The 5th Armored Division landed at Utah Beach on July 25, 1944, and entered the campaign as the Normandy breakout widened. By August 1 it was between the See and Selune Rivers, blocking German movement toward Avranches; then it drove south through Coutances, Avranches, and Vitre, crossed the Mayenne, and took Le Mans on August 8. Turning north the next day, it advanced through Alencon to the edge of Argentan before leaving that sector to the 90th Infantry Division. The pursuit then carried the division to Dreux, the Seine at Mantes-Gassicourt, Houdebouville, Paris, the Oise at Pont-Sainte-Maxence, the Belgian border, Sedan, and Luxembourg.

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World War II Campaign Map of the 5th Armored Division. Map courtesy of HistoryShots.

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The division's September entry into Germany was early but not decisive. On September 11 a dismounted patrol of the 85th Reconnaissance Squadron crossed near Stalzenburg, the first Allied unit to enter the Reich from the west. Combat Command R crossed the Sauer at Wallendorf on September 14, broke through the thin West Wall defenses, and pushed almost to the Pruem near Bettingen. The opportunity then narrowed into a defensive fight as supply limits and German counterattacks ended the thrust. The division held the Wallendorf salient under pressure, withdrew when ordered, and shifted to defensive positions in the Monschau-Hofen sector.

Its autumn campaign was fought in the Huertgen Forest, where armor had to work through mines, craters, woods, and villages rather than open country. Combat Command R reinforced the 4th Infantry Division in November, was checked outside Grosshau, then seized Kleinhau on November 29. In early December the division took Brandenburg with close air support, cleared a Vossenack strongpoint, pushed into Bergstein, and reached the Roer near Bilstein. Combat Command A fought at Schneidhausen on December 20-22 before the division was relieved and placed in reserve at Eupen.

In 1945 the division returned to the attack at Eicherscheid and Colmar, crossed the Roer on February 25, pushed over the Niers Canal, took Anrath and Fischeln, and fought through Orsoy and Repelen to the Rhine. After crossing the Rhine at Wesel on March 30-31, it bypassed Muenster and reached the Weser on April 3, but failed to secure the bridges at Minden and Rinteln intact. The division crossed the Leine and Oker, reached the Elbe on April 12 at Wittenberge and Tangermuende, cleared Dannenberg on April 23, and was relieved along the Elbe the next day before finishing the war on security duties.