3rd Armored Division

Nickname: Spearhead Division. Shoulder Patch: Regular Armored patch with red area (for Field Artillery), yellow (for Cavalry) and blue (for Infantry), numeral in yellow area. A red bolt of lightning: crosses a black tank and cannon. . Training: Activated: April 15, 1941, Camp Beauregard, Louisiana, Armored Force, Other stations: Camp Polk, Louisiana, AGF and II Armored Corps; Camp Young, California, and Indiantown Gap, Pennsylvania. Maneuvers: Desert Training Center, August-October, 1942. Overseas: August, 1943, ETO. Overseas pre-Invasion practice on Salisbury Plain, England. . Commanding Generals: Maj. Gen. Alvin C. Gillem, April, 1941to January, 1942; Maj. Gen. Walton H. Walker, January-August, 1942; Maj. Gen. Leroy H. Watson, August, 1942 to August, 1944; Maj. Gen. Maurice Rose, August, 1944, to March, 1945; Brig. Gen. Doyle O. Hickey, March-June, 1945; Brig. Gen. Truman E. Boudinot, June-July, 1945, and Brig. Gen. Frank A. Allen, Jr., July, 1945, to present. .. Component Units: (As of Aug., 1945): 32nd and 33rd Armored Regiments; 54th, 67th and 391st Arm. FA Battalions; 36th Armored Infantry Regiment. Higher Command: First Army. . Awards: Distinguished Unit Citation to 2nd Battalion, 32nd Regiment, for action to Belgium-Germany, Sept. 11-13, 1944; DUC to 1st Battalion, 36th Regiment for action Germany, Sept. 12-22; DUC to Medical section, 3rd Battalion, 36th Regiment, for action Germany, Sept. 17-21; DUC to Cos. A and C 36th Regiment, for action Germany, December 10-13, and DUC to 1st Battalion, 33rd Regiment, for action Germany, Nov. 16-19. . Combat Highlights: Major “firsts” claimed by the division are: first to fire on German soil, to enter Germany, to capture a German city and to enter Cologne. Entered combat in Normandy, June 28, 1944, broke out of hedgerows at Marigny and swung south to Mayenne. On August 18, the 3rd completed closing of the Falaise pocket, trapping the German Seventh Army, and six days later sped through Courville and Chartres to reach the Seine, crossing it the night of the 25th and streaking for the Siegfried Line. In the path of the 3rd were Meaux, Soissons, Laon, Marie, Mons, Charleroi, Namur and Liege. Mons was where the 3rd trapped 40,000 Nazis, taking 8000 prisoners. On September 10, the 3rd breached the Siegfried Line and went on into Germany. Other actions included: Houffalize, the Roer river line, Cologne (Gen. Rose was killed shortly afterward in action near Paderborn after surrendering to a Nazi tank commander), crossing the Saale river, and at war’s end approach to Dessau. In January, 1945, the 3rd Division captured 10 towns, 2149 prisoners and 61 armored vehicles, second only to their exploit at Mons.

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