The 29th Infantry Division is a realism unit in the online World War II game, Darkest Hour: Normandy 1944. Realism is the conducting of a gaming group as close to real combat as possible.
Above, you will find our primary navigation menu with five links on it. For each of the links, a submenu is provided on the left of the page with related links. For more information about the 29th, read our About page.
As many of you probably know, Saturday, June 6th marked the 65th anniversary of D-Day, the day that the Allied forces attacked the German-occupied beachheads of France. What you may not have known was that the historic 29th Infantry Division had an important role in that operation. Starting in October 1942 and ending in June 1944, the 29th ID trained in Scotland and in England. The training was mainly focused on adopting a triangle formation instead of the old square formation from the World War I trench-fighting days. In May of 1943, the division was moved to the Devon-Cornwall Peninsula, the purpose being to train in methods for attacking fortified positions.
After the original invasion was delayed many times over, operation codename “Omaha” was made the responsibility of the 29th ID, along with the 1st ID. Many of the 29th were happy to load up on the landing crafts and finally get out and fight. The 29th ID was one of the first units to see battle on June 6th. The objective of the operation was to secure the bluff tops and occupy Isigny. These objectives were taken, under heavy enemy fire, by June 9th.
Between operation codename Omaha and the time they were demobilized in January 1946, the unit saw 20,620 casualties. The 29th ID, nicknamed the “Blue and gray” Division (as reflected in the color of their arm patches), had battled through from Isigny to the time of Germany’s surrender. We here wish to honor that tradition as best we can. 29th, Ever Forward!
Several months ago, Sgt. Theel was given the opportunity of entering Officer Candidate School. His superiors recognized that he showed great leadership—as chief of the engineer corps and as a squad leader.
2Lt. Theel came into this unit with a drive and dedication that many have not. Shortly after his graduation from the 120th Training Platoon, 2Lt. Theel proved to be a very capable resource. His mapping skills and his dedication led to the creation of the Engineer Corps. Under his command, the Engineer Corps have accomplished great things.
Major Wilson stated that “most of the 29th will never know exactly how much stuff he's done for the unit in that office. He's been working on it all day today, all day most days. People see the end result and think ‘whoa, cool’ but have no idea exactly how much time and energy he put into it.”
2Lt. Theel has always shown a great drive and dedication towards his passions. Where he was informed on a subject, there was always more to comprehend and master. And where he knew very little, he was always willing to learn from others. He spent much of his leisure time reading army field manuals, observing others, and reading a personal favorite: Beyond the Beachhead: The 29th Division in Normandy.
2Lt. Cunningham spent a lot of time in OCS training with 2Lt. Theel. The two learned much about each other as people and as leaders.
“He's intelligent when it comes to strategy, he doest go ‘balls to the walls’. He definitely likes to play with you. He’ll take the best course of action, the one that gets him to the objective with minimal casualties. He also has a lot of patience and doesn’t mind making you sweat.”
After undergoing his training in Officer Candidate School, he was ready to show the entire unit where he stood. On May 31st, his OCS Scrimmage began. His forces moved onto the little town of Lutremange, Belgium. With extremely efficient communication between himself and his squad leaders, as well as an extremely dedicated armor section, 2Lt. Theel had the few last defenders shaking in their boots before the town was captured.
“His OCS scrimmage was brilliantly orchestrated. The coordination with his squad leaders and platoon sergeant could not have been done better. They listened to his every word and because of that, the plan worked great”, Major Wilson noted.
My skin crawled as I waited eons to sight one of his men. I had become antsy with anticipation and 2Lt. Theel delivered the excitement to me in the form of a well placed tank shell. Your OCS drill was quite an exciting and impressive event and I’m sure you have much more excitement for our unit. Congratulations to the new Platoon Leader of BP2, Second Lieutenant Theel. He is a very valuable asset to the 29th and we’re very lucky to have him.
