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ENEMY PERSONNEL CASUALTIES:
It is virtually useless to attempt to estimate the number
of enemy killed and wounded in a particular action. However,
the number of prisoners taken is a tangible and indisputable
figure. From the time the 3rd Armored entered combat on 29 June
1944 until the end of the European war on 8 May 1945, the 3rd
took 76,720 prisoners, five times the total strength of the Division.
ENEMY VEHICLES DESTROYED:
During the 221 days of Combat on the continent of Europe,
the 3rd Armored Division destroyed or overran a staggering total
of enemy equipment. Although an effort was made throughout the
Campaign to gather statistics of enemy vehicles and equipment
destroyed, the reports could never be considered statistically
accurate. When the advance was most rapid, the destruction of
enemy equipment was frequently at the maximum, but at the same
time, it was impossible to assess enemy losses accurately. In
many cases, records were lost due to enemy action. In other cases
duplications are certain to exist. For example, the destruction
of enemy equipment at Mons was enormous and never can be properly
segregated between direct support aircraft and ground action,
or, on the ground, between the 3rd Armored and 1st Infantry Divisions.
With these limitations the figures given in the following table
can be considered only as the best possible estimate.
| |
|
Destroyed
by
Air Action |
Destroyed
by
Ground Fire |
Destroyed
or
Abandoned by
Enemy |
Totals |
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TANKS
SP GUNS
ARMD. CARS
APC's
LIGHT AA-SP
TOTALS: |
348
183
279
469
unknown
1279 |
1023
452
468
1677
27
3647 |
423
307
214
881
unknown
1825 |
1794
942
961
3027
27
6751 |
The cost to the 3rd Armored Division of inflicting these losses
is shown in the two tables that follow.
3rd ARMORED DIV. PERSONNEL CASUALTIES
*
29 June 1944 to 12 May 1945:
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KILLED IN ACTION
(including dead of wounds & injuries)
WOUNDED IN ACTION
(includes injured)
MISSING IN ACTION
(includes reported prisoners)
TOTAL CASUALTIES |
2,214
7,451
706
10,371
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|
* Includes attached 703rd Tank Destroyer Battalion and the
486th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Battalion.
3rd ARMORED DIV. VEHICLES DESTROYED **
29 June 1944 to 22 April 1945:
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MEDIUM TANKS
LIGHT TANKS
ARTILLERY PIECES
ASSAULT GUNS
HALF-TRACKS
ARMORED CARS
MOTORCYCLES
2-1/2 TON TRUCKS
1/4 TON TRUCKS
ALL OTHERS |
633
147
17
38
204
53
115
88
340
197 |
|
** This table does not include damaged vehicles repaired within
the division. It includes only those for which replacements were
requested.
In addition to the losses reflected in the above table, there
were "temporary" losses resulting from combat operation.
Crews of the Division Maintenance Battalion repaired a total
of 6,324 vehicles of all types. Of this number there were 1305
medium tanks, 395 light tanks, 728 halftracks, 1063 two and one
half ton trucks, and 1260 one quarter ton trucks (peeps).
