Regiment From An Infantry Division, And would help in it's Motorization. The Division Would, In Turn, Attach One Of It's Battalions To Each Combat Command. This Provided the Desired One To One Ratios At Battalion level and greatly enhanced The Combat Capability Of The Combat Commands. Unfortunately, There Were Many Battles In Which The Entire Infantry Function Was Performed By The 36th-Alone,And Often Resulted In An Excessive Number Of Casualties To The Regiment.
The 36th-Armored Infantry Regiment Entered The Combat In Europe Over Omaha Beach In Normandy The Latter Part Of June 1944 And Participated In Normandy Campaign Until The Break-Through In July. Then Followed The Great Sweep Across Northern France, Belgium And Into Germany, Highlighted By Such Battles As Mortain, Avranches, The Seine, Mons, Verviers, The Siegfried Line And Stloberg.In All Of These The Elements Of The 36th.Distinguished Themselves As The Devoted Ground Gainers, Escorts And Protection For The Shock And Firepower Of The Tanks.
Perhaps The Most Outstanding Accomplishment Of This Period Was The Penetration Of The Siegfried Line 13 September 44 By The 36th.Fortunately,A Large Number Of The Germans Designated To Man These Fortifications Had Been Killed, Wounded Or Captured At The Battle Of Mons A Short Time Before-But The Lines Were Manned At Reduced Strength, And Backed By First Class Mobile Troops, And The Breaching Of Their Vaunted Line Of Concrete Was No Simple Task. This Was The First Allied Penetration Of Hitler's Famous "Westwall".
By This Time The Rapidly Advancing American Armies Had Over Run Their Supplies particularly Gasoline And Ammunition. There Followed A Period Of Consolidation In Which Limited Probing Attacks And Harassing Actions Constituted The Only Combat. This Was Hardly Wasted Time Because It Gave The Exhausted Rifle Companies Time To Rest, Clean Up, Receive And Train Replacements And Reorganize.
This Was When The Division Commander, General Maurice Rose, Adopted The Name "Spearhead" For The Division. A Young Soldier Of The 36th-Drew A Cartoon Showing A Tank Being Pulled By A Group Of Infantry Men On A Chain With A Spear At The Front End. The Title Was, "Call Me Spearhead". It Was Accepted By Enthusiastic Applause In The Regiment And Restrained Amusement By The Tankers.
In The Middle Of November, The Supply Problem Having Been Solved, The 1st. Army mounted An All Out Offensive Which Moved The Front Lines To The Roer River. This Was Heavy Going In Atrocious Weather And Again The 36th. Had To Bear The Brunt Of Attacks