9th Armored Division (United States)

The 9th Armored Division (the "Phantom Division") was an armored division of the United States Army in World War II. In honor of their World War II service, the 9th was officially nicknamed the "Phantom Division." The 9th Armored Division is cited for extraordinary heroism and gallantry in combat in the vicinity of Waldbillig and Savelborn, Luxembourg from December 16 to December 22, 1944 by repulsing constant and determined attacks by an entire German division. Outnumbered five to one, with its infantry rifles companies surrounded for most of the time, clerks, cooks, mechanics, drivers and others manned the 10.000 yard final defensive line. Supported by the outstandingly responsive and accurate fire of its artillery battalion, this widely dispersed force stopped every attack for six days until its surrounded infantry were ordered to fight their way back to them. This staunch defense disrupted the precise German attack schedule and thus gave time for the United States III and XII Corps to assemble unhindered and then launch the coordinated attack which raised the siege of Bastogne and contributed to saving much of Luxembourg and its capital from another German invasion. They were awarded the Presidential Unit Citation for their heroism.

History
The division was activated on 15 July 1942 at Fort Riley, KS. It reached the United Kingdom in September 1944.

Fortitude
The 9th Division was one of several real U.S. Army divisions that participated in Operation Fortitude, the deception operation mounted by the Allies to deceive the Germans about the real landing site for Operation Neptune, the amphibious invasion of Northern France. The 9th was assigned to a camp on the British coastline opposite of the German defenses in Pas-de-Calais, ostensibly as part of the "First US Army Group" (FUSAG) under Gen. John W. Leonard.

Combat chronicle
The 9th Armored Division landed in Normandy late in September 1944, and first went into line, 23 October 1944, on patrol duty in a quiet sector along the Luxembourg-German frontier. When the Germans launched their winter offensive on 16 December 1944, the 9th, with no real combat experience, suddenly found itself engaged in heavy fighting. The Division saw its severest action at St. Vith, Echternach, and Bastogne, its units fighting in widely separated areas.

Its stand at Bastogne held off the Germans long enough to enable the 101st Airborne to dig in for a defense of the city. After a rest period in January 1945, the Division made preparations for a drive across the Roer River. The offensive was launched, 28 February 1945, and the 9th smashed across the Roer to Rheinbach, sending patrols into Remagen. The Ludendorff Bridge at Remagen was found intact, and was seized by elements of the 9th Armored minutes before demolition charges were set to explode on 7 March 1945.

The Division exploited the bridgehead, moving south and east across the Lahn River toward Limburg, where thousands of Allied prisoners were liberated. The Division drove on to Frankfurt and then turned to assist in the closing of the Ruhr Pocket. In April it continued east, encircling Leipzig and securing a line along the Mulde River. The Division was shifting south to Czechoslovakia when the war in Europe ended on 9 May 1945.

Inactivated: 13 October 1945

Units of the 9th Armored Division

 * 2nd Tank Battalion
 * 14th Tank Battalion
 * 19th Tank Battalion
 * 27th Armored Infantry Battalion
 * 52nd Armored Infantry Battalion
 * 60th Armored Infantry Battalion
 * HHB, Division Artillery
 * 3rd Armored Field Artillery Battalion
 * 16th Armored Field Artillery Battalion
 * 73rd Armored Field Artillery Battalion
 * 89th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron, Mechanized
 * 509th Counter Intelligence Corps Detachment
 * Headquarters Company, 9th Armored Division
 * HHC, Combat Command A
 * HHC, Combat Command B
 * Headquarters, Reserve Command
 * Headquarters, 12th Armored Group
 * HHC, Division Trains
 * 2nd Medical Battalion
 * 131st Armored Ordnance Maintenance Battalion
 * Military Police Platoon
 * 9th Armored Engineer Battalion
 * 149th Armored Signal Company
 * 656th Tank Destroyer Battalion (attached 22 February 1945 past 9 May 1945)
 * 811th Tank Destroyer Battalion (attached 14 November 1944 to 8 January 1945)
 * 482nd AAA Automatic Weapons Battalion (attached 22 November 1945 to 9 January 1945; 22 February 1945 to 9 May 1945)

Ancestor units
The 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, was constituted on 29 August 1917 and organized as Headquarters, 3rd Brigade, 15th Cavalry Division in December. The 3rd Brigade demobilized on 15 July 1919 and reconstituted on 10 August 1921, within the newly-constituted 1st Cavalry Division. Although never officially reorganized, the Brigade was inactive until its 15 October 1940 activation and redesignation and conversion to HHC, 9th Armored Division Trains, and deployed to Europe, receiving campaign-participation credit for operations in the Rhineland, the Ardennes-Alsace, and the Central Europe theatres of war, and awarded two Meritorious Unit Commendations, with embroidered streamers reading: Europe 1944 and Europe 1945.

After World War II, the unit returned state-side and was inactivated until 15 July 1963, when it was reassigned from the 9th Armored Division, and converted and redesignated as HHC, 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division.