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SECOND ARMORED DIVISION [HELL ON WHEELS]


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SECOND ARMORED DIVISION [HELL ON WHEELS]

 

SECOND ARMORED DIVISION [HELL ON WHEELS]. The Second Armored Division was formed at Fort Benning, Georgia, on July 15, 1940, under the command of Maj. Gen. Charles L. Scott. Training of the new division was the responsibility of Col. George S. Patton, Jr. When Scott was appointed commander of the First Armored Corps in November 1940, Patton now a brigadier general and the most colorful of all the division's leaders, assumed command. Under his leadership the division continued training through 1941 and participated in general maneuvers in Tennessee, Louisiana, Texas, and the Carolinas. While on these maneuvers Patton reportedly said the division would be "Hell on Wheels" when it met the enemy. The name stuck and became part of the division patch. The Second Armored Division's combat history in World War II covered three years, two continents, and ten countries. On November 8, 1942, the division landed on the shores of North Africa and took Casablanca. Eight months later it participated in the invasion of Sicily, fighting against the elite Hermann Göring Panzer Division. In November 1943 the division moved to England and began preparations for the invasion of Europe. It landed on Omaha Beach on D-Day plus 3, first engaging the Germans at Carentan, France. The division shattered the German defenses at St. Lo, crossed the Seine River north of Paris, passed through Belgium, pierced the Siegfried line, and entered Germany. During the Battle of the Bulge the Hell on Wheels division was part of Montgomery's Twenty-first Army Group. Breaking out, they raced nearly 100 miles and crossed the 1,153 foot Rhine River in an unprecedented seven hours while under mortar fire.Scissors-32x32.pnghttp://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/qns01

 

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