US Armor Cavalry

u.s.

Armor-Cavalry (1917-1967

A Short History Duncan

Crow

Editor AFV/Weapons series

Profile Publications Limited

Windsor, Berkshire, England

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3

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Bound

Belfast 1939-1971 

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©  Duncan Crow and Profile Publications Limited 

1 SBN 0 8538 3 084 3 First published in 1973, by PROFILE PUBLICATIONS LIMITED Windsor, Berkshire, England

Printed in England by Edwin Snell printers, Yeovil, Somerset

Contents Page To 1918

The United States Tank Corps

II II

91

9-

94

The Mechanized Force

10

940-1 945

1

The Armored Divisions

16

The Armored Corps

22

Separate (Non-Divisional) Tank Battalions

22

Cavalry

27

Tank Destroyers

35

U.S Marine Corps Armor

38

1945-1950

42

The U.S. Constabulary

42

Armor, Cavalry and Armored Cavalry

45

Since

1950

48

The Armored Divisions

48

Army Reserve and National Guard

54

The Combat Arms Regimental System

55

Appendix

59

Index

62

Colour illustrations:

29 32, 33 36

[I '' of Ihe lS (la ler 3041h

u.s.

Tank Bri ade dW ;l1g an allack (U.S. Sign

October 7. 1918;17 the use,Argo"nee offensi use,Argo"n offensi ve. orps Photo No. 111 SC 27 424 in the tional Archives)

Armored Organization an Crow

(TO 1918) ::.::::::c

-=

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.....".,.,.-- - : n - - ' : : : -

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ited it ed State America becam in April 191 7, tanks had already ~  on the battlefield. Th British had ::-. ;: omme on Sept mber 15, 1916 :! io al nk companies organi ed en h had ten tank companies eir first tank ction on Aplil :-,

t'

::' mi g ehicl es al ea dy existed n' ed States before 1917 =.: ::: ry ircles. As in several :..>: :: ltat iv ivee AFVs had been

:"::''0'

.:..

; : d 

-:- C: ,\.-:-

car was only partially R. P. Davidson of the

Illinois National Guard in 1898 it was Colt automatic gun with a steel shield, mounted on three-wheeled Duryea passenger runabout. This was followed by two steam-driven cars built by cadets at the Northwestern Military an Naval Academy which D vids n was commandant. The performance of these two cars on road run from Chicago to Washington ufficiently impressed Lieutenant-General Nelson A. Miles on the eve of his retirement as Commanding General of the Army in 1903 for him to recommend to the Secretary of the fifteen cavalry regiments be con, Wa that five verted to an automobile corps. Nothing, however came of this first suggestion for cavalry mech nization and indeed it wa not until 1 16 that motorization arrived initially in the United States Army. Colonel Davidson continued his development armored cars an in 1915 produ ced the first first true rmored ca in the United State Th following year the first American armored unit appeared. Tw Regular Army units were formed for duty on the Mexican border. One

was equipped with armored Jeffery Quad trucks known as Armored Cars No. I, the other with armored White trucks known as Armored Cars N o . 2 both units also had motor-cycle machine-guns. Th New York National Guard also formed an armored unit, the 1 Armored Motor Battery which served on the Mexican border equipped with three uns; an the Michigan National Guard another of the great number of National Guard units that were called into Federal service for patrol duty along the Mexican border took an improvized Re armored ca with them. Although the Punitive Expedition into Mexico that resulted from Pancho Villa raid was principally horsed cavalry action, "the last such in American history," as the official history of Armor-Cavalry relates·, this force, under Major-General John J. Pershing, was an important harbinger, for it introduced motor trucks as part of the supply system. Although these trucks caused concern among their protagonists, and quiet jubilation among their opponents, because of frequent lnechanical breakdown reactions that were standard in all armies throughout the world whenever an wherever the horse was threatened by the internal combustion engine lheir appearance on the military scene began the inexorabl domination of the machine as a means of military transport and as a fighting vehicl in the U.S. Anny. By this time the inventors were busy in the United States as elsewhere in developing the tracklaying type of p. 34 Armor- avalry Part I: Regular Army an Ar by Mary Le Stu bbs and Stanley Ru ssel Connor. Offic Chief of Military History, 1969. (Arm Lineage Series.) Re er

In 1916

e Ne

rk Nati

l Guard 1

Arm

d MOlor Batler

ed lhi

A F V - t h e tank. There was an idea once current and perhaps still is in some places--that inventions come

from what has been called "the hermit genius, spinning inventions ou his intellectual and psychic innards. There is little truth in this. Inventions like scientific research ar in fact a social phenomenon. Th social climate and social institutions have to be sympathetic invention a social phenomenon that there are fashion in them just as there ar fashions in clothes. Trench war fare on the scale that solidified the Western Front from September 1914 created a fashion for armed and armored tracklayers--vehicles that, for security reasons in the first place, were given the non-commital cover name of "tank ". Early tank operations on the Westel11 Front were far from wholly successful. On result of this was that the American Military Mission in Paris which had been directed to examine the use of tanks by the British and the French, drew more attention to the tanks defects than to the new opportunities they offered for breaking the stalemate on the Western Front and declared them failure. Th Military Mission's report, dated Ma 21 1917, reflected an attitude very similar to that of the German High Command. Both regarded the failure of the tank to make decisive impact as something that was attributable to an inherent fault in the weapon itself, instead of recognizing as its supporters did that the failure was the result of the weapon misuse. But the lukewarm report of the Military Mission had no ultimate effect on policy. Soon after General Pershing's arrival in France on June 13 1917, as Com mander-in-Chief, American Expeditionary Forces (AEF), the tank an its possibilities were studied in Locom bile Armored Car one

three s imilar car

differelJl make

(Courte

C.

Sutton)

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is o / l h i si mulated umk on Sa

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Francisco

in

17.

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ral Am ri an ex per;,n nt

ommittees reporting to board pri ncipal conclusions were that th ich w destined to become an  to rlus war:" that heavy an light :: used: and that there should be o m m e n d a t i o n s 

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ac

Holt Gas·Electric pr tot pe 0/191

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nson m unted

Bro

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in

the lra klaying ty e o AFV, een h re

(Outlo

Wilh

lements

Maga ine)

these became the equipment for the new American tank force. Instead, for the heavy tank, the British Mark VI was proposed an 600 were provisionally ordered an for the light tank modified Renault was to be produced in the United States Th Mark VI, designed by Major W. G. Wilson and with Ricardo engine existed only as a wooden model. Although it ha longer ground contact than previous Marks this increased length was no considered sufficient no the engine powerful enough, for Western Front conditions by the two U.S. Ordnance Department officers Major Alden an Drain, who were appointed by Pershing in October to study the design and con struction of British tanks in detail. In December the provisional order for the Mark VIs was cancelled indeed no Mark VI was ever built an in its place a

the Project for the as drafted. Th Corps was to .: =- :: :: ;. ank battalions equipped with ::::, 3:::::; ea\)' type and twenty light tank th French light _  : - . : : . . r ; ~  Wilh tanks in course of production). . ; : > e  " ' :  lh e Project on September 23, 1917. = = : ~ .' ;.;::: 'eral perimental tanks had been -: ......::;:. - : : m companies, nd others ha been inventor In th event none " . . . : : : l ~ .:-:>e

r _ ~ I : .

f.

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machin

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ar

un,

thi photogra h.

t ill tall

in

view does n

show

5'mm moumain gun

(U S. Ordnan

Department)

Th Skelelon Tank 1917 buill by Ihe Pi eer Troc/or Company was an allempl 10 ael,iel e tre clt-crossing ability co mbilled illt ligh/ness and cheap ess. 11 lIever !Venl into production (Courtesy Col. G. Jarretl)

Britislt Mark V tanks lite 301s/ Ballalion, 2nd (Ialer 305 11t U.S. Tank Brigade flying Ihe Stars and Siripes on Iheir way forward /0 Ih Boul lle in Clo ber 1918. (U.S. Si na Corps) tlt

wo U.S. Sigllal Corps cameromell riding 011 th e spo son British Mark IV supply tank the 2nd (IGier 305th) U Tank Brigqde durillg Ihe Siormillg o f l h e flilldellburg Line 01 the nd plember 19 whell Ihe brigade firs (U National Archives) saw co bal.

tanks, designed by the U.S. Ordnance Deparlrnent and weighing three arler Ihe Armistice ill November 1918.

a" T > ~ · 0 · j 1 a n  -7

; : : - ~ 

••

11

January 1918 under which

:..-.: -' ar k VIII, with longer ground the Mark VI, .:r. gine power

ge numbers by the United -=- ;: :'.!E -: e. The United States would issions, and track parts; :.: 0L track plates, and arma Z:: :, ; ~ )  erect the assembly plant. This Th German March offensive, the the inability of American ~ : - : : .  an __ 0: Liberty engines in sufficient tors that delayed production :.:: ;;.) '.-lark VIIIs were ready in time

~ - y

--:-: - ' - _ ':-=-

:::.: _

....

