Shoulder sleeve patch of the United States Army 14th Armored Division.

The 14th Armored Division was an armored division of the United States Army in World War II. The division is officially nicknamed the LIBERATORS. Shoulder sleeve patch of the 14th Armored Division File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Shoulder sleeve patch of the 14th Armored Division File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... A piece of fabric. ... A division is a large military unit or formation usually consisting of around ten to fifteen thousand soldiers. ... US Army Seal HHC, US Army Distinctive Unit Insignia The Army is the branch of the United States armed forces that has primary responsibility for land-based military operations. ... World War II was a truly global conflict with many facets: immense human suffering, fierce indoctrination, and the use of new, extremely devastating weapons such as the atom bomb. ...

History

The division was activated on 15 November 1942. November 15 is the 319th day of the year (320th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 46 days remaining. ... This article is about the year. ...

The 14th Armored Division landed at Marseille, France, 29 October 1944. Within 2 weeks some of its elements were in combat, maintaining defensive positions along the Franco-Italian frontier. The Division moved north to Rambervillers, 20. November, to take part in the VI Corps drive through the Vosges Mountains. Hard fighting at Gertwiller, Benfeld, and Barr cracked Nazi defenses, and the Division was on the Alsatian Plain early in December. Attacking across the Lauter River, 12 December, it took Haguenau, moved across the Moder River and entered the Haguenau woods. On 25 December 1944 elements of the 14th as well as the 117th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron and the 1st Battalion, 540th Combat Engineers were organized into are regimental size force known as Task Force Hudleson. The small Task Force was assigned defensive positions covering a 10 mile section of the Seventh Army line, in the Vosges Mountains in the area of Banstein, southeast of Bitche. Just before midnight on New Year's Eve, 1944 the German Army Group G launched Operation Nordwind, the last major German counter-offensive of the war. During the night and day of 1 January, TF Hudleson found itself engaged by elements of 5 enemy divisions, but managed to delay and slow the German advance until substantial reinforcements could arrive and stem the German advance. (See: Clarke and Smith, From The Riviera To The Rhine and The Seventh Army Report of Operations in France and Germany, 1944-1945 for a definitive description of Operation Nordwind and the 14th Armored Division's actions.)The major fighting between 1 January and 8 January occurred in the Vosges Mountains, and two combat commands of the division were in almost continuous action defending against the German attacks. With the failure of his attack in the Vosges, the enemy attempted to break through to Hagenau and threaten Strausburg and the Saverne Gap by attacks at Hatten and Rittershoffen, two small villages located side by side on the Alsacian Plain. However, this, the strongest attack of Operation Nordwind, was halted by the 14th Armored in the fierce defensive Battle of Hatten-Rittershoffen which raged from 9 January to 21 January 1945. On 21 January, after the rest of Seventh Army had withdrawn to new defensive positions on the south bank of the Moder River, the 14th and its supporting units withdrew from Hatten and Rittershoffen and moved south to join the rest of the army. After rest, rehabilitation, and defensive missions during February and early March, the Division returned to the offensive, 15 March 1945, drove across the Moder River, cracked through the Siegfried Line, and by the end of the month, had captured Germersheim on the Rhine. On Easter Sunday, 1 April 1945, the 14th moved across the Rhine near Worms and continued pursuit of the retreating enemy through Lohr, Gemunden, Neustadt, and Hammelburg where Combat Command B liberated Stalag XIIIC and Oflag XIIIC. In its final thrust, the Division raced to the Danube, crossed at Ingolstadt, and pushed on across the Isar River to Moosburg, where over 110,000 Allied prisoners were liberated from Stalag VIIA, the largest Prisoner of War camp in Germany. The Division fired its last rounds, 2 May 1945, and was processing prisoners of war as the war in Europe ended. City motto: Actibus immensis urbs fulget Massiliensis. ... October 29 is the 302nd day of the year (303rd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 63 days remaining. ... 1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... Rambervillers is a commune of the Vosges département, in France. ... 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). ... Barr is the name of several places in the United States: Barr Township in Illinois. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Nazism. ... December 12 is the 346th day (347th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Haguenau (German: Hagenau) is a commune of northeastern France, in the Bas-Rhin département, of which it is a sous-préfecture. ... December 25 is the 359th day of the year (360th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 6 days remaining. ... 1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... January 1 is the first day of the calendar year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. ... January 1 is the first day of the calendar year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. ... January 8 is the 8th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... January 9 is the 9th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... January 21 is the 21st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... January 21 is the 21st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... March 15 is the 74th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (75th in Leap years). ... 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... Bunker on the Siegfried line The original Siegfried line was a line of defensive forts and tank defences built by Germany along their border with France in 1916-1917 during World War I. However, in English, Siegfried line more commonly refers to the similar World War II defensive line, built... Germersheim is a town in the Bundesland (State) of Rheinland-Pfalz (Rhineland-Palatinate), Germany and has abound 20,000 inhabitants. ... At 1,320 kilometres (820 miles) and an average discharge of more than 2,000 cubic meters per second, the Rhine (German Rhein, French Rhin, Dutch Rijn, Romansch: Rein, Italian: Reno) is one of the longest and most important rivers in Europe. ... April 1 is the 91st day of the year (92nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 274 days remaining. ... 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... // Worms (pronounced ) is a city in the southwest of Germany. ... Neustadt (new city) is a common name for cities and municipalities in the German-speaking countries. ... German community and home during WWII of POW Camp Stalag XIII-C. http://taskforcebaum. ... Ingolstadt is a city in the Federal State of Bavaria, Germany. ... The river Isar near Munich. ... Moosburg-an-der-Isar in Bavaria is the oldest town between south of the Danube river and north of Italy, with a population of 18,000 inhabitants. ... May 2 is the 122nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (123rd in leap years). ... 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ...

"LIBERATORS" is the official nickname of the U.S.14th Armored Division. The division became known by its nickname during the last days of WWII when it liberated some 200,000 Allied Prisoners of War from German prison camps. Among those liberated were approximately 20,000 American soldiers, sailors, and airmen, as well as an estimated 40,000 troops from the UK and Commonwealth. The division's nickname is officially recognized by the U.S. Army and the division is carried on the permanent rolls of the Army as the "LIBERATORS."

The 14th Armored Division was inactivated on 16 September 1945. September 16 is the 259th day of the year (260th in leap years). ... 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ...

External links

• US Army Special Designation Listing
• Official Website of the 14th Armored Division