2nd Armoured Tank Crewman

Lego compatible 2nd armoured division crewman

The 2nd Armored Division landed at  Omaha Beach in  Normandy  on 9 June 1944, three days after the initial  Normandy landings , and operated in the  Cotentin Peninsula , later forming the right flank of the  Operation Cobra  assault. The division encircled the  2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich  and the  17th SS Panzergrenadier Division Götz von Berlichingen around  Roncey , ^[9]  and destroyed most of their armored equipment. ^[9]  At La Chapelle, a  2nd SS Panzer  column was attacked at point blank range by 2nd Armored Division artillery. Over the course of two hours American artillery fired over 700 rounds into the column. The Germans suffered the loss of 50 dead, 60 wounded and 197 taken prisoner; material losses included over 260 German combat vehicles destroyed. ^[10]  Beyond the town, the 2nd Armored engaged another column, killing 1,150 German soldiers and destroying an additional 96 armored combat vehicles and trucks. ^[10]  The U.S. 2nd Armored Division destroyed 64 German tanks and 538 other German combat vehicles during Operation Cobra, ^[11]  while itself losing 49 tanks. ^[11] The 2nd Armored Division inflicted over 7,370 casualties on the Germans, while suffering 914 casualties of their own. This is approximately an eightfold disparity. ^[11]  The 2nd Armored blunted  Operation Lüttich , the German counterattack on  Avranches , then raced across France with the rest of the  Third Army , reaching the  Albert Canal  in Belgium on 8 September. On 18 September it crossed the German border near  Sittard  and took up defensive positions near  Geilenkirchen . On 3 October, the Division, now commanded again by Major General Harmon, launched an attack on the  Siegfried Line from  Marienberg , broke through, crossed the  Wurm River , seized the town of Puffendorf on 16 November, and  Barmen  on 28 November.