7th Infantry Division in World War II: “Hourglass Division” 1952 US Army; The Big Picture TV-221
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“Tells the story of how the soldiers of the 7th Infantry Division brought the war to the front door of Japan. Scenes show how the fighting men of the “Hour Glass Division” successfully fought the Japanese in the Aleutian Islands, the Marshall Islands, the Philippine Islands, and Okinawa.”
Reupload of a previously uploaded film, in one piece instead of multiple parts.
Public domain film from the National Archives, slightly cropped to remove uneven edges, with the aspect ratio corrected, and mild video noise reduction applied.
The soundtrack was also processed with volume normalization, noise reduction, clipping reduction, and equalization (the resulting sound, though not perfect, is far less noisy than the original).
The 7th Infantry Division was an infantry division of the United States Army. It was activated in December 1917 in World War I, inactivated in August 2006 following the end of the Cold War, and based at Fort Ord, California for most of its history. Although elements of the division saw brief active service in World War I, it is best known for its participation in the Pacific Ocean theater of World War II where it took heavy casualties engaging the Imperial Japanese Army in the Aleutian Islands, Leyte, and Okinawa.
Following the Japanese surrender in 1945, the division was stationed in Japan and Korea, and with the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950 was one of the first units in action. It took part in the Inchon Landings and the advance north until Chinese forces counter-attacked and almost overwhelmed the scattered division. The 7th later went on to fight in the Battle of Pork Chop Hill and the Battle of Old Baldy.
After the Korean War ended, the division returned to the United States. In the late 1980s, it briefly saw action overseas in Operation Golden Pheasant in Honduras and Operation Just Cause in Panama. In the early 1990s, it provided domestic support to the civil authorities in Operation Green Sweep and during the 1992 Los Angeles Riots. The division’s final role was as a training and evaluation unit for Army National Guard brigades, which it undertook until its inactivation in 2006. On April 26th 2012, the DOD announced a new two star HQ will be added to the US Army at Joint Base Lewis- McChord. The Headquarters will be designated 7th Infantry Division Headquarters and will activate on October 1st, 2012..
Elements of the 7th Infantry Division first saw combat in the amphibious assault on Attu Island, the western-most Japanese entrenchment in the Aleutian islands chain. Elements landed on 11 May 1943, spearheaded by the 17th Infantry Regiment. Initially the landings were unopposed, but Japanese forces mounted a counteroffensive the next day, and the 7th Infantry Division fought an intense battle over the tundra against strong Japanese resistance. The division was hampered by its inexperience and poor weather and terrain conditions, but was eventually able to coordinate an effective attack. The fight for the island culminated in a battle at Chichagof Harbor, when the division destroyed all Japanese resistance on the island on 29 May, after a suicidal Japanese bayonet charge. During its first fight of the war, 600 soldiers of the division were killed, while killing 2,351 Japanese and taking 28 prisoners…
American forces then began preparing to move against nearby Kiska island, termed Operation Cottage, the final fight in the Aleutian islands campaign…
Marshall Islands
After the campaign, the division moved to Hawaii where it trained in new amphibious assault techniques on the island of Maui, before returning to Schofield Barracks on Oahu for brief leave… The division left Pearl Harbor on 22 January 1944, for an offensive on Japanese territory. On 30 January 1944, the division landed on islands in the Kwajalein Atoll in conjunction with the 4th Marine Division, code named Operation Flintlock… The victory put V Amphibious Corps in control of all 47 islands in the atoll. The 7th Infantry Division suffered 176 killed and 767 wounded…
Elements took part in the capture of Engebi in the Eniwetok Atoll on 18 February 1944, code named Operation Catchpole…
The 7th Infantry Division left Hawaii on 11 October, heading for Leyte…
The division was reassigned to XXIV Corps, Tenth United States Army, a newly formed command, and began preparations for the assault on Okinawa. The Battle of Okinawa began on 1 April 1945, L-Day, when the 7th Infantry Division participated in an assault landing south of Hagushi, Okinawa alongside the 96th Infantry Division, and the 1st, and 6th Marine Divisions…
