In November 1942, when the Allies landed in North Africa, the ultimate goal of every unit and every soldier in the invasion was Berlin. In the Western Assault Force that had the job of taking Casablanca, back then, was part of the 2nd Armored Division— the outfit that, in later fighting in Sicily, France, Belgium, Holland and Germany, fully established its right to the proud name “Hell on Wheels.” And when the American Army began rolling into Berlin, 32 months after the African landings, the 2d Armored rode at the head of the procession, our first division to enter the enemy capital.
After French resistance ceased in North Africa, the 2nd Armored trained with the Fifth Army along the Spanish Morocco frontier. Elements of the division took part in the Tunisian fighting, in conjunction with the 1st Armored. In July 1943, Hell on Wheels struck again, this time at Gela, Sicily. The twisting trails of that mountainous island didn’t provide the sort of terrain conditions the tankers were used to, and were a far cry from the flat plains of North Africa. But the 2nd Armored none-theless contributed materially to the quick defeat of the enemy, fighting at Campobello, Palermo, and other hot spots.
While the 1st Armored moved into Italy with the Fifth Army, the other of these two veteran tank units was shifted back to England to train for the invasion of France. Early in June 1944, Hell on Wheels charged into Normandy. Its powerful machines roamed far and wide across the European countryside, striking into France, Germany, Holland and Belgium. On June 12,1945, the whole outfit was awarded the Belgian Croix de Guerre— marking the first time that Belgium had ever conferred that decoration on a foreign division.
The 2d Armored Division liked to be where the fighting was tough, and when the Germans broke through the American lines in the Ardennes counteroffensive, that was where the 2d Armored went. When the First Army rallied from the blow and began to turn back the enemy threat, the American attack on the north flank of the Nazi bulge was spearheaded by the tanks and men of Hell on Wheels.
For the dash from the Rhine to the Elbe early in the spring, the 2d Armored was transferred to the Ninth Army. It reached the Elbe ahead of all other American units, and was ready to plunge across and sail straight into Berlin, when its fierce dash toward the city was halted by orders from higher headquarters.
The Russians, of course, got to Berlin first, but no 2d Armored man will ever admit that he couldn’t have been there sooner if he’d been given a free rein. So it was only the military equivalent of poetic justice that, when the citizens of Berlin finally got their first glimpse of American armed might, they saw Hell on Wheels.
From Fighting Divisions, Kahn & McLemore, Infantry Journal Press, 1945-1946.
The 2nd Armored "Hell on Wheels" Division was an armored division of the United States Army. The division played an important role during World War II in the invasions of North Africa and Sicily and the liberation of France, Belgium, and the Netherlands and the invasion of Germany.
The 2nd Armored Division was formed and activated July 15, 1940, at Fort Benning, Georgia, with Brigadier General Charles L. Scott commanding with Colonel George S. Patton, Jr., in charge of training. It was created as a miniature army built around a tank brigade, commanded by one of the few ranking army officers in the country with actual tank combat experience, Colonel Patton. Patton’s military history linked him firmly to the new division. In World War I, “Old Blood and Guts,” then a colonel, commanded the 344th Tank Battalion. When General Scott was promoted to command the I Armored Corps in November 1940, that placed Patton, now a brigadier general, in command of the division. He promptly led his tankers in a series of maneuvers in Tennessee and Carolina, earning the division the name of “Hell on Wheels,” a title it was to wear in combat from North Africa to Berlin.
The 2nd Armored was organized as a "heavy" armored division, having two armored regiments of four medium tank and two light tank battalions of three companies each. Along with the 3rd Armored Division, it retained its organization throughout World War II–the 14 other U.S. armored divisions were reorganized as "light" armored divisions, having three tank battalions, each consisting of three medium tank companies and one light tank company. Both types had an infantry component of three mechanized battalions, although the heavy divisions maintained an "armored infantry regiment" organization.
The core units of the division were the 41st Armored Infantry Regiment, the 66th Armored Regiment, the 67th Armor Regiment, the 17th Armored Engineer Battalion, the 82nd Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, and the 142nd Armored Signal Company. The 82nd Armored Reconnaissance Battalion was known as the "eyes and ears" of the 2nd Armored Division.
The 2nd Armored Division had three artillery battalions: (the 14th, 78th, and 92nd). The division also had support units, including the 2nd Ordnance Maintenance Battalion, 2nd Supply Battalion, the 48th Armored Medical Battalion, and a band and military police platoon. The military police and band were tasked with headquarters defense of base operations under the banner of the 502d Adjutant General Company (502d AG).
