Attached Tank Destroyer Battalions

Tank destroyer battalions were a relatively new concept for the U.S. Army during World War II and designed largely in response to the German Blitzkrieg tactics that were unveiled in 1939. The U.S. Army, seeing the destructive power of German armor, quickly recognized that units specifically designed to destroy enemy tank were needed and rushed production of both tank destroyer battalions and weapons. By the time the United States entered World War II, most tank destroyer battalions were designated as towed battalions, meaning the guns were hitched to the back of a truck and towed to their desired location. When the gun crews got a fire mission, they unhitched their guns and physically maneuvered them into place to begin firing. As the war progressed and problems with speed of deployment and lack of mobility began become evident, the Army gradually converted many tank destroyer battalions from towed weapons to self-propelled guns, or guns that were mounted directed in or on vehicles for ease of mobility.

One of the first tank destroyers engaged in combat during World War II was the 601st Tank Destroyer Battalion. This unit is one of a select few in the U.S. Army who fought in all three major operational areas of the ETO, spending time in North Africa, Italy, and then France and Germany. This unit, which was formed just over a week after the attack on Pearl Harbor, deployed to Africa as one of the rare self-propelled tank destroyer battalions at the time and quickly proved its worth. The 601st earned a presidential unit citation in Africa for knocking out over 30 enemy tanks in one battle. Once the North Africa Campaign was completed, the 601st received new vehicles before being deployed to Italy to provide anti-tank fire as well as indirect fire support for infantry. After nearly a year in Italy, the battalion was transferred to France to provide support for units advancing towards Germany. The 601st was attached to the 103rd Infantry Division almost as soon as the 103rd began combat operations in France. It is likely that the guidance and support from the combat veterans of the 601st Tank Destroyer Battalion was beneficial for the officers and men of the 103rd as they endured their baptisms of fire in November 1944.

Both the 614th and the 824th Tank Destroyer Battalions were formed later in the war, and started as towed units. While both units had the same weapons upon their formation, there was one major difference between the two: the 614th Tank Destroyer Battalion was a segregated unit made up of African American soldiers. The unit was one of only a few selected units deployed to combat overseas. Throughout their training, the African American men of the 614th had feared that they would join the ranks of numerous other segregated units that were disbanded and had their troops assigned to non-combat support and logistical roles. After the arrival of the 824th and 614th to France in late 1944, the units provided fire support to either eliminate enemy armor, field guns, or in indirect fire support of infantry units. During their time in the ETO, the 824th Tank Destroyer Battalion, along with the majority of other tank destroyer battalions in the U.S. Army, were converted from a towed battalion to a self-propelled battalion when they were equipped with vehicles that had their 3-inch guns mounted on them.

The 614th Tank Destroyer Battalion (likely because they were a segregated unit) remained one of the few tank destroyer battalions that remained a towed unit throughout the course of the war. Despite this relative disadvantage in not receiving the newest equipment, the men of the 614th Tank Destroyer Battalion proved time and again their worth in combat, especially to the men of the 103rd Infantry Division. One example of the heroics that the men of the 614th Tank Destroyer Battalion displayed in combat was the action of then Lieutenant Charles Thomas on December 14, 1944. In this action, Lieutenant Thomas was seriously wounded in action, but continued to command his troops, helped evacuate the wounded, and ensured that his gun teams deployed and returned fire before being evacuated himself. For his actions, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. This award was later upgraded to the Medal of Honor in 1997. For more information on this or to read the full citation of the medal, please see the Division Awards and Citations page.

At the end of the war, the U.S. Army recognized that tank destroyer battalions as a concept were largely redundant in the American military arsenal. To help reduce costs in the post-war period, almost all of the tank destroyer battalions were disbanded, their troops discharged, and the weapons put into storage. Some of these guns were reintroduced during the Korean War but tank destroyer battalions essentially ceased to exist after World War II.