2nd Armored Division (France)
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| 2e Division Blindée | |
|---|---|
 Badge of the 2nd Armored Division. The divisional badge features the Cross of Lorraine |
|
| Active | 24 Aug 1943 - 31 Mar 1946 |
| Country | France |
| Branch | French Army, ex-Free French |
| Type | Armored Division |
| Battles/wars | Operation Cobra, Liberation of Paris, Liberation of Strasbourg |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders |
Philippe Leclerc |
The 2nd Armored Division (French: 2e Division Blindée, 2e DB), commanded by General Leclerc, fought during the final phases of World War II in the Western Front. The division was formed in August, 1943 in Morocco, from the Free French 2nd Light Division. The division embarked in April 1944 and shipped to various ports in Great Britain. On July 29, 1944, bound for France, the division embarked at Southampton.
It landed at Utah Beach in Normandy on August 1, 1944, about two months after the D-Day landings, and served under General Patton's Third Army. The division played a critical role in Operation Cobra, the Allied breakthrough from Normandy, when it served as a link between American and Canadian armies and made rapid progress against German forces. They all but destroyed the 9th Panzer Division and defeated several other German units. The 2nd Division's losses amounted to 141 killed and 58 medium and light tanks while they killed 4,500 Germans, captured 8,800, and destroyed 118 heavy and medium tanks.
The most celebrated moment in the unit's history involved the rescue of Paris. Allied strategy emphasized destroying German forces retreating towards the Rhine, but when the French Resistance under Henri Rol-Tanguy staged an uprising in the city, Charles de Gaulle threatened to send the Division into Paris, single-handedly, to prevent the uprising being crushed as had recently happened in Warsaw. Eisenhower agreed to send help. After hard fighting that cost the 2nd Division 35 tanks, 6 self-propelled guns, and 111 vehicles, von Choltitz, the military governor of Paris, surrendered the city at the Hotel Meurice. Jubilant crowds greeted French forces, and de Gaulle conducted a famous parade through the city.
The 2nd Division later fought in the tank battles in Lorraine, destroying the German 112th Panzer Brigade at the town of Dompaire on September 13, 1944. Subsequently, the 2nd Division operated with U.S. forces during the assault into the Vosges Mountains. Serving as the armored exploitation force for the U.S. XV Corps, the 2nd Division forced the Saverne Gap and thrusted forward boldly, unbalancing German defenses in northern Alsace and liberating Strasbourg on November 23, 1944.
Fighting in Alsace until the end of February, 1945, the 2nd Division was deployed to reduce the Royan Pocket on the western coast of France in March-April, 1945. After forcing the Germans in the Royan Pocket to surrender on April 18, 1945, the 2nd Division crossed France again to rejoin the allied 6th Army Group for final operations in Germany. Operating with the U.S. 12th Armored Division, elements of the 2nd Division pursued the remnants of German Army Group G across Swabia and Bavaria, occupying the town of Bad Reichenhall on May 4, 1945.
Eventually, the 2nd Division finished its campaigning at the Nazi resort town of Berchtesgaden in Southeastern Germany. On May 13, 1945, SHAEF relinquished operational control of the 2nd Division to France. From May 23-28, 1945, the 2nd Division moved to its new garrison in the region of Paris, where the division was inactivated on March 31, 1946.