UNITS ATTACHED TO THE 3RD ARMORED DIVISION:
Unit, Date Attached, and Date Relieved
803rd TD Bn 25 June 1944 - 2 July 1944
703rd TD Bn 25 June 1944 - 17 Sept 1944
486th AAA 25 June 1944 - Remained attached
967th FA Bn 155 How 29 June 1944 - 30 June
1944
413th AAA Bn 7 July 1944 - 16 July 1944
963th FA Bn 7 July 1944 - 9 July 1944
258th FA Bn 8 July 1944 - 10 August 1944
113th Cav Group 8 July 1944 - 10 August 1944
87th FA Bn 9 July 1944 - 28 August 1944
3rd Bn, 60th Inf Regt 13 August 1944 - 15
August 1944
2nd Bn, 60th Inf Regt 17 August 1944 - 19
August 1944
58th Armd FA Bn 8 July 1944 - 10 August 1944
58th Armd FA Bn 18 August 1944 - 1 Oct 1944
258th FA Bn SP 155 Gun 8 July 1944 - 10 July
1944
258th FA Bn 155 Gun 9 August 1944 - 14 August
1944
1st Bn, 26th Inf Regt 3 Sept 1944 - 25 Sept
1944
47th Inf Regt 6 Sept 1944 - 10 Sept 1944
47th RCT 25 Oct 1944 - 10 Nov 1944
47th Inf Regt
84th FA Bn
Co "B", 9th Med Bn
Co "C", 899th TD Bn
Co "A", 746th Tank Bn
Batt 'D", 376th AAA Bn
1 Plat, Co "B", 15th Eng Bn
294th Eng (C) Bn 25 Oct 1944 - 9 Nov 1944
84th FA Bn 24 Oct 1944 - 11 Nov 1944
298th Eng (C) Bn 9 Nov 1944 - 26 Nov 1944
2nd Bn, 47th Inf Regt 24 Nov 1944 - 26 Nov
1944
991st FA Bn 155 Gun 12 August 1944 - 20 Sept
1944
Co "A", 738th Tk Bn SP ME 6 Dec
1944 - 15 Jan 1945
1st Bn, 60th Inf Regt 11 Dec 1944 - 12 Dec
1944
83rd Armd FA Bn 20 Dec 1944- 31 Dec 1944
991st FA Bn 155 Gun (-2 Btrys) 21 Dec 1944
- 31 Dec 1944
1st Bn, 517th Parachute Inf Regt 22 Dec 1944
- 26 Dec 1944
643rd TD Bn (T) 22 Dec 1944 - 26 Dec 1944
290th RCT 23 Dec 1944 - 31 Dec 1944
290th Inf Regt
898th FA Bn
Co "B", 375th Med Bn
Btry "B", 440th AAA
Bn
1 Plat, Co "B", 275th
Eng Bn
188th FA Bn 155 How (T) 23 Dec 1944 - 31 Dec
1944
509th Prcht Inf Bn 23 Dec 1944 - 29 Dec 1944
289th RCT 24 Dec 1944 - 29 Dec 1944
289 Inf Regt
897th FA Bn
Co "A", Med Bn
730th FA Bn 155 How
Btry "A", 440th
AAA Bn
Co's "A" & "C", 87th Chem Bn 24
Dec 1944 - 31 Dec 1944
298th Eng (C) Bn 27 Dec 1944 - 30 Dec 1944
Co "B", 297th Eng (C) Bn 27 Dec
1944 - 30 Dec 1944
2nd Bn, 112th Inf Regt 28 Dec 1944 - 30 Dec
1944
331st Inf Regt 29 Dec 1944 - 31 Dec 1944
330th Inf Regt 1 Jan 1945 - 18 Jan 1945
703rd TD Bn 2 Jan 1945 - Remained attached
991st FA Bn 155 Gun 2 Jan 1945 - 11 Jan 1945
83rd Arrnd FA Bn 2 Jan 1945 - 10 May 1945
183rd FA Bn 155 How 2 Jan 1945 - 11 Jan 1945
183rd FA Bn 155 How 12 Jan 1945 - 20 Jan 1945
2nd Plat, Co "B", 635th TD Bn 15
Jan 1945 - 20 Jan 1945
Btry "A", 991st FA Bn SP 17 Jan
1945 - 19 Jan 1944
1st, 3rd Plats, Co "B", 738th Tk Bn 12
Jan 1945 - 17 Jan 1945
335th Inf Regt (-AT Co) 16 Jan 1945 - 21 Jan
1945
183rd FA Bn 155 How 25 Feb 1945 - 24 Apr 1945
