Tank Killers
Page 29
By late April, the 701st Tank Destroyer Battalion’s AAR reflected a hope that cheered many a weary warrior:
A great valley had been crossed as the Fifth Army advanced from the Apennines to the Alps. A major water obstacle had been crossed, and the German armies in Italy had been virtually destroyed. The spring offensive had been a gratifying success.
For the officers and men of the 701st Tank Destroyer Battalion, this month meant the completion of thirty-five long, arduous months of overseas service. This was perhaps the most singly important month of them all to us, for at long last the end of the European war seemed in sight. Elements of this battalion were among the first American ground forces to engage the Nazi enemy in this war. It was a gratifying thought that the end was so near….
In the closing days of the month, some of the 701st men who came ashore in the first landing at Oran saw their last action supporting the 10th Mountain Division advance along Lake Garda in the Alps. The Americans mounted small amphibious operations to bypass roadblocks and AT guns hidden in tunnels on the east side of the lake. Newly minted Capt John Hudson, now commanding C/701st Tank Destroyer Battalion, mounted two M10s on an old freight boat. When his guns fired on some German activity on the far side of the lake, the vessels jumped six feet sideways and dumped an unsecured jeep into ninety feet of cold water.41
* * *
North of the Alps, the S-3 for the 818th Tank Destroyer Battalion, which was approaching the German-Austrian border with the 26th Infantry Division, recorded the following notation for 2230 hours on 1 May in his journal: “Radio announcement unofficial that Hitler was dead (good riddance).” By that day, the Germans were estimated to have no more than two hundred tanks or assault guns along the entire Western Front, half of them in front of Third Army, where remnants of the Sixth Panzer Army had reappeared from the Eastern Front.42
But men continued to die until the very end. On 2 May, Lt Joseph Keeby, the reconnaissance officer in the 614th Tank Destroyer Battalion who had led the raid near Prinzheim three months earlier, died with five of his men in a fight on the outskirts of Scharnitz, Austria.43
* * *
On 5 May, M10s of 3d Platoon, C/804th Tank Destroyer Battalion, advanced up the winding Italian alpine road into the Brenner Pass with doughs of 1/339th Infantry Regiment, 85th Infantry Division. About the same time, two platoons of Shermans from C/781st Tank Battalion, a platoon from C/614th Tank Destroyer Battalion, and doughs from the 103d Infantry Division, entered the pass from the German side. A German guard, complete with burp gun and potato mashers, halted the column at a bridge with a red lantern to warn them that the heavy tracked vehicles could make it across only if they drove slowly. They drove slowly. At 1615 hours, the two columns encountered one another eight miles inside Italy. Fifth and Seventh armies had joined forces.44
* * *
German representatives signed documents of capitulation in the wee hours of 7 May. To the world, General of the Army Dwight Eisenhower declared simply, “The mission of this Allied Force was fulfilled at 0241, local time, May 7, 1945.” At midnight on 8 May, the war in Europe was over for everyone. The AAR of the 645th Tank Destroyer Battalion, whose men had seen and done much since landing in southern Italy so long before, recorded:
May 8th, the long awaited day for the 645th TD Bn. (VE Day). Most of the men in the battalion could hardly believe it was true. With over five hundred fifteen days in direct contact with the enemy to our credit, a great proud feeling is felt within us. We have made our contribution to this hard-won victory. First thoughts went to the folks back home, and each man wrote that letter that their loved ones were waiting for. “The war is over,” and I am healthy and sound. Second thoughts went to our comrades who have fallen in battle. We had become like brothers, and their absence has made our joy subdued.45
The end of the war found the men of the 601st Tank Destroyer Battalion, some of whom had come all the way from Oran, drinking champagne liberated from Hitler’s cellars in Berchtesgaden. “For a teetotaler,” noted the battalion history, “der Führer carried a wicked supply of everything good to drink.”46
Mission Accomplished
The TD battalions had racked up some astonishing accomplishments. The first outfit to enter combat, the 701st Tank Destroyer Battalion, had knocked out eighty-seven armored fighting vehicles—or nearly three times its own strength in tank destroyers. This was actually a fairly low total, however, because the battalion had fought in Italy, where panzers were scarce. The other battalion in action since Operation Torch, the 601st Tank Destroyer Battalion, claimed one hundred fifty-five tanks and SP guns.
The tank killers had fought the greatest number of panzers after busting into Fortress Europa at Normandy.