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esults in the light tank program. on November 11,1918, no j , t i c d eached the U.S. Tank Corps SLx-Ton MI917 tanks, as the Renault FT was called, arrived Ha the war continued , however, long c. Ji erent story to tell. Th ,::; the r o d u c t i o n  was over an delivering their full o utpu t. :-.

I,ni

ihev ha

.

been withdrawn (rom (U.S . A·rmy)

/O/1S,

were ordered. Only 15 were (Col. R. J. leks)

In the event, of course, this full output was aborted. Orders were cancelled, development ceased. Even so, by mid-1919 the Tank Corps had 863 American-built tanks and, after 300 more had been delivered on out standing contracts, 1,163. Though too late for World Wa I these had still a vital part to play, for they were the mainstay of American armored training in the inter-war years: between 1920 an 1935 only 35 new tanks were built. Furthermore many of them were to become the mechanical foundation of another great armored force. In 1940 they were sold to Canada at a nominal price as training vehicles for the budding Canadian Armoured Corps. TH

U N I T E D STATES T A N K CORPS

At the same time as the equipment for the new arm of the U.S. Army was being ordered, General Pershing developed the plans for a tank corps in the AEF. Its size was based a projected expeditionary force of 20 combat divisions. There were to be a General Head quarters and 25 tank battalions-five of them heavy, the remainder light. Th planned number of heavy batta lions was subsequently increased to 10. In addition there were to be 10 brigades, three tank centers, and two army tank HQ. All the units were to be under command of GHQ, Tank Corps, an would then be allotted to armies or lower formations for specific operations, on the completion of which they would revert to control. An army tank consisted of ai HQ an heavy mobile ordnance repair shop and was intended to work at an almy HQ level. The brigades were operational commands. The function of the tank ·center was to train personnel an provide reinforcements. On December 22, 1917, Colonel Samuel D. Rocken bach, a Quartermaster officer with over 20 years'

January 26, 1918, assembly of the Tank Corps began Its uthorized strength was 14 827. Th light tank service was to organize in France, the heavy tank service in England. Th light tank service was commanded by Lt-Col. George S. Patton Jr. an started with 22 second lieutenants transferred from the Co st Artillery Th heavy tank service, commanded by Lt-Col. Conrad S. Babcock, began with 58 unassigned Engineer Reserve Officers an 38 enlisted men. Theoretically, according to the tables of organization an equipment (TOE) a light tank battalion was to consist of 72 light tanks and a heavy tank batt lion of 69 heavy tanks. In both types of battalion there were to be three companies of three platoons, each platoon with company HQ. A tank brigade was to five tanks an have two light battalions, a' heavy battalion a repair and salvage company, and a brigade HQ. Th United States Tank Corps and it is unnecessary to add the words "i World Wa becau se the designa tion was abolished in 1920 and has never been re urrected :S. Tank Corps was organized in two distinct -the parts. While this dichotomy is understandable from the operational and organizational points of view it gives ri se to so me confusion unless the explanation is taken in some detail. The two parts were: the Tank Corps, American Expeditionary Forces (Tank Corps AEF); and the stateside Tank Service National Army (as it was originally called). Authority for the Tank Service, National Army was given on February 18, 1918 twenty-three days after the Tank Corps AEF, began as embling was authorized under the Chief of Engineers. Three weeks later, on March 5, by which time organization of the first tank units had started, the Engineers shed their tutelage and the Tank Service National AllUy, became a separate branch. Seventeen days after that March 22, the Tank Service National Army was re-designated the Tank Corps, National Army. There was thus now a Tank Corps, AEF, in France and England and a Tank Corps, National Army, in the United States. The first director of the Tank Corps National Army, was Colonel Ir C. Welborn. His duties were to organize, arm, equip and train tank unit in the United States, and he was responsible for all tank activities there. The authorized strength of th Tank Corps National Army, was slightly greater than that of the Tank Corps, AE 914 officers and 14,746 men Th primary tank training camp in the United States wa Camp Colt, Penn yl vania, whose commander during some seven months of 1918 was Dwight D. Eisenhower. DUling the course of thi command Eisenhower was promoted from Captain to Lieutenant-Colonel, and while he welcomed this promotion his satisfaction was nevertheless tinged with regret because it meant that he was not allowed to take the first U.S. tank unit overseas in fact he had got as far as the New York docks in command of this unit when he was hauled back to run Colt. While there was an ultimate relationship between the two Tank Corps in that the Tank Corps National Almy, was raising and tr ining units for action on the Western Front in the Tank Corps, AEF, there was no direct command relationship between them Among other complications this diarchy initially gave rise to duplica tion in unit designations. But this duplication was soon eliminated and all tank units in both Tank Corps were

re-numbered without repetition in the 300 series from 301 through 346. Of these, however, only 301 through 308, and 326 through 34 were organized. The first tank unit in the Tank Service (later Corps), National Army, were constituted and organized in February 1918 as elements of the 65th Engineers. Companies of the 1st Separate Battalion, B, and Heavy Tank Service, 65th Engineers, and the I st and 2nd Battalions, Light Tank Service 65th Engineers were organized at Camp Upton, New York; an Company 2nd Battalion, Heavy Tank Service, 65th Engineers was organized at Camp Meade, Maryland On March 16 the designation of the Ist Separate Battalion was changed to 1st Heavy Battalion, Tank Service and on April 16, with Captain Eisenhower in command, it was changed yet again to 41st Heavy Battalion, Tank Corps. Th battalion was now transferred to England leaving it commanding officer reluctantly behind to take over Camp Colt and on April it received its last change of designation in World Wa an became 30 1st Battalion, Tank Corps, AEF. It had arrived at the Tank Corps AE Tank Center in England, and from there four months later went to France under the command of Major Roger B. Harrison. Eight Tank Centers were organized, six in the United States (numbered 303rd, 304th, 309th, 31 Oth, 311 th, and 314th) and two in Europe. The first of these two to be organized was set up in February 1918 Bovington Camp near Wareham, Dorset in England. Bovington was the home of the British Tank Corps, and the personnel of the new Tank Center were trained in the Bovington tank schools. The other Tank Center of the Tank Corps, AEF, was organized in March 1918 at Bourg, in France. Th Bourg center was designated the 1st Light Tank Center, and the center at Bovington was designated the 2nd Heavy Tank Center. Later these were re-designated the 30 Ist an 302nd Tank Centers respectively. Four tank brigade were formed Initially organized as the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Provisional Brigades, Tank Corps, their designations were changed just before the Armi tice to the 304th, 305th, 306th, and 307th Bligades, Tank Corps. Only four battalions of the Tank Corps saw action. Three of them were light battalions equipped with French Renault F.T. tanks (F T.=Faible Tonnage=light weight), one was heavy battalion equipped with British Mark an Mark V Star tanks. Th heavy battalion was the 30 st, whose lineage we have already traced the light battalions were the 331 st, the 344th and the 345th. Of these three light battal ions the brunt of the fighting was taken by the 344th and the 345th, which were the first American tank units in action, while the 331st only few days before the Armistice on joined the AE November II 1918. Th lineage of the 344th and the 345th was as follows: Until September 12, 1918 the day on which American tank units first entered combat, the battalions were respectively designated the 326th and 327th. Company A of the 326th was re-designated on June 6 from Company A, Tank Service Detachment, AEF, which was con stituted on April 25 and organized in France Company of the 326th was re-designated on September I from Company B I st Tank Center, AE in France, which had been organized on April 16 from Provisional Company B, Tank Service itself organized on Feb ruar y 17, the

__

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,J

the corresponding Fren h

\':as actually authori ed_ _  :- -::oi_:. . :  un June 6 from Company -=--was constituted on : ~ ~ _  \- hi ill be noticed, in the i: -=.: :. _- :.c e;': States Tank Corps) and : : - ~  _-

----=--"

_ • :.

:. -:

~ : - ~ 

::-::: Battalion was considerably -=:: : It was organized in France the 344th ttalion on - ' : : ~ ,

in an ttack against the St. .!:h of Verdun. The two b ~ t t a l i o n s  =--. :.o-!" ..ll (l ter the 304th) Brigade mmanded by Lieutenant :l under whom they had at Langres, Haute =--= nch Renaults, with ro the 345th in the ':' :. =.

v,

--:

::.