991st FA Bn 155 Gun SP 25 Feb 1945 - 9 Mar
1945
13th Inf Regt 26 Feb 1945 - 17 Mar 1945
395th RCT 28 Feb 1945 - 2 Mar 1945
395th Inf Regt
924th FA Bn
Co "C", 786 Tk
Bn
Co "C", 629th Tk
Bn
Co "C", 324th
Med Bn
4th Cav Gp 28 Feb 1945 - 1 Mar 1945
4th Cav Gp 3 Mar 1945 - 8 Mar 1945
3rd Bn, 13th Inf Regt 17 Mar 1945 -19 Mar
1945
188th FA Bn 155 How 29 Mar 1945 - 8 Apr 1945
991st FA Bn 155 Gun SP 29 Mar 1945 - 1 Apr
1945
991st FA Bn 155 Gun SP 6 Apr 1945 - 13 May
1945
1st Bn, 18th Inf Regt 11 Apr 1945 - 25 Apr
1945
47th Inf Regt 11 Apr 1945 - 12 Apr 1945
Btry "A", 13th FA Obsn Bn 17 Apr
1945 - 23 Apr 1945
60th Inf Regt 22 Apr 1945 24 - Apr 1945
ATTACHED INTELLIGENCE UNITS
Unit, Date Attached, and Date Relieved
| |
503rd CIC Det 26 Dec 1942
- Remained attached
IPW No. 29 14 Jan 1944 - Remained attached
IPW No. 32 16 Feb 1944 -21 August 1945
IPW No. 36 16 Feb 1944 - 7 May 1945
PI No. 38 25 Apr 1944 - 27 July 1945
OB No. 9 12 Feb 1944 - Remained attached
MII No. 418 16 Feb 1944 - 28 Nov 1945
MII No. 418-G 20 Oct 1944 - Remained attached
"IPW" = Interrogation Prisoner of War
"PI" = Photo Interpreter
"MII" = Military Intelligence Interpreter |
ENEMY DIVISIONS ENCOUNTERED
The following is a list of enemy divisions which were met
in sufficient strength by the 3rd Armored Division on the field
of battle in Europe to warrant their inclusion in such a list.
St. Lo to the Siegfried Line
27 July to 15 September, 1944
10 Panzer Divisions: 2, 9, 21, 116, 130, 1st SS, 2nd SS, 9th
SS, 10th SS, l2th SS.
1 Panzer Grenadier Division: 17th SS.
3 Parachute Divisions: 3, 5, 6.
2 Luftwaffe Field Divisions: 17, 18.
16 Infantry Divisions: 47, 48, 49, 77, 84, 91, 243, 272, 275,
326, 331, 347, 348, 353, 363, 708.
Siegfried Line to the Roer
15 September to 18 December, 1944
2 Panzer Divisions: 9, 116.
1 Parachute Division: 3.
6 Infantry Divisions: 12, 47, 246. 275, 353, 526.
Ardennes
18 December, 1944, to 20 January, 1945
5 Panzer Divisions: 116, 1st SS, 2nd SS, 9th SS, l2th SS.
2 Panzer Grenadier Divisions: 3, 15.
6 Infantry Divisions: 12, 59, 62, 326, 363, 560.
Roer to Cologne
23 February to 5 March, 1945
2 Panzer Divisions: 9, 11.
1 Panzer Grenadier Division: 3.
3 Infantry Divisions: 12, 363, 476.
Honnef to Paderborn
25 March to 3 April, 1945
3 Panzer Divisions: 9, 11, 130.
1 Panzer Grenadier Division: 3.
6 Infantry Divisions: 26, 62, 272, 277, 340, 353.
Paderborn to Dessau
5 April to 25 April, 1945
4 Infantry Divisions: 166, Scbarnhoist, von Hutten, Potsdam.
Total During the Five Campaigns
49 Enemy Divisions
11 Panzer Divisions: 2, 9, 11, 21, 116, 130, 1st SS, 2nd SS,
9th SS, 10th SS, l2th SS.
