The 7th Armored Division ("Lucky Seventh") was an armored division of the United States Army that saw distinguished service on the Western Front, from August 1944 until May 1945, during World War II. They also performed occupation duties in Germany through September 1945.

History The division was activated on 1 March 1942, in Camp Polk, Louisiana, out of "surplus" elements of the reorganized 3rd and 5th Armored Divisions, and itself reorganized on 20 September 1943. The 7th Armored Division trained at Camp Coxcomb in California. The 7th Armored Division arrived in England in June 1944. Throughout most of its existence the 7th Armored Division was commanded by Major General Lindsay M. Silvester, an infantryman who had distinguished himself in World War I.

Division organization Heavy armored division

The division was activated as a heavy armored division in 1942. At the time the 7th Armored Division was composed of the following units:

7th Armored Division Division Headquarters Headquarters Company, 7th Armored Division Headquarters and Headquarters Company, Combat Command A Headquarters and Headquarters Company, Combat Command B 147th Armored Signal Company Armored Service Company (includes the division's Military Police Platoon) 31st Armored Regiment (transferred from the 5th Armored Division) Headquarters and Headquarters Company Reconnaissance Company (M3 scout cars and T30 HMC self propelled guns) Maintenance Company Service Company 1st Tank Battalion (Light) Headquarters and Headquarters Company 3× Light Tank companies (A, B, C) (M3/M5 Stuart light tanks) 2nd Tank Battalion (Medium) Headquarters and Headquarters Company 3× Medium Tank companies (D, E, F) (M4 Sherman tanks) 3rd Tank Battalion (Medium) Headquarters and Headquarters Company 3× Medium Tank companies (G, H, I) (M4 Sherman tanks) 40th Armored Regiment same organization as 31st Armored Regiment 48th Armored Infantry Regiment Headquarters and Headquarters Company 3× Armored infantry battalions each battalion consists of: 1× Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 3× Rifle companies on M3 half-tracks Service Company 87th Armored Reconnaissance Battalion Headquarters and Headquarters Company 3× Reconnaissance companies (M3 scout cars) Light Tank Company (M3/M5 Stuart light tanks) 33rd Armored Engineer Battalion Headquarters and Headquarters Company 4× Armored engineer companies Bridge Company 7th Armored Division Artillery 7th Armored Division Artillery Section 434th Armored Field Artillery Battalion Headquarters and Headquarters Battery 3× Field artillery batteries (M7 Priest self propelled howitzers) Service Battery 440th Armored Field Artillery Battalion same organization as 434th Armored Field Artillery Battalion 489th Armored Field Artillery Battalion same organization as 434th Armored Field Artillery Battalion 7th Armored Division Trains Headquarters and Headquarters Company 14th Armored Ordnance Battalion Headquarters and Headquarters Company 3× Maintenance companies 14th Supply Battalion Headquarters and Headquarters Company 2× Truck companies 77th Armored Medical Battalion Headquarters and Headquarters Company 3× Medical companies 7th Armored Division Band

Light armored division Early in 1943, the Army Ground Force began a series of studies to reorganize the various divisions within the Army. After reviewing the tables of organization and after allowing the various commands to review and comment on the proposed restructure, the War Department published on 15 September 1943 a new armored division tables of organization. The restructuring removed the two armored regiments and armored infantry regiment from the table of organization and replaced them with three tank battalions and three armored infantry battalions. Each tank battalion included one light and three medium tank companies. Both Combat Commands, A and B, remained, but an additional Reserve Command was added to the organization. This was a small headquarters element of 10 personnel tasked to clarify command and control in the division's rear area. Armored engineer battalions lost their bridge companies, while their engineer companies were reduced from four to three. The division's cavalry reconnaissance squadron was increased in size to include an HQ Troop, four reconnaissance troops, a light tank company, and an assault gun troop of four platoons (one for each reconnaissance troop). Within the division trains, the division lost its supply battalion and the division's armored service company. These changes pared the division's strength from 14,630 men to 10,937, slashed the number of tanks from 360 to 263, reduced the variety of vehicles to ease repair problems, and eliminated the maintenance-prone motorcycles.

After its reorganization as a light armored division the 7th Armored Division was composed of the following units:

