A History of the 10th Mountain Division

A History of the 10th Mountain Division. Combat: Kiska Island and Northern Apennine Campaign. , Before Italy, however, the 3,000-man 87th Mountain Infantry Regiment got a taste of being under fire when it took part in a joint U.S.-Canada mission to retake the Aleutian island of Kiska from the Japanese. The 87th suffered its first casualties due to “friendly fire” incidents. , In February 1944, the 87th returned to Camp Hale to join two new regiments , the 85th and 86th , forming the 10th Mountain Division. , In January 1945, the 10th, commanded by Maj. Gen. George P. Hays, arrived in Naples, Italy, and deployed to the Apennine Mountains north of Florence where battle-hardened German forces had stopped all previous Allied attacks. , The untried 10th received its first baptism of fire on the night of February 18, 1945, when five companies of the 86th Regiment climbed supposedly “unclimbable” Riva Ridge and captured it in a complete surprise attack. , The next night, the rest of the Division attacked the adjacent Monte Belvedere hill mass and, after several days of fighting, had punched through enemy lines. Italy's strategic Po River Valley was now exposed to the Allies , and the 10th would play a vital role in the upcoming spring offensive.