The 9th Armored Division (the "Phantom Division") was a light armored division of the United States Army during World War II. In honor of their World War II service, the 9th was officially nicknamed the "Phantom Division."

The 9th Armored Division was cited for combat in the vicinity of Waldbillig and Savelborn, Luxembourg, from 16 to 22 December 1944, during which it repulsed attacks by a German division. Outnumbered five to one, with its infantry rifle companies surrounded for most of the period, clerks, cooks, mechanics, drivers, and others manned the 10,000 yards (9,100 m) defensive line. Supported by the fire of its artillery battalion, the force stopped attacks for six days until its surrounded infantry were ordered to fight their way back. This defense altered the German attack schedule and gave time for the United States III and XII Corps to assemble and launch a coordinated attack that raised the siege of Bastogne and prevented another German invasion of Luxembourg and its capital. They were awarded the Presidential Unit Citation.

History

Predecessor units and early history

The 3rd Cavalry Brigade, 15th Cavalry Division was constituted in the Regular Army on 29 August 1917 and was organized in December 1917 at Camp Harry J. Jones, Arizona. It was demobilized on 15 July 1919. Because of a reduced table of organization for the cavalry division developed after the war, the 3rd Cavalry Brigade became a part of the new 2nd Cavalry Division. On 15 July 1942, the 9th Armored Division, under the command of Major General Geoffrey Keyes, was activated at Fort Riley, Kansas, by reorganizing and redesignating the white elements of the 2nd Cavalry Division. This was only seven months after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, which was followed just four days later by the German declaration of war on the United States, thus bringing the United States into World War II. Headquarters, 3rd Cavalry Brigade was converted, reorganized, and redesignated as Headquarters, 9th Armored Division Train. The 2nd and 14th Cavalry Regiments were inactivated and the personnel and equipment were transferred to the new 2nd and 14th Armored Regiments, respectively.

The regiments underwent changes during the war as follows:

2nd Armored Regiment reorganized and redesignated 9 October 1943: Headquarters, Headquarters Company, and 2nd Battalion reorganized and redesignated as 2nd Tank Battalion, 9th Armored Division. 1st Battalion reorganized and redesignated as 776th Tank Battalion and relieved from assignment to the 9th Armored Division. 3rd Battalion reorganized and redesignated as 19th Tank Battalion, 9th Armored Division. Reconnaissance Company reorganized and redesignated as Troop D, 89th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron, 9th Armored Division. Band, Maintenance Company, and Service Company disbanded. 14th Armored Regiment reorganized and redesignated 9 October 1943: Headquarters, Headquarters Company, and 1st and 2nd Battalions reorganized and redesignated as 14th Tank Battalion, 9th Armored Division. 3rd Battalion reorganized and redesignated as 711th Tank Battalion and relieved from assignment to the 9th Armored Division. Reconnaissance Company reorganized and redesignated as Troop E, 89th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron, 9th Armored Division. Band, Maintenance Company, and Service Company disbanded.

The lineages of the 2nd and 14th Cavalry Regiments were continued when these inactive units, having given up their personnel and equipment, were later reorganized and redesignated as cavalry reconnaissance squadrons and reactivated in 1943.

After its formation, the 9th AD was sent to Camp Ibis in California from June to October of 1943 for combat training. It was then sent to Camp Polk, Louisiana for maneuvers and then finally to New York for embarkation to England on the RMS Queen Mary.

After over two years of training, the 9th Armored Division, now commanded by Major General John W. Leonard (the former deputy commander), reached the United Kingdom in September 1944.

Fortitude

The 9th Armored Division was one of several serving 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 Major General 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 AD, 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 for 36 hours, long enough to enable the 101st Airborne Division to dig in for a defense of the city. After a rest period in January 1945, the Division prepared to drive across the Roer River. The offensive was launched on 28 February 1945 and the 9th crossed the Roer to Rheinbach, sending patrols into Remagen.

"Here, on the Ludendorf Bridge crossing the Rhine at Remagen, Combat Command B, 9th Armored Division -- headed by the 27th Armored Infantry Battalion -- with 'superb skill, daring and esprit de corps' successfully effected the first bridgehead across Germany's formidable river barrier and so contributed decisively to the defeat of the enemy. The 27th Battalion reached Remagen, found the bridge intact but mined for demolition. Although its destruction was imminent, without hesitation and in face of heavy fire the infantrymen rushed across the structure, and with energy and skill seized the surrounding high ground. The entire episode illustrates that high degree of initiative, leadership and gallantry toward which all armies strive but too rarely attain, and won for the Combat Command the Distinguished Unit Citation."

