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Lore & Background

The 2nd Armored Division was formed at Fort Benning, Georgia on 15 July 1940. It was originally commanded by Major General Charles L. Scott, with Colonel George S. Patton Jr. in charge of training. Scott was promoted to command the I Armored Corps in November of that year, which put Patton, now a brigadier general, in command of the division. The division, which in February 1942 passed over to the command of Major General Willis D. Crittenberger, served with the First, Seventh, and Ninth Armies throughout the war. In January 1942, the 2nd Armored Division was reorganized under the "heavy" armored division table of organization, which it maintained for the remainder of the war. Along with the 3rd Armored Division, it retained its organization throughout World War II–the 14 other U.S. armored divisions were reorganized as "light" armored divisions. The core units of the division were the 41st Armored Infantry Regiment, the 66th Armored Regiment, the 67th Armor Regiment, the 17th Armored Engineer Battalion, the 82nd Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, and the 142nd Armored Signal Company. The 82nd Armored Reconnaissance Battalion was known as the "eyes and ears" of the 2nd Armored Division.

In Their Own Story

Elements of the division were among the first U.S. military to engage in offensive ground combat operations in the European and Mediterranean theater during World War II. The 2nd Armored Division, now commanded by Major General Ernest N. Harmon, served in North Africa along with the 1st Armored Division. They were part of the Western Task Force of Operation Torch, which landed at Casablanca in French Morocco on 8 November 1942. As the reserve force of the Western Task Force of Operation Husky, codename for the Allied invasion of Sicily, the division landed on 10 July 1943, in support of the 1st Infantry Division at the Battle of Gela. The 2nd Armored, operating closely with paratroopers of the 82nd Airborne Division, then fought through to the Sicilian capital of Palermo. The 2nd Armored Division landed at Omaha Beach in Normandy on 9 June 1944, three days after the initial Normandy landings, and operated in the Cotentin Peninsula, later forming the right flank of the Operation Cobra assault. The division encircled the 2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich and the 17th SS Panzergrenadier Division Götz von Berlichingen around Roncey, and destroyed most of their armored equipment. At La Chapelle, a 2nd SS Panzer column was attacked at point blank range by 2nd Armored Division artillery. Over the course of two hours American artillery fired over 700 rounds into the column. The Germans suffered the loss of 50 dead, 60 wounded and 197 taken prisoner; material losses included over 260 German combat vehicles destroyed. The U.S. 2nd Armored Division destroyed 64 German tanks and 538 other German combat vehicles during Operation Cobra, while itself losing 49 tanks. The 2nd Armored Division inflicted over 7,370 casualties on the Germans, while suffering 914 casualties of their own. This is approximately an eightfold disparity. The 2nd Armored blunted Operation Lüttich, the German counterattack on Avranches, then raced across France with the rest of the First Army, reaching the Albert Canal in Belgium on 8 September. On 18 September it crossed the German border near Sittard and took up defensive positions near Geilenkirchen. On 3 October, the division, now commanded again by Major General Harmon, launched an attack on the Siegfried Line from Marienberg (Übach-Palenberg), broke through, crossed the Wurm River, seized the town of Puffendorf on 16 November, and Barmen on 28 November.

Reader's Guide

Members of the division received 9,369 individual awards, including two Medals of Honor, twenty-three Distinguished Service Crosses, and 2,302 Silver Stars as well as nearly 6,000 Purple Hearts. The division was twice cited by the Belgian government and division soldiers for the next 50 years wore the fourragere of the Belgian Croix de Guerre. Total battle casualties: 5,864. Killed in action: 981. Wounded in action: 4,557. Missing in action: 60. Prisoners of war: 266. Days of battle: 443. After a brief period of occupation duty, the division returned from overseas to Fort Hood, Texas, in 1946 to retrain and rebuild. The 2nd Armored Division returned to West Germany to serve as part of Seventh Army, VII Corps from 1951 to 1957. In late 1957, it rotated back to the United States as part of Operation Gyroscope, being replaced in Germany by the 4th Armored Division. Once back in the US, it returned to III Corps, Fort Hood. While stationed in Germany in 1952 with the Seventh Army, the 2nd Armored Division was based at Stuttgart-Vaihing.

Did You Know?

• The 2nd Armored Division was originally commanded by Major General Charles L. Scott, with Colonel George S. Patton Jr. in charge of training.
• The 82nd Armored Reconnaissance Battalion was known as the 'eyes and ears' of the 2nd Armored Division.
• During Operation Cobra, the 2nd Armored Division destroyed 64 German tanks and 538 other German combat vehicles, while losing 49 tanks.
• The division inflicted over 7,370 casualties on the Germans, while suffering 914 casualties of their own—an approximately eightfold disparity.
• Members of the division received 9,369 individual awards, including two Medals of Honor and nearly 6,000 Purple Hearts.