Everything about Viii Corps United States totally explained
The U.S.
VIII Corps was an
army corps of the
United States Army that saw service during various times over a fifty-year period during the twentieth century. The VIII Corps was organized November 26 - 29,
1918 in the
Regular Army in
France and demobilized on April 20,
1919. The VIII Corps was soon reactivated, being constituted in the Organized Reserves in
1921. It was allotted to the Regular Army in
1933 and activated on October 14,
1940 at Fort Sam Houston,
Texas. The VIII Corps fought across Europe from
Normandy to
Czechoslovakia in
World War II. After World War II, the corps was inactivated and reactivated several times, with the final inactivation occurring in
1968.
Normandy
Commanded by
Major General Troy H. Middleton, VIII Corps was made operational in Normandy on June 15,
1944, and took up defensive positions west of
Carentan on the
Cotentin Peninsula as part of the
U.S. First Army. Attacking in early July, the corps pushed through
bocage country, taking La Haye-de-Puits and the Mont Castre forest. After closing on the Ay and Sèves Rivers, VIII Corps joined the allied breakout from Normandy (
Operation Cobra) on July 26, 1944. On July 28, the corps took the key road junction of
Coutances and liberated
Avranches two days later.
Brittany
In a controversial adherence to the original allied plan for the invasion of Normandy, the
U.S. 12th Army Group commander,
Lieutenant General Omar N. Bradley, directed VIII Corps westward into
Brittany on August 1, 1944, with the object of liberating the Breton ports for allied use. This decision was later deemed a poor use of the two
armored divisions in the corps, which could have been used far more profitably in the rapid allied advance eastward across France. On August 7, 1944, the corps took the port of
Saint-Malo. After an involved battle lasting almost six weeks and characterized by urban combat and reduction of fortifications, VIII Corps liberated
Brest on September 19, 1944. Ironically, after so much effort, German demolition proved so effective that the liberated Breton ports were unusable for the remainder of the war. See
Battle for Brest for more details.
Ardennes
Reorganizing after the operations in Brittany, VIII Corps moved east to join the rest of the allied forces along the border of Germany. Still part of Ninth Army, the corps took over the front in the
Ardennes along the
Our River and the
Schnee Eifel on October 4, 1944. Because this area of the front was so quiet, the corps was used as an orientation and rest area for new U.S. divisions and divisions that had taken heavy casualties while fighting in the
Hurtgen Forest. This mission continued until December 16, 1944, when the Germans attacked VIII Corps with over 20 divisions in what came to be known as the
Ardennes Offensive. Faced with overwhelming odds, the northern units of the corps, the U.S.
14th Cavalry Group and the
U.S. 106th Infantry Division were pushed back or encircled. On the Schnee Eifel, some 6,700 inexperienced soldiers of VIII Corps were taken prisoner by the Germans. Further south, however, other units of the corps conducted a fighting withdrawal that successfully delayed the Germans long enough for the allies to rush reinforcements to the Ardennes. Units of the corps, in particular the
U.S. 101st Airborne Division, famously held the key road junction of
Bastogne against a five-day German siege that was broken on December 26, 1944, by armored units of the U.S. Third Army advancing from the south. Four days later, VIII Corps counter-attacked toward the town of
Houffalize. On January 16,
1945, the corps made contact with the U.S. First Army near Houffalize, effectively pinching off the western end of the "bulge" made in allied lines by the German attacks. The corps reentered
Luxembourg on January 22, 1945, and six days later reached the Our River again.
To the Rhine
In the first week of February, 1945, the corps again occupied the Schnee Eifel and pushed through the
Siegfried Line. VIII Corps took
Pruem on February 12, 1945 and then cleared Siegfried Line fortifications in the corps area for the remainder of the month. On March 6, 1945, the corps crossed the
Kyll River and reached the
Rhine River at
Andernach on March 9, 1945. On March 16, 1945, the corps assaulted across the
Moselle River near Dieblich, and took
Koblenz in a three-day battle that ended on March 19, 1945. Against stiff German resistance, VIII Corps assaulted across the Rhine River at
Boppard and pushed eastward into central Germany.
Final Operations
Moving north of
Frankfurt am Main at the end of March, 1945, the corps moved into the
Rhön Mountains by early April. In the first two weeks of April, 1945, VIII Corps cleared the
Thuringer Wald and crossed the
Gera,
Salle,
Weiße Elster, and
Mulde Rivers in swift succession. By order of the First Army, VIII Corps pulled back to the west side of the Mulde River near the border of Czechoslovakia on April 24, 1945, where the corps was located when Germany surrendered on May 8, 1945.
Subordination
Campaign Credits and Inactivation
VIII Corps is credited with service in the Normandy, Northern France, Rhineland, Ardennes-Alsace, and Central Europe campaigns. Headquarters, VIII Corps, was inactivated on December 15, 1945, at Camp Gruber,
Oklahoma. The corps was subsequently activated and inactivated several times, with the last inactivation occurring on April 1, 1968 at
Austin,
Texas.
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