On 7 March 1945, elements of the 9th Armored captured the Ludendorff Bridge when German demolition charges failed to bring the bridge down. Soldiers scrambled under the bridge, swinging from girder to girder, tossing demolition charges into the Rhine, fearing the chargers could explode at any time. Capturing the bridge may have shortened the war by weeks to months and saved tens of thousands of lives.

It would be during this time that the Germans named the 9th Armored "Phantom Division" due to it being seemingly everywhere (three locations).

The Division exploited the bridgehead, moving south and east across the Lahn River toward Limburg, where thousands of Allied prisoners were liberated from Stalag XIIA. 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 and liberated the Zwodau concentration camp on May 7, 1945. The division was given the designation at "Liberators" in 1993.

Combat statistics

Activated: 15 July 1942. Overseas: 26 August 1944. Campaigns: Rhineland, Ardennes-Alsace, Central Europe. Days of Combat: 91. Returned to U.S.: 10 October 1945. Inactivated: 13 October 1945.

Commanders Maj. Gen. Geoffrey Keyes (June to September 1942) Maj. Gen. John W. Leonard (October 1942 to inactivation).

Casualties Total battle casualties: 3,845Army Battle Casualties and Nonbattle Deaths, Final Report (Statistics and Accounting Branch, Office of the Adjutant General, 1 June 1953) Killed in action: 570Army Battle Casualties and Nonbattle Deaths, Final Report (Statistics and Accounting Branch, Office of the Adjutant General, 1 June 1953) Wounded in action: 2,280Army Battle Casualties and Nonbattle Deaths, Final Report (Statistics and Accounting Branch, Office of the Adjutant General, 1 June 1953) Missing in action: 87Army Battle Casualties and Nonbattle Deaths, Final Report (Statistics and Accounting Branch, Office of the Adjutant General, 1 June 1953) Prisoner of war: 908Army Battle Casualties and Nonbattle Deaths, Final Report (Statistics and Accounting Branch, Office of the Adjutant General, 1 June 1953)

Individual awards for valor

Medal of Honor: 1 Distinguished Service Cross: 1 Distinguished Service Medal: 2 Silver Star: 191 Legion of Merit: 13 Soldier's Medal: 11 Bronze Star: 1,263 Air Medal: 28

Unit awards

Distinguished Unit Citations: 11

All units of CCB/9 AIB of the 9th Armored Division were awarded the Presidential Unit Citation for their actions in taking and defending the Ludendorff Bridge during the Battle of Remagen in World War II.

Division organization Heavy armored division

The division was activated as a heavy armored division in 1942. At the time the 9th Armored Division was composed of the following units:

9th Armored Division Division Headquarters Headquarters Company, 9th Armored Division Headquarters and Headquarters Company, Combat Command A Headquarters and Headquarters Company, Combat Command B 149th Armored Signal Company Armored Service Company (includes the division's Military Police Platoon) 2nd Armored Regiment Headquarters and Headquarters Company Reconnaissance Company (M3 scout cars and T30 HMC self propelled guns) Maintenance Company Service Company 1st Tank Battalion (Light) Headquarters and Headquarters Company 3× Light Tank companies (A, B, C) (M3/M5 Stuart light tanks) 2nd Tank Battalion (Medium) Headquarters and Headquarters Company 3× Medium Tank companies (D, E, F) (M4 Sherman tanks) 3rd Tank Battalion (Medium) Headquarters and Headquarters Company 3× Medium Tank companies (G, H, I) (M4 Sherman tanks) 14th Armored Regiment same organization as 2nd Armored Regiment 52nd Armored Infantry Regiment Headquarters and Headquarters Company 3× Armored infantry battalions each battalion consists of: 1× Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 3× Rifle companies on M3 half-tracks Service Company 89th Armored Reconnaissance Battalion Headquarters and Headquarters Company 3× Reconnaissance companies (M3 scout cars) Light Tank Company (M3/M5 Stuart light tanks) 9th Armored Engineer Battalion Headquarters and Headquarters Company 4× Armored engineer companies Bridge Company 9th Armored Division Artillery 9th Armored Division Artillery Section 3rd Armored Field Artillery Battalion Headquarters and Headquarters Battery 3× Field artillery batteries (M7 Priest self propelled howitzers) Service Battery 16th Armored Field Artillery Battalion same organization as 3rd Armored Field Artillery Battalion 73rd Armored Field Artillery Battalion same organization as 3rd Armored Field Artillery Battalion 9th Armored Division Trains Headquarters and Headquarters Company 14th Armored Ordnance Battalion Headquarters and Headquarters Company 3× Maintenance companies 14th Supply Battalion Headquarters and Headquarters Company 2× Truck companies 2nd Armored Medical Battalion Headquarters and Headquarters Company 3× Medical companies 9th Armored Division Band

Light armored division