14TH ARMORED DIVISION
World War II
Activated: 15 November 1942. Overseas: 14 October 1944. Campaigns: Rhineland, Central Europe. Days of combat: 167. Distinguished Unit Citations: 2. Awards: MH-1 ; DSC-9 ; DSM-1 ; SS-273; LM-8; SM-13 ; BSM-3,024 ; AM-47. Commanders: Maj. Gen. Vernon E. Prichard (November 1942-July 1944), Maj. Gen. Albert C. Smith (July 1944 to inactivation). Returned to U. S.: 7 September 1945. Inactivated: 16 September 1945.
Combat Chronicle
The 14th Armored Division landed at Marseilles, France, 29 October 1944. Within 2 weeks some of its elements were in combat, maintaining defensive positions along the Franco-Italian frontier. The Division moved north to Rambervillers, 20. November, to take part in the VI Corps drive through the Vosges Mountains. Hard fighting at Gertwiller, Benfeld, and Barr cracked Nazi defenses, and the Division was on the Alsatian Plain early in December. Attacking across the Lauter River, 12 December, it took Haguenau, moved across the Moder River and entered the Haguenau woods. On Christmas Day the 14th was assigned defensive positions running south of Bitche near Neunhoffen. It thwarted the heavy German attack in the Bitche salient launched New Year's Eve. Although forced to withdraw, the Division remained intact. With the failure of his Bitche attack, the enemy attempted to break through to Strasbourg by attacks at Hatten and Rittershoffen, but again the drive was halted by the 14th Armored in a furious defensive engagement in January 1945. After rest, rehabilitation, and defensive missions during February and early March, the Division returned to the offensive, 15 March 1945, drove across the Moder River, cracked through the Siegfried Line, and by the end of the month, had captured Germersheim on the Rhine. On Easter Sunday, 1 April 1945, the 14th moved across the Rhine near Worms and continued pursuit of the retreating enemy through Lohr, Gemunden, Neustadt, and Hammelburg. In its final thrust, the Division raced to the Danube, crossed at Ingolstadt, and pushed on across the Isar River to Moosburg, where over 110,000 Allied prisoners were liberated. The Division fired its last rounds, 2 May 1945, and was processing prisoners of war as the war in Europe ended.
Assignments in the ETO*
1 November 1944: Attached to 6th Army Group. 10 November 1944: Seventh Army, 6th Army Group. 29 November 1944: XV Corps. 5 December 1944: VI Corps. 31 March 1945: XV Corps. 23 April 1945: III Corps, Third Army, 12th Army Group.
General
Nickname: Liberator Division. Shoulder patch: Same as the 1st Armored, but with the number "14" in the upper portion of the triangle. Association: 14th Armored Division Association, Lt. Col. J. C. Lambert, The Infantry School, Fort Benning, Ga. Publications: History of the 14th Armored Division (first edition) ; by unit members; Albert Love Enterprises, Atlanta 2, Ga.; 1944. History of the 14th Armored Division; by Capt. Joseph Carter, Unit Historian; Albert Love Enterprises, Atlanta 2, Ga.; 1946.
[Nota Bene: These combat chronicles, current as of October 1948, are reproduced from The Army Almanac: A Book of Facts Concerning the Army of the United States, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1950, pp. 510-592.]
page created 30 November 2001
The preceding web-site text was obtained from the Center For Military History.
U.S. 14th Armored Division | |
---|---|
![]() Shoulder sleeve patch of the United States Army 14th Armored Division | |
Active | 1942-1945 |
Country | United States |
Branch | U.S. Army |
Type | Armored Division (Light) |
Nickname | LIBERATORS |
Engagements | World War II * S. France (part of division) Rhineland, Ardennes/Alsace Operation Nordwind, and Central Europe |
Battle honours | 2 - Presidential Unit Citations |
14th Armored Division Statistics
Chronology
Activated 15 November 1942
Arrived ETO 29 October 1944
Arrived Continent (D+75) 29 October 1944
Entered Combat
…First Elements 14 November 1944
…Entire Division 20 November 1944
Days in Combat 133
Casualties
Killed……………….….…….447
Wounded……………….….1,998
Missing…………………...…422
Captured………………….…..29
Battle Casualties…….…….2,896
Non-Battle Casualties….….1,400
Total Casualties…………...4,296
Percent of T/O Strength…….40.3
