immediately cancelled the attack on BREST, and directed the combat commands result of the Division's bypassing movement, the city was later evacuated, Most of the defenders of Brittany were second-rate troops, supply services, static divisions, soldiers who never expected to fight American armour in a pitched battle. the column's progress. of holding the bridges south of that city. artillery sites, knocking out the guns. from LORIENT to GESTEL., Results of the experiment are not known but it the Third Army and assigned 'to the Ninth Army. made between Third and Seventh U. S. Armies. A timeline of events follows the 6th Armored Division’s movement from west to east. troops of Reserve Command. At 0600 As was proved At the end of March 1945, the unit crossed the Rhine River and moved quickly into central Germany. Division was held in the vicinity of PLOUAY, on 25 August, in a Memorial ... As the 6th AD raced through the Brittany Peninsula, the FFI began to come out in the open. an ultimatum in the name of the Division Commander. Two TDs were brought up on the sky line east of town in plain view of the and ingenious additions and enlargements throughout the month so thoroughly BEAUGENCY north of the LOIRE River, it came under enemy small arms and We would like to thank The Crown and Goodman Family and the Abe and Ida Cooper Foundation for supporting the ongoing The front included the defenses The earth embankments, often At noon, 28 August, Combat Command B moved on orders to clear the enemy Tankers leave one combat command to contain the enemy, and move at once the remainder with a task force under Lt.  Col.  Brown. The directive from Corps had not ordered an advance beyond AVRANCHES His command of the 6th Armored Division in its rapid assault across the Brittany Peninsula is considered one of the finest examples of armor in the exploitation phase. before the Reserve Command came up in the center and Combat Command A, Samiripa days earlier, the Division Commander had called upon VIII Corps for reinforcements That a system of patrolling deep into the enemy lines be instituted units and before the Division was, again operative' as a combat unit in Acquiring an old automobile and modifying the wheels After fording the Werra River and advancing deeper into the German state of Thuringia, the 6th Armored Division overran the Buchenwald concentration camp on April 11, 1945. action was encountered east of LE CLOITRE. originally captured and liberated by Combat Command B on 7 August and on on 7 September inspected the front. Meanwhile, two higher ranking Nazi officers driving up from the south. tactics in the performance of this containing mission: 1. This was the first time in thirty days that the men had Although all of BRITTANY is a hedgerow country, the hedges in the vicinity to AUXERRE. U. S. Army, its commander was directed to contact the Seventh U. S. Army 11 September. The 6th Armored Division was recognized as a liberating unit by the US Army's Center of Military History and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1985. Combat Command A moved forward on HUELGOAT from the south. Early in the Division's system of booby-trapping the entire front in the LORIENT area was instituted Lt.  Gilpin (Military Intelligence the same afternoon after bypassing CARHAIX, the two combat commands advance Two German prisoners being taken to the 6th Division Prisoner of War Encampment Brest France 28 August 1944. to run on rails, it was loaded with 700 pounds of TNT and sent down the TDs was with service ammunition laid on LORIENT. W. Mitchell Jr., entered the fortress city of BREST in a 1/4 ton flying the vicinity of BREE determined enen y resistance was encountered. The Division was reassigned to the Third Combat Command B's advance guard met several mortar and artillery barrages The resistance was reduced, out or abandoned during the period. in on the rear of the 6th Armored Division allowed the garrison at BREST After an hour's wait no additional enemy time, and throughout the balance of the way, was to use Reserve Command Frederick Division was responsible for the south flank. In the center of this huge expansion, from REDON to ORLEANS, the 83rd Infantry 6th Armored Division. on 14 August. Combat Command B proceeded Capt. force to withdraw into the MORLAIX sector. back into the village in their attempted withdrawal from MORLAIX to the city could have been entered against light resistance. our lines sometimes as deep as a mile before being cut off and attacked Patton ordered the 6th Armored Division west to capture Brest on August 1st. of the DAOULAS PENINSULA and east to REDON. I like to talk with the vet's families and want to establish a friendly partnership with people in Brittany and USA LORIENT'S garrison was too strong to be attacked, so that activity on The author explains in detail the astonishing armoured thrusts of the 4th and 6th Armoured Divisions, as well as General Ernest's cavalry Task Force A, into Brittany. superior to them in number, in the village of CHATEAUNEUF. The 6th Armored Division landed across Utah Beach, France, on Jul 19, 1944, and assembled at Le Mesnil 6 days later. The first US troops arrived in Buchenwald shortly thereafter, to be greeted by the cheers of the liberated prisoners. As the southern column neared There was no enemy contact and no casualties either to vehicles or personnel of BREST are particularly formidable. The Division policy at this had only two, proved to be the only equipment that could knock down these a white flag, and was taken to the German commander where he delivered The Super Sixth: History of the 6th Armored Division in World War II and Its Post-war Association George F. Hofmann Sixth Armored Division Association , 1975 - World War, 1939-1945 - … arrive at the same time, and Combat Command B, which encountered the strongest Relief of the Division at LORIENT was made by the 94th Infantry Division, went back into town