S9j

-\{ihiel at the

ult Char TSF.

that only those wh

(Courtes

Armin Sohn s)

have been privileged to serve under him can trul appreciate. And he had done this, not it will surprise none wh knew him to le rn, according to th canon the time which decreed that tanks should operate only in support of infantry, bu as the French graphically pu it "e fer de lance." No long afterward however, on September 26 in the Argonne forest he was wounded while directing his tanks against enemy machine-gun nest . Fortunately for the Allie in World Wa II he recovered-{)!1ly to lose his life by an unfortu nate accident in post-war Germany. or the remainder of the M use-Argonne campaign the light tank brigade was commanded by Major Sereno Brett. The 30lst Battalion as mentioned earlier, arrived in France towards the end of August 19 8, the first an as it turned out, the only battalion in the 2nd Provisional (later the 305th) Brigade, Tank Corps. Having been trained on British tanks at Bovington the 30 Ist was to remain with the British Tank Corps until it could be equipped with American built tanks. None were avail able when it arrived in Fra nce so it was equipped with 47 British Mark Vs an Mark V Stars an atta hed to the British IV Tank Brigade. Th brigade was employed in the 27th support of the American II Corps consisting an 30th U Divisions, and the Au tralian Corps in Fourth Briti h Army during the Storming of the Hinden burg Line at the end of September 1918. The 30Ist first went into action with the 27th Division on September 29

Catelet-Bony.lt ha a grim start. Many of th tanks were knocked ou an others were wrecked by runn.ing on to an old British minefield, a forgotten relic from an earlier

bailie.

30 st's next action was on October at Brancourt with the 30th Division, when only ten of its twenty tanks rallied after gaining the final objective. On th 17th it supported both divisions of American II Corps in th Battle of the Selle, an six days later fought its last action in support of two British divisions near Bazuel in th Mam101 Forest. By this time its strength wa down to barely a dozen tanks. the war ended. Th Tank On November II 19 was practically without tanks. But together Corps, AE with the Tank Corps, National Anny, it ha 1,090 whom about half were in th officers an 14,780 me United States an the other half in France or en route. Th

II

(1919-1940) Unlike its British counterpart th American Tank Corps di no long survive the war. General Staff plans for a Tank Corps offive tank brigades an GHQ, based on reorganized Regular Army of five corps, each of four divisions, were cancelled by the National Defense Ac of 1920 which created the of th States, consisting th Regular Anny th Organized Reserves, an th National Guard. Th 1920 Ac abolished th Tank Corps. Tanks were no longer an ind pendent arm. Formalizing th support r61e that ha been predominant in World Wa I experience th Ac laid down that part of th henceforward all tank units were to fonn infantry an were to be known as "Infantry (Tanks)." The Christie M 1919 was Iheftrsl lank built by Christie' lasllanks 01 th ef ilure.

I ~ r 

Ihe

Translated into tenus unit assignment this mean.[ primarily one tank company allotted to each infantry an cavahy division, a total of thirteen separate com

panies (numbered the 1st through the 13th) which, in practice, only ten were actually organized. There were also five tank battalion (numbered the 15th through th 19th, of which all bu the last were activated) an the HQ 1st Tank Group. Th Tank Group HQ an the four active battalions all traced their Oligins to Tank Corps World ar I. organizations On September I, 1929 th five battalions an the Tank Group HQ were fonned into the 1st and 2nd Tank Regiments Three years later in October 1932 these were re-designated respectively the 66th Infantry (Light Tanks) and th 67th Infantry (Medium Tanks). Th following year two new light tank regiments were con

stituted, the 68th an 69th. At the beginning of 1940 the 68th wa organized from some of the divisional tank companies bu the 69th wa disbanded without ever being activated. Soon after th 68th wa organized it joined the 66th an 67th in forming the Provisional Tank Brigade brigade was Fort Benning, Georgia Th commanded by Colonel Bruce Magruder. 1st Tank Regiment On September I, 1929, the 1st Tank an Company were a Regiment was organized. Company 1st Tank HQ an re-designation Group, which itself ha been formed on June 22, 1921 an HQ by the consolidation an re-designation of Companies 304th an 305th Tank Brigades, Tank Corps. The remainder of I st Tank Regiment was organized by th re-de ignation of the following existing units: 16th Tank Battalion as 1st Battalion, 15th Tank Battalion as 2nd Battalion 18th Battalion as 3r 21st Tank Maintenance Company as Battalion an Service Company. All these units ha their origins in tank organizations of World ar 1. All ha first appeared in 1918: 16th

great American invenlor J. Waller Christie. Allhough

i/

achieved only

m.p.h. itse/f. il paved Ihe way  (U.S. Ordnance Department) 

Wa /!e r Chr 16 SP

stie also designed self-propelled weapons.  in. AA gun carriage, In 1923 ame the  Cat rpillar Chri tie lo 4.7 in. AA glln. Tfte  (U.S. Ordnance Department) 

n ' I , ~ e

}( !.

r-;:;;""

['-

S e l f-Propell s.

ow;tzer 01 926 was one 01 Ordnance Department but reject by the Infantry Journal)

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carried on trucks for road moves in order 10 -T n tank th 6t" Tank Company demon

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,.

a ramp

in

927.

(Col.

leks)

The 23-ton medium tank 0/1926 was dev loped/r the earlier Medium A M1921 alld the Medium MI922 It was esignated MedIUm Tl It appeared at a time Ivh llthe In/antr having in 1924 decid d that t wanted only edium tan ks, reversed that decisio lld now op ted/or light tallks only Although Anny SC92989) tanks, medium tank development lIev rtheles co ntinu ed. (U th In/antr were the so le us rs

HQ Company, 327th Battalion as HQ an Battalion, Tank Corps, an Company C, t Separate at alion, Heavy Tank Service, 65th Engineer s; 15th Tank Battalion as elements of the 1st Battalion, Tank Center (organized in England), an Company A, 1st Separate Battalion, Heavy Tank Service, 65 th Engineers; 18th Tank Battalion as 329th ttalion, Tank Corps an HQ an HQ Company 328th Battalion, Tank Corps; 21 st Maintenance Company as 316th Repair an Salvage Company, Tank Corps. 1st Tank Regiment was itself converted re Th organized and re-designated on October 25 1932 as 66th Infantry (Light Tanks). 66th Infantry in turn on July 15 1940 becam 66th Annored Regiment and was assigned to 2nd Armored Divisio with which it served until March 25, 1946.

Tank

2nd Tank Regiment Th regiment wa organized with only one active battalion its 2nd, which was a re designation of the 17th Tank Battalion. Th rest of the regiment all inactive-were newly constituted HQ nd HQ Company, newly con st ituted 3rd Battalion and a 1st Battalio which was a re-designated 19th Tank Battalion, which itself had been constituted in the Regular Army on rch 24 1923, but had remained inactive. Th 17th Tank Battalion, however gave the 2nd Tank Regiment a link with the Tank Corps for, through som of its pe so nnel it could trace its origins to 1918 when it was organized as the 303rd Battalion and as elements of the 1st Separate Battalion Heavy Tank Service, 65th Engineers. Th 2nd Tank Regiment was re-designated on October 31 1932 as 67th Infantry (Medium Tank s) . 67th Infant ry in turn, on July 15, 1940, was re-organized an re designated 67th Armored Regiment nd wa assigned to 2nd Annored Division with which it served until March 25,1946.

they all were, ha tank company. These companies were numbered the 76th through the 9lst, th 94th through the 104th, and the 461 st through the 466th. Following the Regular tank battalions Tank Groups were also organized. Th tank and HQs battalions were numbered the 30 st through the 324th, an the HQ Tank Groups the 6t through the 12th. Three of the tank battalions (the 301st the 306th and the 314th) wer disbanded in 1928, and the following year the remainder-once again following the Regular Almy pattern as set by the 1st and 2nd Tank Regiment were reorg nized as elements of the 306th through the 312th Tank Regiments In 1932, when the 1st and 2nd Tank Regiments became the 66th Infantry (Light Tanks) and the 67th Infantry (Medium Tanks), the Tank Regiment of th Organized Reserves were re-designated as the 420th Infant ry (Tanks) through the 426th Infantry (Tanks). In 1933 the 427th Infantry (Tanks) was organized. Tank companies wer also organi ed for the National Guard' divisions. These companies were numbered the 22nd through the 24th, the 26th through the 38th, and the 40th th rough the 45th Unlike the Regular Anny and the Organized Reserve the tional Guard had no tank ar battalions as uch until World when some of the divisional tank companies having been called into Federal service were sed to forn1 four tank battalions the 191 t through the 194th

TH

M E C H A N I Z E D FORCE

The abolition the Tank Corps as an independent an under the provisions of the 1920 National Defense Act did no abolish the development of armored theory in private among those infantry an cavalry officers who were convinced of the critical necessity for an armored force acting as an entity in stead of imply as a upport for infantry This line of thought was typical of its time among military thin.kers th same stamp in other

.. 19 Nd

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nly fig"l wilk resull

produced ;11

ollab ration

in Ihe

ith the

'g il«ers. The Lighl Tank TIE2, seen here,

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pr r:\'ious models in the series it ha

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as

ils m

- o _

, p o s i t i o n 

Howilzer Motor Carriag

TI

wilh w apon al Ihe 1930 peri (U.S. Ordnance Departm nt

its ngin

in arrnamenl.

