The 11th Armored Division landed in Normandy on December 17, 1944, and was rushed almost immediately into the Ardennes emergency. Sent first to the Givet-Sedan sector as a mobile reserve, it moved to the Neufchateau area on December 29 and attacked the next day toward Houffalize. The division was still green, and some units went from a hard road march into combat with little time for reconnaissance. Its first fighting was costly: CCA and CCB met strong fire around Remagne, Chenogne, Acul, Rechrival, and Senonchamps while the division helped defend the Bastogne highway and then pushed north in January toward Bertogne, Velleroux, Hardigny, and Bourcy. By January 22 CCA had crossed into Luxembourg as the German withdrawal from the salient accelerated.

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World War II Campaign Map of the 11th Airborne Division. Map courtesy of HistoryShots.

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In February the division took over part of the former 90th Infantry Division sector east of the Our and entered the West Wall. CCR seized Hill 568 on February 6 but could not immediately exploit it. A later surprise assault, made without the usual artillery preparation, broke through a series of pillboxes; Herzfeld, Leidenborn, Sengerich, Roscheid, Eschfeld, and Reiff followed before the division shifted to relieve elements of the 87th Infantry Division near Manderfeld. In early March it supported the reduction of the Ormont defenses, crossed the Pruem and Kyll, fought through Kelberg, and reached the Rhine on March 9 with CCA near Andernach and CCB near Brohl.

After a short reserve period, the 11th passed through the 89th Infantry Division's Bullay bridgehead on March 17 and began a second drive to the Rhine in the Worms sector. It crossed the Nahe, pushed through the Glan and Alsenz country, assembled near Alzey, and held the Oppenheim-Worms Rhine sector before shifting to the Main at Hanau.

From March 29 onward the division became one of Third Army's exploitation forces. It drove through the 26th Infantry Division's bridgehead toward Fulda, crossed the Werra near Meiningen, cleared Suhl and Oberhof in the Thuringer Wald, and then took Coburg, forced the Hasslach line near Kronach and Marktzeuln, entered Bayreuth, and moved through Grafenwohr toward the Naab, Cham, Regen, and the Austrian border. At the end of April it fought through Wegscheid and Ober Kappel, then drove on Linz. Urfahr-Linz fell on May 5, as one column encountered the camps near Mauthausen and Gusen. On May 8, a 41st Cavalry patrol from CCA met Soviet forces at Amstetten, ending the division's mission.