United States Army 5th Armored Division (Victory)

U. S. ARMY 5TH ARMORED DIVISION (VICTORY) -  The 5th Armored Division ("Victory") was an armored formation of the United States Army active from 1941 to 1945 and from 1950 to 1956.  The 5th Armored "Victory" Division was activated on October 10, 1941, and reached the United Kingdom in February 1944.

The division landed at Utah Beach on July 24, 1944 under the command of Major General Lunsford E. Oliver, and moved into combat in August, driving south through Coutances, Avranches, and Vitré, and across the Mayenne River to seize the city of Le Mans, August 8th.  Turning north, the division surrounded the Germans in Normandy by advancing, through Le Mêle-sur-Sarthe liberated on  August 11th, to the edge of the city of Argentan on August 12th—8 days before the Argentan-Falaise Gap was closed.

Turning Argentan over to the 90th Infantry Division, the 5th Armored advanced 80 miles to capture the Eure River Line at Dreux on August 16th. Bitter fighting was encountered in clearing the Eure-Seine corridor, the second big trap in France.  The 5th passed through Paris August 30th  to spearhead V Corps drive through the Compiègne Forest, across the Oise, Aisne, and Somme Rivers, and reached the Belgian border at Condé, September 2nd.

The division then turned east, advancing 100 miles in 8 hours, and crossed the Meuse at Charleville-Mézières, September 4th.  Racing past Sedan, it liberated Luxembourg City on the 10th and deployed along the German border.  The reconnaissance squadron of the division sent a patrol across the German border on the afternoon of September 11th, to be the first of the Allies to cross the enemy frontier.  On September 14th , the 5th penetrated the Siegfried Line at Wallendorf, remaining until the 20th, to draw off enemy reserves from Aachen.

In October it held defensive positions in the Monschau-Hofen sector. T he division entered the Hurtgen Forest area in late November and pushed the enemy back to the banks of the Roer River in very heavy fighting. On December 22nd it was withdrawn to Verviers and placed in 12th Army Group reserve.

Crossing the Roer in February 1945 the 5th spearheaded the XIII Corps drive to the Rhine, crossing the Rhine at Wesel, March 30th.  The Division reached the banks of the Elbe at Tangermunde, April 12th—45 miles from Berlin.  On April 16th, the 5th moved to Klotze to wipe out the Von Clausewitz Panzer Division and again drove to the Elbe, this time in the vicinity of Dannenberg.  The division mopped up in the Ninth Army sector until VE-day.

Casualties

• Total battle casualties: 3,075
• Killed in action: 833
• Wounded in action: 2,442
• Missing in action: 41
• Prisoner of war: 22