Knights of Freedom: With the Hell on Wheels Armored Division in World War II, A Story in PhoFred Brems was drafted in 1941, six months before Pearl Harbor. He spent all of World War II as a tanker, serving in the European Theater in the U. S. Army's most celebrated division, the 2nd Armored Division, known as "Hell on Wheels." One of the most renowned units in American military history, the 2nd served in North Africa, Sicily, and Europe and fought in celebrated engagements including Normandy, the Battle of the Bulge, and the Rhine campaign.