The 823d claimed to have won the kill title out of all fifty-six TD battalions in the ETO—one hundred thirteen tanks, including sixty-eight Mark IVs, twenty-seven Panthers, and eighteen Tigers—as well as the First and Ninth armies’ records for tanks destroyed in a single day. The battalion accomplished this feat despite landing at Normandy with towed guns. The outfit fired 4,193 rounds of 3-inch ammunition directly and 33,486 rounds indirectly during the campaign.47
But who really knows who was champ? The 773d Tank Destroyer Battalion also claimed one hundred thirteen panzers destroyed, plus twenty-five SP guns.48 After landing on D+3, the 702d Tank Destroyer Battalion claimed to have destroyed one hundred three panzers, fifty-one SP and AT guns, and one hundred twenty vehicles.49
In general, the towed battalions had not proved as valuable as the self-propelled units. The 635th Tank Destroyer Battalion made it past VE Day before receiving orders to convert to M18s. It had engaged a total of only eleven German tanks after D+2. The towed battalion’s limited ability to contribute to American combat might was a testament to the regrettable tendency of the generals to prepare to fight the last conflict. Western Europe had not been North Africa.50
A U.S. Army study of thirty-nine TD battalions of all types indicated that they, on average, destroyed thirty-four tanks, seventeen towed guns, and sixteen pillboxes. In aggregate, the TDs’ contribution was huge. Tank destroyer battalions in Third Army alone claimed the destruction of six hundred eighty-six tanks and two hundred thirty-nine SP guns (as of 28 April 1945). Total TD losses (as measured by replacements) in the entire ETO were five hundred thirty-nine M10s, two hundred fifteen M18s, one hundred fifty-one M36s, and two hundred twenty-eight towed guns.51
The kill/loss ratio for the tank destroyer arm was extremely favorable, particularly considering that American forces were usually on the attack. At one extreme, the 703d Tank Destroyer Battalion destroyed ten tanks or SP guns for every TD it lost in action.52 More typical numbers were good but lower. The 634th Tank Destroyer Battalion between 29 June 1944 and 8 May 1945 destroyed sixty-eight tanks and SP guns in exchange for twenty-eight M10s and one M8.53 The 628th eliminated fifty-six panzers for the loss of eighteen TDs.54
Overall, the tank destroyer battalions in the ETO had suffered far lower human casualties proportionately than other front-line units. One study indicated that on average a TD battalion could expect monthly losses of 6 percent of T/O strength. One out of four battle casualties did not require evacuation, according to the study, while one out of three men evacuated returned within sixty days.55 To give an idea of absolute numbers, the 634th Tank Destroyer Battalion between 29 June 1944 and 8 May 1945 lost seventy-six men killed and one hundred seventy-five wounded.56 From D+3 to VE Day, the 702d Tank Destroyer Battalion lost sixty men killed in action.57 The 601st Tank Destroyer Battalion, which had been in actual combat five hundred forty-six days from North Africa to Bavaria, suffered six hundred eighty-three casualties, including one hundred ten men killed.58
* * *
But tanks had done well, too. Patton noted in a 19 March 1945 letter that tanks had destroyed the majority of the 2,287 panzers his men had knocked out after becoming operational on 1 August 1944.59 Moreover, the line between the tank and the destroyer in combat had become
so blurry as to be nearly impossible to see. Patton had been right when he predicted the TD would become just another tank.
The ETO’s General Board studying tank destroyers concluded that the trend toward tanks with the same fire power and mobility as the TDs, and the incorporation of adequate antitank defenses in the infantry divisions, rendered the tank destroyer superfluous. The board recommended that the Tank Destroyer Force be dissolved.60
And so it was done.
