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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.z
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.
The
Tank Destroyers-WWII-Fort Benning Association (14 TD Battalions) funded
and dedicated an appropriate 50th Golden Anniversary Tank Destroyer
Monument on 9 Nov 1995 on the grounds of the National Infantry Museum,
Ft Benning, GA., and in January 1996 became national as the WWII TANK
DESTROYER SOCIETY. The organization publishes the PANTHER PRESS,
three times a year. A reunion was held at Fort Sill, OK,
on the fourth of July, 1997 to dedicate a Tank Destroyer Monument with
four plaques: The Tank Destroyer Society met at Fort Knox, KY around 11
November 1999 to dedicate the addition of two more plaques to the 1989
Tank Destroyer Association Monument,
one reflecting 85 Tank Destroyer combat formations, and
other the five Medal of Honor Tank Destroyer Men.
(* Reprinted from the
644th Tank Destroyer Battalion website. Prepared by COL
Cecil R. French, US Army Ret. 30 Jan 96, and revised 1 June 2002)
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612th Tank Destroyer
Battalion Association
