LETTER DATED 21 MAY 1945:
[After War's end]
FROM: HEADQUARTERS VII CORPS
OFFICE OF THE COMMANDING GENERAL
TO: Brigadier General Doyle 0. Hickey
3rd Armored, Division, APO 253
Dear General Hickey:
With the relief of the 3rd Armored Division from the VII Corps,
I wish to express again, in writing, to you and to the officers
and men of your splendid division, my appreciation for the great
contribution made by the 3rd Armored Division to the success
of the VII Corps in its operations in Germany, particularly during
the closing phases of the war.
Following the severe fighting in the Ardennes, in which the
3rd Armored had played a great part first in checking and then
expelling von Rundstedt's forces from the "Bulge,"
the division was shifted back to its old battle ground, Stolberg,
and prepared for the crossing of the Roer River. As soon as the
8th and 104th Infantry Divisions had established a bridgehead
over the Roer, the 3rd Armored was placed in action on the morning
of 26 February to spearhead the attack of the corps on Cologne.
With characteristic dash and vigor, the division broke through
the initial resistance and raced eastward. In two days it had
forced the difficult crossing of the Erft River and swung across
the northern end of the formidable Vorgebirge, whose hill masses,
pitted with a succession of open lignite mines and studded, with
slag, heaps, made maneuver very difficult. The key road and communications
center of Stommein was seized to sever the enemy forces in the
northern part of the Cologne plain between the Erft and the Rhine.
Pressing the attack to the northeast, elements of the division
reached the Rhine River in the vicinity of Worringen on 4 March,
and in an irresistible drive were the first troops to enter Cologne
on 5 March. Within two days all enemy resistance within the division
sector, both in the city and on the plain to the north, had been
eliminated.
After a brief interlude along the west bank of the Rhine,
the division moved across the river into the expanding Remagen
Bridgehead, prepared to launch the last great offensive in the
west. On 25 March, the division attacked east again through the
1st and 104th Infantry Divisions, brushing aside the initial
resistance and pressing forward through the hilly and wooded
area of the watershed between the Sieg and Wied Rivers. Although
enemy resistance was sharp and unrelenting and the terrain continued
to be difficult, the division seized Altenkirchen and quickly
forced a crossing of the Dill River in the vicinity of Herborn,
and then captured Marburg, cutting enemy communications in the
Lahn River valley.
Then began one of the most important and dramatic maneuvers
of the entire campaign in Europe, the envelopment of the vital
Ruhr industrial area. Commencing on 29 March, the "Spearhead"
Division in an unprecedented drive advanced ninety road miles
to the north in one 24-hour period, the greatest advance by any
division against opposition in the entire war. As it neared its
objective, Paderborn, the division became heavily engaged and
fought its way through fanatic resistance of enemy troops from
the SS Panzer Replacement Training Center. Continuing onward,
while repelling counter-attacks from all sides, the division
captured Paderbom on 1 April.
On this same day, Task Force Kane advanced to the west and
made contact with elements of the 2nd Armored Division at Lippstadt,
thereby cutting off the enemy troops in the Ruhr. In eight days
the division had made a spectacular advance of almost two hundred
miles and had swung the hammer that forged more than half of
the ring around the 300,000 enemy troops encircled in the Ruhr
Pocket. The speed, dash, and daring of the commanders and men
of all ranks made this operation a model military classic.
Unfortunately, we had a terrible price to pay for this victory
in the death of one the greatest of all division commanders,
your gallant leader, Major General Maurice Rose, who was killed
in action 30 March at the head of one of his task forces near
Paderborn.
The envelopment of the Ruhr spelled the doom of Germany, but
some stiff fighting had to be done before a link-up could be
made with the Russian forces advancing from the east. Crossing
the Weser River in the vicinity of Odelsheim, on 5 April, the
3rd Armored Division resumed its relentless pursuit of the disintegrating
German forces with another stirring enveloping maneuver, this
time around the Harz Mountains. The key towns of Duderstadt,
Nordhausen and Sangerhausen fell in rapid succession as the division
drove to the northeast on Dessau. Despite stiffening resistance
and enemy counter-attacks with fresh troops, Kothen was captured,
and on 23 April the city of Dessau on the Elbe was cleared of
the last German resistance west of the Mulde River.
It is with great regret that VII Corps bids adieu to its spearhead
division. Since the days of the St. Lo-Marigny breakthrough,
your division has led most of the great offensives of this corps
in the pursuit across France and Belgium; at Mons, Namur, Liege,
and through the Siegfried Line and into Germany; in the Ardennes
Counteroffensive; in the drive from the Roer to the Rhine; and
in the last great envelopments of the Ruhr and the Harz Mountains.
