commanding the 82nd Airborne Division, this made both Frederick and Gavin (eight days younger than Frederick) the two youngest division commanders in the U.S. Army during the war. He led the 45th Division until September 10, 1945. The 45th saw heavy combat in French Alsace from December 1944 through to February 1945, and was pulled from the line to rehabilitate on February 17. In mid-March, it was assigned to XV Corps for Operation Undertone, the final drive into Germany. The division crossed the Rhine and advanced to the Main. Moving along the Main into Bavaria, participating in heavy fighting in Aschaffenburg from March 28 to April 3 and then drove to Nuremberg, taken in heavy fighting from April 16–20. Moving south, the division crossed the Danube on April 26, and opened up the path for the U.S. 20th Armored Division to drive on Munich. Reaching Munich on April 29, the division shifted from combat to occupation. The British Prime Minister, Sir Winston Churchill, declared that Robert Frederick was "the greatest fighting general of all time" and "if we had had a dozen more like him we would have smashed Hitler in 1942". Post-World War II After a period of occupation duty, the 45th Infantry Division prepared to return to the United States and Frederick relinquished command in September 1945. From 1 November 1945 to 19 August 1947 he was commandant of the Coast Artillery School, and presided over its move from Fort Monroe to Fort Winfield Scott. After a period of staff duty and recuperation (he had been wounded eight times), Major General Frederick was assigned to Allied occupation forces in Austria, commanding the U.S. Sector, of the Vienna Inter-Allied Command in 1948. From February 28, 1949 to October 10, 1950, he commanded the 4th Infantry Division, which had been reactivated as a training division at Fort Ord, California in 1947. In October 1950, the division was redesignated the 6th Infantry Division, and Frederick continued as its commanding general until 1951. In 1951, Frederick returned to Europe to take command of the Joint U.S. Military Aid Group, Greece (JUSMAG Greece). He retired on disability in March 1952. In the 1968 film The Devil's Brigade, which chronicled the formation, training and combat in Italy of the 1st Special Service Force, Robert T. Frederick was played by actor William Holden. Frederick died on November 29, 1970 in Stanford, California. V-42 combat knife