14th Armored DIVISION - Liberator

Activated 1 Nov 1942  •  Entered Combat 20 Nov 1944 at Rhineland  •  Days of Combat 167•  Casualties 2,690

Campaign Map of the European Theater

Division 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.