16th Armored Division (United States)

Infobox Military Unit
unit_name= U.S. 16th Armored Division


caption=Shoulder sleeve patch of the United States Army 16th Armored Division
dates= 1943 - 1945
country= United States of America
allegiance= United States of America
branch= United States Army
type= Armored division
role=
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nickname=Armadillo
patron=
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battles=World War II
*Central Europe
anniversaries=
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battle_honours=US Armor
previous=14th Armored Division ("Inactive")
next=20th Armored Division ("Inactive")The 16th Armored Division was an armored division of the United States Army in World War II.

Table of Organization

HHC:HHC/Combat Command A:HHC/Combat Command B:HHC/Combat Command R::5th Tank Battalion::16th Tank Battalion::26th Tank Battalion::18th Armored Infantry Battalion::64th Armored Infantry Battalion::69th Armored Infantry Battalion:HHB/16th AD Artillery::393th Armored Field Artillery Battalion::396th Armored Field Artillery Battalion::397th Armored Field Artillery Battalion::23rd Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron::516th Counterintelligence Corps Detachment::633rd Tank Destroyer Battalion (Attached May 1 – June 14, 1945)::571st Antiaircraft Artillery Battalion (Attached April 20, - May 19, 1945:HHC/16th AD Trains.::216th Armored Medical Battalion::137th Armored Ordnance Maintenance Battalion::16th Armored Military Police Battalion::216th Armored Engineer Battalion::156th Armored Signal Company

History

The division was activated on July 15, 1943 at Camp Chaffee in Arkansas. They performed all of their training at Camp Chaffee until they received their staging orders. They staged at Camp Shanks at Orangeburg, New York on January 28, 1945, until got their port call. They sailed from the New York Port of Embarkation on February 5, 1945.

The 16th Armored Division arrived in France in stages between February 11 and February 17, 1945, and processed into the Theater. They had been assigned to the Fifteenth United States Army on January 29, 1945, but were waiting for an assignment to a unit actually involved in fighting.

The division was assigned to Third United States Army on April 17, 1945, and entered Germany on April 19, 1945 and relieved the 71st Infantry Division at Nürnberg on April 28, 1945. The U.S. 23rd Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron participated in combat from the Isar River to Wasserburg with the 86th Infantry Division. While under the control of that organization, it crossed the Isar River at Granek, April 30, 1945, advanced to Indorf, seizing several small villages, and was driving toward Wasserburg against slight resistance when ordered to return to Nürnberg. The division was given a security and training mission at Nürnberg, Germany, until May 5. When the 23d Cavalry Squadron arrived at Nürnberg, 4 May, it reverted to the control of the 16th Armored. The division assembled and proceeded to Waidhaus, Germany, 5 May. The division was then assigned to V Corps, and attacked through the lines of the 97th Infantry Division on May 6, 1945, with Combat Command B (CCB) making the main effort. They advanced along the Bor - Pilsen Road and launched an attack on Pilsen designed to capture the Skoda Munitions Plant, Czechoslovakia, on the same day. CCR advanced through Pilsen to assigned high ground east of the city. The 7th and 8th of May were spent in mopping up activities and patrolling. The capture of the famous beer and munitions city marked the deepest point of American penetration into Czechoslovakia.

The division was located at Stříbro, Czechoslovakia on VJ Day.

The division returned to the New York Port of Embarkation on October 13, 1945, was inactivated at Camp Kilmer in New Jersey on October 15, 1945.

Honors

Campaigns

*Central Europe

Individual Awards

#Distinguished Service Cross 1
#Silver Star 2
#Soldiers Medal 1
#Bronze Star 85
#Air Medal 1

Commanders

#MG Douglass T. Greene - July 15, 1943 - September, 1944
#BG John L. Pierce - September, 1944 - October 15, 1945

Casualties

#KIA: 4
#WIA: 28
#Died of Wounds: 1.

Association

*16th Armored Division Association
*2517 Connecticut Avenue
*Washington, D. C.
*(Mr. McArthur H. Manchester, secretary).
*Publication: "Pictorial Review";
*by unit members;
*Albert Love Enterprises,
*Atlanta 2, Ga.;
* 1944.

ee also

References

*ORDER OF BATTLE: US Army in World War II; Shelby L. Stanton; 1984.
*The Army Almanac: A Book of Facts Concerning the Army of the United States, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1950, pp. 510-592.]