WORLD WAR II

As war swept Europe in 1940, the 4th Cavalry Regiment was reorganized as a Horse-Mechanized Corps Reconnaissance Regiment. The 1st Squadron retained their horses and the 2nd Squadron was mechanized, however by 1942 the Army decided that the corps reconnaissance regiments should be completely mechanized. The 1st Squadron turned in its mounts at Fort Robinson, Nebraska in the Spring of 1942 and was issued M-5 light tanks. In January 1943 the Regiment left Fort Meade for the last time, going to the Mohave Desert to prepare for the North African campaign. However the Regiment's orders were changed and the 4th Cavalry arrived in England in December 1943 to serve as the reconnaissance regiment of the VII Corps. Immediately upon arriving the 4th Cavalry Regiment was redesignated and reorganized as the 4th Cavalry Group Mechanized. The 1st Squadron was redesignated the 4th Cavalry Squadron, Mechanized and the 2nd Squadron redesignated as the 24th Cavalry Squadron, Mechanized.

In preparation for the Normandy invasion, the 4th Cavalry was assigned a critical role in the amphibious assault of the VII Corps onto Utah Beach. Aerial reconnaissance showed German fortifications on the St. Marcouf Islands, 6000 yards off of Utah Beach. These fortifications could pose a serious threat to the Utah Beach landings, so the 4th Cavalry was assigned the mission of neutralizing them prior to the landing. The 4th Cavalry also had the mission of getting two troops ashore on D-Day to link up with the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions, to give them armor support.

At 0430 hours 6 June 1944, elements of Troop A, 4th Squadron and Troop B, 24th Squadron landed on the St. Marcoufs. They became the first seaborne American soldiers to land on French soil on D-Day. As the troops dashed from their landing craft they were met with silence. The Germans had evacuated the islands, but they did leave them heavily mined. Meanwhile one platoon of Troop B, 4th Squadron got ashore at Utah Beach and linked up with the 82nd Airborne. On 7 June the platoon surprised a German column and in a mechanized cavalry charge hit the column, routing it, with a loss of some 200 casualities. Heavy seas prevented Troop C from linking up with the 101st until 8 June.

As the American forces swung into the Cherbourg peninsula the 4th Cavalry performed screening missions. To prevent the Germans from escaping from the Cap de la Hague area, the 4th Squadron dismounted and seized all their objectives in five days of bloody fighting, capturing over 600 prisoners. For its gallant conduct at Cap de la Hague, the 4th Squadron less Troop B, received the French Croix de Guerre with Silver Star.

In the dash across France the 4th Cavalry assumed traditional cavalry missions of flank screening and protection of lines of communication for the VII Corps. By 3 September the 4th Cavalry had crossed into Belgium and by 15 September, had reached Germany and the Siegfried Line.

On the 19th, 20th and 21st of December 1944, while the attention of the world was on the Battle of the Bulge, some of the fiercest fighting of the war continued on the edge of the Hurtgen Forest, along the approaches to the Roer River. The 4th Cavalry was given the mission to seize the heavily defended town of Bogheim and take the high ground to its southeast. On the 19th of December, under ground fog, two troops of the 4th Cavalry, got into town undetected and engaged the Germans. Two other troops coming up to support, were caught in the open as the fog lifted and suffered heavy casualities. The two troops already in town successfully drove out the Germans by the afternoon. All four troop commanders had either been killed or wounded and over one fourth of the enlisted personnel had become casualities.

The next morning the 4th Squadron charged dismounted across two hundred yards of open fields to seize the high ground overlooking the town. In the battle for Bogheim, the 4th Squadron destroyed two battle groups of the 947th German Infantry and a company of the 6th Parachute Regiment. For its magnificent bravery at Bogheim the 4th Squadron was awarded the Distinguished Unit Citation.

On 25 March 1945, the 4th Cavalry crossed the Rhine River and swept further into Germany brushing aside light resistance and capturing hundreds of prisoners. The war ended with the 4th Cavalry in the Harz Mountains.