Appendix A
Tank Destroyer Battalions by Campaign 1
North African Theater of Operations
Algeria/French Morocco (8–11 November 1942)
601st, 701st
Tunisia (17 November 1942–13 May 1943
601st, 701st, 776th, 805th, 813th, 894th, 899th
Mediterranean Theater of Operations
Sicily (9 June 1943–17 August 1943)
601st (the 636th and 813th also sent elements but were not officially credited)
Naples-Foggia (9 September 1943–21 January 1944)
601st, 636th, 645th, 701st, 776th, 805th, 894th
Rome-Arno (22 January 1944–9 September 1944)
601st, 636th, 645th, 701st, 776th, 804th, 805th, 813th, 894th, 899th
North Apennines (10 September 1944–4 April 1945)
679th, 701st, 804th, 805th, 894th
Po Valley (5 April 1945–8 May 1945)
679th, 701st, 804th, 805th, 894th
European Theater of Operations
Normandy (6 June–24 July 1944)
603d, 607th, 612th, 629th, 630th, 634th, 635th, 644th, 654th, 702d, 703d, 704th, 705th, 774th, 801st, 802d, 803d, 813th, 818th, 821st, 823d, 893d, 899th, (1st Tank Destroyer Brigade)
Northern France (25 July–14 September 1944)
602d, 603d, 607th, 609th, 610th, 612th, 614th, 628th, 629th, 630th, 631st, 634th, 635th, 638th, 644th, 654th, 691st, 702d, 703d, 704th, 705th, 773d, 774th, 801st, 802d, 803d, 813th, 814th, 817th, 818th, 821st, 823d, 825th, 893d, 899th, (1st Tank Destroyer Brigade)
Southern France (15 August–14 September 1944)
601st, 636th, 645th
Rhineland (15 September–21 March 1945)
601st, 602d, 603d, 605th, 607th, 609th, 610th, 612th, 614th, 628th, 629th, 630th, 631st, 634th, 635th, 636th, 638th, 643d, 644th, 645th, 648th, 654th, 656th, 661st, 691st, 692d, 702d, 703d, 704th, 705th, 771st, 772d, 773d, 774th, 776th, 801st, 802d, 803d, 807th, 808th, 811th, 813th, 814th, 817th, 818th, 820th, 821st, 822d, 823d, 824th, 825th, 827th, 893d, 899th, (1st Tank Destroyer Brigade)
Ardennes-Alsace (16 December 1944–25 January 1945)
601st, 602d, 603d, 607th, 609th, 610th, 612th, 614th, 628th, 629th, 630th, 631st, 634th, 635th, 636th, 638th, 643d, 644th, 645th, 654th, 691st, 692d, 702d, 703d, 704th, 705th, 772d, 773d, 774th, 801st, 802d, 803d, 807th, 808th, 809th, 811th, 813th, 814th, 818th, 820th, 823d, 824th, 827th, 893d, 899th, (1st Tank Destroyer Brigade)
Central Europe (22 March–11 May 1945)
601st, 602d, 603d, 605th, 607th, 609th, 610th, 612th, 614th, 628th, 629th, 630th, 631st, 633d, 634th, 635th, 636th, 638th, 643d, 644th, 645th, 648th, 654th, 656th, 661st, 691st, 692d, 702d, 703d, 704th, 705th, 771st, 772d, 773d, 774th, 776th, 801st, 802d, 803d, 807th, 808th, 809th, 811th, 813th, 814th, 817th, 818th, 820th, 821st, 822d, 823d, 824th, 825th, 827th, 893d, 899th, (1st Tank Destroyer Brigade)
Appendix B
Battalion Profiles
601st Tank Destroyer Battalion1
1st Infantry Division Provisional Antitank Battalion converted to 601st Tank Destroyer Battalion on 15 December 1941. Company C of the original battalion consisted mainly of Battery D, 5th Field Artillery, the only Army unit with a continuous history from the Revolutionary War. Arrived at Gourock, Scotland, on 9 April 1942. Reconnaissance Company landed at Oran, Algeria, on 8 November as part of Operation Torch, and rest of battalion arrived in December. Fought in Battle of Kasserine Pass in February 1943 and at El Guettar in March. Converted to the M10 at end of North Africa campaign. Participated in invasion landings at Salerno, Italy, on 9 September. Made third D-day assault at Anzio on 22 January 1944 and entered Rome in June. Conducted fourth assault landing in southern France on 15 August. Advanced to German border in the Vosges region. Participated in reduction of Colmar Pocket in February 1945, then converted to the M36. Battled along the Siegfried Line until crossing the Rhine on 22 March. Helped capture Nürnberg in April and ended the war occupying Hitler’s retreat at Berchtesgaden in Bavaria. Attached to: 1st Armored Division; 1st, 3d, 9th, 34th, 36th, 45th, 103d Infantry divisions.
602d Tank Destroyer Battalion2
2d Infantry Division Provisional Antitank Battalion converted to 602d Tank Destroyer Battalion on 15 December 1941. Equipped with M10s, then M18s before leaving the States. Arrived in Scotland on 29 July 1944 and at Omaha Beach on 26 August. Committed to battle along Moselle River on 9 September. Supported operations leading to capture of Metz, France, in November. Transferred to Belgium during Ardennes Offensive, arriving at Neufchateau on 21 December. Supported operations against the Bulge in January 1945. Fought through Siegfried Line in February. Returned to Moselle River area in March, crossed Rhine River at Boppard on 26 March. Advanced through Gotha, Eisenach, and Zwickau in April. Attached to: 17th Airborne Division; 4th and 11th Armored divisions; 26th, 28th, 80th, 87th, 89th, and 90th Infantry divisions; 2d and 6th Cavalry groups.