(U.S. Ordnance Department)

at the iconoclasts broke through, from the old and bold". .. _.rmored enthusiasts resulted in the n Experimental Mechanized Force ~ cars, tankettes, tanks, a motorized field artillery which was tractor - - = : and motorized engineers ' - ; - ;-ell ....::: :::- battalion was attached for most of - : - - : - l ~ S .  and air support (reconnaissance, was also provided. The following ; : . : -: Force was changed to Experimental "-=...: it maneuvers were devoted m ore to man to organizational experiment ;:>revious year. Present as an observer ~ ; ; c . .  :: cf5 was Dwight F. Davis, the United -. ;;:.:- Wa r. He was so impressed by what he maneuvers so clearly presaged that ,; --;:;> :J

_ ~ - f -

75-l11m

maximum levation.

on his return to the States he dire ted that similar force be developed in the U.S. Army. Th experimental mechanized force resulting from this directive was assembled at Camp Meade, Maryland from July to September 20, 1928. consisted of elements from the Infantry, including Infantry (Tanks) the Cavalry, Field Artillery, Air Corps Engineers Ordnance, Chemical Warfare Service, and the Medical Corps. Although insufficient funds and obsolete equip ment prevented the re-assembly of the force the following year, its few weeks of activity were no nugatory because the Wa Department Mechanization Board, which had been appointed to study the experiment, recommended that mechanized force be permanently established. This recommendation was acted upon by the Army Chief of Staff General Charles Summerall, who, on the eve of leaving office in October 1930, directed that

The Ca alry's T5 A rmored Car also known as the Combat Car T2 J931 was bOlh Modified) hal/-track and whe led vehicle. (U.S. Ordnance Department)

CommunicaJiolls car model the 1Y Scout Car in use by the Communica· lions Offi er the 151 Cavalry, Me hanized.

(Post Studio, Fort Knox)

pelmanent mechanized force be assembled immediately and stationed at Fort Eustis, Virginia. The Mechanized Force was organized under the command Colonel Daniel Van Voorhis, who thus earned for himsel fin later years the titl of "Grandfather of the Armored Force". But the "permanency" was short-lived. In 1931 the new Army Chief of Staff, General Douglas MacArthur decided that instea of mechaniza tion being the prerogative of a separate force-apart, that is from the 1st and 2nd Tank Regiments and the divisional tank companies which were part of the infantry-all arms an services were to adopt mechaniza tion and motorization "a far as is practicable and desirable." this end all arms and services were allowed to experiment with armor and mechanization, and the separate Mechanized Force at Fort Eustis was dissolved. But lest anyone might see in this new directive the opening of the door on the possibility of re-forming a separate Tank Corps in the future, General MacArthur stated unequivocally that no separate corps would be established "i the vain hope that through utilization of machines it can absorb the missions, and duplicate the capabilities of all others Although tanks were no

The arm that benefited most from the 1931 directive was the cavalry. This was not view that all cavalry officers would have agreed with. As in Britain and Ger many the development of the tank mechanically and its growing importance both strategically and tactically albeit this was confined to discussions and exercises reinforced the antagonism of the older combat arms which equated the rise of the tank with their own decline in importance, and therefore in financial appropriations. With only a meagre amount allotted for national defense as whole, newcomers were no welcome. On to this as far as the "old and bold" in the cavalry wer concerned was the Jove for the horse and the disgust for things mechanical. Read the comments of senior cavalry officers in any country and they might be carbon copies of the same speech It was not unnatural. But the more far-seeing realised that without mechani zation the cavalry was likely to be ou of business. They did no agree with those who maintained t hat the lack of opportunity for the cavalry on the Western Front in 1914-1918 was the exception rather than the rule. They argued that although the traditional cavalry missions had not altered, the horse was no longer the light mount

the cavalry was common ground between them and nyielding horse-lovers. What was at issue was her the machine should replace the horse for other \-:l1 ry missions--protecting flanks, covering advance et eat medium range reconnaissance, pursuit. Those ;:;.) vored the reten tion of the horse could point to the of the tanks available; bu as speeds and reli increased this argument faltered. Even by the late -':: :Is few light armored vehicles were in use in cavalry _-:!is and the 1931 directive encouraged this acceptance. " ' : O  nterest of the cavalry, wrote General MacArthur, cross-country .=.; now "centered on armored cars an =X 'i es possessing a high degree of strategic mobility, -: fj fighting an tactical mobility an important though :-:'l dary consid erat ion." Cavalry was therefore instruc :0 develop combat vehicles which would "enhance --" w e r  in r61es of reconnaissance, counter-reconnais flank action, pursuit, and similar operations." ": cavalry regiment was to lose its horses and be p e d  exclusively with these new vehicles. Th " , " : ~ : J r r y ,  meanwhile, was to concentrate on developing :..::::. :- " which could more effectively support the rifleman -=. slodging the enemy from strongly held positions. Th horses only" school had further set-back in when General MacArthur pointed ou that "the ~ : ; e  has no higher degree of mobility today than he ::.. :' a thousand years ago. Th time has therefore -:-.- ed when the Cavalry ar must either replace or the horse as a means of transportation, or else --0 :; into the limbo of discarded military formations." --::.:. did no mean, however, that the tasks of the were outmoded. There would always be "the _. for certain units capable of performing more distant ;:ons than can be efficiently carri ed ou by th mass -;: lJmy. Th elements assigned to these tasks will be ::a alry of the future, but manifestly the horse alone ot meet its requirements in transportation." complete ::- er such a dictum the percipient realized ::,,-:- anization of the cavalry was now cloud somewhat ::o than man's hand. cavalry at this period consisted of fourteen -=-;:n ents-the 1st through the 14th Cavalry-and -:: ;: ent of Philippine Scouts the 26th Cavalry, which r g a n i z e d  in 1922. In addition there were 18 cavalry e n t s  in the Nationa Guard anl'l 24 in the Organized ::5e es. At the end of World Wa I there had been -: 7nieen cavalry regiments in the Regular Army. er to meet the requirements of the 1920 National Actthree regiments-the 15th, 16th, and 17th : : ~ G inactivated and the remainder were re-organized ,:-x15 ist of HQ HQ troop, service troop and six in two --:-00 troops (i.e. Troop A through Troop ...:j:ons of three troops each), instead of 12 lettered d a machine-gun troop in addition to th HQ and supply troop (as the service troop was :::l

=-

sJy

hIDe-gun squadrons were organized in place of .:-:-g:i mental machine-gun troops. Th loss to the =--:- ar by this post-war reduction was three ;- =:;; egiments and 98 troops, "some of the troops ffici al history points out, having been in con ...= ex stence for almost a hundred years.""

...-:.

;::la

:':.2

Series, op. cit. p. 53. It is interesting to note British Cavalry lost eight or its thirty regiments i o n . 

Further major changes in the cavalry were made in 1928 when the number of lettered troops was reduced to four (divided between two squadrons) an the separate machine-gun squadrons and troops were eliminated, each regiment now having its own machine-gun troop again. Having received its orders to develop combat vehicles the cavalty selected Fort Knox Kentucky, as the location for its task. Th nucleus of the command was formed by personnel an equipment from the Mech anized Force at Fort Eustis, so that in effect it can be said that that Force never ceased to exist and there is continuity, admittedly little wobbly in 1929, that ran from the experimental mechanized force of 1928 to the formation of the first armored divisions in 1940--just as in Britain there is continuity, also somewhat limping in its early stages, between the Experimental Mechanized Force of 1927 and the formation of the first armored division, known originally as the Mobile Division, in 1938. Th regiment selected to lead the van of mechanization was the Ist Cavalry. It arrived at Fort Knox from Marfa Texas, early in 1933, and began to replace its horses by AFVs. Th organization of the mechanized regiment was similar to that of a horse regiment. It had four lettered troops, two of them in covering squadron, one being an armored ca troop, the other scout troop and two in combat car squadron, both of them being combat ca troops. Th regiment had 35 light tanks which were about equally divided between the scout troop and the two combat ca troops. Th term "combat car" was invented to overcome the restriction of the 1920 National Defense Act which laid down that only the infantry were to have tanks and that all tank units were to be part of the infantry. Thus it was a case of tank by any other name" for the track-laying fighting vehicles used by the cavalry, an the other name chosen was combat car". But it was the name only that differed, apart from one other feature In order to economize the light tank design that was evolved in 1933 was adaptable for both infantry and cavalry. could support the infantry, in theOlY at least, in dislodging the enemy from strong defensive positions; and it could meet the needs of the cavalry in its pursuit protection, an reconnaissance r6les. This new tank, the T2, could achieve to speed of 35 m. h. In its T2EI an T2E2 versions it had fixed turrets a single turret in the case of the T2E 1 and twin turrets side by side in the case of the TIE2 an was intended for the infantry support r6le. In its T2E3 version, which was identical in all other respects to the it had a simple hand-traversed fully rotating T2 turret for the cavalry r6le. The T2E 1 was standardiz ed as the Light Tank M2 I, and the T2E3 was standardized as the Combat Car MI. Over the next few years several other units including the 13th Cavalry, field artillelY battalion, and quartermaster company, were moved to Fort Knox and there mechanized. An the cavalry division itself received an armored ca troop, tank company, and an ai observation squadron. Early in 1938 a modification was made to the 1931 directive: mechanization would in future no longer be developed by all arms but only by the infantly an the cavalry. Th Fort Knox units were formed into the 7th Cavalry Brigade (Mechanized) with Brigadier General Van Voorhis in command. Later in the year he was succeeded by Colonel Adna R.

