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Some People Have All the Luck
An Associated Press story about the 2nd Armored being deactivated
which appeared in the PITTSBURGH PRESS, Friday, June 15th and
brought to our attention by Bill Effinger (143rd) of that city,
and by Ralph Abele (486th) as to the same story in the June 17th
issue of the Youngstown, Ohio THE VINDICATOR and also by Julius
Gardocky (D/83) has our folks riled up.
Among other things, it says the 2nd Armored was first of Allied
troops across the Belgium border. Here is what the history books
say:
From Martin Blumenson's "Breakout and Pursuit":
Combat Command A of the 2nd Armored division reaches Tournai,
Belgium two hours before midnight on September 2nd. (Page 680).
From David E. Houston's "Hell on Wheels," the 2nd
Armored Division:
At 9:30, September 2, 1944, the 82nd Reconnaissance crossed
the Belgium border. (Page 265).
From "Spearhead in the West", the 3rd Armored Division
wartime history:
Elements of Combat Command B crossed the Belgium border at
1610 hours on September 2nd, having been cut off from service
elements the preceding night, when supplies had to be "fought"
forward. (Page 211).
From "Victory in the West", History of the Second
World War, Vol. 11, The Defeat of Germany, by Major L. Ellis,
C.V.O., C.B.E., M.C. and Lieut. Colonel A. E. Warhurst:
About midnight September 2, British Corps XXX ordered to advance
towards Brussels and Antwerp and September 3rd the Guards Armoured
Division entered Brussels with the Household Cavalry scout cars
in the lead.
There you have it. We got held up August 31st when, headed
for Charlie-ville-Mezieres and four columns engaging the enemy,
a staff officer arrived from VII Corps and we were changed 90
degrees in direction, toward Mons. Then CCB had to fight its
supplies forward on Sept. 2nd. Meanwhile both 2nd Armored and
the British had either (next column) sidestepped the enemy or
fought none.
And About the German Border
While we are about it, let us explain our tardiness in getting
to and through the German border. There was the little matter
of Mons and, with elements of the 1st Infantry Division, encountering
elements of the 2nd, 2nd SS, 9th, and 12th SS; 3rd, 5th and 6th
Parachute Divisions; and 47th, 275th and 353rd Infantry Divisions
and being cut off September 2nd and 3rd.
Then at Liege we ran out of gas and were eating German rations.
Along the way we took a large proportion of the total 76,720
prisoners of war taken during the war.
Here is what the history books say about the German border
crossing:
From Charles B. MacDonald's "The Siegfried Line Campaign,"
page 3:
At 1805 on 11 Sept. 1944 a patrol led by S. Sgt. Warner W.
Holzinger of the 2nd platoon, Troop B, 85th Cavalry Reconnaissance
Squadron, 5th Armored Division, crossed the German border.
From our June 1990 Newsletter a Will Cook contributed 5th
Armored message which showed the crossing at 1815 hours.
From "Spearhead in the West" we find:
Task Force Lovelady, of Combat Command "B", led
by units of Reconnaissance Company, 33rd Armored Regiment, went
first, but progress was slow because of numerous road blocks
which had to be cleared by engineers with bulldozers. Resistance
increased steadily as the task force neared German territory,
but, at 1451 hours, September 12, the first reconnaissance vehicles,
closely followed by the main body of Colonel Lovelady's force,
rolled across the German border into the town of Roetgen.
Some people have all the luck! What with having to fight our
way forward and then run out of gas, somehow we got slowed up.
But when we crossed the German border and went through the dragon's
teeth it was no mere foray or even a reconnaissance in force.
WE CAME TO STAY!
An Associated Press article makes mention of the 100-mile
night march of the 2nd Armored on December 21, 1944, from the
Roer River line opposite Julich to Huy, Belgium. It was quite
an accomplishment, but on March 29, 1945 we of the 3rd Armored
moved from the Marburg area of Germany to Paderborn, 90 miles
plus and against scattered opposition, while the 2nd's December
night march had been unopposed by anything but weather and darkness.
Incidentally, the Paderborn move culminated in the 3rd meeting
the 2nd Armored at a point near Lippstadt to complete the Ruhr
encirclement. We took the long way around.
A spokesman for the 2nd Armored also claims Elvis Presley
as their own. Presley's overseas service was with the 3rd Armored
and Julius Gardocky asks: If Elvis had been in the 2nd Armored
he would never have met Priscilla? Enough said.
The 2nd Armored Division's history is glorious enough without
being embellished, particularly by a spokesman who failed to
do the requisite research.
We old-timers of the 3rd Armored who came from it in the cadre
to form the 3rd Armored have warm memories of the association.
The names of George Patton, I.D. White and Geoffrey Keyes are
remembered. Our own first commander, Alvin C. Gillem, Jr., was
second in command to Patton in the 2nd Armored. We, too, regret
its being inactivated.
But as for the 2nd's spokesman, every ex-GI knows that while
lieutenants have to be obeyed, one has to know them pretty well
to take them seriously.
Now a word about the origin of the "Hell on Wheels"
flash worn under the division patch of the 2nd Armored and how
it came about. By SO No. 12, Headquarters IV Corps Area dated
January 15, 1941, the writer was ordered to report to the commander
of the 2nd Armored Division at Fort Benning, GA, which he did.
After training at Major Billo's "Military Academy"
in the Harmony Church area by S.O. No. 64, Headquarters 2nd Armored
Division dated March 19, 1941, he reported to the G-2 Section
for duty as a public relations officer pending activation of
the 3rd Armored on April 15. In writing an article about an impending
parade in Columbus, Georgia he used the phrase "hell on
wheels".
George Patton read my copy and liked it.
Haynes W. Dugan
June 28, 1990.
Addenda: The late William Smith White of the Associated Press
was a WWII war correspondent who spent considerable time with
us in combat and could verify much written here, having been
with us when the German border was crossed.
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