Nickname: Once called Old Ironsides. The members dropped it. . Shoulder Patch: Regular armored patch, a triangle with three equal areas, yellow (top) for cavalry; blue (left) for infantry and red (right) for field artillery. A red bolt of lightning crosses the black tank tread and cannon. . Source: Regular Army units. Training: Began training at Fort Knox, Kentucky, from the date of activation, July, 1940. Took part in Second Army maneuvers in Louisiana in September, 1941, and again in Carolinas, under the IV Corps, in November, 1941. Training under AGF began in March, 1942. On April 10 division was transferred to Fort Dix, New Jersey, for more training. It left in May, 1942, for Northern Ireland. Overseas training in Northern Ireland followed. After the Tunisian campaign it trained there before continuing in action: reorganized in French Morocco before the Italian campaign. . Commanding Generals: Maj. Gen. Bruce Magruder, July, 1940, to March, 1942; Maj. Gen. Orlando Ward, March, 1942, to April, 1943; Maj. Gen. E. N. Harmon, April, 1943, to July, 1944; Maj. Gen. V. E. Prichard. July-September, 1944; Maj. Gen. Roderick R. Allen, September 1944, to present. . Component Units: (As of May, 1942) 1st and 13th Armored Regiments; 6th Armored Infantry Regiment, 27th, 68th and 91st Armored FA Battalions. Reorganized July, 1944: 1st, 4th and 13th Tank Battalions; 6th, 11th and 14th Armored Infantry Battalions; and 27th, 68th and 91st Armored FA Battalions. Higher commands (combat): II Corps (NAF); Fifth Army (Italy). . Combat Highlights: November 8, 1942, was jump-off date for the division when it entered combat at Oran, that city being captured intact. The 1st Armored, soon to become famous for its most outstanding engagements of the campaign, joined up with the Eighth British Army, April 7, 1943, after shifting across Algeria. At times on the defensive – as at historical Kasserine Pass – the division fought valiantly at Maknassy, El Guettar and Gafsa. At Mateur and in the subsequent offensive that smashed the German forces, the 1st Armored scaled the heights of offensive battle. In the African campaign it helped establish the important tank-infantry teamwork. After a brief appearance before Cassino, the division was switched to the Anzio beachhead, where for four months it became a highly mobile defense unit, then took part in the breakthrough drive on the Italian peninsula May 23, 1944. Division elements claim to be first recon troops inside Rome. Five days later the division had streaked 200 miles past the fallen city. Slow, bitter fighting of the Apennines ensued, and before Bologna the whole division fought as doughboys. Milan surrendered to the 1st Armored, which cracked open northern Italy by smashing to the Swiss border to Como.