The 6th Armored Division ("Super Sixth") was an armored

division Division or divider may refer to: Mathematics *Division (mathematics), the inverse of multiplication *Division algorithm, a method for computing the result of mathematical division Military *Division (military), a formation typically consisting ...

of the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. It was formed with a cadre from the 2nd Armored Division.

History

The division was activated on 15 February 1942 at

Fort Knox Fort Knox is a United States Army installation in Kentucky, south of Louisville and north of Elizabethtown. It is adjacent to the United States Bullion Depository, which is used to house a large portion of the United States' official gold res ...

out of "surplus" elements of the reorganized 1st and 2nd Armored Divisions, with

Brig. Gen. Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...

Carlos Brewer Major General Carlos Brewer (5 December 1890 – 29 September 1976) was a United States Army officer who commanded the 12th Armored Division during World War II. After training the 12th Armored Division, he was not permitted to command the divis ...

assigned as its first commanding general. It moved to

Camp Chaffee Fort Chaffee Joint Maneuver Training Center is an Army National Guard installation in western Arkansas, adjacent to the city of Fort Smith. Established as Camp Chaffee in 1941, renamed to Fort Chaffee in 1956, Fort Chaffee has served as a Unite ...

on 15 March 1942 to make way for other Armored units, and then completed its assembly and unit training. The division then participated in the

VIII Corps 8th Corps, Eighth Corps, or VIII Corps may refer to: * VIII Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of the Imperial French army during the Napoleonic Wars * VIII Army Corps (German Confederation) * VIII Corps (German Empire), a unit of the Imperial German Ar ...

Louisiana Maneuvers The Louisiana Maneuvers were a series of major U.S. Army exercises held in 1941 in northern and west-central Louisiana, an area bounded by the Sabine River to the west, the Calcasieu River to the east, and by the city of Shreveport to the nort ...

from 25 August 1942, and then returned to Camp Chaffee on 21 September 1942. The 6th AD then moved to

Camp Young The General George S. Patton Memorial Museum, in Chiriaco Summit, California, is a museum erected in tribute to General George S. Patton on the site of the entrance of Camp Young, part of the Desert Training Center of World War II. Exhibits inc ...

at the

Desert Training Center The Desert Training Center (DTC), also known as California–Arizona Maneuver Area (CAMA), was a World War II training facility established in the Mojave Desert and Sonoran Desert, largely in Southern California and Western Arizona in 1942. It ...

on 10 October 1942, and participated in the first California Maneuvers. The 6th AD then moved to Camp Cooke to continue its training, where it was reorganized, losing its "heavy" organization of two armored regiments and one armored infantry regiment in favor of a "light" organization of three tank battalions and three armored infantry battalions. Maj. Gen. Robert W. Grow assumed command of the Division at Camp Cooke, California in May 1943 and commanded the division through the war until 30 July 1945. The 6th AD then staged at

Camp Shanks Camp Shanks was a United States Army installation in the Orangetown, New York area. Named after Major General David C. Shanks, it was situated near the juncture of the Erie Railroad and the Hudson River. The camp was the largest U.S. Army embarka ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

on 3 February 1944, departed the

New York Port of Embarkation The New York Port of Embarkation (NYPOE) was a United States Army command responsible for the movement of troops and supplies from the United States to overseas commands. The command had facilities in New York and New Jersey, roughly covering the ...

on 11 February 1944, and arrived in England on 23 February 1944. After continuing its training in England, 6th AD landed on

Utah Beach Utah, commonly known as Utah Beach, was the code name for one of the five sectors of the Allied invasion of German-occupied France in the Normandy landings on June 6, 1944 (D-Day), during World War II. The westernmost of the five code-named la ...

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

on 19 July 1944 as a follow-on unit, and went on the offensive as separate combat commands in the

Cotentin Peninsula The Cotentin Peninsula (, ; nrf, Cotentîn ), also known as the Cherbourg Peninsula, is a peninsula in Normandy that forms part of the northwest coast of France. It extends north-westward into the English Channel, towards Great Britain. To its w ...

in support of the Normandy Campaign.