The IlilTelless Lighl Tallk T3 1936 IVas produ ci Ihe fillancially lean years. Th driver sor 011 the eft and there was machine-gun onsoll Oil Ihe righ glacis. (U.S. Ordnance Department

IA used by The 71h Cavalry Brigade ( Me chanized) lVas Combal Car iTS lurrel off-sel 10 Th lefl IVas quipped agile. BuilT ill 1937 it fasl \Vilh radio, alld weighed 9·75 Ions. This parlicular vehicle bel llged 10 Ih 1ST Cavalry, (Post Studio Fort Knox) echallized.

1935 was buil durillg Ihe period of in ereST in The Combal Car T5£1 barbelle Type ofsuperSlfuclllre. (U.S. Ordnance Department)

strong advocate of armor, who had been .;:: ;: -in-command of the Mechanized Force at Fort ='- .3 th -!"?t

5t -:, 2n

Europe Pacific, Philippines

Philippines

,7

rrett)

~ ~ ~ : f f ~ i n e s  Philippines Europe Europe Pacific, Philippines Europe Pacific

80th 534th 536th

Pacific  Pacific  Europe Pacific Pacific, Philippines

the 191 st the 753rd and the 756th.

and one Anti-Aircraft Automotive Weapons Battalion, the 430th, which served in Europe The creation of the separate tank battalions was a recognition, even by armored division enthusiasts, that tanks would still be needed for close support of infantry. If non-divisional tank battalions were no organized to fill this need it seemed more than likely that it would be met by stripping the armored divisions of some of their tank battalions, To obviate this danger the separate tank battalions were formed specifically to work with infantry divisions, normally one battalion to division. In due course, as we have seen, it turned out that the armored divisions were over-loaded with tank units and they stripped themselves, as it were, of number of tank battalions which became separate battalions and were assigned to working with infantry divisions the very situation they had been guarding against in the early days of the Armored Force! Because of their infantry support mission the separate battalions were originally organized very similarly to the infantry tank battalions of the inter-war years. After the 1943 re-organization the armored divisions had eliminated the two types of tank battalion, medium and light, in the division and substituted a single type with three medium companies and one light company, the separate tank battalions were also re-organized so that the non-divisional battalion became interchangeable with the tank battalion of an armored division. This simplified training, supply, reinforcement, and admini stration. Just as there had been Tank Group Headquarters fo the five tank battalions in the 1920s, so the new separate tank battalions were put under the control of tank group headquarters, five battalions to each HQ. The 1st Tank Group was created on February 10, 1941 to supervise the firs five tank battalions. The 2nd and 3rd Provisional Tank Groups were created on May 26, 1941. In February 1942 the number of battalions in group was reduced to three. The primary task of the tank group HQ was to supervise training, bu it was sometimes also called upon 25

ans ill che./Caliall campa igll ellfullccione as arcillery. As well as che These are canks 755ch Tank Balla/ion, OClob 1944

n Sherman

67 1h Armored

egimen 2nd Armored Divisioll,

011

Armored

ivision eight separace on-div

onal tank batta/i sfoug ht in  (U.S. Army SC195563) 

Ihe Germall frolllier in October 1944 using ils firepower but not ils mobilicy (U.S. Army SC195335)

undertake combat mission At least two group s were ;Oxpanded by the inclusion of other arms and fought in :: urope as sort of individual combat commands. One of :hese was the st Armored Group, activated at Fort Knox Kentucky, on March 2, 1943, and re-designated on ~ o v e m b e r  20,1943 as 17th Armored Group. The other as the th Armoured Group. There were also the 13th 20th Armored Groups which fought in the later Pacific campaigns. In general, however, "the tank group to

5e Robert 'The battalions never were sure who was in command ~ i n c e  they received instructions no only from the Group

'Jut also from the Infantry, the Armored Force, and the Corps Area in which they happened to find themselve In addition, the employment of tank groups in mas '.- hich had been anticipated originally never materialized :,:od thus it no only was useless tactica creation but it ever commanded even administratively." Tank groups 3.od separate battalions were assigned to armies or to GH for use as needed. CAVALRY

y. 335)

well as the st Armored Division, two others, the 9th .3nd the 10th, formed their armored regiments from the val ry Th question what to do with the cavalry, 3ccording to the official Armor-Cavalry history, was "one of the most perplexing problems confronting the .S. Army" as World Wa II approached and after creation of the Armored Force. "During the years :> peace when economy had been the keynote for U.S. ilitary forces, it had been easy to shunt this problem

aside; bu now, with danger to the free world increasing and partial mobilization already under way, the Army had t o fac up to how to organize an equip itscavalry."* According to the Armor-Cavalry history the National Defense Act of 1920 provided for two cavalry divisions, the 1st and the 2nd, of which the 1st was active an th 2nd inactive"''''. Each division had two cavalry brigades, each with two regiments, a machine-gun squadron, an headquarters troop. There was also a horse artillery lion, an ambulance company, the division trains, and the special troops (headquarters, signal, ordnance, an veterinary). A close analysis of the cavalry regiments' lineages, however reveals that, on paper at least, there was also a 3rd Cavalry Division. Th assignments of the cavalry regiments to the three divisions was as follows: st Cavalry Division  started in 1921 with th e 1st, Th 7th, 8th, and 10th Cavalry. In 1922 the 5th Cavalry replaced the 10th which was assigned to the 2nd Cavalry Division. In 1933 the 12th Cavalry replaced the 1 Cavalry which began its mechanization career. Th final state th division, therefore. as regards its horse regiments. was the 5th, 7th 8th, and 12th Cavalry. Op. cit. p. 70.

t.f 5A1 Ligh/tank 0117th Cava!ryullder camouflage in German y early i1l1945. Fil led inlrol1l is in Normandy.

** p. 53

Culill hedgerolVdevice, a brilliant invention dnised inlhe (U.S. Army SC199360)

The 2nd Cavalry Division started in 1923 with the 10th (ex-1st Cav. Div an the 12th Cavalry In 1927 the 2nd Cavalry replaced the 10th which was assigned to the 3rd Cavalry Division. In 1933 the 11th and 13th Cavalry came into the divi sion and the 12th was assigned to the 1s Cavalry Division in place of the 1st Cavalry. In 1936 the 13th Cavalry left the division to begin its mechanization career with 1st Cavalry in the 7th Cavalry Brigade (Mechanized), the pre decessorofthe 1st Armored Division. In 1940 the 9th Cavalry replaced the 11 th and the 10th joined the division from the 3rd Cavalry Division. In 1941 the 14th Cavalry joined the division. Its final state therefore, as regards its horse regiments was the 2nd, 9th, 10th and 14th Cavalry. alliope rocket pr jector.

so

name d from its resemblance

to

The 3rd Cavalry Division started in 1927 with the 6th and 10th Cavalry (ex 2nd Cav. Div.). In 1933 the 9th Cavalry was assigned to the division. Tn 1939 the 6th Cavalry ceased to be assigned to the division, and in 1940 the 9th and 10th Cavalry were re assigned to the 2nd Cavalry Division. Cavalrymen as we have seen earlier, were no of one mind about the military value the horse. Some were in favor of pensioning it off and mecharuzing the cavalry completely, others took diametrically opposed view and wanted no mechanization at all, and others again favored combination of horses an machines. One of the "combinationers" was the last Chief of Cavalry, Major General John K. Herr, who declared in 1938 that "w must no be misled to ou own detriment to assume that the untried machine can displace the proved and tried horse," and the following year told Congressional committee that "although in some cavalry missions it may be better to use horse cavalry alone or mechanized cavalry alone on the whole the best results can be accomplished by using them together." The "combination" organization was applied to two cavalry regiments, the 4th an the 6th, which by 1940

a circus team-pipe rgan

Ii was

mounted on

Sherman.

