11th Armored Division (United States)

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11th Armored Division
Armor
RoleArmored warfare
SizeDivision
Nickname(s)"Thunderbolt"
Motto(s)J'Avance (I Advance)
EngagementsWorld War II
Commanders
Notable
commanders		Edward H. Brooks
Insignia
Distinctive unit insignia
U.S. Armored Divisions
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The 11th Armored Division (11 AD) was a

Camp Cooke California on 11 February 1944. The division staged at Camp Kilmer, New Jersey from 16 to 29 September 1944 until departing New York Port of Embarkation
on 29 September 1944, arriving in England on 11 October 1944.

The 11 AD landed in France on 16 December 1944, crossed into Belgium on 29 December, and entered Germany on 5 March 1945. The 11th Armored Division was disbanded in August 1945.

Commanders

Commanders of the 11th Armored Division were:[1]

Combat chronicle

The division was activated on 15 August 1942. It arrived in England 11 October 1944 and prepared for combat with two months' training on the

Sedan, 23 December. Launching an attack from Neufchâteau, Belgium, 30 December, the 11th defended the highway to Bastogne
against fierce assault.

An eyewitness account by John Fague of B Company, 21st Armored Infantry Battalion of the 11th Armored Division, describes the killing of 80 German prisoners by American soldiers at the Chenogne massacre "Machine guns were being set up. These boys were to be machine gunned and murdered. We were committing the same crimes we were now accusing the Japanese and Germans of doing".[2]

The division acted as spearhead of a wedge into the enemy line, and its junction with the

Grosskampenberg on the 17th, and the key point, Roscheid
, 20 February.

After a brief rest, the division crossed the

Kyll Rivers, taking Gerolstein and Nieder Bettingen against violent opposition. Andernach and Brohl fell 9 March, in the sweep to the Rhine. In the swing southward to clear the Saar-Moselle-Rhine pocket, the Moselle River was crossed at Bullay and the Worms Airport
captured, 21 March.

After rest and maintenance, the division drove across the Rhine at

Coburg falling on the 10th, Bayreuth
on the 14th.

Third Army, to meet the Soviet Red Army
.

An M8 Greyhound armored car of the 11th Division entering the Mauthausen concentration camp in Austria on 6 May 1945.

On 5 May 1945, elements of the US 11th Armored Division liberated the

Mauthausen concentration camp
.

The war in Europe officially ended 9 May, and the division was placed on occupational duty until it was disbanded on 31 August 1945.[3]

Composition

The division was composed of the following units:[4]

  • Headquarters
  • Headquarters Company
  • Combat Command A
  • Combat Command B
  • Combat Command Reserve
  • 22nd Tank Battalion
  • 41st Tank Battalion
  • 42nd Tank Battalion
  • 21st Armored Infantry Battalion
  • 55th Armored Infantry Battalion
  • 63rd Armored Infantry Battalion
  • Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 11th Armored Division Artillery
    • 490th Armored Field Artillery Battalion
    • 491st Armored Field Artillery Battalion
    • 492nd Armored Field Artillery Battalion
  • 41st Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron (Mechanized)
  • 56th Armored Engineer Battalion
  • 151st Armored Signal Company
  • Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 11th Armored Division Trains
    • 133rd Ordnance Maintenance Battalion
    • 81st Armored Medical Battalion
    • Military Police Platoon
    • Band

Casualties

  • Total battle casualties: 2,877[5]
  • Killed in action: 432[6]
  • Wounded in action: 2,394[7]
  • Missing in action: 11[8]
  • Prisoner of war: 40[9]

References

  1. ^ "Combat Chronicle: Commanders". 11th Armored Division. Washington, DC: U.S. Army Center of Military History. Retrieved 31 January 2021.
  2. ISBN 978-0-275-99300-9
    .
  3. ISBN 0-253-10982-5
    .
  4. ^ "Order of Battle of the US Army - WWII - ETO - 11th Armored Division". US Army Center of Military History. Retrieved 22 May 2020.
  5. ^ Army Battle Casualties and Nonbattle Deaths, Final Report (Statistics and Accounting Branch, Office of the Adjutant General, 1 June 1953)
  6. ^ Army Battle Casualties and Nonbattle Deaths, Final Report (Statistics and Accounting Branch, Office of the Adjutant General, 1 June 1953)
  7. ^ Army Battle Casualties and Nonbattle Deaths, Final Report (Statistics and Accounting Branch, Office of the Adjutant General, 1 June 1953)
  8. ^ Army Battle Casualties and Nonbattle Deaths, Final Report (Statistics and Accounting Branch, Office of the Adjutant General, 1 June 1953)
  9. ^ Army Battle Casualties and Nonbattle Deaths, Final Report (Statistics and Accounting Branch, Office of the Adjutant General, 1 June 1953)

External links

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