3 Panzer Grenadier Divisions: 3, 15, 17th SS.
3 Parachute Divisions: 3, 5, 6.
2 Luftwaffe Field Divisions: 17, 18.
30 Infantry Divisions: 12, 26, 47, 48, 49, 59, 62, 77, 84, 91,
243, 246, 272, 275, 277, 326, 331, 340, 347, 348, 353, 363, 476,
526, 560, 708, 166, Scharnhorst, von Hutten, Potsdam.
ENEMY DIVISIONS DESTROYED
To a civilian this brings a picture of a silent battlefield
on which the enemy is sprawled in death and of a unit which will
never again return to combat. To a soldier in the lines it means
nothing at all, for during that particular action he was concerned
only with the problem of killing the enemy before they killed
him, and many times he was not even sure that the tide of battle
was running his way. Actually, few, if any, divisions are completely
destroyed in combat, due to the complex administrative processes
of modern armies. The enemy may be hurled from the battlefield
in confusion, leaving behind vast numbers of prisoners and burning
vehicles, or he may blunt himself on unexpected and prepared
positions. This latter happened at Mons, where the 3rd Armored
Division helped to defeat a German army corps. However, in most
cases, the division staff and enough of the personnel remained
after the fight to become the cadre for the reformation of the
unit.
There were cases of "cannibalization," in which
a division would be so reduced in personnel and equipment after
a battle that another division, usually one which had itself
incurred heavy losses in action, would take over the first organization,
staff and all. In this case, one division number would disappear
from the Order of Battle. The only real instance in which the
Germans lost whole divisions was in the Rose Pocket, where units
were completely encircled. Usually a beaten division was able
to retire to non-operative status in the rear, there to lick
its wounds and refit; then to appear on the lines again. In a
broad interpretation of the word, when such a circumstance occurred
to an enemy division, it could be called destroyed. It is such
destruction that the following list attempts to enumerate.
The following divisions were considered by the Germans to have
been destroyed in Normandy. The 3rd Armored Division participated
in their destruction.
4 Infantry Divisions: 77, 91, 243, 348.
The following divisions had been almost completely destroyed
by the end of the Argentan-Falaise operation. They had been heavily
contacted by the 3rd Armored Division during the period.
3 Panzer Divisions: 2, 116, 2nd SS.
1 Panzer Grenadier Division: 17th SS.
2 Parachute Divisions: 3, 5.
The following divisions were so badly cut up at Mons, Belgium,
that, although they were later reconstituted, they may be considered
destroyed at that time by the 3rd Armored Division. Some indeed
were no more than the remnants of divisions destroyed in Normandy
which were retreating across France to reform in the Third Reich.
4 Panzer Divisions: 2, 2nd SS, 9, l2th SS.
3 Parachute Divisions: 3, 5, 6.
3 Infantry Divisions: 47, 275, 353.
The following divisions, all of which were heavily engaged
by the 3rd Armored Division in the Ardennes, were no more than
meager remnants after the operation.
2 Panzer Divisions: 9th SS, 116.
2 Volksgrenadier Divisions: 12, 560.
From this point on it becomes increasingly difficult to determine
what constitutes a destroyed division, since the units would
lose all their personnel except the division staffs and, within
two to three weeks after withdrawing from the line, would return
to combat, their ranks filled to the tune of 1000-3000 former
service troops, hospital convalescents, and hastily recruited
civilians.
Of these following, hardly more than the staffs escaped across
the Rhine at the end of the drive to Cologne.
2 Panzer Divisions: 9,. 11.
1 Panzer Grenadier Division: 3.
3 Infantry Divisions: 12, 363, 476.
These divisions were destroyed in the Paderborn drive. In
addition, the 3rd Armored Division was the major factor in the
destruction and capture of the divisions in the Rose Pocket,
although not actually participating in their final downfall.