(U.S. Ordnance Magazine)

Combat Arms Regimental System (CARS) there ar t h i r t y - f o u r parent regiments a r m o r an cavalry. Each ha either coat historic badge. arms shield, motto. Historic badges crest, an complete coat arms consists include mottoes. shield-shaped ar Under

2d Amored CavaJry

htCavalry

3d

Armored

Cav::Ury

5th Cavahy 4th Cavalry

::::t :\nnored Cavalry

71h

Cavalry

8th Ca valry

A "Calliope" T34 rocket launcher mounted on a Shernum fired rounds 1341h Ordnance Battalion 14th Armor ed Divisi her is a "Calliope" France

so

were partially horsed and partially mechanized With two other regiments, the 1st an 13th, fully mechanized and in the 1st Armored Division, this left only the 3rd and 11 th Cavalry as non-divisional mounted regiments In March 1942 the office of the Chief of Cavalry was eliminated with those the other chiefs arms when Army Ground Forces was formed, Th pace mechan ization consequently quickened, On July 15 1942 the 9th an 10th Armored Divi ions were activated, the 9th with the 2nd and 14th Armored Regiments, the 10th with the 3rd and 11 th Armored Regiments, These four armored regiments were all constituted in the Army of the United States on July 1942 an activated on the 15th with personnel an equipment from the 2nd, 3rd 11 th, and 14th Cavalry respectively which were all inactivated (although only temporarily, as it turned out) on that date, Th 3rd Armored Regiment, it should be noted, is no to be confused with the original 3rd Armored Regiment in 3rd Armored Division which was re-designated the 33rd Armored Regiment on Ma 8, 1941. The in ctivation of the 2nd an 14th Cavalry still left the 2nd Cavalry Division with on of its two cavalry brigades, the 4th, which had the 9th and 10th Cavalry; this brigade remained active, Th 1st Cavalry Division also remained active, Both divisions went overseas, though neither took horse with them, The 1st Cavalry

rapidly thaI

tlVO

successive rounds appeared

to

be fired simultaneous/y,

XX Corps. Seventh Army.firing in the Fletrangearea on the eastemjrolltier c{

(U,S, Army Courtesy CoL G. B, Jarre ll

four-regiment, two-brigade formation of the caval !} divi ion, bu had 4 000 fewer men than the standa infantry divi ion 15,000 men, It also lacked the standard 155-mm howitzer field artillery battalion, bu: special allowances heavy weapons and other infantry type equipment were supplied to compensate for thi 2nd Cavalry Division was fully reactivated i.E Th February 1943 an served in North Africa though i: did no fight as unit. Its existence, however, wa shon lived, Between February an Ma 1944 it was c o m p l e t e inactivated and its personnel were tr nsferred to s e r v i c units, While the cavalry regiments in the 1st and 2nd Cavalr: Divisions were being dismounted even if not mecha ized, the remainder of the regiments-and thest included the 15th, 16th an 17th Cavalry which wer reactivated an seven partially horsed-par tially mechan ized National Guard cavalry regiments in Federc.. service"-were now mechanized completely, Furthe

These were the IOl (New or ), 102nd (New J e r s 104th (Pennsylvania), 106th (Illinois), 107th (Ohio), 113 tt (Iowa) an the I 5th (Wyoming), A National Guard briga ;; of two horse regiment (the 112th an 124th Cavalry (Texas also entered Federal ser vice, Th two regiment were di mounted withdr aw n from the brigade, nd reorg nized 2S

more the 2nd, 3rd, 11th, and 14th Cavalry were re activated as mechanized cavalry units, the armored regiments that had stemmed from them becoming newly constituted units instead of re-designated ones. 1944 these non-divisional mechanized In 1943 an cavalry regiments were broken up to form separate mechanized cavalry groups and squadrons, for by now the problem of what to do with the cavalry had been solved: horses were banished and the jo of mechanized cavalry was reconnaissance. ** Each mechanized cavalry group consisted ofHQ, HQ troop, and two or more attached mechanized cavalry reconnaissance squadrons. Groups were assigned to armie and then allotted to corps within the army. Frequently a group was attached to a division-usually an infantry division-for operations. Despite the direc tive issued by the Wa Department in 1943 that mechan ized cavalry units were to engage in combat only to the extent necessary to accomplish their missions of reconnaissance, the practice of the battlefield turne ou

** Although the last horse cavalry unit to fight mounted was the 26th Cavalry of the Philippine Scout ea rly in 1942 there we re instances of provisionall organized units u ing horses in th U.S. Army after that. "Merrill Marauders" had hor ses in the Indo-Burmese theater. So too had the 3rd Infantry Division's Reconn issance Troop in Sicily and the early part of the Italian campaign.

One of ry rare vehicles in the U.S. Army in World War II production M4A (76 ·mm) with wet stowage and H V S S

cavalry standard ked the lion, but infantry for this. vated in hough it as short mpletely service Cavalry mechan these ich were mechan· Federal Further·

Je sey), io), 113th rd brigade ry (Texas» were dis· ganized as (the 56th p, Mecha·

was

somewhat different from the theory of the War Depart ment's directive. fascinating analysis in the official Armor-Cavalry history (p. 73) shows that purely reconnaissance missions for mechanized cavalry in Europe where most the mechanized cavalry units f o u g h t - were extremely rare. Indeed they accounted for only three per cent of the missions· assigned. Most frequent were defensive missions (33 per cent) followed by special oper tions, "including acting as mobile reserve, providing for security and control of rear area6, and operating as an army information service" (29 per cent), security missions i e. "blocking, screening, pro tecting flanks, ma intaining contact between larger units and filling gaps" (25 per cent), and offensive missions (10 per cent). "For offensive, defensive, nd security mission s, the mechanized cavalry group was normally reinforced by a battalion of field artillery, a battalion of tank destroyers, and a company of combat engineers As well as the 73 non-divisional mechanized cavalry units that were active in World War II as groups and squadrons, there were also well over 100 divisional cav lry units indeed there were virtually as man as there were divisions in the Army. Each infant ry division had its cavalry reconnaissance troop designated by the same number as the d iv ision of which it wa part e.g. 1st Cavalry Reconnaissance Troop was in 1st Infantry Division and fought with it in Italy and in the North-

the M4A I E8 seen

re in

combat

in

Europ e.

fl was

the arly 1944 prototype /or th (U.S. Army)

Infanlry Di vision passing

knocked our Sherman in Ihe figh lin for Oberho/fen, eastern France, March 1945 In the background a casually is

les are dre rank's enemy:

desolate Sherman

eing remo ved by medics.

after hitting n mine in the European ThemeI' on November

es Europe campaign from the beaches of Normandy

(U.S.

,1944.

Arm

99935)

(U.S. Army)

nations of the cavalry reconnaissance squadrons in the

les are dre rank's enemy:

desolate Sherman

after hitting n mine in the European ThemeI' on November

es Europe campaign from the beaches of Normandy 1st Cavalry Division (which, it will be w a r d s .  Th :- membered, fought in the Pacific as light infantry ision) had the 302nd Cavalry Reconnaissance Troop he 301st, incidentally, was a roop that served in the -\I utians. Each armored division also had its divisional ::a valry unit. As mentioned earlier the st Armored Di visions was originally constituted in the Regul ar Army April 22, 1940 an activated a Fort Knox on June J, 7th Reconnaissance and Support Squadron (Mechan .zed)-its numerical designation coming, no doubt, ro m the 7th Cava lr Brigade (Mechan zed)---and was ;: -organ ized an re-designated on July 15, 1940 (the .:.:t y the division was activated an on which the unit -a assigned to it) as the st Reconnaissance Battalion Armored). Th unit was re-designated three times in World Wa first, on May 8, 1941, as 1s e c o n n a i s s a n c e  Battalion (Armored); second, on Janu -' J, 1942, as 81st Armored Reconnaissance Battalion; -.nd third, on July 20 1944, when the division changed j- m "heavy" to "light" armored division, as 81 st avalry Reconnaissance Squadron, Mechanized. The designation "armored reconnaissance battalion" ap lied to the mechanized cavalry unit of the heavy nD oreddivision an the designation "cavalry recon -'aissance squadron, mechanized" to the mechanized valry unit of the light armored division. The 2nd and d Armored Divisions which remained under the eavy" table had the 82nd and 83rd AnTIored Recon =a issan( Battalions respectively, while the final desig Their original designation were respectively, 2nd Recon ,issance Battalion (Armored) con tituted on July 15, 1940, 3rd Reconnai ss ance Battalion (Armored) con tituted on "nuary 16, J941.

