The 4th Armored Division was an armored division of the United States Army that earned distinction while spearheading General Patton's Third Army in the European theater of World War II.
The 4th Armored Division, unlike most other U.S. armored divisions during World War II, did not officially adopt a nickname for the division during the war. However, their unofficial nickname "Name Enough" came into use postwar; the division commander having said, "Fourth Armored Division was name enough"; "They shall be known by their deeds alone." The 4th was named the "Breakthrough" division in 1954, but that name was eventually discontinued.The Armored Sentinel, Fort Hood, Texas, 15 April 1954 Retrieved 30 September 2014
History The 4th Armored Division was activated prior to American entry into World War II on 15 April 1941 at Pine Camp, New York under the command of Brigadier General Henry W. Baird."General Baird, Blitz Veteran, Rose from 'Buck Private'." Pine Camp News 6 December 1941: 1+. The division was formed with a 3,800-man cadre from the 1st Armored Division, and was augmented during May with over 6,000 draftees chiefly hailing from the Northeastern, Mid-Atlantic, and Midwestern United States; the largest number, over 2,000, came from Fort Dix, New Jersey, with others from Fort Niagara and Camp Upton, New York, Camp Lee, Virginia, Fort George G. Meade, Maryland, Fort Thomas, Kentucky, Fort Hayes, Ohio, Fort Benjamin Harrison, Indiana, and the New Cumberland reception center, Pennsylvania. By July there were 12,000 men in the division. In October, the division furnished a cadre to form the 5th Armored Division.
World War II The division was organized as a full Armored Division in May and June 1942 under the command of Major General John Shirley Wood. It left Pine Camp for Camp Forrest for the Tennessee maneuvers in the Cumberland Mountains held in September and October. In mid-November, it was transferred to the Camp Ibis Desert Training Center (DTC) in the California-Arizona maneuver area and was the first Armored Division to occupy Camp Ibis near Needles, California in the Mojave Desert, which was close to the Arizona and Nevada borders. On 3 June, the 4th AD arrived at Camp Bowie, Texas, an armored training center located in central Texas near Brownwood, for more maneuvers until about December when it departed for Camp Myles Standish in Massachusetts for winter training. On 29 December, the 4th AD departed Boston to conduct training in England in preparation for the invasion of Normandy.
France
After training in England from January to July 1944, the 4th Armored Division landed at Utah Beach, on 11 July, over a month after the initial Normandy landings, and first entered combat on 17 July; on 28 July, battle action as part of the VIII Corps exploitation force for Operation Cobra, the 4th AD secured the Coutances area. The 4th AD then swung south to take Nantes, cutting off the Brittany Peninsula, 12 August 1944. Turning east, it drove swiftly across France north of the Loire, smashed across the Moselle 11–13 September, flanked Nancy and captured Lunéville, 16 September. The 4th AD fought several German panzergrenadier brigades in the Lorraine area (Rechicourt) including the SS Panzergrenadier Brigade 49 and SS Panzergrenadier Brigade 51 at this time, defeating a larger German force through superior tactics and training.
After maintaining a defensive line, Chambrey to Xanrey to Hénaménil, from 27 September to 11 October, the 4th AD rested briefly before returning to combat 9 November with an attack in the vicinity of Viviers. The 4th AD cleared Bois de Serres, 12 November, advanced through Dieuze and crossed the Saar River, 21–22 November, to establish and expand bridgehead and took Singling and Bining, then Baerendorf www.dday-overlord.com La 4e Division Blindée le 24 novembre 1944. 24 November, before being relieved 8 December.
The 4th Armored Division received the following unit awards from France: Croix de Guerre with Palm (27–29 July 1944), Croix de Guerre with Palm (12–29 September 1944), and French Fourragere in the colors of the Croix de Guerre.
Battle of the Bulge Two days after the Germans launched their Ardennes Offensive, the 4th AD entered the fight (18 December 1944), racing northwest into Belgium, covering 150 miles in 19 hours. The 4th AD, spearheading Patton's Third Army, attacked the Germans at Bastogne and, on 26 December, Brigadier General Herbert L. Earnest's Combat Command A led the column that relieved Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge, with Company C, 37th Tank Battalion in the vanguard.25 February 2009. Retrieved 10 October 2014 to break through at Bastogne and relieve the besieged 101st Airborne Division. Six weeks later the 4th AD jumped off from Luxembourg City in an eastward plunge that carried it across the Moselle River at Trier, south, and east to Worms, and across the Rhine, 24–25 March 1945. Advancing all night, the 4th AD crossed the Main River the next day, south of Hanau, and continued to push on. Lauterbach fell 29 March, Creuzburg across the Werra on 1 April, Gotha on 4 April – where the 4th AD liberated Ohrdruf concentration camp, the first Nazi camp liberated by U.S. troops. Both Generals Patton and Eisenhower visited the camp. And the U.S. Army recognized the division with the special designation "Liberators" in 1985. By 12 April the 4th AD was across the Saale River. Pursuit of the enemy continued, and by 6 May the division had crossed into Czechoslovakia and established a bridgehead across the Otava River at Strakonice, with forwarding elements at Písek. The 4th AD was reassigned to the XII Corps on 30 April 1945. The 4th AD received the following Letter of Commendation:Lone Sentry
To: Maj. Gen. Hugh J. Gaffey The outstanding celerity of your movement and the unremitting, vicious and skillful manner in which you pushed the attack, terminating at the end of four days and nights of incessant battle in the relief of Bastogne, constitutes one of the finest chapters in the glorious history of the United States Army. You and the officers and men of your command are hereby commended for a superior performance.
