Edward H. Brooks - World War II

World War II

From 1942 until 1944 Brooks established and was commander of the 11th Armored Division at Ft. Knox, Kentucky, preparing them for the impending invasion of continental Europe. His results with the 11th Armored Division caught the eye of senior commanders, resulting in his selection for overseas assignment to command the 2nd Armored Division ("Hell on Wheels") for the Normandy Invasion.

Maj. Gen. Brooks assumed command of the 2nd Armored Division ("Hell on Wheels") on March 17, 1944, at Tidworth Barracks, near Salisbury, England. The division had been transferred to England from the Mediterranean late in 1943. After a training and preparation period the division, General Brooks commanding, embarked from England in LCI's and LST's on June 8, 1944, and stood toward the shores of France. Preceded by an advance command post detachment which established contact with the V Corps commanding general, the division landed on Omaha Beach June 9, 1944. The 2nd Armored was committed immediately. Its first engagement, securing the Vire River Bridgehead, was the beginning of the path of fire and carnage which "Hell on Wheels" was to follow throughout France.

Normandy and the bocage country, where hedgerows furnished natural cover for every field came next. The problem was solved by mounting huge bulldozer blades on the tanks so that a path could be cut through the natural earthen breastworks for the infantry to follow. Then came Saint-Lô, the breakthrough at Avranches, where the 2nd Armored held the eastern flank, and the subsequent list of engagements read like a list of way-stations on a tour of Northern France and Belgium. The general was cited for gallantry in action during the period August 2 to 6 for making repeated visits to forward elements of his command. Exposing himself to hostile observation and fire, he expedited the commitment of the division and personally assisted in the organization of continuing attacks by subordinate units in assault on enemy strong points. That display of gallantry and leadership, without regard to his personal safety, earned for him the Silver Star Medal.

General Brooks personally pushed the 2nd Armored Division into being the first allied division on Belgian soil and was the first Allied division commander to enter that country by assault. An amusing incident during the drive into Belgium occurred when a corps staff officer came to General Brooks' 2nd Armored command post and told the general that he had a mission for the division that he feared was impossible—to be in Ghent in two days. The staff officer's eyes bugged out when the general said, "Tell the corps commander it's in the bag. We'll be there." After the officer departed, General Brooks turned to his chief of staff and said, "Where the hell is Ghent?"

From training in England, through the Normandy landings, the hedgerow fighting, the breakthrough and the race northeastward across France, through Belgium to the Albert Canal, General Brooks had guided the division through two campaigns and scores of operations. During this period, seven units of his command had had awarded to them the Presidential Distinguished Unit Citation. And at Marchiennes, France near the Belgian border on September 2nd, 1944, he himself had personally participated in and directed an operation which resulted in the annihilation of a German convoy of 165 vehicles and earned for him the Oak Leaf Cluster on his Silver Star Medal. The Distinguished Service Medal was awarded to General Brooks for his outstanding leadership of the 2nd Armored Division.

On September 12, 1944 while the Second Armored was poised at the Albert Canal, General Brooks relinquished command of the division to take temporary command of the V Corps. On October 25th General Brooks assumed command of the VI Corps, replacing General Lucian K. Truscott who was ordered to Twelfth Army Group for further assignment.

In early November, VI Corps was confronted with three problems to bring the corps' right and left flanks up to the salient held by the 3rd Division along the Meurthe, thus straightening a "jump" line for another offensive; to introduce the newly arrived 100th and 103rd Infantry Divisions into combat, and to make final plans and regroup the entire corps for an attack to cross the Meurthe, to crack the German Winter Line, to penetrate the Vosges passes, and to reach the Rhine. The Seventh Army's assault was marked by success. VI Corps drove through to its objectives. German defenses of the Vosges passes were taken, Strasbourg was captured and the River Rhine reached.

The army's direction of attack was changed on November 24. This resulted in major disengagements, reliefs and redeployments. All were accomplished by December 5. VI Corps, teamed with XV Corps, was ready to attack to the north—objective the Lauter River and invasion of Germany. Hurdles ahead were the Maginot Line, the Haguenau Forest and the Siegfried Line. By mid-December the VI Corps was crossing the Lauter River into Germany and assaulting the Siegfried Line.

On the night of December 20 the Seventh Army's offensive was called off and all troops ordered to prepare defensive lines. This resulted from the apparent success of the German counter-offensive in Belgium and Luxembourg, known as the "Battle of the Bulge." Forced on the defensive by this turn of events and in the face of determined and repeated enemy counterattacks General Brooks organized a flexible defense which successfully stopped all enemy attacks. The outstanding accomplishment of the period was VI Corps' successful resistance to a January 1, 1945 enemy counterattack through the Low Vosges Mountains. On orders from Sixth Army Group. VI Corps skillfully executed a difficult withdrawal from close contact with the enemy to a predetermined line along the Moder River. All hostile attacks against that position were repulsed. All was quiet on the corps' front until March. For his performance in command of the VI Corps, from December 5, 1944 to March, 1945, General Brooks was awarded an oak-leaf cluster to the Distinguished Service Medal.

The great spring offensive began in March. VI Corps crossed the Rhine and captured Heidelberg. then came Heilbronn. Turning south and crossing the Danube, the corps drove on to the Italian border to meet the Fifth Army via Brenner Pass.

On May 5, 1945 (two days before V-E day) General Brooks accepted the surrender of the German 19th Army and 24th Army in Innsbruck, Austria, thus terminating hostilities in his sector more than 24 hours before the general surrender in Germany.