Patch, 71st Infantry Division

Genuine WWII US shoulder sleeve insignia of the 71st Infantry Division, 'The Red Circle'.

The 71st Infantry Division arrived at Le Havre, France, 6 February 1945. The division relieved the 100th Infantry Division at Ratswiller and saw its first action on 11 March 1945. Their ouster of the Germans from France began 15 March. It moved through outer belts of the Siegfried Line and crossed the Rhine at Oppenheim. It continued the advance, taking Coburg without resistance, cutting the Munich-Berlin autobahn, 13 April, and capturing Bayreuth after fierce opposition on 16 April. Moving south, it destroyed Schönfeld, 18 April and crossed the Danube on 26 April. Regensburg fell on the next day and Straubing on 28 April, and crossed the Isar on 29 April and entered Austria, 2 May.

Participated in the liberation of concentration camps including one in Austria called Gunskirchen Lager, a subcamp of Mathausen, on 4 May.

The 71st organized and occupied defensive positions along the Enns River and contacted Russian forces east of Linz, 8 May, the day before hostilities ceased and was assigned occupational duties until it left for home and inactivation 1 March 1946.