The division was passed over to the command of Major General Willis D. Crittenberger in February 1942. He served with the First, Seventh, and Ninth Armies throughout the war. Two years of training paid off in September 1942 when, amid utmost secrecy, three invasion teams were formed within the division. From east coast ports they shipped out and elements of the 2nd Armored Division became a major part of what was then the greatest amphibious operation in history and among the first elements of the U.S. military to engage in the Allied invasion of French Northwest Africa, November 8, 1942. In three days, the division, now under Major General Ernest N. Harmon, led the dash of General Patton's Western Task Force from the beaches to victory along with the 1st Armored Division. They were part of the Western Task Force of Operation Torch, which landed at Casablanca in French Morocco. The remainder of Torch's American component were the 1st, 3rd, 9th and 34th Infantry Divisions. However, the 2nd Armored Division did not see much action in North Africa and instead remained in French North Africa on garrison and training duties. In April 1943 Major General Harmon relinquished command of the division to Major General Hugh Joseph Gaffey. Training in amphibious operations began in preparation for an amphibious landing at Sicily.
“Hell on Wheels” earned its second bronze arrowhead, given for an assault landing, 10 July 1943, when it hit the shores of Sicily to launch two weeks of bitter fighting. As the reserve force of the Western Task Force of Operation Husky, codename for the Allied invasion of Sicily, the division landed on 10 July in support of the 1st Infantry Division at the Battle of Gela. Afterwards, the division next went into action in the second landing at Licata, Sicily on 21 July following the 3rd Infantry Division's better-known earlier landing on 10 July. The 2nd Armored, operating closely with paratroopers of the 82nd Airborne Division, then fought through to the Sicilian capital of Palermo. Along the way the 2nd Armored Division captured thousands of Italian prisoners of war (POWs). The fighting in Sicily came to an end on 17 August, with the 2nd Armored Division having sustained relatively light casualties in the brief campaign. The “Iron Deuce” pushed the enemy from the beaches into the rugged mountains, dug them out of the hills, and pushed them finally into the ocean. Among its victims was the elite Nazi Herman Goering Panzer Division. The 2nd Armored Division gained its first Medal of Honor of World War II, belonging to Sergeant Gerry H. Kisters. During the campaign the division came under the command of the U.S. Seventh Army, under Lieutenant General George S. Patton, who had been a former commander of the division.
Just over a year from the date the division began its assault on North Africa, and shortly after Operation Husky it sailed from Sicily for England, to take over new and more up-to-date equipment, and to begin preparation for the biggest amphibious operation of them all - the Allied invasion of Normandy and Europe. The division remained and trained in England until June 1944. In April, the division received a new commander, Major General Edward H. Brooks, a decorated veteran of World War I, replacing Major General Gaffey.
The 2nd Armored Division landed in Normandy, on Omaha Beach on 9 June 1944, three days after the initial Normandy landings, and operated in the Cotentin Peninsula and later formed the right flank of the Operation Cobra assault. The division encircled the Waffen SS division Das Reich and the 17th SS Panzergrenadier Division Götz von Berlichingen around Roncey. In the process Das Reich and the 17th SS Panzergrenadier Division Götz von Berlichingen lost most of their armored equipment. There was the St. Le-Vire River line, where the 2nd Armored Division engaged elements of 14 enemy divisions, who tried but couldn't stop “Hell on Wheels.” There were countless other tiny French villages that became symbols of the Allied cause as the war rolled over them in the charge that catapulted the 2nd Armored through a 90 mile stretch of France to the Seine in six days. On 2 September, the division was the first Allied unit to enter the Nazi-occupied country of Belgium, climaxing a 60 mile, 36 hour drive from the Somme River. It blunted the German attack on Avranches, then raced across France with the rest of the Third Army, reaching the Albert Canal in Belgium on 8 September. It crossed the German border near Sittard, 18 September to take up defensive positions near Geilenkirchen. On 3 October, the division, now commanded again by Major General Harmon for the second time and while in the “Celles Pocket,” during the Battle of the Bulge, “Hell on Wheels” destroyed the Nazi 2nd Panzer Division, after a call for help had sent the division racing 75 miles overnight to the aid of its comrades-in-arms reeling under the enemy's greatest counteroffensive of the war. The division launched an attack on the Siegfried Line from Marienberg, broke through, crossed the Wurm River and seized Puffendorf 16 November and Barmen 28 November.
