The Dixie Division Military Vehicles Club is an organization dedicated to the preservation, restoration, collection, and display of historic military vehicles of all nations and of all eras of our history. We are also dedicated to the education of our members and the public as to the historical use and service of our vehicles by the various armed forces of the world.
The club was organized on November 6, 1999 during a vehicle rally at Tannehill State Park, and has members from all over North America and even Europe. We welcome new members who share our interests, even if you dont presently own a vehicle.
The Dixie Division Military Vehicles Club is a member of the Military Vehicle Preservation Association
The name,"Dixie Division", honors the history of the 31st Infantry Division, which was made up of men from Alabama, Mississippi, and other southern states. The 31st saw action in New Guinea, Mindanao, and the Philippines in WW-II.
General Information
Nickname:
Dixie Division
Slogan:
It shall be done.
Shoulder patch:
A white disk on which is a red circle, within which are two red D"s, back to back.
The Dixie Division in WWII
Activated:
25 November 1940 (National Guard Division from Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, and Mississippi).
Overseas:
12 March 1944
Campaigns:
New Guinea
Southern Philippines
Distinguished Unit Citations:
1
Awards (totals of all members):
Medal of Honor (1)
Distinguished Service Cross (7)
Distinguished Service Medal (3)
Silver Star (178)
Legion of Merit (11)
Distinguished Flying Cross (1)
Soldiers Medal (73)
Bronze Star (948)
Air Medal (77)
Commanders:
Maj. Gen. John C. Persons
(25 November 1940-September 1944)
Maj. Gen. Clarence A. Martin
(September 1944 to inactivation)
Returned to U.S.:
12 December 1945
Inactivated:
21 December 1945.
Combat History in WWII
Once having reached the Southwest Pacific the 31st wasted little time moving into combat. In March 1944, the 124th Infantry Regiment went to Aitape and caught a heavy assignment for its first action. In the bloody fighting along the Druinimor River the regiment killed more than 3000 of the enemy and played a major part in breaking the back of the by-passed Japanese Eighteenth Army, 22 March 1944, General MacArthur was able to announce that 30,000 Japanese were trapped between Aitape and Hollandia. Later the 155th and 167th Infantry Regiments fought in the Wakde-Sarmi area of New Guinea. Fighting was much lighter here and by 18 May the capture of Wakdo was announced. These two regiments accounted for more than 1000 Japanese casualties while on the Maffin Bay perimeter which guarded the Fifth Air Force's airstrip. In Sept. 1944, the Dixie Division sailed from Maffin Bay for the re-conquest of Morotai and on 15 Sept. They hit the beaches of this Dutch island less than 350 miles from the Philippines. The 31st quickly secured a beachhead and by noon of D-Day had seized Piton Airdrome. The capture of Morotai gave our forces control of the Halmahera Sea and cut off 20,000 Japanese troops on the island of Halmahera. On 15 Nov. 1944, a battalion combat team from the 167th Infantry Regiment backtracked several hundred miles to the tiny Mapia Island to knock out a Japanese spotter station. This battalion killed 167 bitterly resisting well-entrenched Japanese in two days with the loss of only 12 American lives. In the nearby Asia Island group a reinforced company of the 124th Infantry Regiment landed to find no Japanese resistance. For months the West maintained the perimeter defense on Morotai for the 13th Air Force and carried out patrol missions into Morotai's rugged interior. The 31st was sent to Mindanao, P.I., in April 1945. The divisions first assignment was to push north from Kabacan. It had not gone five miles, however, before it successfully engaged in a six hour battle with Japanese resistance who had been advancing to attack Kabacan. Their defeat at this point prevented the Japanses from erecting defenses in the gorge country farther north which might have proved costly in men and time. Working through central Mindanao and fighting a fanatical enemy who used every advantage of terrain and cover, the 31st by 18 April 1945, had pushed 17 miles in a period of three days to recapture the former American air base at Valencia. Five days later the 31st paced a nine-division assault to clean out the last major Japanese resistance in the Philippines and captured the provincial capital of Malaybalay, the last big enemy held city on Mindanao. It also wrested the airfield near the city from the Japanese. In June 1945 the 31st was reported mopping up scattered resistance on the island. Units of the division sailed for home in Nov 1945 and the division was inactivated on the west coast in Dec 1945
