2e Division Blindée
Badge of the 2nd Armored Division. The divisional badge features the Cross of Lorraine
Active	24 Aug 1943 - 31 Mar 1946
Country	France
Branch	French Army, ex-Free French
Type	Armored Division
Battles/wars	Operation Cobra, Liberation of Paris, Liberation of Strasbourg
Commanders
Notable commanders	Philippe Leclerc

M4 Sherman of the 2e DB in Normandy

The 2nd Armored Division (French: 2e Division Blindée, 2e DB), commanded by General Leclerc, fought during the final phases of World War II in the Western Front. The division was formed in August, 1943 in Morocco, from the Free French 2nd Light Division. The division embarked in April 1944 and shipped to various ports in Great Britain. On July 29, 1944, bound for France, the division embarked at Southampton. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1684x2140, 558 KB) Photograph by Rama File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Military history of France during World War II Philippe Leclerc de Hautecloque French 2nd Division... Cross of Lorraine The Cross of Lorraine, ‡, is a heraldic cross, the double cross, consists of a vertical line, crossed by two smaller horizontal bars. ... August 24 is the 236th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (237th in leap years), with 129 days remaining. ... 1943 (MCMXLIII) was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1943 calendar). ... March 31 is the 90th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (91st in Leap years), with 275 days remaining. ... 1946 (MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday. ... The French Army (French: Armée de Terre) is the land-based component of the French Armed Forces. ... The Free French Forces (Forces Françaises Libres in French) were French fighters who decided to go on fighting against Germany after the Fall of France and German occupation and to fight against Vichy France in World War II. General Charles de Gaulle was a member of the French Cabinet... Operation Cobra was the codename for the World War II operation planned by United States Army General Omar Bradley to break out from the Normandy area after the previous months D-Day landings. ... The Liberation of Paris in World War II took place in late August 1944 after the battle of Normandy. ... Philippe de Hauteclocque, often known by his French resistance alias Leclerc (November 22, 1902 - November 28, 1947), was a Marshal of France. ... WWII foreign variants and use: Lend-Lease Sherman tanks Post-WWII foreign variants and use: Postwar Sherman tanks The Medium Tank M4 was the main tank designed and built by the United States for allied forces in World War II, totaling roughly 50,000 tanks plus thousands more derivative vehicles... Flag of Normandy Normandy (in French: Normandie, and in Norman: Normaundie) is a geographical region in northern France. ... Philippe Leclerc de Hauteclocque (November 22, 1902 - November 28, 1947), was a Marshal of France and a famous French military leader. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... During World War II, the Western Front was the theater of fighting west of Germany, encompassing France, Britain, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, and Denmark. ... 1943 (MCMXLIII) was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1943 calendar). ... The Free French Forces (Forces Françaises Libres in French) were French fighters who decided to go on fighting against Germany after the Fall of France and German occupation and to fight against Vichy France in World War II. General Charles de Gaulle was a member of the French Cabinet... Year 1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday. ... Southampton is a city, unitary authority and major port situated on the south coast of England. ...

It landed at Utah Beach in Normandy on August 1, 1944, about two months after the D-Day landings, and served under General Patton's Third Army. The division played a critical role in Operation Cobra, the Allied breakthrough from Normandy, when it served as a link between American and Canadian armies and made rapid progress against German forces. They all but destroyed the 9th Panzer Division and defeated several other German units. The 2nd Division's losses amounted to 141 killed and 58 medium and light tanks while they killed 4,500 Germans, captured 8,800, and destroyed 118 heavy and medium tanks. Combatants United States Germany Commanders Brigadier General Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. ... Flag of Normandy Normandy (in French: Normandie, and in Norman: Normaundie) is a geographical region in northern France. ... Land on Normandy In military parlance, D-Day is a term often used to denote the day on which a combat attack or operation is to be initiated. ... General George Smith Patton Jr. ... Distinctive Unit Insignia // Activation and World War I The Third U.S. Army was first activated as a formation during the First World War on November 7, 1918, at Chaumont, France, when the General Headquarters of the American Expeditionary Forces issued General Order 198 organizing the Third Army and announcing... Operation Cobra was the codename for the World War II operation planned by United States Army General Omar Bradley to break out from the Normandy area after the previous months D-Day landings. ... German 9th Panzer Division, sometimes simply called as 9th Panzer Division came into existence after 4th Light Division was reorganized in January 1940. ...