The division was holding positions on the Roer when it was ordered to help contain the German Ardennes offensive. The division fought in eastern Belgium, blunting the German Fifth Panzer Army's penetration of American lines. The division helped reduce the Bulge in January, fighting in the Ardennes forest in deep snow, and cleared the area from Houffalize to the Ourthe River of the enemy. The German 2nd Panzer Division was on its original mission to the Meuse River and mechanized units of this Panzer Division ultimately ran out of fuel at Celles, where they were destroyed by the U.S. 2nd Armored Division and the British 29th Armoured Brigade. After a rest in February, the division, now commanded by Major General Isaac D. White, led the division as it raced through crumbling Nazi defenses to the Rhine and crossed it on 27 March. As it reached the Rhine at the German city of Uerdigen, 2,500 prisoners were taken, 37 tanks destroyed and 265 assorted guns demolished. Then the division’s engineers, under enemy fire, set a new speed record for bridge construction, spanning the Rhine with a 1,152 foot bridge in seven hours.
On Easter Sunday, April 1,1945, “Hell on Wheels” linked up with the 3rd Armored Division to complete encirclement of more than 350,000 enemy troops in the vast Ruhr industrial complex. Three days later, the division jumped the Weser River and swung north to the outskirts of Hamelin, the town of the legendary “Pied Piper.” The final 57 miles of the Division’s advance to the Elbe, on April 11, was the greatest fighting surge of “Hell on Wheels” of the war - 57 miles in 12 hours. and was the first American division to reach the Elbe at Schonebeck on 11 April. It was halted on the Elbe, 20 April, on orders. In its campaign from the Rhine to the Elbe, the Iron Deuce had overrun 3,000 square miles, captured 45,000 prisoners, disposed of huge volumes of enemy supplies and munitions. Following destruction of a last-ditch enemy effort by Task Force Von Clausewicz, the war ended for the 2nd Armored Division. It settled down to military government duties.
On the basis of its outstanding combat record, on 4 July 1945, the division now commanded by Brigadier General John H. Collier was the first American unit chosen to roll into the shattered Nazi capital, Berlin, nearly five years after it was organized and the Division's standards fluttered campaign streamers for North Africa, Sicily, Normandy, Northern France, Ardennes, Rhineland and Central Europe. Along the bloody trail that marked the division’s advance, more than 1,100 members of the Iron Deuce had died. Nearly 6,000 Purple Hearts decorated the Tunics of the Wheelsmen. For their heroism and valor, units of the division received 19 Distinguished Unit Citations. “Hell on Wheels” had thundered more than 1,700 miles of combat advance.
Members of the Division received 9,369 individual awards, including two Medals of Honor, twenty-three Distinguished Service Crosses, and 2,302 Silver Stars as well as nearly 6,000 Purple Hearts; among those receiving the Silver Star were Edward H. Brooks, Hugh Armagio, Stan Aniol, Staff Sergeant John J. Henry, William L. Giblin, Neil J. Garrison, Morton Eustis, son of William Corcoran Eustis, and Sgt Kenneth E. White. The division was twice cited by the Belgian government and division soldiers for the next 50 years wore the fourragere of the Belgian Croix de Guerre.
Total battle casualties: 5,864
Killed in action: 981
Wounded in action: 4,557
Missing in action: 60
Prisoner of war: 266
In Berlin, the 2nd Armored became the honor guard for the President of the United States during the Potsdam Conference held between July 17-August 2, 1945. The United States, United Kingdom and Soviet Union were attendees during the Potsdam Conference. General Patton, former commander of “Hell on Wheels” also attended. This was to be General Patton’s last appearance with the division before his untimely death a short time later.
Six months later, 1946, the division staged a triumphant return to the United States, and moved to Camp (now Fort) Hood, Texas, to rebuild and retrain as America’s only peacetime armored division at the time.
