The 4th Armored Division landed in Normandy in July 1944, entered the Coutances corridor during Operation COBRA, and became one of the primary exploitation forces of the campaign, its commanders pushing hard through each successive objective with a confidence in mobile warfare that distinguished the division's culture. Racing east through Le Mans and toward Lorraine, the division forced Moselle crossings in early September before being slowed by the supply crisis and stiffening German resistance east of Nancy.

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World War II Campaign Map of the 4th Armored Division. Map courtesy of HistoryShots.

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The Battle of Arracourt in September 1944 — a week of German armored counterattacks that the division defeated in detail — became one of the most significant armored engagements on the Western Front. Attacking with superior coordination and making effective use of tank destroyers and artillery, the division destroyed far more German armor than it lost against formations equipped with newer Panther tanks, demonstrating what trained and aggressive American armored tactics could accomplish under capable leadership.

Its most celebrated action came in the Ardennes. Ordered north in December 1944, the division drove through winter mud and contested roads toward the southern corridor into Bastogne. Combat Command R broke through the German encirclement at Assenois on December 26, 1944, opening the relief corridor and linking with the 101st Airborne Division in one of the most decisive single actions of the Bulge.

After the Ardennes, the division crossed the Rhine at Worms in March 1945 and drove deep into Germany and then Czechoslovakia. Its forward elements were well into Bohemia when the German surrender on May 7 ended the campaign — the farthest east of any American armored division on the Western Front.