05 5th Armored Division

Nickname: “V” for 5th and Victory. ….. Shoulder Patch: Regular Armored patch of triangular design, divided into three areas, one red (representing field .artillery); one yellow (representing cavalry) and one blue (representing Infantry). Superimposed on the areas, in black, are the track of a tank and a cannon. A bolt of lightning, in red, is superimposed on these. ….. Training: Activated Oct. l, 1941, and assigned to Ft. Knox for training under Armored Force. Transferred Mar., 1942, to Camp Cooke, Calif. Maneuvers: Desert Center Training Area, Aug. 24 to Oct. 18, 1942, and Tenn. maneuvers (Second Army) Apr. 26 to June 20, 1943. Finally Camp Pine, N. Y., and overseas Feb., 1944, to ETO. Overseas training, Camps Chiseldon, Ogbourne-St. George and Tidworth – Perham Downes in Wiltshire, Eng. ….. Commanding Generals: Maj. Gen. Jack W. Heard, Oct., 1941, to Feb., 1943; Maj. Gen. Lunsford E. Oliver, Feb., 1943, to present. ….. Component Units: (As of Feb., 1944) 15th, 46th and 47th Arm. Inf. Bns.; 10th, 34th and 81st Tank Bns.; and 47th, 71st and 85th Arm. FA Bns. Higher Command: Third Army. ….. Awards: The division was commended by (then) Maj. Gen. W. H. Haislip, commanding general of the XV Corps, at the conclusion of the Eure-Seine campaign. ….. Combat Highlights: The division plunged into combat Aug., 1944, with Le Mans as the objective. The unit swept between Coutances and St. Lo, across the Selune river and began a 300-mile exploitation behind the German Seventh Army. Le Mans fell and the 5th pursued the enemy all the way to the Seine, plunging across the river by the last of the month. In September, the 5th began a 130-mile push from Paris to Belgium, cutting through the Compiegne forest and crossing the Oise, Aisne and Somme rivers. New orders; sent the division racing another 100 miles to the Meuse river, advancing southeast below the Belgium border. Speeding onward, the division figured in th freeing of Luxembourg, On Sept. 11 the Our river was crossed in the vicinity of Stalzenbourg; Germany had been entered. In November, the 5th Armored Division, along with the 90th Infantry Division, participated in the original crossing of the Moselle river. Fighting hard in December during the “Bulge” period the 5th greeted 1945 by continuing to advance and by crushing enemy armor in XV Corps objectives. Other action: Coblenz; the Wesser river and the Elbe north of Brunswick, and Tangermuende, 50 miles NE of Magdeburg. The 5th was nearest unit to Berlin Just prior to V-E Day.