"Hell on Wheels"
Activated 15 Jul 1940
Operation Torch
Sicily
Normandy
Northern France
Ardennes
Rhineland
Central Europe
Headquarters Company
Service Company
Combat Command A
Combat Command B
41st Armored Infantry Regiment
66th Armored Regiment
67th Armored Regiment
17th Armored Engineer Battalion
82d Armored Reconnaissance Battalion
142d Armored Signal Company
14th Armored Field Artillery Battalion
78th Armored Field Artillery Battalion
92d Armored Field Artillery Battalion
2nd Ordnance Maintenance Battalion
Supply Battalion
48th Armored Medical Battalion
Military Police Platoon
24 Nov 1943 Maj. Gen. Hugh J. Gaffey
18 Mar 1944 Maj. Gen. Edward H. Brooks
12 Sep 1944 Maj. Gen. Ernest N. Harmon
18 Jan 1945 Brig. Gen. Isaac D. White
23 Mar 1945 Maj. Gen. Isaac D. White
24 Nov 1943 Col. Thomas A. Roberts Jr
5 Aug 1944 Lt. Col. Carl I. Hutton
2 Nov 1944 Col. Carl I. Hutton
24 Nov 1943 Col. Redding F. Perry
18 Mar 1944 Col. Charles D. Pamer
29 Sep 1944 Col. Clayton J. Mansfield
30 Dec 1944 Col. Gustavus W. West
24 Nov 1943 Lt.Col. Harold M. Forde
7 Oct 1944 Maj. Calvin S. Hannum
10 Jan 1945 Lt. Col. Calvin S. Hannum
24 Nov 1943 Lt. Col. Harold M. Forde
27 Apr 1944 Lt. Col. Jesse M. Hawkins Jr
9 Sep 1944 Maj. Eugene A. Trahan
16 Dec 1944 Lt. Col. Eugene A. Trahan
24 Nov 1943 Maj. Lindsay C. Herkness Jr
27 Dec 1943 Lt. Col. Russell W. Jenna
23 Jan 1945 Lt. Col. Briard P. Johnson
24 Apr 1945 Lt. Col. Jasper J. Wilson
19 Feb 1944 Lt. Col. Charles C. Peterson
15 Dec 1944 Lt. Col. Lewis M. Flint
19 Feb 1944 Maj. Marcel F.J. Brunow
15 Jul 1944 Lt. Col. Marcel F.J. Brunow
11 Dec 1944 Maj Byron L. Connell (Actg)
26 Dec 1944 Lt. Col. Marcel F.J. Brunow
24 Nov 1943 Lt. Col. Robert H. Shell
19 Mar 1945 Maj. Clem G. Hailey
7 Apr 1945 Maj. Robert F. Smith
24 Nov 1943 Brig. Gen. Rose
4 Aug 1944 Col. John H. Collier
12 Nov 1944 Brig. Gen. John H. Collier
24 Nov 1943 Col. Isaac D. White
28 May 1944 Brig. Gen. Isaac D. White
19 Jan 1945 Col. Sidney R. Hinds
21 Mar 1945 Brig. Gen. Sidney R. Hinds
195th AAA AW Bn (SP) 11 Jun 1944 - still attached (9 May 1945)
Btrys C & D 129th AAA Gun Bn (Mbl) 25 Jul 1944 - 30 Jul 1944
Btrys A & B 474th AAA AW Bn (SP) 28 Jul 1944 - 31 Jul 1944
Sq B Br 1st Fife & Forfar Yeo (Br 79th Armd Div) 15 Nov 1944 - 24 Nov 1944
40th Tk Bn (7th Armd Div) 23 Nov 1944 - 24 Nov 1944
Sq B Br 1st Fife & Forfar Yeo (Br 79th Armd Div) 25 Dec 1944 - 18 Jan 1945
Elm 738th Tank Bn (Mine Exploder) 12 Jan 1945 - 17 Jan 1945
Co A 739th Tk Bn 27 Feb 1945 - 5 Mar 1945
24th Cav Rcn Sq 25 Jul 1944 - 28 Jul 1944
113th Cav Rcn Sq 6 Aug 1944 - 15 Aug 1944
1st Plat 30th Rcn Tr (30th Div) 7 Aug 1944 - 12 Aug 1944
4th Cav Gp 23 Dec 1944 - 31 Dec 1944
Co B 327th Engr C Bn (102d Div) 16 Nov 1944 - 25 Nov 1944
Co B 105th Engr C Bn (30th Div) 2 Apr 1945 - 16 Apr 1945