Composition

The division was composed of the following units: * Headquarters * Headquarters Company * Combat Command A * Combat Command B * Combat Command Reserve * 15th Tank Battalion * 68th Tank Battalion * 69th Tank Battalion * 9th Armored Infantry Battalion * 44th Armored Infantry Battalion * 50th Armored Infantry Battalion * Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 6th Armored Division Artillery ** 128th Armored Field Artillery Battalion ** 212th Armored Field Artillery Battalion ** 231st Armored Field Artillery * 86th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron (Mechanized) * 25th Armored Engineer Battalion * 146th Armored Signal Company * Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 6th Armored Division Trains ** 128th Ordnance Maintenance Battalion ** 76th Armored Medical Battalion ** Military Police Platoon ** Band

Combat chronicle

At the end of the

Normandy Campaign Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. The operation was launched on 6 June 1944 (D-Day) with the Norma ...

, 6th AD assembled at Le Mesnil on 25 July 1944. 6th AD then passed through 8th Infantry Division to clear the heights near Le Bingard on 27 July 1944, and Combat Command A secured a bridgehead across the

Sienne (river) The Sienne () is a long river in northwestern France located in the departments of Calvados and Manche, Normandy. It flows into the English Channel near Regnéville-sur-Mer. Its longest tributaries are the Soulles and the Airou. The largest t ...

near Pont de la Roque on 29 July 1944, and overran Granville on 31 July 1944. 6th AD then returned to

Avranches Avranches (; nrf, Avraunches) is a commune in the Manche department, and the region of Normandy, northwestern France. It is a subprefecture of the department. The inhabitants are called ''Avranchinais''. History By the end of the Roman period, t ...

, where it relieved 4th AD and secured the area bridges. In mid-August in Europe, the 6th Armored Division moved down to

Lorient Lorient (; ) is a town (''Communes of France, commune'') and Port, seaport in the Morbihan Departments of France, department of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany in western France. History Prehistory and classical antiquity Beginn ...

, where it was relieved by the 94th Infantry Division in September. Elements of the division participated in the

Battle for Brest The Battle for Brest was fought in August and September 1944 on the Western Front during World War II. Part of the overall Battle for Brittany and the Allied plan for the invasion of mainland Europe called for the capture of port facilities, ...

(7 August - 19 September 1944). The 6th then turned east and cut across France, reaching the

Saar Saar or SAAR has several meanings: People Given name *Saar Boubacar (born 1951), Senegalese professional football player * Saar Ganor, Israeli archaeologist *Saar Klein (born 1967), American film editor Surname * Ain Saar (born 1968), Est ...

in November. It crossed the

Nied River The Nied (; ) is a river in Lorraine, France, and Saarland, Germany. It is a left tributary of the Saar. It is formed where two streams converge: the ''Nied allemande'' ("German Nied") and the ''Nied française'' ("French Nied"), which join in C ...

on 11–12 November, against strong opposition, reaching the German border on 6 December, and established and maintained defensive positions in the vicinity of

Saarbrücken Saarbrücken (; french: link=no, Sarrebruck ; Rhine Franconian: ''Saarbrigge'' ; lb, Saarbrécken ; lat, Saravipons, lit=The Bridge(s) across the Saar river) is the capital and largest city of the state of Saarland, Germany. Saarbrücken is S ...

. On 23 December, the division was ordered north of

Metz Metz ( , , lat, Divodurum Mediomatricorum, then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers. Metz is the prefecture of the Moselle department and the seat of the parliament of the Grand E ...

to take part in the

Battle of the Bulge The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Offensive, was the last major German offensive (military), offensive military campaign, campaign on the Western Front (World War II), Western Front during World War II. The battle lasted fr ...

, and took over a sector along the south bank of the

Sauer The Sauer (German and Luxembourgish, , ) or Sûre ( French, ) is a river in Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany. A left tributary of the Moselle, its total length is . Rising near Vaux-sur-Sûre in the Ardennes in southeastern Belgium, the Sauer f ...

. The 6th was heavily engaged in the battle for

Bastogne Bastogne (; nl, Bastenaken, ; german: Bastnach/Bastenach; lb, Baaschtnech) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Luxembourg in the Ardennes, Belgium. The municipality consists of the following districts: Bastogne, ...

, finally driving the enemy back across the

Our River The Our (; , ) is a river in Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany. It is a left-hand tributary of the river Sauer/Sûre. Its total length is . The source of the Our is in the High Fens in southeastern Belgium, near Manderfeld. It flows southwards, ...

into Germany by late January 1945. After a short period of rehabilitation, the division resumed the offensive, penetrated the

Siegfried Line The Siegfried Line, known in German as the ''Westwall'', was a German defensive line built during the 1930s (started 1936) opposite the French Maginot Line. It stretched more than ; from Kleve on the border with the Netherlands, along the west ...

