General Maurice Rose’s division “Spearhead,” the first division to penetrate the Siegfried Line
Gen. Maurice Rose
U.S. Maj. Gen. Maurice Rose is Buried in Germany in WWII 3rd Armored Division
Images from April 2, 1945, at Ittenbach, Germany, of the burial of Major General Maurice Rose, who was killed in action on March 30, 1945, in the advance on Paderborn, Germany. Also included is a still photo of his parents, Rabbi Samuel Rose and Katherine Rose, at their home in Denver, Colorado, after learning of his death. Gen. Rose, only 45 years old at the time, had led his 3rd Armored “Spearhead” Division through France and Belgium, and then becoming the first Allied ground force to invade German soil in WWII. Later in 1945, his body was re-interned in Margraten, The Netherlands, as all American servicemen buried in Germany were re-interned to Allied countries by order of the Army. (Army Signal Corps film research by Dan Fong, with editing and sound track by Vic Damon, both of 3AD.com web staff).
Rose joined the military in 1916 as a private and served along the Mexican border before fighting in the 89th division in Francein 1917. He rose through the ranks and during World War II he fought in the three most prominent American Army divisions: the 1st Armored division – “Old Ironsides” – in Africa, the 2nd Armored division – “Hell on Wheels” – in Italy, and was then promoted to Major General in the 3rd Armored division in Germany, which was given the nickname “Spearhead”. Under Rose, Spearhead became the first division to penetrate the Siegfried Line, one of Germany’s most important defenses.
Rose was killed in action on March 30, 1945. He was shot in the head while trying to surrender after a surprise ambush by three German tanks. Visit Jewish Virtual Library
Art Diamond, now 89, was in the 104th Infantry Division of the Seventh Corps of the 3rd Armored Division commanded by Gen. Maurice Rose in WW II.
The one and only time he saw Rose was in February, 1945 — but Diamond had no clue about his identity.
”We were responsible for clearing a roadblock on the road to Cologne, Germany, he says. It was very bad mined and zeroed in but the tanks had to get through. We were assigned the task of clearing the road.
”And there were casualties.
“Around 3 a.m., Army tanks began making their way across the road.”
The first tank passes, Diamond says. The second tank passes. The third tank passes.
”The fourth tank, an open half track, pulls over to the side. It was Gen. Rose.”
Rose hopped out of vehicle, went directly over to the wounded and shared words of encouragement in their darkest hour.
”I’d never seen a major general do anything like that,” Diamond says. ”I asked the driver, ’who in the world is that?’”
“The driver said, ‘Oh, that’s General Rose. He’s our guy. He’s always at the front. We call him our point man our spearhead man. Whenever the tanks are rolling, he’s up front.’” visit Jewish News for his memorial
Remembering General Maurice Rose