For those of you who have been wondering when Darkest Hour would finally be released, there is an answer: the official release of the greatly improved game is today, June 5th. The Darkest Hour team has spent countless hours bug-fixing and adding useful new content into the game. In order to release via Steam, they were required to release an ever better game than they had originally intended to release some months ago. The official Steam release will allow the game to reach many more people than a release over the DH website, which will add many more players to our community.
Among the incredible amount of bug-fixes, the team has also added new content. In several maps, new light vehicles such as the Kubelwagon and the American Jeep have been added. They are very lightly armored vehicles and are not armed, so they are intended to get into the action quickly and get out just as quickly. Along with the light vehicles, there are some heavy vehicles being added to the game as well, the King Tiger and Jagdpanther among them. Also, engine fires have been added to vehicles and tanks will now visibly show damage when the tracks have been taken out. In addition to the new tanks, penetration with tank shells and anti-tank weapons has gone through many tweaks.
In terms of infantry, most of the weapons have been given a facelift if not an entirely new model. To name a few specific weapon fixes, The Garand’s front sight has been reduced in size considerably, and the Grease Gun’s sight has been reduced to make using it more useful. There has also been a considerable amount of work put into updating current maps such as Carentan and Foy, as well as adding new maps such as Vieux and Ginkel Heath.
We at the 29th are very excited for this new release as it will not only make our realism experience more enjoyable but also pump some fresh blood into the community. More active players means more fun pub experiences for everyone. We hope that this new version increases interest in Darkest Hour and gives us more people looking to get involved with our unit. Enjoy the new game, and don’t forget to check out our forums as well as the Darkest Hour forums.
Several months ago, when Daniel G. Cunningham was a Corporal, he was given the opportunity of entering Officer Candidate School. His superiors saw a future in him that not too many others held. He came in to this unit ready to lead. It was just about 2 months after he came back following an Honorable Discharge that he was promoted to Corporal. Ever since, he has been a spectacular squad leader, all-around help in his platoon as well as a great Drill Instructor for Basic Combat Training.
After accepting the opportunity of OCS, he has learned a great deal on how to better himself as a strategist and as a leader. On May 26th, 2009 his OCS Scrimmage was held on St-Clement. He took charge of the Allies, setting up a plan to attack and hold the church. Not long after 'live' was called, it was clear that his brute force and determination would not only lead to victory for the Allies, but would also pave the way for the new platoon leader in Charlie Company's Second Platoon.
For displaying a such a great deal of successful leadership and dedication throughout OCS, Daniel G. Cunningham has now earned the rank of Second Lieutenant, Platoon Leader of CP2! Great job 2Lt, I have no doubt that you will continue grow better as a soldier of the 29th Infantry Division, as well as a leader!
As many of you probably know, Saturday, June 6th marked the 65th anniversary of D-Day, the day that the Allied forces attacked the German-occupied beachheads of France. What you may not have known was that the historic 29th Infantry Division had an important role in that operation. Starting in October 1942 and ending in June 1944, the 29th ID trained in Scotland and in England. The training was mainly focused on adopting a triangle formation instead of the old square formation from the World War I trench-fighting days. In May of 1943, the division was moved to the Devon-Cornwall Peninsula, the purpose being to train in methods for attacking fortified positions.
For those of you who have been wondering when Darkest Hour would finally be released, there is an answer: the official release of the greatly improved game is today, June 5th. The Darkest Hour team has spent countless hours bug-fixing and adding useful new content into the game. In order to release via Steam, they were required to release an ever better game than they had originally intended to release some months ago. The official Steam release will allow the game to reach many more people than a release over the DH website, which will add many more players to our community.
Several months ago, when Daniel G. Cunningham was a Corporal, he was given the opportunity of entering Officer Candidate School. His superiors saw a future in him that not too many others held. He came in to this unit ready to lead. It was just about 2 months after he came back following an Honorable Discharge that he was promoted to Corporal. Ever since, he has been a spectacular squad leader, all-around help in his platoon as well as a great Drill Instructor for Basic Combat Training.