"Hell on Wheels" Rolled From Africa to Berlin

WWll CAMPAIGNS Algeria - French Morocco Sicily Normandy Northern France Rhineland Ardennes - Alsace Central Europe Wll COMMANDERS MG Charles L. Scott July 1940 -January 1941 MG George S. Patton Jr. January 1941 - February 1942 MG Willis D. Crittenberger February 1942 -July 1942 MG Ernest N. Harmon July 1942 - May 1943 MG Hugh J. Gaffey May 1943 - V-E Day

M3 LIGHT TANKS OF 66TH ARMOR TRAIN AT FORT BENNING, MARCH 1942.

50th Anniversary - 2d Armored Division "Hell on Wheels" Rolled From Africa to Berlin The 2d Armored Division, one of two U. S. armored divisions organized on 15 July 1940 and the only continuously active armored division for the past 50 years, began training at Fort Benning, Ga. under Major General Charles L. Scott. Within two months, Major General George S. Patton had taken command. He would lead the division through 18 months of training, including three major maneuvers, before leaving for higher command. Patton's spirit and hard-driving training techniques carried the division through seven major campaigns in WWII, including action in North Africa, Sicily, and Western Europe. Moreover, men of the 2d Armored were constantly tapped for reassignment to form cadre for later armored divisions. In three years overseas, "Hell on Wheels" captured 95,000 enemy troops and liberated over 22,000 Allied prisoners. It participated in the invasioh of North Africa, conducted a daring end run to exploit gains in Sicily, earned two invasion ar-rowheads for its part in the D-Day invasion of France, and twice earned the Belgian Fourragere of the Crok de Guerre for its actions after D-Day. It was a key unit in the breakout from the Normandy beaches, helped seal the Falaise Pocket, and was poised to attack east across the Roer River when the Germans began their Ardennes offensive. The 2d Armored successfully marched 21

75-100 miles over icy roads to reach the fighting in Belgium. At Celles, the 2d Armored caught and destroyed the German 2d Panzer Division in the Celles Pocket. Fighting continued until the division succeeded in occupying Houffalize. Then it was relieved for a brief rest to refit. Six weeks later, the 2d Armored crossed the Roer River, despite intense German counterattacks, and attacked across the Cologne Plain, taking Verdingen, on the Rhine River, on 4 March 1945. One of its subunits, a companyof the 17th Armored Engineer Bn., earned a Presidential Unit Citation for its construction of a pontoon bridge across the Rhme River in the record time of less than seven hours while under fire. By March 26, 1945, the division was moving into Germany, helping to seal off the great Ruhr industrial complex and trapping 350,000 German troops. The diGsion moved so quickly, overrunning 3,000 square miles of German territory, that temporary security battalions had to be formed to secure its rear areas until additional troops could move up. In many actions, the division was called upon to help consolidate bridgeheads, as the Germans stubbornly fought to stem the tide. At Lippstadt, Germany, the 2nd Armored linked up with the 3d Armored Division and began a series of difficult river crossings on their battle east. During the course of April 1945, "Hell on Wheels" crossed the Weser River, the Leine, and the Oker before making a 57- mile final push to the Elbe at Magdeburg. Following the successful assault on that city, the 2d Armored moved to an area south of

RUSSIANS WATCH AS THE 2D AD CROSSES THE j ELBE. ARMOR -

Braunsweig. Several days of fighting followed when a task force of Nazi fanatics held out in the Forst Konigslutter. They were surrounded by elements of the 2d Armored and destroyed. VE Day found the men of "Hell on Wheels" assembled south of Wol-fenbuttel, where there was a dismounted review for visiting Russian troops. By the end of June, 3,000 of the 2d Armored's men with the longest service left for the States. The remainder of the division road marched east, crossed the Elbe at Tor-gau, and covered the 100 miles to Berlin through territory liberated by the Russians. "Hell on Wheels" was the first American division to occupy the city. After serving on occupation duty in Germany, men awaiting transports home spent the Christmas holidays at the French channel port of Calais or on liberty at the Riviera beaches before shipping home to New York. The division was dispersed at Camp Kilmer, NJ. Those receiving discharges were transferred to posts near their homes, while the rest received orders to Fort Hood, where the division was reorganizing. The reorganized division was filled with remnants of the 20th Armored Division and other deactivated divisions. It was reorganized from its "heavy division" status in WWII to a lighter organization. Its Shermans gave way to the newer M26s. In 1950, two subunits, the 6th Tank Battalion and the 92nd Armored Field Artillery Battalion, left for Korea, and the rest of the division became a training base for replacements in the Korean conflict. Later that year, fears arose that the Soviets would attempt to overrun Europe while the United States was embroiled in Korea, so the 2d Armored was once again brought to full strength. After parading in New Orleans on 4 July 1951, the 2d Armored was again on its way to Europe. That fall, the 2d Armored was again crossing the Rhine, this time as part of maneuvers to train against the possibility of a Soviet attack on the Rhine bridges. This maneuver was the first of many Cold War training exercises in the next six years, as the NATO coalition grew in strength. In 1957, the 2d Armored returned to Fort Hood. During the Berlin Crisis of 1961, an advance party of "Hell on Wheels" returned to Germany to prepare equipment for the division, if needed. Again in 1963,' the division returned to Germany, this time as part of Exercise Big Lift, a Seventh Army maneuver involving river crossings and counterattack of an "enemy" penetration. From 1965 to May 1967, the division's mission changed again to basic combat training. Several 2d Armored units went to Vietnam in mid-1967. The 50th Infantry and 2d Sqn., 1st Cavalry joined the 1st Cavalry Division in Vietnam, and other subunits were later assigned to the 198th Light Infantry Brigade. Stateside duty included assisting civil authorities in a maior hurricane that hit Texas in 1967, and the organization in 1968 of two brigades of troops for civil disturbance control following the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King. The stateside routine of training, new equipment tests, and field exercises continued until 1978, when a brigade task force was sent to Garlstadt, in northern Germany. This subunit, 2d Armored Division (Forward), remains stationed in Germany today. Its purpose has been to maintain combat readiness and be prepared to receive the rest of the division's subunits should NATO be attacked. As this issue went to press, the extent of cutbacks in the Army as a result of US.-Soviet peace initiatives remained unclear. "Hell on Wheels" may face the budget axe as Congress attempts to save defense dollars; it is an expensive division to keep on active duty. Ironically, the decision on its future may come at about the same time the storied division celebrates its 50th year of service. I This article was prepared by the ARMOR staff, drawing on MG Briard P. Johnson's "Condensed History of Hell on Wheels," and Shelby L. Stanton's "Order of Battle - U. S. Army in World War 11." I ARMOR - July-AuguSt 7990 23