12th Armored DIVISION - Hellcat

Activated 15 Sep 1942•  Entered Combat 7 Dec 1944 at Ardennes•  Days of Combat 102•  Casualties 3,527

Division Chronicle

Activation and Training

The 12th Armored Division (“Hellcats”) was activated on 15 September 1942 at Camp Campbell, Kentucky. After two years of stateside training, it sailed for Europe in September 1944, and after landing in England spent the month preparing for movement to France. The division landed in France at Le Havre on 11 November 1944. For the rest of the month, its units were billeted and trained behind the lines while higher headquarters assigned it to a combat army group.

Entry into Combat

The division entered combat with Seventh U.S. Army on 5 December 1944, and the entire 12th moved against the Maginot Line fortifications two days later. In its advance, Rohrbach and the Bettviller area were liberated by 12 December, and Utweiler, Germany, was seized 21 December. After a short period of rehabilitation and maintenance, the 12th moved against the Rhine riverhead at Herlisheim. German defenders repulsed Division attacks in the most violent fighting in the history of the 12th from 9 to 10 January 1945. However, enemy counterattacks also failed. Going over to the offensive, the division attacked south from Colmar, and in a lightning drive, effected junction with French forces at Rouffach, 5 February, sealing the Colmar pocket and ending German resistance in the Vosges Mountains. Except for elements acting as a protective screen, the 12th withdrew to the St. Avoid area for rest and rehabilitation. 

Crossing the Rhine and the Drive into Germany

By March 1945, the 12th shifted to offensive operations. On 18 March, it attacked across the Moder River, capturing towns in Alsace. After Seventh Army crossed the Rhine late March, the Hellcats spearheaded the advance into southern Germany. They stormed Würzburg (31 March–6 April) after fierce urban fighting, then pushed on to Heilbronn (10–12 April), another bloody house-to-house struggle.

Bavaria, Concentration Camps, and the Danube

In April, the 12th Armored raced through Bavaria and participated in liberating concentration camps near Landsberg and Dachau subcamps (27–29 April 1945). Crossing the Danube River on 27 April, the division captured Augsburg and continued into the foothills of the Alps.

Austria and War’s End

By early May, the Hellcats had pushed into Austria. On 4 May 1945, elements advanced toward Kufstein and Innsbruck, linking with Fifth Army units from Italy. When Germany surrendered on 8 May 1945 (V-E Day), the division was on occupation duty in Austria and Bavaria.

Occupation and Deactivation

Following the German surrender, the 12th Armored assumed security missions across a wide swath of southern Germany, including Aalen, Heidenheim, Dillingen, and Augsburg. It processed large numbers of POWs and displaced persons in May–June 1945. The division was earmarked for redeployment but never sent to the Pacific. It was inactivated on 3 December 1945 at Camp Campbell.