The 2nd Armored Division entered combat in North Africa during Operation TORCH in November 1942, landing near Casablanca and advancing through Morocco. It then participated in the Sicilian campaign in July 1943, its tanks driving across the island's center before turning west to enter Palermo on July 22, outrunning the infantry advance and helping collapse Sicilian resistance ahead of schedule.
After training in England, the division landed in Normandy in mid-June 1944 and fought through the bocage south of Carentan in cooperation with infantry. When Operation COBRA opened on July 25, Hell on Wheels drove through the breach, exploiting south and east to help complete the encirclement at Falaise in August before sweeping across France into Belgium.
Fighting through the German frontier battles north of Aachen in autumn 1944, the division reached the Roer in November. When the Ardennes offensive struck in December, Combat Command B moved south to Ciney and Celles, where it cut off the forward elements of the 2nd Panzer Division and halted the deepest German penetration on the northern flank — a sharp engagement that marked one of the decisive moments of the battle's northern shoulder.
After the Ardennes, the division crossed the Rhine at Wesel in March 1945 and swung northeast through Münster before turning east. Its combat commands reached the Elbe north of Magdeburg in April, among the first American armored forces to reach the river. Holding the Elbe line when Germany surrendered on May 7, the division's campaign had extended from the beaches of French Morocco through Sicily, Normandy, the breakout across France, and the Ardennes to the final bound of the Allied advance.
(A) = attached
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