Posted on 12/17/2011 5:48:40 PM PST by InvisibleChurch
Each armored division was usually composed three armored regiments plus a headquarters. One of the armored regiments was held in division reserve and the other two were fighting regiments. Breakdown of the armored regiment was:
1 Tank Regiment, less one battalion
1 or 2 Infantry Battalion
1 Artillery Battalion
1 AAA Battery
1 Engineer Company
1 Tank Destroyer Company (12 TD)
1 Medical Company
1 Maintenance Company.
Each regiment was broken into two Task Forces:
TF-1
Tank Regimental HQ
1 Tank Battalion
1 Infantry Battalion less one company
1 Platoon of Engineers
1 Platoon of Tank Destroyers (4 TD)
TF-2
1 Tank Battalion
1 Infantry Company
1 Platoon of Engineers
1 Platoon of Tank Destroyers (4 TD)
The division included 158 light tanks, 232 medium tanks, 36 tank destroyers, 24 M4 105mm assault guns, 17 M8 assault guns, 54 M7 105mm SP artillery pieces, 54 M8 armored cars, 640 halftracks, 1,242 motor vehicles, and 8 light observation aircraft. The total personnel strength of the division was 14,664 (plus attachments).
Did your Dad fly “The hump’?
According to the old family bible, he was in 628th Tank Destroyer Bn (website about them here http://www.5ad.org/units/628td.html )
Initially TD battalions were a mix of towed AT guns and self propelled AT guns (called Gun Motor Carriages). These GMC were built on the M4 tank chassis and had thin, angled armor. These GMC in the M10-M10A1 series had open topped turrets and the 3-inch gun M7. Armor was sacrificed for speed. Unfortunately, this did not work because the TDs were pressed into service as tanks (they looked like them, but they weren't). This put the TD at a tactical disadvantage because it was to operate from ambush and not perform the assault role the tanks were to do.
Heavier German armor encountered in the Medirerranean Theater of Operations (and later European Theater of Operations) resulted in the upgrade of the M10s to a bigger gun. The rebuilt M10s were called M36s and carried the 90mm gun M3 in a larger, redesigned turret. The new 90mm gun helped level the battlefield when it came to knocking out the Tigers and Panthers, but did nothing to remedy the weak armor and lack of overhead protection for crewmen.
The M36 came in three distinct versions:
M36 — 90mm gun turret on 3” GMC M10A1 hull (M4A3 chassis) (1,298 produced/converted).
M36B1 — 90mm gun turret on Medium Tank M4A3 hull and chassis (187 produced/converted).
M36B2 — 90mm gun turret on 3” GMC M10 hull (M4A2 chassis, diesel) (287 produced/converted).
Total of all M36 produced/converted: 1,772.
When I was stationed in Germany I met a man who was a POW in the US for three years. He told me that he loved it - he farmed potatoes in Idaho.
That 15 year-old German soldier probably lived to see better days.
I do the same for my grandfather. I never knew him (he died the year I was born, with German shrapnel still in him) but I always look to see the guy they called “Stick”.
In order to move all the materiel they needed to launch Market-Garden in the fall they had to cancel delivery of winter gear. Had Market-Garden succeeded the war would have been over before winter. It was a gamble that obviously failed. The liberation of Paris also bears some blame. US Generals wanted to avoid freeing the city because it would eat up needed resources, especially fuel. They were over ruled but US troops paid the consequences.
There’s a “-4F” statement in the article.
My GGG grandfather had had two descendants killed in that battle two weeks and 5 miles apart. The first Victor J. Mangin was a member of the 110th infantry killed at Munshausen Lux on December 17th.(w/o their stand their wouldn’t have been any 101st at Bastogne)and Ralph C. Dages a member of the 134th infantry killed on January 1st.
Ping
“Thank you so much for this. My late father fought in this battle. I know it’s silly, but when I see pics/films from the BOTB, I always look at the faces to see if one of them might be him.”
That’s exactly what I do all the time. I look for him. He passed away seven years ago.
My Dad was in the 82nd. He had four combat jumps in WWII and two in the Korean Conflict. I just watched an old tv interview he did with a town historian. He describes those trenches. The same as the ones in these pictures, I guess. He talks about the Germans fleeing when they dropped in at 1:00 am....about five hours before the beach forces. He said taking over those trenches saved them a lot of digging. He was 20 years old.
No, he flew fighter support for those that did.
And here's the story that goes with the pictures....
The Lonely War of Lt. Eric Fisher Wood, Jr.
Saturday Evening Post, December 20, 1947
by R. Ernest Dupuy, Col. USA, Ret.
Told for the first time, the story of a young lieutenant who almost single-handedly saved the right flank of an American army in the Battle of the Bulge, "the most amazing example of heroism in World War II."
DARING indeed would be he who named one individual as the epitome of human heroism. Through the ages, men of all nations and all races have fought well and died well. Once in a great while, however, a man emerges who, under extraordinary circumstances, flings down the gauntlet to death, defies fate, says farewell to the conflict only when breath leaves his body. Since chance - and chance alone - decides whether or not there be witnesses to such an exploit, let us say of what follows only that it is the most amazing example of heroism as yet to come out of World War II.
Information regarding the location and operation during the Offensive can be found here.
Valient men.
When I came across this thread you were the first person I thought of. I knew you would be so interested, knowing your Dad’s war background.
It’s no wonder they were called ‘the greatest generation’.
[Wow! Those pictures are breathtaking!]
They sure are and I’m glad you saw them.
Merry Christmas to you too DC. I’m still ‘getting ready’, lol.
BTTT
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.