14th Armored Division

The 14th Armored is not known as the “Liberator” Division for nothing.

It has earned that name.

In its more than 500 miles of ranging over Germany and Nazi- held territory the men and machines of the 14th Armored freed more than 20,000 Allied prisoners of war.

And it was poison to the German war machine.

The 14th Armored took upward of 50,000 German prisoners. It captured or destroyed 500 or more German tanks. It captured 100 self-propelled guns. It put 500 Nazi artillery pieces out of action. It overran and crushed 400 ack-ack guns. It captured or destroyed more than 1.000,000 small arms. More than 400 aircraft bearing the swastika fell to its antiaircraft guns, and it destroyed 50,000 tons of enemy munitions.

Nothing German was safe from the hurtling 14th. It captured 2,000 railroad cars and took intact 100 locomotives. It seized 200 factories and before the Nazi collapse it had liberated or captured 1,000 citics, towns and villages.

Activated at Camp Chaffee, Arkansas, in 1942, the 14th Armored Division was destined to fight with two armies in the liberation of Europe—the Seventh and Third.

The 14th Armored saw its first combat in the Vosges Mountains. TTere it breached the Nazi defenses and poured out into the broad Alsatian plain, where it launched a drive from Hagenau that culminated in tlie capture of Wissembourg and tlie crossing of the German frontier.

No armored division played a bigger part in thwarting Rundstedts counteroffensive than did the 14th. It was largely due to die 14th’s do-or-die stand that the Nazis’ hope for overrunning Alsace and recapturing Strasbourg was foiled. For days the 14ih Armored fought a terrific defensive battle against vastly superior strength.

At Hatten and Rittershofen the Germans threw three dissions—two panzer and one panzergrenadier—at the 14th Armored. The Division came out maulea and bloody, but Strasbourg, which hung in the balance during the melee, was not recap tured by the Nazis.

The 14th Armored again went on the offensive when it cracked the Siegfried Line at two places and drove to the Rhine at Cermershcim. It rolled across the Rhine at Worms and captured Lohr, Bad Bruckenau, Neustadt and other towns. Then it swung south and liberated 5,000 prisoners at Hammelburg, and outflanked Bayreuth and Nürnberg. The 14th Armored then was transferred to Patton's Third Army. Teamed with the 86th Infantry' Division, the 14th took Augsburg and drove to the infamous prison camp at Moosburg where 110,000 Allied prisoners were held.

The Americans gave the German garrison five hours in which to make an imconditional surrender. SS troops opened fire on the Yanks. Ninety minutes later the tanks of the 14th Armored were rolling through the prison camp.

In its last long dash the Liberators crossed the Danube and pushed to the Isar River. They were still rolling, still flattening the Nazis when the war ended.

From Fighting Divisions, Kahn & McLemore, Infantry Journal Press, 1945-1946.

Chronology & Statistics

Activated 15 November 1942
Arrived ETO 29 October 1944
Arrived Continent (D+75) 29 October 1944
Entered Combat
First Elements 14 November 1944
Entire Division 20 November 1944
Days in Combat 133

Campaigns

Rhineland
Central Europe

Division Composition

Organic Units

Headquarters Company
Combat Command A
Combat Command B
Reserve Command
25th Tank Battalion
47th Tank Battalion
48th Tank Battalion
19th Armored Infantry Battalion
62d Armored Infantry Battalion
68th Armored Infantry Battalion
94th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron (Mechanized)
125th Armored Engineer Battalion
154th Armored Signal Company

14th Armored Division Artillery

499th Armored Field Artillery Battalion
500th Armored Field Artillery Battalion
501st Armored Field Artillery Battalion

14th Armored Division Trains

136th Ordnance Maintenance Battalion
84th Armored Medical Battalion
Military Police Platoon
Band

Commanding Officers

Division Commander

1 Nov 44 Brig. Gen. Albert C. Smith
19 Mar 45 Maj. Gen. Albert C. Smith

Artillery Commander

1 Nov 44 Col. Maurice K. Kurtz

Chief of Staff

1 Nov 44 Col. James P. Hill

Assistant Chief of Staff G-1

1 Nov 44 Maj. Albert W. Stephens
1 Dec 44 Lt. Col. Albert W. Stephens

Assistant Chief of Staff G-2

1 Nov 44 Maj. Harold E. Miller
1 Dec 44 Lt. Col. Harold E. Miller

Assistant Chief of Staff G-3

1 Nov 44 Lt. Col. Joe C. Lambert
1 May 45 Col. Joe C. Lambert

Assistant Chief of Staff G-4

1 Nov 44 Maj. George P. Seneff, Jr.
1 Dec 44 Lt. Col. George P. Seneff, Jr.

Adjutant General

1 Nov 44 Lt. Col. William C. Golden

Commanding Officer, Combat Command A

1 Nov 44 Col. Charles H. Karlstad
19 Mar 45 Brig. Gen. Charles H. Karlstad

Commanding Officer, Combat Command B

1 Nov 44 Col. Francis J. Gillespie

Commanding Officer, Reserve Command

1 Nov 44 Col. Daniel H. Hudelsch

Attached Units

Antiaircraft Artillery

398th AAA AW Bn (SP) 15 Nov 44-12 May 45

Cavalry

117th Cav Rcn Sq 2 Jan 45-10 Jan 45

Engineer

300th E ngr C Bn 28 Apr 45-2 May 45

Field Artillery

93d Armd FA Bn 3 Jan 45-9 Jan 45
69th Armd FA Bn 2 Apr 45-19 Apr 45
975th FA Bn (155mm How) 2 Apr 45-24 Apr 45
250th FA Bn (105mm How) 21 Apr 45-24 Apr 45
173d FA Gp 21 Apr 45-24 Apr 45
220th FA Gp 25 Apr 45-9 May 45

Infantry

315th Inf (- 1st Bn) (79th Div) 13 Jan 45-21 Jan 45
1st Bn, 315th Inf (79th Div) 17 Jan 45-21 Jan 45

Tank Destroyer

636th TD Bn (SP) 28 Mar 45-23 Apr 45