1943 September
Montaquilla and Mount Pantano (pp. 17-19), 1943 November
Cassino (pp. 19-24), 1944 January
Anzio and Rome Campaigns (pp.24-28), 1944 March
Anzio Beachhead (pp. 24-25)
Rome (pp. 25-28)
Up the Coast to Leghorn (pp. 28-31), 1944 June
The Gothic Line (pp. 31-33), 1944 September
Awards (pp. 33-34)
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Gold Star Military Museum files, PDF, 697 pages, 26 MB

Camp Claiborne, Fort Dix, Northern Ireland, North Africa, 1941 February
Salerno, Volturno, Cerasuola, 1942 May
Cassino, Anzio, 1944 January
Anzio, Lanuvio, Rome, Civitavecchia, 1944 April
Cecina, Gothic Line, 1944 July
Gothic Line, Winter Line, 1944 October
Winter Line, 1945 January
Po Valley, Combat Ends, Occupation, 1945 April
French Border, Jugoslav Border, Going Home, 1945 July
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Col. John Breit, PDF, 691 pages, 155 MB

Foreword
Federal Service, Camp Claiborne, Pearl Harbor, 1941 February
Northern Ireland, 1942 May
Algiers, Tunisia, Kasserine, 1942 October
1st Fondouk, 2nd Fondouk, Hill 609, 1943 March
Waiting for Italy, 1943 May
Salerno, 1943 September
Volturno, Volturno, Volturno River, 1943 October
Alife, Cassino, 1943 December
Anzio, 1944 February
Cisterna, Rome, 1944 May
Tarquinia, Grosseta, Leghorn, Arno River, 1944 June
Leghorn, Gothic Line, Winter, 1944 August
Winter Line, Monte Belmonte, Highway 65, 1944 November
Po Valley, Surrender of German 34th Div., 1945 April
Lessons Learned in Combat
Appendix: Awards and Citations
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This wealth of material is now readily available to you, your families, and military historians because of the donation of personal papers by individuals. Please do not let your records collections be hidden or scattered. Consider donating them to the 34th Infantry Division Association and Archives at the

Gold Star Military Museum, Iowa National Guard
Bldg A-9, Camp Dodge
7105 NW 70th Avenue
Johnston IA 50131-1824
and please come by for a visit.


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