,1944.

(U.S. Army)

nations of the cavalry reconnaissance squadrons in the other armored divisions ar given in an earlier Table (p. 21). Th other cavalry reconnaissance squadrons, all of which served in the European theater were: 2nd, 3rd, 4th 6th, 15th 16th, 17th 18th 19th, 24th, 28th, 32nd, 36t 38th, 42nd, 43rd, 44th, 91 st, 10 1st, 10 2nd, 104th, 106th, 107th, I I 3th, 6th, 17th, 21 st, 125th. (The lineage of those from 2nd through 17th, 19th, 24th, 28th, 42nd, an 43rd, as well as the majority of th alTIlored divisions' cavalry recon naissance squadrons stemmed from the cavalry regi ments). T A N K DESTROYERS

A perennial argument in alTIlored circles was whether the best anti-tank weapon was a gun or another tank. Although the latter doctrine had many supporters among American military leaders it was the former that pre vailed. Fo the destruction of enemy armor the U.S Army had tank destroyer battalions, equipped with self propelled or towed high velocity guns. Th tank destroyer battalions had their tactical origin in the 1940 maneuvers and in the traumatic effect of the GenTIa blitzkrieg. "The German successes," says the official Armor-Cavalry history "were adversely affecting morale of combat troops, and there was an urgent need for new, effective weapons to calm their fears and prove the vulnerability of the tank. * The War Department decided that tanks should be coun tered by fast -mo ving, high velocity guns used en masse

Op. cit. p. 67.

35

troyers o/601s[ Tank es oyer Battalion, 45th Infantry Division , ross the Dur River in Provence dur ng Operation Anvil-the the sOUlh France, Augll 1944 Although planned and gener ll known as An"il the Operati was tually carried Ollt as Dragoon.

in

(U.S. Army)

guns should be placed in static defensive majority should be held in mobile reserve, should seek strike, an destroy" the armored thrusts. iod the infantry division's artillery regiment umber of 37-mm. anti-ta nk guns. From th each infantry regiment, of which there were nfantry division, had an anti-tank company This 14th Company in the regiment (there nfantry battalions each with four companies ompany equipped with six 105-mm howit ed in the infantry regiment throughout th d at first with towed 37-mm. guns an later mm guns. Th anti-tank units in the divi ry, however, were absorbed into the new ttalions which were organized in 194 as Wa Department's doctrine of mass employ bile anti-tank guns. To impart an offensive e new units an to give them psychological would "prove th vulnerability the ting the fact, their designation was changed to tank destroyer battalions. Destroyer Center was set up at Fort yland, an then moved in February 1942 Camp Hood, Texas. Although the Tank rce had no real standing as separate ar it resisted all attempts throughout the wa to the Armored Force or in any of the older prodigiously. By late 1942 it had 100,000 active battalions, with 64 more planned. By it reached its maximum with 106 active almost as many as the total number of tank hereafter a decline set in partly because the roops in action ha no had to face the ored formations that 1940 had seemed to an partly because tank destroyer u nits wer forcements to replace the heavy casualties ivisions in combat. By early 1944 the num-

ber of active battalions was 78, and there was a further  decrease during the year.  Th tank destroyer battalions serving in the different  theaters were as follows:  85th

601s1 603rd 605th 607th 609th 610th 612th 614th 628th 629th 630th

631st 632nd 633rd 634th 635th 636th 637th 638th 640th

641st 643rd 644th 645th 648th 654th 656th

st 679th 691 st 661

692nd

701st

702nd

703rd

704th 705th 738th

771st

772nd 773rd 774th 776th 786th 801

st

802nd

803rd 804th

805th

806th

807th 808th

809th

811th

\=

Europe th 1944-45 campaign) North A rica Italy, Southern France Europe Europe Europe

Europe Europe

Europe Europe Europe Europe Europe Europe Europe Pacific Philippines Europe Europe Europe

Italy, Southern France Europe Philippines Europe Pacific Philippines Pacific

Europe Europe Italy, Southern France Europe Europe Europe Europe Europe Italy Europe Europe North Africa, Itoly Europe Europe Europe

Europe Europe Europe

Europe Europe

Europe Europe Europe Europe Europe Europe

Italy North Africa Italy Europe Europe Europe Europe Europe

37

M lOA I Self-Propelled Gun in combal in France in 1944. Both th chas is, Ih laller on an M4A3 chassis.

813th 814th 815th 817th

818lh 819lh 820th 822nd

823rd 824th 825th

B27lh 843rd B93rd B94th 899th

North

Africa, Italy Southern

Europe Pacific

Fr

10 and Ihe !vI fOAl had a 3-inch gun. The former lVas buill

nce Europe

Europe Europe

Pacific

Europe Europe

Europe Europe Europe Europe

Europe Europe

North Africa, Italy North Africa, Europe

original intention being that the tank destroyer battalions should be used in mass, formation head quarters were set up to control them, Tw brigades, the 1st and 2nd Tank Destroyer Brigades, were organized, and thirteen t nk destroyer groupS: the 1st through the 9th, the 12th the 16th the 20th an the 23rd. All these Brigade which was saw action except the 2nd inactivated in early 1944. However they did no see action as complete formations because the employment of tank de troyer battalion did not turn ou as en visaged in the early da s, Instead they were used as assault guns an conventional motorized artillery even

gun

01/

all adapted M4A2

an

De pite the fin combat record of the Tank De troyer force, battlefield experience showed that the lightly armored tank destroyer with its open to turret was less effective anti-tank weapon than a better rmed and armored tank. By the end of the war this proved to be unarguable and the Tank Destroyer force went ou of

existence,

Th

U,S. MARINE CORPS  ARMOR 

In the early 1920s the U.S Marine Corps had few light tank companies equipped with the 6-ton tank which had been copied from the French Renault F.T. tank Some experimenting was done with annored cars and with Marmon-Herrington light tanks, but the need for amphibian tank was never met. A Christie amphibian tank was deck-loaded on a submarine an launched in

ou ar n w s or g ree talion in antry regiments, a four-battalion regiment, a hore party engineer batt lion, battali on, an other elements including a li ht talion. Thi organization was soo altered to ntry regiments, a rtiller regiment with three wit zer attali an on lO 5-mm. howitzer an engineer battalion, light tank battalion eapons atta lion, a scout company, signa an amphibian tractor battalion, a medical a service battalion, a guard company an the l headqu te s company. Then a second divi ion nized. Eventually six divisions plus separate al combat eams, auxiliary organizations, para air unit were formed.

Christie amphibi tra became the

n n y r s ass igned one reinforced medium tank company of 18 anks plus platoon of four flamethrower tanks an two li ht tanks. Unfortunately, ac of hipping often made it necessary to leave behind on ut f the three medium tank companies in divi l nk battalion. Opera tionally, it might have been bette to have provided space for these tank an to have reduced the number of infantry carried for a iv operation at least for the initiJllanding.

By the time of the landing Iwo lima in February 1945 the light flamethrower tank had been replaced by flamethrowing Shermans. In fact mo of the Shermans ad flamethrowing capability, but of these the most effective, because of their longer range, were th se which

10 a subma ineJar U.S. Marin Corps maneuve tank ari Corps assault vehicle.

of Pu

lO

Ri co

924. his pro,'ed to be a b nd alley, the efe se epa rtm nt arine Corps) 528927) 

39

Successive waves

An LV

VT 3sforming and moving shoreward atlwo lima.

wilh boll-on armor pulling a disahled LV

on

Leyl e Island

(Photo: U.S. Army No. SC 26061

(Photo: U.S. Navy 50-G 312456)

fired through the 75-mm. gun tube rather than from the machine-gun port in the front plate. In the operation on Okinawa in April 1945 the Japanese developed an efficient defensive system against the tank infantry teams. They first sought to eliminate the infantry by high volume fire and then turned high volume fire on to the tank. Ifthis failed, anti-tank assault teams with satchel charges would try, under cover of smoke, to destroy the tank. Nevertheless, the American use of tanks on Okinawa reached a high peak as evidence by a dispatch issued by General Ushijima shortly before his death and found later: "The enemy's power lies in his tanks has become obvious that ou general battIe against the American Forces is battle against their

coming ashore

in

tall tion al1wo

and debarkingJrom their li

at Namu,.

in

the Kwajalein Atoll Februar 1944.

and Amlrac casuallie Jour days later already parlially buried

in

(Ph oto : courtesy U.S. Marine Corp s) 

the SoJ volcanic ash.

