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THE
UNITED STATES ARMY’S RESPONSE TO DESTROY ENEMY ARMOR 1941
* ONE HUNDRED SIX BATTALIONS ACTIVATED * 1946 Background.,
On July 10, 1940, the War Department issued an order to establish the
Armored Force, at Fort Knox, Ky. The Armored Division, as the main
fighting unit, was organized to engage in fast moving offensive warfare:
breakthrough to the enemy-rear… using the combined arms concept.
Implemented expertly by General George Patton. The
mission to destroy enemy tanks was left to anti-tank units, the Field
Artillery and the U.S. Army Air Corp. The M4 Sherman, the basic tank
battalion weapon in 1943-45 was armed with the short-barreled 75MM field
gun. The M4 was no match against the German tanks thick armor, high
velocity, flat trajectory, long barreled 75MM and 88MM guns. Call
to Arms. On November 27, 1941
the War Department activated The ‘Tank Destroyer Force to carry out
the mission to SEEK, STRIKE AND DESTROY enemy tanks in defensive and
offensive action. Tank Destroyer Battalions entered combat in the
Tunisian Campaign in November 1942 equipped with the expedient 75MM Gun
Motor Carriage M3 (Halftrack). The M3 was phased out as the campaign
ended in Tunisia, North Africa, in 1943. In
the Homeric Battle of El Guettar, Tunisia, March 1943, the new
full-tracked M10 Tank Destroyer saw baptism of fire, with an open
turret, armed with a high powered, long barrel 3 inch gun to challenge
the German panzers. A
new full tracked vehicle, the M18 “Hellcat”, designed from the
ground up as a Tank Destroyer, armed with a high velocity 76MM gun was
the fastest armored fighting vehicle in World War II. The “Hellcat”
first saw action in Italy in June 1944,. and was in combat until the end
of the war. The M6 3” AT Gun with Prime Mover M3A1 Halftrack, a high velocity anti-tank gun was mounted on a split trailed carriage (modified from the 105 howitzer), with a sloped armor shield. Weighing in at 5,850 lb. the 3” gun required careful coordination and teamwork to operate and maneuver. It’s gun crew consisted of a Gun Commander, a Gunner, a Driver, and seven Cannoneers. 27 Towed Battalions were employed in the ETO. All but four were converted to Self-Propelled TD Battalions by March/April 1945.
By
1942 the U.S. Army Ordnance Bureau took action to strengthen the firepower of the Tank
Destroyers to meet the challenge of the expected mass employment of the
superior German tanks,
which the Americans would encounter after the Normandy invasion. Toward
the end of the M10 production, a new, more potent 90MM cannon was
developed to mount on the hulls of the M10 TD. In September 1944, the
M36 Tank Destroyer reached the front and proved to be the only American armored
fighting vehicle that could match the heavier German tanks in firepower.
(1400 of the famous M36 Jacksons fought in Europe.) The
Tank Destroyer Force of WWII was organized into Groups, Brigades and
Battalions. Each battalion was composed of 36 Tank Destroyers. A total
of 70 battalions were deployed overseas. The basic combat operations
concept was to support each Infantry
and each
Armored Division with one TD Bn. Wartime strength was about 100,000 TD
men. The
Tank Destroyers knocked out approximately 2,600 German Armored Track
Vehicles, including 300 in the Battle of the Bulge.. with an estimated
sacrifice of 5,000 Tank Destroyer Men killed in action. The key Tank
Destroyer contribution was helping the United States Army
conquer
the fear of the panzer and gain confidence to meet the challenge of the
German blitzkrieg
Farewell
to Arms.
A turning point in the future role of the Tank Destroyers occurred at
the Remagen Bridgehead on March 7, 1945. The M26 Pershing Tank Platoon,
14th Tank Bn, 9th Armored Division, armed with the 90MM gun, burst into
combat action. A group of high ranking general officers, including
General Patton, had been advocating the abolishment of the Tank
Destroyer Force as far back as 1943. The main argument was that the Tank
Destroyer Force had not accomplished the mission of massing to defeat
the German panzers, except at the Battle of El Guettar, Tunisia when the
899th TD Bn joined the 601St TD Bn and stopped Gen Rommel’s 10th
Panzer Division. The Germans failed to mount a blitzkrieg due to the
heavy tank losses in Russia And Allied control of the air space over the
battle field, until the Battle of the Bulge. Hitler assembled 2,100
tanks and assault guns for the Ardennes blitzkrieg. The 25 Tank
Destroyer Battalions were too spread out over the 80-mile front to mass
according to Tank Destroyer doctrine of defense of the blitzkrieg. The demilitarization of the Tank Destroyer Battalions began in the fall of
1945, without fanfare. Tank Destroyers were no more.
Vanished 1946- 1981. During the 35 years of oblivion and
obscurity, Tank Destroyer Battalions held separate annual reunions
around the United States. (They continue to do so). Members of several
west coast TD Battalions activated The
Tank Destroyer Association. In
1981. They built up a roster of 14,000 WWII Tank Destroyer Veterans,
and mailed out a periodic newsletter. They
memorialized the Tank Destroyer Force
Memorization. In 1982 the first National TD
Association Reunion was held at Ft. Hood, TX, the Tank Destroyer
Training Center in WWII. At the 1983 Reunion, again at Ft. Hood, the
Association dedicated a large monument to the memory of the TD Force of
WWII. In 1985 The Military Museum of Southern New England was
established, recreating “A” Co. 643rd TD Battalion. In 1986 The Tank
Destroyer Forces joined the Patton Museum. The third and last national
TD Reunion was held at Fort Knox, KY in Oct. 1989. (The National Tank
Destroyer Association began phasing out in November 1990). A Tank
Destroyer Force Monument located in the Armor Memorial Park, Fort Knox,
KY was dedicated on October 12, 1989. The Military Museum of Southern
New England arrived at Fort Knox, KY with an operational Tank
Destroyer… the M18 Hellcat.
On the National Level the Armored Forces Monument was dedicated on
November 11, 1991, located on Memorial Drive “Avenue of Heroes”,
Arlington, VA. The Tank Destroyer Forces exploits of WWII are clearly
depicted on this most impressive monument at the entrance of the
Arlington National Cemetery. The numerical designation of eighty-five
(85) Tank Destroyer combat formations in the European and Pacific
theaters are engraved in stone. In 1992 the outstanding history
of the Tank Destroyer Forces WWII was published and distributed.
The highlight of 1993 was the permanent display of one M10
“Wolverine” Tank Destroyer in the Patton Museum of Cavalry and
Armor. A second 3” Gun M10 was located outside near the entrance to
the Armor Memorial Park of the Patton Museum.
A second plaque on the Tank Destroyer Forces Monument and the 899th TD
Bn Monument were dedicated at a joint ceremony 9 Sept 1995. at The Armor
Memorial Park, Fort Knox, KY, where at the latest count 24 TD Battalion
monuments are located. (Prepared
by COL Cecil R. French, US Army Ret. 30 Jan 96, and revised 1 June 2002)
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