Description
Paths of Armor
5th Armored Division • World War II
161 pages scanned. Instant PDF download.
Document Overview
Published in 1950 by the Fifth Armored Division Association and written with the Association’s President, Martin Philipsborn, Jr., along with Vic Hillery and Maj. Emerson F. Hurley, this official unit history traces the “Victory Division” from its activation at Ft. Knox in October 1941 through training in the Mojave Desert and Tennessee, its landing in Normandy, the drive across France and the Falaise Gap, the breach of the Siegfried Line, the Hurtgen Forest and Battle of the Bulge, and its final push to the Elbe River at war’s end. This is a digital download of a scanned copy of the original book, complete with photographs, maps, command-post listings, and unit citations.
Campaigns: Normandy breakout and the Falaise Gap, the drive across France into Luxembourg and Belgium, the Siegfried Line and Hurtgen Forest, the Battle of the Bulge, the Rhineland and the Rhine crossing, and the final advance to the Elbe River.
Commanders: Maj. Gen. Jack W. Heard (first commanding general, 1941–1942) and Maj. Gen. Lunsford E. Oliver (commanding general, 1942–1945).
Unit paper: The Victory News
Table of Contents
Foreword
A Message From General Oliver
A Star Is Born
What’s in a Name
Between the Flower Beds and the Sea
Wind, Sand and Sun
The Man From North Africa
Preview in Tennessee
Pine Needles, Snow and Apples
Would You Still Be My Darling
Over There
A Military Wedding
Vive la France
The Sickle
In the Distance the Eiffel Tower
All Is Kaput
Corridor Through the Siegfried Line
Wet Autumn
The Days Before Christmas
Snow Battle
Through the Cabbage Fields
Across the Heart Land
The Last Fight
Division Staff and Unit Commanders
Citations
“The aggressive courage, unselfish devotion, tenacity of purpose and outstanding leadership of all ranks is evidenced by the fact that the Fifth Armored Division has never failed to capture its assigned objectives and has never lost ground to the enemy.”
— Maj. Gen. L. T. Gerow, Commanding V Corps