The 8th Armored Division arrived in France in January 1945 and entered combat during the final months of the war. Its opening operations took place in the Moselle-Saar region and along the Roer, supporting infantry formations in reducing German defensive positions during the winter fighting.
After crossing the Roer in late February, Combat Command B advanced through the lower Rhineland, helping clear Rheinberg and other towns on the approaches to the Rhine. Crossing the river in late March, the division drove into the Ruhr Pocket, fighting through industrial towns and against the disintegrating but still dangerous forces encircled within the pocket. The reduction of the Ruhr — the largest encirclement of German forces on the Western Front — was completed in mid-April with the surrender of more than 300,000 troops.
With the Ruhr secured, the division shifted east into the Harz Mountain region, where scattered German units continued resistance in wooded terrain. Clearing operations continued through late April as organized resistance collapsed across the Reich. Its campaign, concentrated in the war's final three months, moved through four distinct phases — Roer, Rhine, Ruhr, and Harz — in rapid succession.
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