11th Armored Division (United States)

11th Armored Division
Badge of the 11th US Thunderbolt Armored Division
active	1942 to 1945
Country	United States
Armed forces	United States Armed Forces
Armed forces	United States Army
Branch of service	tank
Type	Armored Division
Nickname	"Thunderbolt" ("Blitz")
motto	J'Avance
Colours	Blue, red, gold, black
Butcher	Second World War Battle of the Bulge
Commanders
Important commanders	Maj. General Edward H. Brooks
insignia
Identification symbol

The 11th Armored Division ( German  11th US Panzer Division ) was a tank division of the US Army in World War II . It was activated on August 15, 1942 at Fort Polk , Louisiana , and moved out on June 24, 1943 to participate in the Louisiana Maneuvers . Then transferred to Camp Barkeley in Texas on September 5, 1943 , the division took part in the California Maneuvers beginning on October 29, 1943 and arrived at Camp Cooke in California on February 11, 1944 . The division was at Camp Kilmer in New Jersey from September 16 to 29, 1944 , before being transported from the New York port to England on September 29, 1944 , where it arrived on October 11, 1944.

The US 11th Panzer Division landed in France on December 16, 1944 , came to Belgium on December 29, 1944, and invaded Germany on March 5, 1945 . The division was deactivated in August 1945.

history

The division was activated on August 15, 1942. She reached England on October 11, 1944 and prepared for her mission in a two-month training session on Salisbury Plain . The division landed in Normandy on December 16, 1944 , originally intended to keep the trapped German forces under control during the siege of Lorient . Due to the German Ardennes offensive , however, there was a forced march to the Meuse and the defense of a sector of 30 miles from Givet to Sedan on December 23, 1944. On December 30, 1944, the 11th US Armored Division began an attack on Neufchâteau in Belgium, with the road to Bastogne was defended against violent attacks. According to an eyewitness report by John Fague of B Company, 21st Armored Infantry Battalion of the 11th US Armored Division, German prisoners of war were shot dead by American soldiers near Chenogne during the Chenogne massacre on January 1, 1945 - according to an "no prisoners" order .

The division acted as a spearhead in an attack wedge into the enemy line and took up contact with the 1st US Army on January 16, 1945 in Houffalize . After the end of the Battle of the Bulge, the Siegfried Line was breached. Lützkampen fell on February 7, 1945, Großkampenberg on February 17, 1945 and the key point Roscheid on February 20, 1945.

After a short rest, the division crossed the Prüm and the Kyll and took Gerolstein and Niederbettingen against fierce resistance. Andernach and Brohl fell on March 9, 1945 moving forward to the Rhine . On the move south to clean up the Saar - Mosel -Rhein basin, the Moselle was crossed at Bullay and the Worms airfield was captured on March 21, 1945.

Division tanks in the liberated Mauthausen concentration camp on May 6, 1945

After rest and repairs, the division crossed the Rhine at Oppenheim , took Hanau and Fulda and advanced to the Thuringian Forest , where it reached Oberhof on April 3, 1945. The offensive continued through Bavaria . Coburg fell on April 10, Bayreuth on April 14, 1945.

Finally, on April 24, 1945, the division crossed the rain , overran Grafenau and Freyung and pushed forward to the Danube , taking Rohrbach in Upper Austria , Neufelden , and Zwettl . The last bitter enemy resistance arose during the advance on Linz , but the division advanced into the city on May 5, 1945. Some units made contact with Soviet troops as the first of the 3rd US Army on 8 May 1945 as they advanced .

On May 5, 1945, parts of the US 11th Panzer Division liberated the Mauthausen concentration camp .

After the official end of the war in Europe on May 9, 1945, the division was used as an occupation force until it was deactivated on August 31, 1945.

Commanders

Maj. General Edward H. Brooks	August 1942 to March 1944
Brigadier General Charles S. Kilburn	March 1944 to March 1945
Major General E. Holmes Dager	March 21, 1945 to August 31, 1945

Web links

• Order of Battle of the United States Army World War II European Theater of Operations / Divisions / Office of the Theater Historian / Paris, France, December 1945
• European Center of Military History Order of Battle 11th Armd Division (English)
• Thunderbolt: The Story of the 11th Armored Division (WWII unit history booklet, English)
• The 11th Armored Division Association (English)
• Hartman, J. Ted. Tank Driver: With the 11th Armored from the Battle of the Bulge to VE Day . Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2014. (English)

Individual evidence

1. ^ Eyewitness account, One Small Corner of the Bulge, John Fague, 11th AD , March 14, 2015. In: Veterans' Stories