6th Armored Division ( United States ) The 6th Armored Division ( " Super Sixth " ) was an armored division of the United States Army during World War II . It was formed with a cadre from the 2nd Armored Division . 6th AD was formed under the 1942 Table of Organization and Equipment . History . The division was activated on 15 February 1942 at Fort Knox . It moved to Camp Chaffee on 15 March 1942 to make way for other Armor units , and then completed its assembly and unit training . The division then participated in the VIII Corps Louisiana Maneuvers from 25 August 1942 , and then returned to Camp Chaffee on 21 September 1942 . 6th AD then moved to Camp Young at the Desert Training Center on 10 October 1942 , and participated in the # 1 California Maneuvers . The 6th AD then moved to Camp Cooke to consolidate the lessons learned . 6th AD then Staged at Camp Shanks on 3 February 1944 , and departed the New York Port of Embarkation on 11 February 1944 , and arrived in England on 23 February 1944 . After continuing its training in England , 6th AD landed on Utah Beach in Normandy on 19 July 1944 as a follow - on unit , and went on the offensive as separate combat commands in the Cotentin Peninsula in support of the Normandy Campaign . At the end of the Normandy Campaign , 6th AD assembled at Le Mesnil on 25 July 1944 . 6th AD then passed through 8th Infantry Division to clear the heights near Le Bingard on 27 July 1944 , and Combat Command A secured a bridgehead across the Sienne River near Pont de la Roque on 29 July 1944 , and overran Granville on 31 July 1944 . 6th AD then returned to Avranches where it relieved 4th AD and secured the area bridges . Under construction 6th AD then in mid - August the Division moved down to Lorient . It was relieved there by the 94th Infantry Division in September . The 6th then turned east and cut across France , reaching the Saar in November . It crossed the Nied River 11 – 12 November , against strong opposition , reaching the German border on 6 December , and established and maintained defensive positions in the vicinity of Saarbrücken . On 23 December the division was ordered north of Metz to take part in the Battle of the Bulge , and took over a sector along the south bank of the Sauer . The 6th was heavily engaged in the battle for Bastogne , finally driving the enemy back across the Our River into Germany by late January 1945 . After a short period of rehabilitation , the division resumed the offensive , penetrated the Siegfried Line , crossed the Prum , reached the Rhine River at Worms on 21 March , and set up a counterreconnaissance screen along its west bank . The 6th crossed the Rhine at Oppenheim 25 March , drove on to Frankfurt , crossed the Main , captured Bad Nauheim , and continued to advance eastward , and surrounded and captured Mühlhausen 4 – 5 April . After repulsing a light counterattack , it moved forward 60 miles to cross the Saale River and assisted in freeing Allied prisoners of war and the notorious German concentration camp at Buchenwald . The division raced on , took Leipzig , crossed the Mulde River at Rochlitz 15 April 1945 , and stopped , pending the arrival of the Red Army . Defensive positions along the Mulde River were held until the end of hostilities in Europe . The division was deactivated on 18 September 1945 at Camp Shanks , New York . Official history . At the end of World War II , two 6th Armored Division assistants from G - 3 , Majors Paul L . Bogen and Clyde J . Burke along with Aide - de - Camp Captain Cyrus R . Shockey , compiled a " Combat Record of the Sixth Armored Division in the European Theatre of Operations 18 July 1944 - 8 May 1945 " . The official history by George F . Hofmann , " The Super Sixth : History of the 6th Armored Division in World War II " ( 1975 , reprinted 2000 ) has been called by noted World War II scholar Martin Blumenson , a " first - rate military history . " He also noted that General Patton called the 6th AD one of the two best divisions in his Third Army ( " Journal of American History " , December 1976 ) .