View Single Post
  #2  
Old 10-30-2017, 09:00 AM
James Langham2 James Langham2 is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: Mansfield, UK
Posts: 157
Default

I am working (very slowly) on the 5th Division and here are some bits that may help:

1997
On 20th April, the German Third Army recrossed the Polish border in the Gorlitz area with the objective of taking Silesia and securing the southern flank of the attack. They encircled the Soviet 3rd Guards Motor Rifle Division just north-west of Wroclaw. The newly arrived Category II division was almost completely destroyed by the German Leopards of the 29th Panzer Division. The 3rd was only rescued by a quick counter-attack by the 2nd Guards Motor Rifle Division. By May 11th Wroclaw had fallen, the Soviet 35th Guards Motor Rifle Division counter attack failed when it was encircled and virtually destroyed by the US 5th Infantry Division. The battered Polish 2nd Motor Rifle Division and 12th Tank Division already battered during the fighting in Germany tried to stem the tide. The 12th held Opole while the 2nd fell back to Gliwice.

2000
The 8th Division (Mechanised) was ordered to pursue fleeing Polish units and to undertake deep penetration raids. An overworked and overoptimistic staff officer at the 8th misread the map co-ordinates and added extra information that would give the 8th the ultimate aim of Kaliningrad to link up with the Free Latvian Army. This was the origin of the infamous “left turn at Albuquerque” legend where a navigational error by a junior officer was blamed for a 200km plus navigational error.

The 5th Division aimed further south towards Lodz initially making good progress against scattered opposition.

The last of the Polish army counter attacked and the remnants of four Soviet Armies turned towards the Third Army. IInd Corps was shattered by what was probably the last Soviet armoured units in Europe, lead by two armies that surprised all intelligence estimates with the strategic speed of their movements. Even the last remnants of NATO's aviation fuel and advanced munitions were used to launch a final series of airstrikes on rear areas that failed to halt the advance. The 4th Guards Tank Army and 22nd Cavalry rolled into the 5th Division with over 100 modern tanks near Kalisz, 100km short of the objective of Lodz. The 5th was over-run and the last recorded message from its commander General Taylor was “you're on your own, good luck.” The 8th Division which was making good progress was cut off and contact was quickly lost, their fate was unknown. Of the US IInd Corps, only the 2nd Marine Division was in a position to retreat successfully with assistance from the 4th Canadian Mechanised Brigade Group.

2012
The book “Lies and Deceits: The secret history of the war” was published in the United States. It's author Morgan Pattison argued that many irrational events have a rational explanation. Both US Governments denied the stories in the book but many gained public acceptance as evidence was hard come by. When Lt Col Bernard McGough late of the 5th Infantry Division (Mechanised) claimed that as per Pattison the unit was sacrificed to cover a secret mission his claims were given credence. Gradually these claims became more mainstream despite government denials until by 2018 the story started to appear in mainstream histories as a possibility. No evidence of this however has ever been found.

I've skipped the bits from the Black Madonna as you obviously have these. I assume you have seen the changes of Corps in the US Vehicle Guide.

You might also want to look at my article Marauder Companies as there are a few references there.
Reply With Quote