As time passes and more members of the generation that saved the world fade into history, their legacy will need protection and preservation.  The history of the 20^th Armored Division, though not extensive, is an important footnote to the bigger picture of the Second World War.  Much of the information on this site (most notably the Battle Reports Section) has been supplied by the Veterans of the 20^th Armored Division, and in many cases have been recorded verbatim utilizing their terminology, impressions, expressions, memories, and, in some cases, even their spelling.

        Some of the statistical and descriptive material on this site was compiled by V.W. "Bud" Bolton, Colonel, Retired, at Carlisle, Pennsylvania, on February 15^th, 1988..  Colonel Bolton was a Sergeant with Company B, 20^th Tank Battalion, 20^th Armored Division.  The following is Colonel Bolton's preface to his research.

        In anticipation of a division reunion in October of 1988, it was felt appropriate to gather and compile some heretofore unpublished information about the 20t^h Armored Division.  Fortunately, the old unit records found in the Washington National Records Center at Suitland, MD, and some personal papers of General Ward located in the Archives at the US Military History Institute, Carlisle Barracks, PA, are reasonably complete and in excellent condition.

        This compilation of the information researched at those two repositories is not intended to duplicate the 20^th Armored Division in World War II, the fine unit history which most of us obtained after the end of the war.  There is quote used from that book, as well as several cases where the material tends to overlap, but these instances are merely to reinforce a point made in the compilation or to provide continuity in the text.

        The main purpose of pulling together this kind of information at this time is because few of us ever saw the field orders, situation reports, staff journals or after action reports that told what we were supposed to be doing in a given situation and how well or badly we achieved what we were told to do.  Few of us were ever privy to the extent of our battle deaths and other combat casualties, nor did we realize the proportionately large number of decorations awarded our division personnel for the relatively short duration of our part of the war.

        Accordingly, this brief history should supplement our official division history with the kinds of information not readily available at the time the latter was published.  It may provide a closer insight as to the exploits of the 20^th Armored Division in World War II.

        As the 20^th Armored Division Association takes shape and grows, other sources of the Division's history will be sought out and researched in order to expand and improve what is contained in this brief supplement.