NAME:
Eighth Armored Division / 8th Armored
NICKNAME:
"Thundering Herd," "Iron Snake," "Showhorse," and "Tornado"
NICKNAME HISTORY:
The nickname of the 8th Armored Division, the "Thundering Herd," was coined before the division went to Europe in late 1944. It was also known as the "Iron Snake" late in the war, after a correspondent for Newsweek likened the 8th to a "great ironclad snake" as it crossed the Rhine River in late March 1945. The division is also sometimes referred to as Tornado - its wartime tactical call sign.
From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._8th_Armored_Division
BATTLE HONORS:
World War II
Rhineland
Ardennes-Alsace
Central Europe
ACTIVATED:
April 1, 1942
DEACTIVATED:
Nov 1, 1945
HISTORY:
World War II
The 8th Armored Division was activated on 1 April 1942 at Fort Knox, KY. From 1942 to 1944 it functioned as a training command stationed at Camp Polk Louisiana. It was activated as a combat division and arrived in the United Kingdom in November 1944.
After training at Tidworth, England, the 8th Armored Division landed in France, 5 January 1945, and assembled in the Bacqueville area of upper Normandy. In mid-January the Division raced 350 miles across France to Pont-aMousson to help stem the German drive for Strasbourg, but, finding the enemy already halted, went into training. One element, Combat Command A, took part in the Third Army drive against the MoselleSaar salient, supporting the 94th Division attack on Nennig, Berg,and Sinz, 19-28 January 1945. The division moved to Simpelveld, the Netherlands, and continued training during the first half of February 1945. On 19 February the division moved to Roermond, the Netherlands, and launched a diversionary attack, pushing the enemy north of the Heide woods and east of the Roer River. The 8th crossed the Roer, 27 February, and began its drive to the Rhine, taking Tetelrath, Oberkruchten, and Lintfort in hard fighting. After a period of rest and training in mid-March, the Division crossed the Rhine, 26 March, and attacked Dorsten, which was cleared in the face of stubborn resistance. It crossed the Lippe River and entered the battle for the Ruhr Pocket, taking Neuhaus and cleaning out the Soest sector.
As it moved into central Germany, the 8th liberated Halberstadt-Zwieberge, a subcamp of the Buchenwald concentration camp, between April 12 and 17, 1945. The area around the city of Halberstadt housed a number of Buchenwald subcamps that had been established in 1944 to provide labor for the German war effort, including Halberstadt-Zwieberge I and Halberstadt-Zwieberge II. More than 5,000 inmates were incarcerated in these two subcamps, where they were forced to hollow out massive tunnels and build underground factories for Junkers Aircraft of Aircraft Motors Construction Company, which produced military aircraft.
The division then shifted south to Wolfenbuttel, mopping up resistance in the area, continued south to Blankenberg, clearing the Harz Mountain region. This was its last combat activity in the war. On 23 April the division went on occupation duty in the Harz Mountain area.
It was inactivated on 14 November 1945.
Composition
The division was composed of:
18th, 36th & 80th Tank Battalions
7th, 49th & 58th Armored Infantry Battalions
398th, 399th & 405th Armored Field Artillery Battalions
88th Armored Cavalry Recon Battalion
53rd Armored Engineers
130th Armored Ordinance
78th Medical
612th, 736th & 741st Tank Destroyer Battalions
Divisional history from:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._8th_Armored_Division