The most celebrated moment in the unit's history involved the rescue of Paris. Allied strategy emphasized destroying German forces retreating towards the Rhine, but when the French Resistance under Henri Rol-Tanguy staged an uprising in the city, Charles de Gaulle threatened to send the Division into Paris, single-handedly, to prevent the uprising being crushed as had recently happened in Warsaw. Eisenhower agreed to send help. After hard fighting that cost the 2nd Division 35 tanks, 6 self-propelled guns, and 111 vehicles, von Choltitz, the military governor of Paris, surrendered the city at the Hotel Meurice. Jubilant crowds greeted French forces, and de Gaulle conducted a famous parade through the city. The Liberation of Paris in World War II took place in late August 1944 after the battle of Normandy. ... The Rhine canyon (Ruinaulta) in Graubünden in Switzerland Length 1. ... Henri Rol-Tanguy (1908–2002) was a French communist and leader in the French Resistance. ... Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle ( ) (22 November 1890 – 9 November 1970), in France commonly referred to as Général de Gaulle, was a French military leader and statesman. ... D. D. Eisenhower during WWII Eisenhower redirects here. ... General der Infanterie Dietrich von Choltitz (November 9, 1894, Schloss Wiese, Silesia - November 4, 1966, Baden-Baden) was the German military governor of Paris during the closing days of the German occupation of that city during World War II. In World War I, von Choltitz served at the Western frontier...

The 2nd Division later fought in the tank battles in Lorraine, destroying the German 112th Panzer Brigade at the town of Dompaire on September 13, 1944. Subsequently, the 2nd Division operated with U.S. forces during the assault into the Vosges Mountains. Serving as the armored exploitation force for the U.S. XV Corps, the 2nd Division forced the Saverne Gap and thrusted forward boldly, unbalancing German defenses in northern Alsace and liberating Strasbourg on November 23, 1944. (Région flag) (Region logo) Location Administration Capital Metz Regional President Jean-Pierre Masseret (PS) (since 2004) Departments Meurthe-et-Moselle Meuse Moselle Vosges Arrondissements 19 Cantons 157 Communes 2,337 Statistics Land area1 23,547 km² Population (Ranked 11th)  - January 1, 2006 est. ... The Vosges mountains are range of mountains in central-western Europe, stretching along the west side of the Rhine valley in a NNE direction, from Basel to Mainz, for a distance of 250 km (150 miles). ... Location Administration Capital Strasbourg Regional President Adrien Zeller (UMP) (since 1996) Départements Bas-Rhin Haut-Rhin Arrondissements 13 Cantons 75 Communes 903 Statistics Land area1 8,280 km² Population (Ranked 14th)  - January 1, 2005 est. ... City flag City coat of arms Location Coordinates Time Zone CET (GMT +1) Administration Country France Region Alsace Department Bas-Rhin (67) Intercommunality Urban Community of Strasbourg Mayor Fabienne Keller  (UMP) City Statistics Land area¹ 78. ...

Fighting in Alsace until the end of February, 1945, the 2nd Division was deployed to reduce the Royan Pocket on the western coast of France in March-April, 1945. After forcing the Germans in the Royan Pocket to surrender on April 18, 1945, the 2nd Division crossed France again to rejoin the allied 6th Army Group for final operations in Germany. Operating with the U.S. 12th Armored Division, elements of the 2nd Division pursued the remnants of German Army Group G across Swabia and Bavaria, occupying the town of Bad Reichenhall on May 4, 1945. Year 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1945 calendar). ... Royan is a small town and commune of the Charente-Maritime département, in western France. ... The 6th Army Group was an army group of the Allies (namely the United States Army) during World War II. It was created in Corsica, Italy (specifically activated on August 1, 1944) to consolidate the combined French and American forces that were planning to invade southern France in Operation Dragoon. ... The 12th Armored Division was an armored division of the United States Army in World War II. // The division was activated on 15 September 1942. ... Germany. ... The geographic region and Free State of Bavaria (German: Freistaat Bayern), with an area of 70,553 km² (27,241 square miles) and 12. ... Alte Saline (old salt refinery) former Townhall Bad Reichenhall is a spa town, and administrative center of the Berchtesgadener Land district in Upper Bavaria, Germany. ...

Eventually, the 2nd Division finished its campaigning at the Nazi resort town of Berchtesgaden in Southeastern Germany. On May 13, 1945, SHAEF relinquished operational control of the 2nd Division to France. From May 23-28, 1945, the 2nd Division moved to its new garrison in the region of Paris, where the division was inactivated on March 31, 1946. National Socialism redirects here. ... Berchtesgaden is a town in the German Bavarian Alps. ... Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (abbreviated as SHAEF), was the command headquarters of the commander of Allied forces in North West Europe in 1944 and 1945. ... 1946 (MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday. ...

See also

• Military history of France during World War II

The military history of France during World War II covers the period from 1939 until 1940, which witnessed French military participation under the Third Republic, and the period from 1940 until 1945, which was marked by colonial struggles between Vichy France and the Free French Forces under Charles de Gaulle...

External links

• 2nd Armored Division