Campaigns
Rhineland
Adrennes-Alsace
Central Europe
Individual Awards
Congressional Medal on Honor.....1
Distinguished Service Cross…..…….5
Legion of Merit…………………….5
Silver Star……………………….167
Soldiers Medal……………………12
Bronze Star……………………2,093
Air Medal………………………...46
Distinguished Flying Cross………….1
Prisoners of War Taken……64,205
14th Armor Division Command Staff Structure
Commanding General
1 Nov 44 | Brig. Gen. Albert C. Smith |
19 Mar 45 | Maj. Gen. Albert C. Smith |
Artillery Commander
1 Nov 44 | Col. Maurice K. Kurtz |
Chief of Staff
1 Nov 44 | Col. James P. Hill |
Assistant Chief of Staff G-1
1 Nov 44 | Maj. Albert W. Stephens |
1 Dec 44 | Lt. Col. Albert W. Stephens |
Assistant Chief of Staff G-2
1 Nov 44 | Maj. Harold E. Miller |
1 Dec 44 | Lt. Col. Harold E. Miller |
Assistant Chief of Staff G-3
1 Nov 44 | Lt. Col. Joe C. Lambert |
1 May 45 | Col. Joe C. Lambert |
Assistant Chief of Staff G-4
1 Nov 44 | Maj. George P. Seneff, Jr. |
1 Dec 44 | Lt. Col. George P. Seneff, Jr. |
Adjutant General
1 Nov 44 | Lt. Col. William C. Golden |
Commanding Officer, Combat Command A
1 Nov 44 | Col. Charles H. Karlstad |
19 Mar 45 | Brig. Gen. Charles H. Karlstad |
Commanding Officer, Combat Command B
1 Nov 44 | Col. Francis J. Gillespie |
Commanding Officer, Reserve Command
1 Nov 44 | Col. Daniel H. Hudelsch |
COMMAND POSTS
DATE | TOWN | REGION | COUNTRY |
29 Oct 44 | La Malle | Bouches-du-Rhone | France |
17 Nov 44 | Portieux La Verrerie | Meurthe-et-Moselle | France |
1 Dec 44 | Hochfelden | Bas-Rhin | France |
13 Dec 44 | Surbourg | Bas-Rhin | France |
16 Dec 44 | Leiterswiller | Bas-Rhin | France |
31 Dec 44 | Bouxwiller | Bas-Rhin | France |
11 Jan 45 | Morsbronn-les-Bains | Bas-Rhin | France |
14 Jan 45 | Surbourg | Bas-Rhin | France |
19 Jan 45 | Hoelschloch | Bas-Rhin | France |
22 Jan 45 | Dettwiller | Bas-Rhin | France |
18 Mar 45 | Niederbetschdorf | Bas-Rhin | France |
20 Mar 45 | Oberseebach | Bas-Rhin | France |
24 Mar 45 | Schweighofen | Rhineland | Germany |
1 Apr 45 | Rheinheim | Hessen | Germany |
2 Apr 45 | Hofstetten | Bavaria | Germany |
3 Apr 45 | Partenstein | Bavaria | Germany |
6 Apr 45 | Langenprozelten | Bavaria | Germany |
7 Apr 45 | Hammelburg (vic.; Military Camp) | Bavaria | Germany |
9 Apr 45 | Unsleben | Bavaria | Germany |
11 Apr 45 | Romhild | Bavaria | Germany |
13 Apr 45 | Lichtenfels | Bavaria | Germany |
14 Apr 45 | Hollfeld | Bavaria | Germany |
16 Apr 45 | Gossweinstein | Bavaria | Germany |
18 Apr 45 | Altdorf | Bavaria | Germany |
23 Apr 45 | Hilpolstein | Bavaria | Germany |
25 Apr 45 | Euerwang | Bavaria | Germany |
26 Apr 45 | Hagenhill | Bavaria | Germany |
28 Apr 45 | Manching | Bavaria | Germany |
29 Apr 45 | Gamelsdorf | Bavaria | Germany |
30 Apr 45 | Moosburg | Bavaria | Germany |
1 May 45 | Nieder-Straubing | Bavaria | Germany |
3 May 45 | Velden | Bavaria | Germany |
![]() |
THE 14TH ARMORED DIVISION | ||
The 14th Armored Division joined the Allied invasion of western Europe in October 1944, when it landed in Marseille in southern France. By early 1945, the "Liberators" had advanced as far as Alsace-Lorraine, provinces that had been incorporated into Germany after France's defeat in 1940. In March and April, the 14th penetrated the Rhineland and moved into Bavaria. By war's end, the division had reached the Danube River. As the 14th advanced into southern Germany, it uncovered several subcamps of the Dachau concentration camp. Operating near the towns of Ampfing and Mühldorf, the unit discovered four large munitions plants built underground, some 15,000 tons of high explosive, and three large forced-labor camps, housing thousands of Polish and Soviet civilian workers. The 14th also liberated two other camps nearby, one holding 1,500 Jewish prisoners and the other filled with Jewish female inmates. The unit reported that of the 1,500 prisoners in the first camp, only 900 could walk, and that the lime pits were filled with the corpses of inmates. |
The 14th Armored Division was recognized as a liberating unit by the U.S. Army's Center of Military History and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1991. Casualty figures for the 14th Armored Division, European theater of operations |
Division nickname |