Although the Army had already started a massive expansion program, as late as the summer of 1941 there were only two armored divisions available to participate in the large-scale maneuvers conducted that summer in Louisiana. As a result of Gen. Patton's exploitation of his Second Armored Division tanks in those maneuvers, and observing the success of the German Panzer units in France and North Africa, the Army placed its activation of armored divisions in top priority in its continuing expansion program.

Cadres of officers and noncommissioned officers were dispatched from the First Armored at Ft. Knox and from the Second Armored at Ft. Benning to form the Third Armored at Camp Polk, La., and the Fourth Armored in the state of New York. In due time others would follow.

On February 15, 1942 at Ft. Knox, Ky. the formal ceremony activating the Sixth Armored Division was conducted by Gen. Jacob Devers, Commanding General of the Armored Force. Among the few hundred officers and noncommissioned officers comprising the cadre of the division present that day was Lt. Col. George W. Read, Jr. Read would remain with the division throughout its history; and as Brig. Gen. Read, the Commanding General, would deactivate the Division on 18 September, 1945 at Camp Shanks, N.Y. Jerome Engleberg, Cale Boggs, "Whiz" White, Clyde Burk, Doug Sinley, Willard Tokarski, Harold Frazier, George Fry, Milton Lutostanski, Angelo Turturici and I were members of the Super Sixth from activation to deactivation. I am sure there are many others.

Never planned to be stationed at Knox, the division was soon moved to Camp Chaffee, Ark, near Fort Smith. Fort Smith welcomed the troops with open arms. "Nothing Is Too Good For The Boys In The Service" became the watchword. Fillers -- soldiers to bring the division up to its Table of Organization strength -- began to pour into Chaffee.

Training became the number one order of the day at Chaffee. Basic training, rifle marksmanship, small unit maneuvers, equipment handling, vehicular operation and maintenance, and physical training constituted the early training sessions at Chaffee. That soon progressed into more advanced field exercises, involving battalion sized units with emphasis on command communications and tactics.

The division had no artillery troops prior to its arrival at Chaffee. Two National Guard units, one from Massachusetts and one from Missouri (Harry Truman's WWI outfit) were assigned and joined the division at Chaffee.

Although not fully equipped nor adequately trained, the division was ordered to participate in the large scale Louisiana maneuvers in the late summer of 1942. Much valuable experience was gained in tactics, communications, long road marches, and living for extended period of time in the field. The soldiers of the Sixth really became acquainted with their equipment -- from mess kits to tanks during these maneuvers.

Soon after returning to Chaffee, the Division moved by rail to the Desert Training Center near Indio, California. The DTC had been established by Gen. Patton for the purpose of training all the U. S. armored divisions in the tactics of desert warfare. Undoubtedly, at the time, it was believed that the U. S. would be faced with making its major effort in the deserts of North Africa. Ironically, the only two American armored divisions (the First and Second) which fought in North Africa did not have the opportunity of training in the California desert.

In any case, there was no finer training site for armored units. With no farmer's fences, no bridges, no restrictions on use of public roads, and gunnery ranges immediately available -- the training was ideal. The troops became tough and smart.

In March 1943 the now "rough and ready" Sixth was transferred to Camp Cooke, California. Families, wives, and "camp followers" who had been living in Indio, Needles, and Los Angeles now moved north to Lompoc, Santa Barbara and Santa Maria. Cooke was a cantonment-type camp very similar to Camp Chaffee. In addition to its normal training, personnel of the division were subjected to a very rigid physical exercise program. Twenty-five-mile hikes with full pack were commonplace.

During all this time, personnel of the division were constantly being cadred out to form new armored units in the rapidly expanding Army, others were being sent to service schools conducted by the Signal Corps, Engineers, Ordnance, etc. There was a constant turnover of personnel. Gen. Morris, who was promoted to command an Armored Corps, was replaced, as the Division Commander, by Brig. Gen. Robert W. Grow, from the Tenth Armored Division. As a Lt. Colonel, Grow had been Patton's G-3 in the Second Armored Division at Ft. Benning.

One of the first jobs facing Gen. Grow was the reorganization of the division, as directed by the Army in order to make the armored divisions more flexible. Regiments were eliminated. The fighting elements of the division now became three tank, three infantry, and three artillery battalions; with the necessary support units comprising the division. The reorganization was a huge undertaking, but accomplished without undue shuffling of personnel within a company sized unit. Gen. Grow then concentrated the training toward developing teamwork and strengthening the command functions. While the division lost many fine officers and men, those who remained constituted the combat-wise "Super Sixth."

Orders were received in December 1943 for the division to be moved to the European Theater of Operations. In early February 1944 the division "closed in" at Camp Shanks, N.Y. in preparation for the overseas movement to England.

Billeted in the Cotswalds in a "goose egg" between Oxford and Stratford-on-Avon for almost four months, members of the division not only were exposed to some British couth, but also continued its training program in preparation for the combat which was soon to follow.

The combat record of the Sixth Armored Division is well known. Etched in its history are the names: Brehal, Avaranches, Brest, Lorient, Nancy, Gremecey Forest, Hans-sur-Nied, Luppy, Cadenbronn, Arlon, Bastogne, Wardin, Clervaux. Our River, Otterbach, Oppenheim, Giessen, Muhlhausen, Langensalza, Bad Sulza, Buchenwald, Altenburg, Rochlitz, as well as many others.

But the history of the Sixth Armored Division is not written in terms of places. The history of the "Super Six" was made by men, about fifteen thousand of them, young patriotic men who willingly faced the hardships and horrors of war as brave soldiers. As a token to commemorate those thousands, here are the names of a very limited number: Grow, Gammon, Read, Lutostanski, LaGrew, Engleberg, Hanson, Hines, Fry, Thomas, Greaves, Stablein, Britton, Forrest, Johnson, Keller, Honea, Moody, Albano, Davall, Droste, Sinley, Madison, Nutter, Edwards, Keffer, Minniece, Harris, Branch, Brown, McBride, Lund, Gottschalk, Boggs, Jordan, Ravenel, Broeker, Boyle, Mitchell, Lepere, Sherrill, Borbely, Hackett, Huffman, Kind, Ayers, and Galvin.