At a glance...

The 6th Armored Division was created February 15, 1942 at Fort Knox, Kentucky and was made up almost entirely of citizen draftee soldiers. Its training stations were Camp Chaffee, Ark., Louisiana Maneuvers, the Mojave Desert, and Camp Cooke, CA. It arrived in England in February 1944 and landed at Utah Beach on July 18, 1944. During the next 9 1/2 months, the 6th Armored fought in five major European campaigns of World War II:

• Normandy

• Northern France

• Ardennes-Alsace

• Rhineland

• Central Europe

In 1947 the Sixth Armored Division Association was organized to perpetuate the memory of 1,274 fallen comrades, to assist in promoting an everlasting peace, and to serve as a medium of contact among the men who served in the division. Its first reunion was held in 1948 in Louisville, KY. On September 12-17, 2000 its 53rd and final reunion occured in Louisville.

You know the 6th Armored Division

If you've ever heard about Patton's Third Army, or watched the movie "Patton", or if you've ever heard about the period known as "The Battle of the Bulge", "The Ardennes Campaign", or sometimes just "Bastogne", you know about the Super Sixth. If you've ever heard about "The Breakout" from Normandy hedgerow country a month and a half after D-Day, or Patton's race across France, or the Third Army's 90-degree turn to the north to the Battle of the Bulge, or the crossing of the Siegfried line, or the liberation of Buchenwald, then you probably know more about the 6th Armored Division than you realize.

Praise by a former enemy is a high honor, and after World War II German Major General F. W. von Mellenthin wrote in Panzer Battles (Copyright 1956, University of Oklahoma Press):

"I think that Patton would have done better if the 4th and 6th Armored Divisions had been grouped together in a single corps, reinforced possibly by the French 2nd Armored Division. These were all very experienced formations and ably commanded...combined as a tank army under one commander, these three armored divisions might well have achieved a decisive breakthrough."

He also praised the 6th's performance at Han-sur-Nied, calling it "a dashing coup-de-main".

Super Sixth and other books by Dr. George F. Hofmann

has been reprinted by Battery Press, for the first time in 25 years. The reprint differs from the original edition in only the following details: Chapter XVI, covering the post-war Association, was very out-of-date and has not been included in the reprint; the dust jacket was not reprinted; and the 6th Armd. patch in the front matter was reproduced in black and white, not color. They are selling this book for 49.95, plus shipping and handling.

Dr. Hofmann has a very limited supply of these books which he is making available at a discount price of $39.50, including shipping and handling. To order, send your check for $39.50 to:

Make checks payable to: George F. Hofmann, Ph.D.

ALSO: Through Mobility We Conquer: The Mechanization of U.S. Cavalry

ALSO: Camp Colt to Desert Storm: The History of U.S. Armored Forces

ALSO: Cold War Casualty

6th AD units

• Division Headquarters and Headquarters Company (Visit Division G-1 Jim Moncrief's home page, the Division Artillery Battle Book, and Senior Officer Assignments within Sixth Armored Division.)
• Combat Command A
• Combat Command B
• Division Trains
• 146th Armored Signal Company
• 9th Armored Infantry Battalion (see Roy Denman's and Milt Moncrief's personal stories)
• 44th Armored Infantry Battalion
• 50th Armored Infantry Battalion. Complete scan of the Combat History of the 50th Armored Infantry Battalion is available on this web site. (Also see Hudson Wirth's personal story). Also see a fine site maintained by re-enactors in the Netherlands, at http://www.supersixth.nl(A 50th AIB site maintained by John Bolender is currently off-line.)
• 15th Tank Battalion (see Frank Kotoski's personal story)
• 68th Tank Battalion
• 69th Tank Battalion
• 128th Armored Field Artillery
• 212th Armored Field Artillery Battalion (sister site maintained by Bruce Frederick)
• 231st Armored Field Artillery Battalion
• 777th Antiaircraft Artillery Battalion [Attached] (sister site maintained by Jack Torza)
•  86th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron [Mechanized] (page created by Mike and Charlie Barbour)
• 25th Armored Engineer Battalion
• 76th Armored Medical Battalion (sister site maintained by Al Sims.)
• 128th Armored Ordnance Maintenance Battalion (see Royal Mayon's personal story)
• 603rd Tank Destroyer Battalion [Attached] (also see Madonna Kellen's tribute page)

Unit Decorations, World War II

69th Tank Battalion -- Distinguished Unit Citation, for Bastogne (Company C cited).

9th and 50th Armored Infantry Battalions -- French Croix de Guerre with Palm, for Brest, France.

212th Armored Field Artillery Battalion -- French Croix de Guerre with Silver Gilt Star, for Lan Froicourt, France.

231st Armored Field Artillery Battalion -- French Croix de Guerre with Silver Gilt Star, for Han-sur-Nied, France.

86th Cavalry Reconnaisance Squadron -- Distinguished Unit Citation, for action at Eder River, Germany (Troop D cited), and Prum River, Germany (Troop A cited).

25th Armored Engineer Battalion -- Distinguished Unit Citation, for action at Wardin, Belgium, and Prum River, Germany (3rd platoon, Company C cited).

777th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Battalion -- French Croix de Guerre with Silver Gilt Star, for Avranches, France.