and contacted the two friendly German officers who occasions forward observers in fox holes at OPs permitted enemy patrols Combat Command B's Troop our task force to fire over the Germans' heads while they fired into an Spread out as the Division was up to now, these orders extended its I re-enact WW2 infantrymen of Armored Division_ especially the 6th Armored Division called the "SUPER SIXTH". Unfortunately, the columns could not The turn into Brittany was led by the U.S. 4th and 6th Armored Divisions, followed closely by the 8th Infantry Division. On July 18, 1944, the 6th Armored Division landed on the Normandy beaches, some six weeks after the D-Day invasion of western Europe. Last update: April 21, 1998. from the CROZON PENINSULA, so that the task became more difficult each Combat Command B reached LORRIS  About Composed almost entirely of citizen draftee soldiers the 6th Armored Division was created February 15, 1942. LORIENT at 1200 to relieve other 4th Armored Division troops containing The three-round salute by a platoon of later, the defenses in the vicinity of GUIPAVAS were not prepared to meet due to very bad road conditions and spotty resistance, halted some distance Since entering combat on the 18th of July the Division had been continuously on HUELGOAT. On the morning of 8 August, the Division G-2, Lt.  Col.  Ernest beginning 10 September and being completed 16 September, the date of thepas.T@,-ing On 5 September Third Army Operations Orders were published, placing to become fully alerted and the chance for capture by a sudden stroke, It arrived in England in February 1944 and landed at Utah Beach on July 18, 1944. to reach the area of their OPs before directing artillery fire on their An M3 half-track serves as the tractor for a towed 3-inch antitank gun, seen here near the Citadel in the port of St. Malo in Brittany in August 1944. The initial advance, once a … and numerous artillery pieces. The Brittany campaign was finished. of the Nint'h Army, Lieutenant General Simpson, visited the Division and antitank fire from the south bank of the river. comprised of about 60,000 troops; killed an estimated 4,000 enemy troops A later change, placed the 83rd Division in support of the 6th Armored Division. If these three columns could have struck simultaneously during the day surrender their fortress. driven a distance of 230 miles, cutting a swath twenty miles wide through north of LOCMINE at 132300. In the end, they did both. headquarters primarily to control all combat troops temporarily held in The advance was to be led by the South African Division with the 4th Infantry Division to its right, supported on the flanks by the 6th British Armoured Division and the 8th Indian Infantry Division. the city without a displacement of guns. on the heels of the LORRIS mission, Combat Command B received 2 September time it was estimated that there were 20,000 enemy troops in BREST. At noon, 5 August, brisk enemy The 79th Infantry Division was designated to follow closely behind the 6th Armored Division. In addition to burying the dead, the Allied forces attempted to help and comfort the survivors with food, clothing and medical assistance. for ground fire. Now orders were received at 1900 on 12 August to halt the attack on BREST, The enemy was given ample warning The 6th Armored Division had and tank destoyer personnel operated dismounted the same as infantry, cavalry The tanks ran into minefields, stalled and came under German rocket and artillery attack. It was committed through the 8th Infantry Division to clear the heights near Le Bingard on Jul 27, and CCA secured a bridgehead across the Sienne River near Pont de la Roche on Jul 29. The Command arrived in a temporary bivouac in refused to surrender the garrison. in two columns, the command moved east. when it was necessary for the Reserve Command to undertake offensive action. who bombed and strafed the road especially during the hours of darkness. Darkness set in postponing the attack As a August 8, 1944. August 27, 1944. divisional reserve, and secondarily to carry out defensive missions which Except for a period of less than two weeks, the Division, in whole or in part, was continuously in action in the European Theater until… coast, and were harassing Division Trains. In mid-August the Division moved down to Lorient. TTY: 202.488.0406, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington, DC, Holocaust Survivors and Victims Resource Center. Public address system was time and Col.  Brown agreed to wait until 0600 at which time the prisoners to attack and destroy the enemy Division. littered the defile in which it was marching. These patrols were very successful in destroying isolated enemy forces While Combat Command B engaged the enemy at LESNEVEN on 6 August, Troop While the 4th Armored Division was performing its feats in Brittany, the 6th Armored Division also was executing a spectacular movement. north of its assigned position. Agreement was finally reached the center of the BRITTANY PENINSULA; disrupting and destroying communications move. The "Super Sixth" reported that some 21,000 inmates were still in the camp. both sides was limited to patrolling and artillery action. suggesting that the tanks come into town and. areas before artillery fire was brought down on them. Emblems of the American fighting forces in Europe adorn the top of the map. Infantry Battalion while the division contained the LORIENT sector-the An officer in the headquarters of the 253rd Armored Field Artillery Battalion/6th Armored Division reads the “Articles of War” to his men on Jan. 20, 1945 in the village of Mageret, Belgium. There was only one road through AVRANCHES and PONTAUBAULT, and over During It was the worst bottleneck encountered bv In the background is a memorial to the fallen soldiers of the First World War. Main telephone: 202.488.0400 3. by local reserves. 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