113th Cavalry Group

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	Iowa National Guard

Normandy // Northern France // Rhineland // Central Europe

Commander: William S. Biddle, COL, CAV

Fourragere

The 113^th Cavalry Group (Mecz) under command of Colonel William S. Biddle, Cavalry, with the 113^th and 125^th Cavalry Squadrons, went into action at St. Jean de Haye on 4 July 1944 , where it engaged the 17^th SS Panzer Grenadier Division headed for Carentan and Isigny.  Next came St. Lo with the 35^th Infantry Division on 28 July.  Bypassing St. Lo, it moved toward Percy to join the 2d Armored Division and became engaged with elements of the 116^th Panzer Division.  After this action it moved on to Vire with the 2d Armored.  13 August found the group in an offensive mission at Mortain, advancing with the XIX Corps to the Faliaise Gap. On 20 August the Group closed a 35 mile gap between XIX Corps and V Corps.  Contact was established between American and British Troops which closed the Falaise-Argentan Gap.  Early  in September, the 113^th shared the honor of being one of the first units to enter Holland .  About 25 December 1944, the 113^th was in the Aachen area on an offensive mission but later moved to the northern edge of the Hurtigen Forest, where it held a sector on the northern shoulder of the Bulge.  Early in February, the group in the attack took part in the Roer crossing with the XIX Corps, and in March it had the mission of filling the gap between XIX and XIII Corps during the Rhine crossings.  Later in March and early in April still on the offensive, the 113^th  took part in sealing off a large enemy pocket in the Hartz Mountains after which it moved to the Elbe River and established contact with the Russians at Spallinsdorf on 20 April.   

This article is extracted from a supplemental student text (undated) written for the US Army Armor School by LTC (Ret) James W. Cooke