HISTORY OF THE

3RD ARMORED DIVISION

Spearhead Firsts...

FIRST - Division unit to cross German border: Task force under Lt. Col. William Lovelady, of Soddy, Tenn., east of Eupon, at 1451 hours, September 12, 1944.

FIRST - To take a German town in this war: Roetgen, occupied by elements of the 83rd Armored Reconnaissance Bn., on September 13, 1944. 

FIRST - Breach of the Siegfried line: By Task Force "X", commanded by Lt. Col. Leander L. Doan, of Combat Command "A", in the vicinity of Scheidmuchle, Germany, on September 13, 1944. 

FIRST - To shoot down an enemy plane from German soil: By the 486th Automatic Anti-Aircraft (AW) Bn., on September 18, 1944. 

FIRST - To fire an artillery shell at German soil: By the 991st Field Artillery Bn. (155 mm. SP guns), on September 10, 1944. 

FIRST - American division to completely pierce the Siegfried Line: Combat Command "A", on September 15, 1944. 

FIRST - Invasion of Germany in force since Napolean: The Third Armored "Spearhead" Division.

 The 3rd Armored Division activated at Camp Beauregard, Louisiana on April 15, 1941. Following intensive training at Camp Polk, Louisiana and maneuvers in the Mojave Desert the division left for England in September 1943. After more training and final preparations in England, 3d Armored Division men landed on Omaha Beach in France in the days following D-Day. The Division served in the vanguard of the breakout from Normandy, knifing through France, Belgium and Germany in the Fall of 1944 and earning its famous "Spearhead" nickname. "You will spearhead the attack," was a frequent mission given the Division by General J. Lawton Collins, then VII Corps Commander. After serving in the Battle of the Bulge, the Division fought in the Battle for Cologne, the Rhine and finally the Battle for Dassau. After VE Day, the Division served a brief occupation tour and was inactivated in November 1945, at Aalen, Germany. Reactivated in 1947, the Division initially served in support of the Armor Training Center at Fort Knox. Deployed to Germany in 1956, the Division remained in Germany for the next 33 years. It served in Desert Storm, and was subsequently inactivated on August 15, 1992 in Germany.

32ND ARMORED  REGIMENT

The 32nd Armored Regiment was activated 15 April, 1941 at Camp Beauregard, Louisiana as the 2nd Armored Regiment and assigned to the 3rd Armored Division. The unit was Redesignated 8 May 1941 as the 32nd Armored Regiment.

The unit moved from Camp Beauregard to Fort Polk Louisiana on 14 June, 1941. Although Fort Polk was still under construction, it was designated as the training base for the 3rd Armored Division. The Battalion received the bulk of its cadre who received basic training, began field training and learned to operate the tanks of the time.  

During Mid July of 1942,  the Division moved to the Mohave Desert for training in desert warfare. It was said that this training probably did more to toughen the Division that any other. 

In early October, 1942, the Division moved to Camp Picket, Virginia. The camp was crowded and damp and has been known to be the least favorite stop of the Battalions training.

During mid January, 1943, the Division moved to Fort Indiantown Gap, Pennsylvania. It was here that the Battalion gained the experience it would need to help it through the hard struggle in the Ardennes two years later. It was said that this stay was the favorite among the cadre even though the training was tough. 

In early August 1943, the Division was alerted for overseas service and  moved to Camp Kilmer, New Jersey. There the personal received shots, heard talks on censorship & security, and received physical examinations. On 4 September 1943, the Division boarded trains for New York Harbor. The next day, the Division was sailing for Europe.

The Battalion arrived in England and set up camp in Wiltshire-Codford. They spent their time training and preparing for D-Day.

The Battalion moved to Normandy in mid June of 1944. On 29 June 1944, the Battalion entered combat as part of Combat Command A at Villiers-Fossard. The Battalion fought on until 24 April 1945.