The division's splendid performance in each operation is a lasting
tribute to the leadership and devotion to duty of the officers
and men of your command. The wonderful fighting spirit, the dash
and daring of the "Spearhead" Division has carried
all before it. The VII Corps is proud of the 3rd Armored Division
and its great accomplishments. The entire staff and corps troops
join me in wishing you all the very best of luck.
Sincerely yours,
J. LAWTON COLLINS
Lieutenant General, U. S. Army
LETTER DATED 16 DECEMBER 1944:
[Unknowingly, the 3rd Armored Division was within two days
of being ordered by Collins into the Battle of the Bulge.]
FROM: HEADQUARTERS VII CORPS
OFFICE OF THE COMMANDING GENERAL
TO: Major General Maurice Rose, Commanding
3rd Armored, Division, APO 253
[Div. Command Post then outside of Stolberg, Germany]
Dear General Rose:
The clearing of enemy from the VII Corps zone west of the
Roer River marks the end of another phase of our operations,
and affords me an opportunity to express to you and the officers
and men of the 3d Armored Division my profound appreciation for
the magnificent work done by the division since it joined the
VII Corps on July 15, 1944.
Following the aerial bombardment of July 25, 1944, the 3d
Armored Division played a major part in the decisive breakthrough
of the German positions northwest of St. Lo which changed the
slow and costly "hedgerow" fighting of Normandy into
a rapid war of maneuver. Combat Command Boudinot, attached to
the 1st Infantry Division, led the attack from the vicinity of
Marigny to cut the enemy's communications at Coutances. Farther
to the south, the bulk of the 3rd Armored Division, advancing
by way of Cerisy la Salle, protected the south flank of the 1st
Division and drove the enemy from his positions southeast of
Coutances. Turning quickly to the south the division assisted
in crushing the German forces caught between itself and the 3rd
Armored Division in the vicinity of St. Denis Ie Gast, which
resulted in one of the most disastrous defeats the Germans suffered
in France.
During the pursuit phase that followed, the 3d Armored Division
greatly assisted the 1st and 4th Infantry Divisions in their
crossing of the Sienne River and in their drive to the south
to capture the key communication centers of Villedieu les Poeles,
Brecey and Mortain, east of Avranches, thus blocking off the
corridor through which the Third Army was fanning into Brittany.
An official journal of the German Seventh Army emphasizes the
vital character of these operations.
During the critical battle in the vicinity of Mortain in which
the German Seventh Army endeavored to cut the communications
of the First and Third American Armies in the direction of Avranches,
elements of the 3d Armored Division played a decisive part. The
single enemy penetration north of Mortain was finally checked
by Combat Command Boudinot which then proceeded to assist elements
of the 4th and 30th Infantry Divisions in annihilating this German
force.
Following the Mortain battle, the 3d Armored Division carried
the whip-end of the VII Corps' attack toward Falaise from the
south. In vicious fighting at Ranes and Fromentel, the division
crumbled part of the southern anchor of the Falaise Gap through
which the German forces were retreating to the east.
After the VII Corps had been shifted to the east across the
Seine River, the 3d Armored Division spearheaded its advance
across the Marne and Aisne Rivers, recapturing the historic World
War I battle fields of Soissons and Chemin des Dames and was
well on the way to Mezieres when the VII Corps was directed to
the north to cut off the retreat of the German forces endeavoring
to escape through Belgium. The 3d Armored Division wheeled to
the left, crossed into Belgium at Maubeuge and quickly seized
the important road center of Mons. This was done in the nick
of time, for the next day an entire German corps struck the positions
of the 3d Armored Division and the 1st Infantry Division on its
left. There followed one of the decisive battles of the Western
Front in which over 23,000 Germans were taken prisoner and other
thousands killed or wounded. This disastrous defeat sealed the
fate of Namur and Liege and made possible the rupture of the
Siegfried defenses south of Aachen.
Even before the conclusion of the Mons battle, the 3d Armored
Division was again spearheading the advance of the VII Corps
reversing the route of the 1940 German invasion of Belgium via
Charleroi, Namur and Liege. On September 11th elements of the
division crossed into Germany and the next day began breaching
the Siegfried wall. With great skill and determination the division
over-ran the first line of defenses and then crashed through
the even more formidable second line in the Munsterbusch-Stolberg
area. The rapid breaking of this second line unquestionably saved
thousands of American lives which would have been lost in our
recent operations if this position had had to be attacked fully
manned by the Germans.
In the operations just brought to a close, each of the combat
commands of the division was called upon in turn for quick powerful
thrusts to secure decisive objectives. These were taken with
the cool daring and minimum loss of life which has characterized
all of the operations of the division during these past six months.
Please convey to each officer and man of your great fighting
organization my personal appreciation and admiration for these
great achievements. We look forward with confidence to our coming
advance to the Rhine, knowing that leading the way over all opposition
will be the 3d Armored - the Spearhead Division.
J. LAWTON COLLINS
Major General
U. S. Army, Commanding.
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