5th Armored Division (United States)
Inactive US Army formation
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 5th Armored Division ("Victory"[1]) was an armored formation of the United States Army active from 1941 to 1945 and from 1950 to 1956.
- 28 August 1941– 11 October 1945
- 25 June 1948–1 February 1950
- 1 September 1950–15 March 1956
United States
United States Army| 5th Armored Division | |
|---|---|
5th Armored Division shoulder sleeve insignia | |
| Active |
|
| Country | United States |
| Branch | United States Army |
| Type | Armor |
| Role | Armored warfare |
| Size | 18,000 men Division |
| Nickname | Victory[1] |
| Engagements | |
| Decorations | Luxembourg Croix de guerre |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders | Lunsford E. Oliver William L. Mitchell John J. Binns |
| Insignia | |
| Distinctive Unit Insignia |  |
| Flag of the United States Army 5th Armored Division |  |
| NATO Map Symbol |  -_Armour_(NATO_APP-6).svg) |
History
The 5th Armored "Victory" Division was activated on 10 October 1941 at Fort Knox, Kentucky under the command of Major General Jack W. Heard.[2] The division would move to Camp Cooke, California in August 1942 for training and maneuvers at the Desert Training Center. During this time Brigadier General Sereno E. Brett took command. In February 1943, Major General Lunsford E. Oliver completed the divisions training as its commander. The division would move to Tennessee for maneuvers in April 1943.[2] After this, they would head to Camp Pine, New York for winter training. Finally they would go to Camp Kilmer,[3] New Jersey for embarkation to Europe and reached the United Kingdom in February 1944 for additional training.
Combat chronicle
The division landed at Utah Beach on 24 July 1944 under the command of Major General Lunsford E. Oliver,[2] and moved into combat on 2 August, driving south through Coutances, Avranches, and Vitré, and across the Mayenne River to seize the city of Le Mans, 8 August.[4] Turning north, the division surrounded the Germans in Normandy by advancing, through Le Mêle-sur-Sarthe liberated on 11 August, to the edge of the city of Argentan on 12 August—8 days before the Argentan-Falaise Gap was closed.
Turning Argentan over to the 90th Infantry Division,[4] the 5th Armored advanced 80 miles to capture the Eure River Line at Dreux on 16 August. Bitter fighting was encountered in clearing the Eure-Seine corridor, the second big trap in France. The 5th passed through Paris[4] 30 August to spearhead V Corps drive through the Compiègne Forest, across the Oise, Aisne, and Somme Rivers, and reached the Belgian border at Condé, 2 September.
The division then turned east, advancing 100 miles in 8 hours, and crossed the Meuse at Charleville-Mézières, 4 September. Racing past Sedan,[4] it liberated Luxembourg City on the 10th and deployed along the German border. The reconnaissance squadron of the division sent a patrol across the German border on the afternoon of 11 September to be the first of the Allies to cross the enemy frontier. On 14 September, the 5th penetrated the Siegfried Line at Wallendorf, remaining until the 20th, to draw off enemy reserves from Aachen.
In October, it held defensive positions in the Monschau-Hofen sector.[2] The division entered the Hurtgen Forest area in late November and pushed the enemy back to the banks of the Roer River in very heavy fighting. On 22 December it was withdrawn to Verviers and placed in 12th Army Group reserve.
Crossing the Roer on 25 February 1945 the 5th spearheaded the XIII Corps drive to the Rhine, crossing the Rhine at Wesel, 30 March. The Division reached the banks of the Elbe at Tangermunde, 12 April—45 miles from Berlin. On 16 April, the 5th moved to Klotze to wipe out the Von Clausewitz Panzer Division and again drove to the Elbe, this time in the vicinity of Dannenberg.[2] The division mopped up in the Ninth Army sector until VE-day.
Casualties
Composition
The division was composed of the following units:[6]
- Headquarters
- Headquarters Company
- Combat Command A
- Combat Command B
- Combat Command Reserve
- 10th Tank Battalion
- 34th Tank Battalion
- 81st Tank Battalion
- 15th Armored Infantry Battalion
- 46th Armored Infantry Battalion
- 47th Armored Infantry Battalion
- Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 5th Armored Division Artillery
- 47th Armored Field Artillery Battalion
- 71st Armored Field Artillery Battalion
- 95th Armored Field Artillery Battalion
- 85th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron (Mechanized)
- 22nd Armored Engineer Battalion
- 145th Armored Signal Company
- Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 5th Armored Division Trains
- 127th Armored Maintenance Battalion
- 75th Armored Medical Battalion
- Military Police Platoon
- Band
Attachments
- 628th Tank Destroyer Battalion (attached 2 August 1944 – 19 December 1944, 28 January 1945 – 9 May 1945)
- 629th Tank Destroyer Battalion (attached 29 August 1944 – 14 December 1944)
- 771st Tank Destroyer Battalion (attached 17 April 1945 – 24 April 1945)
- 387th AAA Automatic Weapons Battalion (attached 1 August 1944 – 25 March 1945, 28 March 1945 – 9 May 1945)
- 202d Field Artillery Battalion (attached 2 August 1944 – 25 August 1944)
The division's losses included 570 killed in action, 2,442 wounded in action, and 140 who died of wounds.
The division was inactivated on 11 October 1945, at Camp Kilmer, New Jersey.[2] Later, reactivated on 1 September 1950 at Fort Chaffee, Arkansas, as a training division for the Korean War and inactivated for the final time 15 March 1956.[7]
Commanders
- MG Jack W. Heard (1941–1942)
- BG Sereno E. Brett (1942 – February 1943)
- MG Lunsford E. Oliver (February 1943 – May 1945)
- BG David L. Ruffner (January 1951 – May 1952)[8]
- MG Edmund B. Sebree (1952–1953)[9]
- MG William L. Mitchell (1953–1955)[10]