7th Armored Division Division Headquarters Headquarters Company, 7th Armored Division Headquarters and Headquarters Company, Combat Command A Headquarters and Headquarters Company, Combat Command B 147th Armored Signal Company Reserve Command 17th Tank Battalion Headquarters and Headquarters Company 3× Medium Tank companies (M4 Sherman tanks) Light Tank Company (M3/M5 Stuart or M24 Chaffee light tanks) Service Company 31st Tank Battalion same organization as 17th Tank Battalion 40th Tank Battalion same organization as 17th Tank Battalion 23rd Armored Infantry Battalion Headquarters and Headquarters Company 3× Rifle companies (M3 half-tracks) Service Company 38th Armored Infantry Battalion same organization as 23rd Armored Infantry Battalion 48th Armored Infantry Battalion same organization as 23rd Armored Infantry Battalion 87th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron (Mechanized) Headquarters and Headquarters and Service Troop 4× Cavalry reconnaissance troops (M8 Greyhound armored cars) Cavalry Assault Gun Troop (M8 Scott self propelled guns) Light Tank Company (M3/M5 Stuart or M24 Chaffee light tanks) 33rd Armored Engineer Battalion Headquarters and Headquarters Company 3× Armored engineer companies 7th Armored Division Artillery Headquarters and Headquarters Battery 434th Armored Field Artillery Battalion Headquarters and Headquarters Battery 3× Field artillery batteries (M7 Priest self propelled howitzers) Service Battery 440th Armored Field Artillery Battalion same organization as 434th Armored Field Artillery Battalion 489th Armored Field Artillery Battalion same organization as 434th Armored Field Artillery Battalion 7th Armored Division Trains Headquarters and Headquarters Company 77th Armored Medical Battalion Headquarters and Headquarters Company 3× Medical companies 129th Armored Ordnance Battalion Headquarters and Headquarters Company 3× Maintenance companies Military Police Platoon 7th Armored Division Band

Action in France The 7th Armored Division landed on Omaha and Utah Beaches, 13–14 August 1944, and was assigned to U.S. Third Army, commanded by Lieutenant General George S. Patton. The division drove through Nogent-le-Rotrou in an attack on Chartres. The city fell on 18 August. From Chartres, the division advanced to liberate Dreux and then Melun, where they crossed the Seine River, 24 August. The division then pushed on to bypass Reims and liberate Château-Thierry and then Verdun, 31 August. In an unprecedented move, on September 7, 1944, the City of Verdun awarded the Medal of Verdun (originally a WWI medal) to the officers and soldiers of the 7th Armored. This was the first time the Medal of Verdun was awarded during WWII. Additionally, by Resolution of the Verdun City Council, dated 15 September 1944, one of the municipality’s streets was renamed "RUE DE LA 7e DIVISION BLINDEE U.S.A." in honor of the Division.

The 7th Armored halted briefly for refueling and then on 6 September drove on toward the Moselle and made a crossing near Dornot. This crossing had to be withdrawn in the face of the heavy fortifications around Metz. The 7th Armored then made attempts to cross the Moselle northwest of Metz but the deep river valley was not suitable terrain for an armored attack. Elements of the division assisted the 5th Infantry Division in expanding a bridgehead east of Arnaville, south of Metz, and on 15 September, the main part of the division crossed the Moselle there. The 7th Armored Division was repulsed in its attacks across the Seille River at and near Sillegny, part of an attack in conjunction with the 5th Infantry division that was also repulsed further north.

Support of Operation Market Garden On 25 September 1944, the 7th Armored Division was transferred to the U.S. Ninth Army, under Lieutenant General William Hood Simpson, and began the march to the Netherlands where they were needed to protect the right (east) flank of the corridor opened by Operation Market Garden. They were to operate in the southeast Netherlands, so that British and Canadian forces and the 104th Infantry Division could clear the Germans from the Scheldt Estuary in the southwest Netherlands and open the shipping lanes to the critical port of Antwerp, to allow Allied ships to bring supplies from Britain.

On 30 September, the 7th Armored Division launched an attack from the north on the town of Overloon, against significant German defenses. The attacks progressed slowly and finally settled into a series of counter-attacks reminiscent of trench warfare of World War I. On 8 October, the division was relieved from the attack on Overloon by the British 11th Armoured Division and moved south of Overloon to the Deurne–Weert area. Here they were attached to the British Second Army, under Lieutenant General Sir Miles C. Dempsey, and ordered to make demonstration attacks to the east, in order to divert enemy forces from the Overloon and Venlo areas, where British troops pressed the attack. This plan succeeded, and the British were finally able to liberate Overloon.

On 27 October 1944, the main part of the 7th Armored Division was in essentially defensive positions along the line Nederweert (and south) to Meijel to Liesel, with the demonstration force still in the attack across the Deurne canal to the east. The Germans launched a two-division offensive centered on Meijel, catching the thinly stretched 87th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron of the 7th Armored Division by surprise. However, the response by the 7th Armored and by British Lieutenant General Sir Richard O'Connor's British VIII Corps, to which the division was attached, stopped the German attack on the third day and then from 31 October to 8 November gradually drove the enemy out of the terrain that they had taken. During this operation, at midnight on the night of 31 October–1 November Major General Lindsay Silvester, who had led the division since its activation, was relieved as commander of the division and replaced by Major General Robert W. Hasbrouck.

Refit and retraining On 8 November 1944, the 7th Armored was again transferred to the Ninth Army and moved south to rest areas at and east of Maastricht. Following an inflow of many replacements, they began extensive training and reorganization, since so many original men had been lost in France and the Netherlands that a significant part of the division was now men who had never trained together. At the end of November, the division straddled the Dutch-German border with one combat command in Germany (in the area of Ubach, north of Aachen) and two in the Netherlands.

Elements of the division were attached to the 84th Infantry Division for operations in early December in the area of Linnich, Germany, on the banks of the Rur. The 7th was preparing to drive into Germany when the Ardennes offensive began on 16 December 1944.

Battle of the Bulge