603d Tank Destroyer Battalion3
Activated on 15 December 1941 at Fort Lewis, Washington, from the antitank platoons of the 3d Infantry Division. Issued T70s (M18s) in October 1943, arrived at Cannock, England, on 18 April 1944. Landed at Utah Beach on 21–22 July. Committed to battle on 28 July during Cobra breakout. Advanced through Brittany to Brest and then Lorient in August, and raced east to the Moselle River sector in September. Fought east of Nancy, France, in October and supported push to the Saar River in November. Battled to Sarreguemines in December, shifted to Bastogne area to support counterattack against the Bulge. Crossed Our River and fought through Siegfried Line in February 1945. Moved to Seventh Army sector in March, reached Rhine River at Rhine-Durkheim on 21 March. Reassigned to Third Army, crossed river at Oppenheim on 25 March. Attacked through Fulda Gap toward Erfurt in late March and April. Helped liberate Buchenwald on 11 April. Reached advance limit line at Mittweida circa 15 April. Attached to: 17th Airborne Division; 4th, 6th Armored divisions; 3d Cavalry Group.
605th Tank Destroyer Battalion4
Reorganized from the 5th Antitank Battalion (Provisional), 5th Infantry Division, on 16 December 1941 at Fort Custer, Michigan. Arrived at Clyde, Scotland, on 16 December 1944. Landed at Le Havre, France, on 26 January 1945 equipped with towed guns. Entered battle on 16 February near Tevern, Germany. Crossed Roer River on 24 February and joined drive to the Rhine. Deployed to Remagen bridgehead on 12 March. Withdrawn on 17 March and sent to Belgium to support British armored forces, but almost immediately attached to 17th Airborne Division. Crossed Rhine beginning 25 March at Xanten. Participated in reduction of the Ruhr Pocket in April. Crossed Elbe River on 30 April–1 May at Bleckede. Attached to: 17th, 82d Airborne divisions; 79th, 84th, 102d Infantry Division; 11th Cavalry Group; British 33d Armored Brigade.
607th Tank Destroyer Battalion5
Activated on 15 December 1941 at Fort Ord, California, from the 7th Infantry Division Provisional Antitank Battalion. Converted to a towed battalion in May 1943. Arrived at Liverpool, England, on 21 April 1944. Disembarked at Utah Beach 17–23 June. Supported advance on Cherbourg, fought along Seves River in July. Participated in drive to Le Mans and envelopment of the Falaise Pocket in August. Advanced to Moselle River in September and supported operations against Metz through November. Converted to a self-propelled battalion equipped with M36s in time for final assaut. Joined drive toward Saar River, capture of Saarlautern, and subsequent fight against Siegfried Line in December. Deployed to the Ardennes sector in January 1945. Committed against Siegfried Line again in February in the Schnee Eifel. Supported the capture of Koblenz in mid-March.
Crossed the Rhine River at Boppard on 25 March. Sliced through Hessen and Thüringen during April and reached the Czechoslovak border near Plauen by mid-April. Thereafter remained in defensive positions. Attached to: 82d Airborne Division; 9th, 28th, 87th, 90th, 95th Infantry divisions; 6th Cavalry Group.
609th Tank Destroyer Battalion6
Activated on 15 December 1941 at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Landed at Utah Beach on 20 September 1944 equipped with M18s. Went into corps reserve beginning 28 September east of Moutier, France, where crews fired artillery missions through October. Joined operations against Siegfried Line in November and early December. Most of Company C moved to Bastogne on 18 December with 10th Armored Division; remainder of battalion fought along Sauer River. Entire battalion fought to eliminate the Bulge in January 1945. Deployed to Saar-Moselle triangle in February. Participated in capture of Trier in March. Supported attack south and east out of Mannheim bridgehead across the Rhine in late March and April and reached southern Bavaria near Füssen by the end of the month. Attached to: 101st Airborne Division; 10th Armored Division; 90th, 94th Infantry divisions.
610th Tank Destroyer Battalion7
Activated on 11 April 1942 at Camp Barkeley, Texas, as a towed battalion. Arrived Greenock, Scotland, on 11 June 1944. Landed at Utah Beach on 31 July. Committed to action 10 August near Craon, France, and participated in elimination of Falaise Pocket. Raced east to the Moselle River by September. Converted to the M36 in September–October. Helped clear Maginot Line fortifications in November. Ordered to the Ardennes on 21 December. Helped eliminate the Bulge in January 1945. Battled through Siegfried Line in February near Brandscheid. Transferred back south in March. Crossed the Rhine at Worms on 29 March. Raced through central and southern Germany in April and reached the vicinity of Munich by month’s end. Ended war in Ingolstadt. Attached to: 4th, 26th, 35th, 42d, 80th, 87th Infantry divisions; 101st Cavalry Group.