83rd United States Infantry Division The Thunderbolt Division

Bright, yet dark, overview of the 83rd Infantry Division in Europe during World War II.

This map of the European Theater of WWII presents a compact, succinct summary of the entire war; as experienced by the 83rd Infantry Division. Simple shapes, bold colors, and small illustrations outline an apparently linear course of events from departure in Southampton in June of 1944 to linking up with the Red Army in May of 1945.

Smatterings of text modestly highlight individual engagements or highlights of the campaign; including capturing 20,000 German prisoners on the Loire and attacking through the Hurtgen Forest. A text box in the lower right details the history of the unit prior to action on the continent and includes a table of “items of interest concerning the Division from 18 June 1944 to 1 May 1945” listing fascinating statistics about the accomplishments in the field.

The verso features 17 panels of text and accompanying color illustrations further detailing the combat history of “The Thunderbolt Division.” No reference is made to V-E Day, which leads me to believe the map was created in the first week of May 1945, shortly after the 83rd met with Soviet forces. Published by the divisional Information-Education Section under Major General Robert C. Macon.

While the official unit history is listed in several entries in WorldCat, there appears to be only one example for the separately-issued map, located at Texas A&M University. A further copy can be found at the Library of Congress. OCLC# 1367363504.