5th Armored Division (United States)

History

The 5th Armored "Victory" Division was activated on 10 October 1941, and reached the United Kingdom in February 1944.

Combat chronicle

The division landed at Utah Beach on 24 July 1944 under the command of Major General Lunsford E. Oliver, 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. 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, 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 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, 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. 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 On 22 December it was withdrawn to Verviers and placed in 12th Army Group reserve.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. The division mopped up in the Ninth Army sector until VE-day.

Casualties

• Total battle casualties: 3,075
• Killed in action: 833
• Wounded in action: 2,442
• Missing in action: 41
• Prisoner of war: 22

Composition

The division was composed of the following units:

• 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 Myles Standish, Massachusetts. Later, reactivated in 1950 at Fort Chaffee, AR, and inactivated for the final time in 1956.

Commanders

• MG Jack W. Heard (1941–1942)
• BG Sereno E. Brett (1942 – February 1943)
• MG Lunsford E. Oliver (February 1943 – May 1945)

References

References

1. (21 April 2010). "Special Unit Designations". [[United States Army Center of Military History]].
2. Army Battle Casualties and Nonbattle Deaths, Final Report (Statistics and Analysis Branch, Office of the Adjutant General, 1 June 1953)
3. "Order of Battle of the US Army - WWII - ETO - 5th Armored Division". US Army Center of Military History.