The division was constituted in the
Army of the United States on 9 June 1942 and activated on 15 October 1942 at
Camp Beale, east of
Marysville, California. During training, the division adopted the nickname "Black Cats." The division landed at
Le Havre, France, 29 January 1945. After performing occupation duties, the division moved to
Homberg near
Kassel to prepare for combat under the
Third Army, 5 April. At
Altenkirchen, it was attached to the
XVIII Airborne Corps and prepared for the
Ruhr Pocket operation. The attack jumped off at Honnef, 10 April. After crossing the river
Sieg at
Siegburg, the 13th pushed north to
Bergisch Gladbach, then toward
Duisburg and
Mettmann by 18 April. Shifting south to
Eschenau, the division prepared for Bavarian operations. Starting from
Parsberg, 26 April, the 13th crossed the
Regen river, then the
Danube at
Matting and secured the area near
Dünzling. On the 28th, elements closed in at
Plattling and crossed the
Isar River. Moderate to heavy resistance was met during this drive through southern Germany. The division smashed into
Braunau am Inn, Austria, 2 May, and the command post was set up in the house where
Adolf Hitler was born. A bridgehead across the Inn was established at
Marktl, but the river was not crossed as orders came to reassemble north of
Inn River, 2 May. Preparations were made for further advances when the war in Europe ended. The 13th remained in Germany until 25 June and left Le Havre, France, for home, 14 July 1945. The division moved to
Camp Cooke, California, after returning to the United States. It commenced training in amphibious operations, and the men were aware that it was an open secret that they were likely to participate in the
invasion of mainland Japan. After the Japanese surrender, it was inactivated on 15 November 1945. On 20 August 1947, the 13th Armored Division was allotted to the
Organized Reserve (redesignated 25 March 1948 as the Organized Reserve Corps, and redesignated 9 July 1952 as the Army Reserve) and activated by reflagging it from the 19th Armored Division, which had been allotted to the
Sixth Army area of the Organized Reserve, specifically California, Oregon, and Arizona. The 13th Armored Division was inactivated on 1 March 1952, and withdrawn from the Army Reserve and allotted to the
Regular Army on 25 February 1953. In 1947, the 19th Armored Division was reflagged as the 13th Armored Division at California's request. In 1952, the division was reflagged as the
63rd Infantry Division in Los Angeles, California, and thus the 13th Armored Division was finally inactivated. == Composition ==