The 4th AD's second commander, Major General John Shirley Wood, (known as "P" Wood to his contemporaries, the "P" standing for "Professor", and "Tiger Jack" to his men) who took over the division officially on 18 June 1942, trained the 4th Armored Division for two years before he personally led it into combat in France, on 28 July 1944, and was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. On 1 August, Gen. George Patton's U.S. Third Army became operational and the 4th AD became the spearhead of the Third Army. The British military armor theorist and historian, Capt. Basil Henry Liddell Hart, once referred to General Wood as "the Rommel of the American armored forces." Like Rommel, Wood commanded from the front, and preferred staying on the offensive, using speed and envelopment tactics to confuse the enemy. General Wood often utilized a light Piper Cub liaison aircraft flown by his personal pilot, Maj. Charles "Bazooka Charlie" Carpenter, to keep up with his rapidly moving division, sometimes personally carrying corps orders from headquarters directly to his advancing armored columns.Kerns, Raymond C., Above the Thunder: Reminiscences of a Field Artillery Pilot in World War II, Kent State University Press, , (2009), pp. 23-24, 293-294
On 3 December 1944, General Wood was relieved as division commander. The division was then led by Major General Hugh Gaffey through the Battle of the Bulge until March 23, when Brigadier General William M. Hoge (later Major General) was awarded command. Major General Fay B. Prickett commanded during the occupation period. Major General Archibald R. Kennedy commanded the division after the war.
Among the most famous members of the 4th AD during World War II was Creighton Abrams, who commanded the 37th Tank Battalion. Abrams later rose to command all U.S. forces in South Vietnam during the Vietnam War and served as Army Chief of Staff in the 1970s. The M-1 tank is named after him. Abrams' friend, Harold Cohen, commanded the 10th Armored Infantry Battalion and fought in concert with Abrams' tanks.
Division organization Initial division organization When the 4th Armored Division was formed on 15 April 1941 it was composed of the following units:
4th Armored Division Division Headquarters Headquarters Company, 4th Armored Division 144th Armored Signal Company 4th Armored Brigade Headquarters and Headquarters Company 35th Armored Regiment (Light) Headquarters and Headquarters Company Armored Reconnaissance Company (M3 scout cars) Armored Machine Gun Company (M2 half-track cars and M1919 .30-caliber machine guns) Service Company (Light) 3× Tank battalions (Light) each battalion consists of: 1× Headquarters and Headquarters Platoon, 3× tank companies with M3 Stuart light tanks 37th Armored Regiment (Light) same organization as 35th Armored Regiment (Light) 80th Armored Regiment (Medium) (transferred in April 1942 to the 8th Armored Division) Headquarters and Headquarters Company Service Company (Medium) 2× Tank battalions (Medium) each battalion consists of: 1× Headquarters and Headquarters Platoon, 3× tank companies with M3 Lee medium tanks 66th Armored Field Artillery Regiment Headquarters and Headquarters Battery 4× Field artillery batteries (24× M2 105mm towed howitzers) Ammunition Train Service Battery 51st Armored Infantry Regiment Headquarters and Headquarters Company 2× Armored infantry battalions each battalion consists of: 1× Headquarters and Headquarters Platoon, 3× Rifle companies on M3 half-tracks, and 1× Heavy Weapons Company with M3 37mm Anti-Tank guns and M4 mortar carriers Anti-Tank Company (M3 37mm Anti-Tank guns) Service Company 84th Armored Reconnaissance Battalion Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment 2× Armored reconnaissance companies (M3 scout cars) Light Tank Company (M3 Stuart light tanks) Armored Reconnaissance Rifle Company (M3 half-tracks) 22nd Field Artillery Battalion Headquarters and Headquarters Battery 3× Field artillery batteries (12× M2 105mm towed howitzers) Anti-Tank Gun Battery (8× M1897 75mm anti-tank guns) Service Battery 24th Armored Engineer Battalion Headquarters and Headquarters Company 3× Armored engineer companies Bridge Company 18th Quartermaster Battalion Headquarters and Headquarters Company Quartermaster Truck Company Light Maintenance Quartermaster Company 20th Armored Ordnance Battalion Headquarters and Headquarters Company 2× Ordnance companies 46th Armored Medical Battalion Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment Medical Collecting Company Medical Clearing Company Division Surgeon's Office
Heavy armored division