Medal of Honor Recipients

Rank and organization: Staff Sergeant, U.S. Army, Company A, 9th Armored Infantry Battalion, 6th Armored Division.
Place and date: Near Bastogne, Belgium, 11 January 1945.
Entered service at: Roanoke, Va.
Born: 11 September 1918, Chatham, Va.
G.O. No.: 18, 13 February 1946.

Citation: He charged 30 yards through hip-deep snow to knock out a machinegun and its 3-man crew with grenades, saving his platoon from being decimated and allowing it to continue its advance from an open field into some nearby woods. The platoon's advance through the woods had only begun when a machinegun supported by riflemen opened fire and a Tiger Royal tank sent 88mm. shells screaming at the unit from the left flank. S/Sgt. Gammon, disregarding all thoughts of personal safety, rushed forward, then cut to the left, crossing the width of the platoon's skirmish line in an attempt to get within grenade range of the tank and its protecting foot troops. Intense fire was concentrated on him by riflemen and the machinegun emplaced near the tank. He charged the automatic weapon, wiped out its crew of 4 with grenades, and, with supreme daring, advanced to within 25 yards of the armored vehicle, killing 2 hostile infantrymen with rifle fire as he moved forward. The tank had started to withdraw, backing a short distance, then firing, backing some more, and then stopping to blast out another round, when the man whose single-handed relentless attack had put the ponderous machine on the defensive was struck and instantly killed by a direct hit from the Tiger Royal's heavy gun. By his intrepidity and extreme devotion to the task of driving the enemy back no matter what the odds, S/Sgt. Gammon cleared the woods of German forces, for the tank continued to withdraw, leaving open the path for the gallant squad leader's platoon.

BEYER, ARTHUR O.

Rank and organization: Corporal, U.S. Army, Company C, 603d Tank Destroyer Battalion.
Place and date: Near Arloncourt, Belgium, 15 January 1945.
Entered service at: St. Ansgar, lowa.
Born: 20 May 1909, Rock Township, Mitchell County, lowa.
G.O. No.: 73, 30 August 1945.

Citation: He displayed conspicuous gallantry in action. His platoon, in which he was a tank-destroyer gunner, was held up by antitank, machinegun, and rifle fire from enemy troops dug in along a ridge about 200 yards to the front. Noting a machinegun position in this defense line, he fired upon it with his 76-mm. gun killing 1 man and silencing the weapon. He dismounted from his vehicle and, under direct enemy observation, crossed open ground to capture the 2 remaining members of the crew. Another machinegun, about 250 yards to the left, continued to fire on him. Through withering fire, he advanced on the position. Throwing a grenade into the emplacement, he killed 1 crewmember and again captured the 2 survivors. He was subjected to concentrated small-arms fire but, with great bravery, he worked his way a quarter mile along the ridge, attacking hostile soldiers in their foxholes with his carbine and grenades. When he had completed his self-imposed mission against powerful German forces, he had destroyed 2 machinegun positions, killed 8 of the enemy and captured 18 prisoners, including 2 bazooka teams. Cpl. Beyer's intrepid action and unflinching determination to close with and destroy the enemy eliminated the German defense line and enabled his task force to gain its objective.

Where'd the info about the books go?

If this is your first visit to the Sixth Armored Division home page, please spend some time and explore. I've put a lot of information on this site: maps, excerpts from official histories, personal stories from Division veterans, etc.

On This Web Site...

Publications about the Super Sixth: Excerpts from out-of-print official histories; links to battalion histories, and more, including:

• From Brest to Bastogne

• Maps from George F. Hofmann's Super Sixth (Copyright ©George F. Hofmman. All rights reserved. Excerpts reproduced here by permission.)

• Excerpts from Combat Record of the 6th Armored Division (casualty statistics and "Lessons Learned")

• Excerpts from Combat History of the 6th Armored Division by William Rutledge.

• Division Trains history: We've Come a Long Way Together

• 146th Armored Signal Co. history: The Signal Circuit

• Excerpts from Hudson Wirth's I Was and Eighteen Year Old Infantry Replacement

• History of the 212th AFA in the ETO (European Theatre of Operations).

• Unit History, 68th Tank Battalion.

• Seek, Strike, Destroy, History of 1st Platoon, Recon Co., 603rd Tank Destroyer Battalion.

• Division Artillery Battle Book

Personal Stories from veterans of the Super Sixth.

Color campaign map of the 6th Armored. Medium-res copies available for downloading.

Information about the 212th AFA and 6th Armored Division veterans' associations.

Unofficial Home Page of the 212th AFA.

Notes about Division Commander Maj. Gen. Robert W. Grow (from 212th AFA History).

Personal notes about this web site

Links to related sites

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"There is one great thing that you men will be able to say after this war is over and you are home once again. You may be thankful that twenty years from now when you are sitting by the fireplace with your grandson on your knee and he asks you what you did in the great World War II, you won't have to cough, shift him to the other knee as say 'Well, your granddaddy shoveled sh*t in Louisiana.' No sir, you can look him straight in the eye and say, 'Son, your granddaddy rode with the great Third Army and a S.O.B. named Georgie Patton!' "

-- General George S. Patton, in a speech to Third Army troops in England, 1944
Version researched by Charles M. Province for "The Unknown Patton".

 

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	ARMORED WEB RING
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NOTE: Remove the question mark and use common sense when reconstructing the email address below when sending mail.

This page is maintained by Bruce Frederick, ?super6th at verizon period net,
son of 212th FA veteran Lt. Arthur M. Frederick, deceased.
I am not a veteran.

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