April 22, 1945 - US Third Army advancing through Wernberg, Germany

Originally activated during the First World War the United States Third Army would become one of the most powerful and successful Armies in US Military History. Lieutenant General George S. Patton, Jr. took command of the Third Army early in 1944 and following the successful Allied landings in Normandy France during June 1944 the Allied supreme command transferred the Third Army into France. The Third Army fought across North West and Central Europe, and ultimately drove further east than any other Allied army during the War; from France, Belgium, and Luxembourg into Germany - before finishing the War having pushed well into Czechoslovakia and Austria.

The Third Army enjoyed a tremendous run of success during the War, with only the bloody and poorly led campaign in the eastern French province of Lorraine during the fall of 1944 marring an otherwise nearly unblemished record. liberated or captured 81,522 square miles of territory. The Third Army inflicted tremendous losses on Hitler's armies including an estimated 1,280,688 captured, 144,500 killed, and 386,200 wounded, adding up to 1,811,388 casualties in total. The Third Army's success came at a price however as Patton's Army suffered 16,596 killed, 96,241 wounded, and 26,809 missing in action for a total of 139,646 casualties during the Allied campaign to free Europe from Hitler's control. (Casualty totals taken from http://www.paperlessarchives.com site last accessed on May 31, 2008).

Picture Courtesy US National Archives, ARC identifier no. 195342