, crossed the Prum, reached the

Rhine River ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , sourc ...

Worms Worms may refer to: *Worm, an invertebrate animal with a tube-like body and no limbs Places *Worms, Germany, a city **Worms (electoral district) *Worms, Nebraska, U.S. *Worms im Veltlintal, the German name for Bormio, Italy Arts and entertainme ...

on 21 March, and set up a counterreconnaissance screen along its west bank. The 6th crossed the Rhine at

Oppenheim Oppenheim () is a town in the Mainz-Bingen district of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The town is a well-known wine center, being the home of the German Winegrowing Museum, and is particularly known for the wines from the Oppenheimer Krötenbru ...

on 25 March, drove on to

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

, crossed the

Main Main may refer to: Geography * Main River (disambiguation) **Most commonly the Main (river) in Germany * Main, Iran, a village in Fars Province *"Spanish Main", the Caribbean coasts of mainland Spanish territories in the 16th and 17th centuries ...

, captured

Bad Nauheim Bad Nauheim is a town in the Wetteraukreis district of Hesse state of Germany. As of 2020, Bad Nauheim has a population of 32,493. The town is approximately north of Frankfurt am Main, on the east edge of the Taunus mountain range. It is a worl ...

, and continued to advance eastward, and surrounded and captured

Mühlhausen Mühlhausen () is a city in the north-west of Thuringia, Germany, north of Niederdorla, the country's geographical centre, north-west of Erfurt, east of Kassel and south-east of Göttingen. Mühlhausen was first mentioned in 967 and bec ...

on 4–5 April. After repulsing a light counterattack, it moved forward 60 miles to cross the

Saale River The Saale (), also known as the Saxon Saale (german: Sächsische Saale) and Thuringian Saale (german: Thüringische Saale), is a river in Germany and a left-bank tributary of the Elbe. It is not to be confused with the smaller Franconian Saal ...

and assisted in freeing Allied prisoners of war and the German

concentration camp Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simply ...

Buchenwald Buchenwald (; literally 'beech forest') was a Nazi concentration camp established on hill near Weimar, Germany, in July 1937. It was one of the first and the largest of the concentration camps within Germany's 1937 borders. Many actual or su ...

. The division raced on, took Leipzig, crossed the River Zwickau Mulde at

Rochlitz Rochlitz (; hsb, Rochlica) is a major district town (Große Kreisstadt) in the district of Mittelsachsen, in Saxony, Germany. Rochlitz is the head of the "municipal partnership Rochlitz" (Verwaltungsgemeinschaft Rochlitz) with its other members ...

on 15 April 1945, and stopped, pending the arrival of the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...

. Defensive positions along the Mulde River were held until the end of hostilities in Europe. The division arrived at

, New York on 18 September 1945 and was inactivated.

Casualties

*Total battle casualties: 4,670Army Battle Casualties and Nonbattle Deaths, Final Report (Statistics and Accounting Branch, Office of the Adjutant General, 1 June 1953) *Killed in action: 1,169 *Wounded in action: 3,667 *Missing in action: 88 *Prisoner of war: 83

Official history

At the end of World War II, two 6th Armored Division G3 officers, Majors Paul L. Bogen and Clyde J. Burke along with Aide-de-Camp Captain Cyrus R. Shockey, compiled a ''Combat Record of the Sixth Armored Division in the European Theatre of Operations 18 July 1944 – 8 May 1945''. The official history by George F. Hofmann, ''The Super Sixth: History of the 6th Armored Division in World War II'' (1975, reprinted 2000) has been called by World War II scholar

Martin Blumenson Martin Blumenson (November 8, 1918 – April 15, 2005) was an American military historian who served as a historical officer with the Third and Seventh Armies in World War II and later became a prolific author. His works included a biography of ...

, a "first-rate military history." He also noted that General Patton called the 6th AD one of the two best divisions in his Third Army.''Journal of American History'', December 1976

References

External links

Super Sixth: The story of Patton's 6th Armored Division in WW II
* ttp://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USMC/USMC-M-Saipan/USMC-M-Saipan-2.html Saipan: The Beginning of the End(773rd Amphibian Tractor Battalion and 708th Amphibian Tank Battalion are discussed in citation number 55 under "Yellow Beach and Agingan Point) {{DEFAULTSORT:006 06th Armored Divisin, U.S. Armored Division, U.S. 06th Military units and formations established in 1942 1942 establishments in the United States Military units and formations disestablished in 1956 1942 establishments in Kentucky