2 Panzer Divisions: 9, 11.
1 Panzer Grenadier Division: 3.
2 Infantry Divisions: 26, 272.
These infantry divisions were decimated at the end of the
Dessau operation.
Scharnhorst.
Von Hutten.
Insofar as a conclusion may be drawn from these statistics,
it could be said that the 3rd Armored Division defeated on the
field of battle so decisively and irrevocably the best the following
divisions had to offer, in many cases more than once, that these
units may be considered destroyed by the "Spearhead"
Division.
6 Panzer Divisions: 2, 9, 11, 2nd SS, 9th SS, 12th
SS.
1 Panzer Grenadier Division: 3.
3 Parachute Divisions: 3, 5, 6.
4 Infantry Divisions: 12, 353, 363, 560.
DISTINGUISHED UNIT CITATIONS
The following units of the 3rd Armored Division were awarded
the DISTINGUISHED UNIT CITATION for heroism in action against
the enemy in Europe:
MEDICAL SECTION, 1ST BATTALION, 32ND ARMORED REGIMENT, at
Ranes and Fromentel, France, on 14 to 17 August, 1944.
FORWARD ECHELON AND HEADQUARTERS COMPANY, 3RD ARMORED DIVISION,
with attached personnel of the 143RD ARMORED SIGNAL COMPANY,
in France and Belgium, on 26 August to 4 September, 1944.
RECONNAISSANCE COMPANY, 32ND ARMORED REGIMENT, at Mons, Belgium,
on 3 to 4 September, 1944.
2ND BATTALION, 32ND ARMORED REGIMENT, at Nutheim, the Siegfried
Line, Germany, on 11 to 13 September, 1944.
1ST BATTALION, 36TH ARMORED INFANTRY REGIMENT, at Munsterbusch,
the Siegfried Line, Germany, on 12 to 22 September, 1944.
MEDICAL SECTION, 3RD BATTALION, 36TH ARMORED INFANTRY REGIMENT,
at Stolberg, Germany, on 17 to 21 September, 1944.
1ST BATTALION, 33RD ARMORED REGIMENT, (Less Companies "B"
and "C", and 3rd Platoon, Company "A" with
"F" and "I" Companies) at Hastenrath and
Scherpenseel, Germany, on 16 to 19 November, 1944.
COMPANY "A", 36TH ARMORED INFANTRY REGIMENT, at Editz,
Germany, on 10 to 13 December, 1944.
COMPANY "C", 36TH ARMORED INFANTRY REGIMENT, at Obergeich
and Hoven, Germany, on 10 to 13 December, 1944.
AWARD OF BELGIAN FOURRAGERE
The Third Armored Division and attached units have been cited
by the Belgian Government for participation in the liberation
and defense of Belgium during the period 3 September 1944 to
13 September 1944 and 20 December 1944 to 31 January 1945, dates
inclusive. The decree as issued by the Belgian Government on
3 November 1945, stated that the Third United States Armored
Division and attached units including:
703rd Tank Destroyer Battalion (SP) 90mm
486th AAA Battalion (AW) (SP)
503rd CIC Detachment
OB Team No. 9
Interrogation Prisoner of War Team No. 29
Interrogation Prisoner of War Team No. 32
Interrogation Prisoner of War Tea No. 36
Photo Interpreter Team No. 38
Military Intelligence Interpreter Team No. 418-G
91st Field Artillery Battalion (155 gun)
were cited on two occasions in the General Orders of the Belgian
Army and awarded the FOURRAGERE 1940.
All personnel assigned, or attached unassigned, to the Third
Armored Division and attached units during the period 3 September
1944 to 13 September 1944 and 20 December 1944 to 31 January
1945, dates inclusive, are authorized to wear the Fourragere
1940 of the Belgian Government. Personnel must have been assigned
or attached unassigned to the Division or attached units during
all or part of both periods.
Next Chapter: Return to Index
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