History of the XIII Corps

    In 180 days of combat in the European Theater of Operations, troops of the XIII corps fought from Holland to the Elbe River. Activated at Providence, Rhode Island, on December 7, 1942, under Major General Emil F. Reinhardt, the Corps was commanded in combat by Major General (later Lt. General) Alvan C. Gillem, Jr.

    Known operationally as CONTROL, assigned to Ninth Army and attached to British 21 Army Group, the XIII Corps pierced the Siegfried Line in November, 1944 and drove the Roar River.

    On February 23, 1945 the Corps assaulted and crossed this major German defense line west of the Rhine, and by completely routing the enemy along the Cologne Plain, it made a spectacular dash to the Rhine on March 31 at Wesel, beginning an unending and relentless drive eastward, which culminated in the Corps' spearhead reaching the Elbe River on April 12 in the vicinity of Tangermunde. In 180 days the troops of the XIII Corps had progressed to almost 50 miles from Berlin - the closest American troops came to the Nazi capital, just prior to V-Day.

    From November 1944 to May 1945 the troops of the XIII Corps had made their mark in history, pushing through the Siegfried Line to the Elbe, more than 300 miles, capturing over 247,000 prisoners of war and taking many key cities such as Viersen, Krefeld, Moers, Homburg, Munster, and Hannover.

    During the month after V-Day, units of the Corps began redeployment and on September 25, 1945, XIII Corps was inactivated at Camp Cook, California.