, Luxembourg. The 5th Armored "Victory" Division was activated on 10 October 1941, and reached the United Kingdom in February 1944.
Combat chronicle The division landed at
Utah Beach on 24 July 1944 under the command of Major General
Lunsford E. Oliver, and moved into combat on 2 August, driving south through
Coutances,
Avranches, and
Vitré, and across the
Mayenne River to seize the city of
Le Mans, 8 August. Turning north, the division surrounded the Germans in
Normandy by advancing, through
Le Mêle-sur-Sarthe liberated on 11 August, to the edge of the city of
Argentan on 12 August—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 16 August. Bitter fighting was encountered in clearing the
Eure-
Seine corridor, the second big trap in France. The 5th passed through Paris 30 August to spearhead
V Corps drive through the
Compiègne Forest, across the
Oise,
Aisne, and
Somme Rivers, and reached the Belgian border at
Condé, 2 September. The division then turned east, advancing 100 miles in 8 hours, and crossed the
Meuse at
Charleville-Mézières, 4 September. 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 11 September to be the first of the Allies to cross the enemy frontier. On 14 September, 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. The 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 On 22 December it was withdrawn to
Verviers and placed in
12th Army Group reserve. Crossing the Roer on 25 February 1945 the 5th spearheaded the
XIII Corps drive to the
Rhine, crossing the Rhine at
Wesel, 30 March. The Division reached the banks of the
Elbe at
Tangermunde, 12 April—45 miles from Berlin. On 16 April, 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 == Composition ==