Trail of the Rainbow Division

Apr 12, 2024 | Maps, WWII

I think it’s really our duty, with the years that we have remaining, to see that people never forget this.

– Ken Carpenter (1920-2010), 232nd Infantry Regiment

This gripping documentary chronicles the efforts of the 42nd Infantry ‘Rainbow’ Division across the European Theater of Operations during World War II. A general history and wartime footage are accompanied by first-person accounts from several divisional members. These stories offer harrowing details about the fighting; including defense during Operation Northwind, piercing the Siegfried Line, and the ghastly liberation of Dachau.

CAUTION: SOME OF THE IMAGERY IS GRAPHIC. VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED.

The unit’s route from arrival in Marseille in December 1944 to occupation duty five months later can be followed on a pictorial map designed by Theodore ‘Ted’ MacKechnie. Ted was an artist assigned to the divisional headquarters, as well as a participant in the movie. He gives a firsthand account of his responsibility for documenting the horrors of Dachau. The grisly details from the film contrast sharply with the (mostly) lighthearted content and bright colors of the map. However, upon further examination, certain elements within the image also reflect the harsh realities of war.

“This Cartograph Shows the Trail of the Rainbow” – Vibrant pictorial map of the 42nd Infantry Division in Europe, designed by Theodore MacKechnie and printed by the 665th Engineer Topographical Company in 1945.
The nearly illegible signature of Major General Harry Collins, C.O. of the Rainbow Division.
Arrival in Marseille has the troops greeted by a French madameoiselle. My God!
A modest celebration of the unit’s most significant combat achievement, earning a Presidential Unit Citation.
Not much beats a 3-Day Pass for leave in Paris (note the bottle).
Verboten? (Forbidden?) A homely German womam stands just on the other side of the non-fraternization line.
The dreadful 88’s surrounding Schweinfurt are noted, but the (largely untouched) underground factories are omitted.
Even though they might be far away, men were still thinking about the women from the resort town of Kitzbuhel.
The liberation of Dachau took place about a week before V-E Day was announced. Nearby, a German citizen asks ‘What is Wrong?’, reflecting broad culpability in the horrors.
On to occupation duty! Reveling in victory with a bit of soldierly humor.

The ‘Rainbow Trail’ would ultimately extend approximately 450 miles across France, Germany, and Austria. The division suffered nearly 4,000 casualties over 106 days of combat, approximately 650 of which were killed. Those losses do not appear on the map. Like many other WWII unit histories, it was designed to commemorate the action and celebrate the victory. The true nature of the war – frostbitten limbs, piles of corpses, deadly accidents, etc. – is obfuscated behind cartoonish vignettes and oversimplified geography.

Further Reading