65th Armd FA Bn 3 Jul 1944 - 8 Jul 1944
65th Armd FA Bn 13 Jul 1944 - 30 Sep 1944
62d Armd FA Bn 25 Jul 1944 - 22 Sep 1944
258th FA Bn (155 Gun) 6 Aug 1944 - 26 Aug 1944
258th FA Bn (155 Gun) 3 Oct 1944 - 30 Oct 1944
65th Armd FA Bn 5 Oct 1944 - 21 Dec 1944
62d Armd FA Bn 6 Oct 1944 - 25 Oct 1944
70th FA Bn (105 How) 25 Oct 1944 - 3 Nov 1944
557th FA Bn (155 Gun) 30 Oct 1944 - 8 Nov 1944
83d Armd FA Bn 4 Nov 1944 - 24 Nov 1944
380th FA Bn (102d Div) (105 How) 17 Nov 1944 - 25 Nov 1944
957th FA Bn (155 How) 22 Dec 1944 - 17 Jan 1945
87th Armd FA Bn 22 Dec 1944 - 19 Jan 1945
65th Armd FA Bn 5 Feb 1945 - 10 Mar 1945
696th Armd FA Bn 6 Feb 1945 - 10 Mar 1945
258th FA Gp 26 Feb 1945 - 5 Mar 1945
696th Armd FA Bn 26 Mar 1945 - 19 Apr 1945
258th FA Bn (155 Gun) 26 Mar 1945 - 19 Apr 1945
65th Armd FA Bn 27 Mar 1945 - 19 Apr 1945
113th FA Bn (30th Div) (155 How) 2 Apr 1945 - 5 Apr 1945
197th FA Bn (30th Div) (105 How) 2 Apr 1945 - 17 Apr 1945
22d CT (4th Div) 21 Jul 1944 - 1 Aug 1944
44th FA Bn (4th Div) (105 How) 21 Jul 1944 - 1 Aug 1944
1st Plat Co C 4th Engr C Bn (4th Div) 21 Jul 1944 - 1 Aug 1944
2d Bn 119th Inf (30th Div) 2 Aug 1944 - 12 Aug 1944
3d Bn 119th Inf (30th Div) 3 Aug 1944 - 4 Aug 1944
3d Bn 120th Inf (30th Div) 9 Aug 1944 - 12 Aug 1944
3d Bn 8th Inf (4th Div) 11 Aug 1944 - 14 Aug 1944
99th Inf Bn (Non-Div) 15 Aug - 18 Sep 1944
3d Bn 116th Inf (29th Div) 4 Oct 1944 - 29 Oct 1944
2d Bn 116th Inf (29th Div) 8 Oct 1944 - 11 Oct 1944
405th Inf (102d Div) 26 Oct 1944 - 3 Nov 1944
1st Bn 405th Inf (102d Div) 3 Nov 1944 - 6 Nov 1944
406th Inf (-1st Bn) (102d Div) 6 Nov 1944 - 25 Nov 1944
1st Bn 406th Inf (102d Div) 9 Nov 1944 - 25 Nov 1944
2d Bn 119th Inf (30th Div) 11 Nov 1944 - 28 Nov 1944
335th CT (84th Div) 22 Nov 1944 - 24 Nov 1944
1st Bn 119th Inf (30th Div) 25 Nov 1944 - 3 Dec 1944
60th CT (9th Div) 22 Dec 1944 - 23 Dec 1944
2d Bn 291st Inf (75th Div) 25 Dec 1944 - 28 Dec 1944
1st 2d & 3d Bns 335th Inf (84th Div) 1 Jan 1945 - 10 Jan 1945
335th Inf (84th Div) 1 Jan 1945 - 11 Jan 1945
1st & 2d Bns 333d Inf (84th Div) 10 Jan 1945 - 17 Jan 1945
3d Bn 333d Inf (84th Div) 10 Jan 1945 - 17 Jan 1945
331st Inf (83d Div) 28 Feb 1945 - 1 Mar 1945
908th FA Bn (83d Div) (105 How) 28 Feb 1945 - 1 Mar 1945
Co C 308th Engr C Bn 28 Feb 1945 - 1 Mar 194
379th Inf (95th Div) 1 Mar 1945 - 4 Mar 1945
377th Inf (95th Div) 29 Mar 1945 - 2 Apr 1945
119th Inf (30th Div) 2 Apr 1945 - 17 Apr 1945
702d TD Bn (SP) 11 Jun 1944 - 21 Sep 1944
702d TD Bn (SP) 1 Oct 1944 - 7 Feb 1944
Co A 814th TD Bn (SP) 23 Nov 1944 - 24 Nov 1944
702d TD Bn (SP) 27 Feb 1945 - still attached (9 May 1945)
There are 76 soldiers of the 2nd Armored Division World War II still listed as missing in action.
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