(Photo: U.S. Coas t Guard) 

41

Satanjlam lhroll'er lv15 Lighl IOnks

J3lh Ar

red Group whichJought

(1945-1950) With the end the wa in Eur ope in Ma 1945 and in the Pacific three months later the Western Allies proceeded to demobilize rapidly In the wholesale thinnin g down of American forces the formidable strength of the armored fonnations was destroyed, weakness that was soon to cause concern when it becam e appa rent that the U.S.S. R was demobilizing much more slowly an was maintain ing strong occupation forces in Eastern Europe. Before the end of 1945 twelve of the sixteen annored divisions had been inactivated, leaving only the 1st, 2nd,

in Ihe

Luzon, Philippines, campaign Ihat began

in

January 1945. (U.S. Army 41 651)

assigned to it, bu only one company each battalion was in fact organize an these companies were eq uipped with nothing more powerful than M24 Chaffee light tanks in case heavier tanks should damage Japanese roads and bridges. Even the Armored Center at Fort Knox was inactivated at the end of October 1945 and most of its functions were taken over by the Armored School. There was, however, still an obvious prime need for mechanized if no for armored units in the U.S. occupa tion forces in Europe. These units had to be flexible in organization and highly mobile to carry ou security duties, and they had to require the minimum person nel, for men were in short supply in rapidly demobiliz

nstituent cavalry reconnaissance squadrons few separate tank battalions, All the tank nd the cavalry reconnaissance squadron of an 4th Armored Divisions became Con quadrons, The 1st Constabulary Regiment basically from the th Armored Group nstabulary Regiment from the 2nd Cavalry 3rd from elements of the and 4th Armored the 4th from the 4th Cavalry Group an the 6th Cavalry Group, the 5th from ele he 4th Armored Division, the 6th from the 6th Cavalry Group, the 10th from ele t Armored Division an from the 771 st lion the 11 th from the th Cavalry Group ts the 4th Armored Division, the 14th Group, an

Group and elements

the

st Armored

stabulary, whose trength reached nearly arly 1947 was by its very nature a transient

peeps and je eps at Ihe Siegji'ied Lin

th

TI E3 Mine Exploder mounted on a Sherman bogged down on Ihe drawba ck o/Ihe /ronlier o(German y, Ihe week be/ore Chri tm as 1944 it was called, was thaI with each disc weighing three "Au nt Jemima" (U,S, Arm y) IOns il sank like a slon inlo the mud o/balil -mired roads,

organization that became outdated by the changing political situation an the confrontation between East and West in Europe, Th HQ an HQ Company was inactivated in November 1950 an the ,S, Con stabulary was superseded by th newly activated Seventh Army, However the 2nd Constabulary Brigade and the 15th and 24th Constabulary Squadrons, from the 15th an 4th Constabulary Regiments respectively continued to function until December 1952 when they were inacti vated the last of the Constabulary units,

Wesl Wall o/Germany,

(Courtesy Col. G, B, Jarr tt)

43

The dragon's leelh palh

the German

SI Wall lVere not as invulnerable a had been feared by the Allies. They lVere broken down by lank gunfire to create

(U S. Army)

The problem assaulting the Siegfried Line loomed large before the event. The M4A3E2 "Jumbo" specially armored Sherman assaull lank was buill to breach lhese anti-lank defenses which propaganda ha declared 10 be "impregnable". fn poinl offact artillery alld lank fire creOled cavities inlhe dragon's teelh with au I undue trouble. (U.S. Army)

There was still no Congressional authorization war, despite the fact that armor enthusiasts the tank as the main weapon of land warfare. serving with armored units in the war had their basic branch. In 1947 armored officers be assigned to the cavalry branch and the artment announced that it expected there would ly be statutory approval of an armored cavalry place the cavalry. The marks of the old antago tween tankmen and horsed cavalrymen-an sm which was equally strong in the British vealed themselves in the proviso that, until oval was given, tank officers woul be detailed valry unless they objected", and, by the same avalry officers who did not desire to serve with uld be "transferred to or detailed to other arms ices." rm "armored cavalry" for the new arm pleased ose involved. Thos who ha never served with ought that "armor" best described what it was . Others argued that the arm was still carrying functions of cavalry-mobility, firepower an tion whatever it was mounted on "cava lry" continue to be called. When statutory approval ly given for the new arm in the Army Organiza of 1950, it was given the name of "armor". It continuation of the cavalry."

Sandbags were among Ihe "field fixes" to afford protection (mainly psychological in this case) against the devastating hand-held Pan zerfaust. This Sherman is leaving concealment in NiederbetschdOlf its way to the Riller hofen front on the eastern Fa tier France. January 1945 (Courtesy Col. G. B. arrett)

Despite this decision and the unpopUlarity of the term "a mored cavalry" it did not disappear from the U.S. Army. Five regiments perpetuated it in their designation as "armored cavalry regiments", and still do so. Th first of these five regiments to be organi ed in this role was the 3rd Armored Cavalry, which, as 3rd Cavalry, ha first been inactivated in 1942 to form 3rd Armored Regiment in 10th Armored Division an had then been re-activated an had formed 3rd Cavalry Group. became an armored cavalry regiment in 1948. Later in the same year the 2nd, 6th, th, and 14th Annored Cavalry were organized from unit of the U.S. Constabulary. All were activated except the 11th which was not activated until 1951 during the Korean War.

Sherman 3rd Armored Division knocked alit by German artillery fire al Bergerhausen near Cologne visions served in the North-West Europe campaign- a n d another one in/taly.

January 3. 1945. Fifteen U.S. (U S. Army SC 20J343-S)

45

917 

the "fieldfixes" applied to prote

Sh ermans against German Panzerfaust fire.

l/e llx, Belgium , tank and jeeps 0/75th Infantr Di vision are alnJed whil

condilions that prevailed 011

th

Weste,." Front.

10

(Cour tesy Co J. B. Jarr ll U. S.

ca moujlage them from enemy gr ound an air

rmy SCI 97062])

obse fl 1otio

(ET OH

in

the

45 8805)

47

Shermans of 714th Battalion at Bischwiller, France, January 8, 1945, preparing to fire into Drusenheim. The 714th Baltalion was a "spin-oj}"" battalion from 121h Armored Division after September 1943. The 12th Armored Division, it will be nOliced in Ihe relevanl table compiledfrom Ihe officiallisl, had only tIVO, instead three, organic tank battalions-the '23rd and 43rd. The official caption 10 this picture, hOlVever, suggests thai the 12th Armored Division did in fact have a third tank battalion under command: the 714th, which was its own offspring. (U.S. Army SC198784)

The annored cavalry regiment of this period had three reconnaissance battalions as its main strength and was equipped with light tanks and 69 medium tanks. Its primary role was described as being "t engage in security, light combat, and reconnaissance missions. The regiment is no designed to engage in combat with hostile annor or strongly organized defenses." Since their inception the organization of the annored cavalry regiments has changed somewhat, the main difference being that each has an air cavalry troop and has added helicopters to its equipment. The traditional cavalry designations of squadrons and troops have replaced the battalion and company designations.

(SINCE 1950) When the North Koreans attacked the South in June 1950 the only tanks near enough to be mshed into action were the M24 Chaffees of the four tank companies assigned to the occupation divisions in Japan. The com panies were fonned into a provisional tank battalion which first went into combat in support of the 24th Division on July 11. The enemy was equipped with T-34/85s. Fo over three weeks the light tanks had no support from heavier annor. Then in the first week of

reconnaissance company, it brought the activation of fifth annored cavalry regiment, and it saw the re-activa tion of four annored divisions, as well as the activation of tank battalions for the Regular Anny infantry divisions. The National Guard infantry divisions brought into Federal service were the 40th (Califoruip) and 45th (Oklahoma), both of which fought in Korea, the 28th (Pennsylvania) and 43rd (Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Vennont), both of which went to Gennany, and the 31st (Alabama and Mississippi), 37th (Ohio), 44th (Illinois), and 47th (Minnesota and North Dakota), all of which became training centers for reinforcements. None of the annored divisions or the five armored cavalry regiments served in Korea. A R M O R E D DIVISIONS At the outbreak of the Korean Wa only the 2nd and 3rd Annored Divisions were active. The 2nd had had an unintermpted record of service since its activation on July 15, 1940; the 3rd had been inactivated in Gennany on November 9, 1945 and then reactivated on July 17, 1947 as a training division. A third annored division, the 5th, had only recently been inactivated for the second time. Its first inactivation was on October 1945; it had then been reactivated on July 6,1948, only to be inactivated again on February I, 1950. Soon after the beginning of the fighting in Korea, the 5th was reactivated yet again (on September 1, 1950), the first of the four annored divisions that were reactivated

d Sherman

Company A, 701st Bmtalioll, 91h U.S. Army, crrrryilig both authorized and unauthoriz ed stowag

45. un

3r

at Brachelen, 

(U.S. Arm)' Courtesy Col. G.

u.s

Army in Lu

mbourg, Januar 3, 1945. The

36, which had a

90-111111

gUll on

B.

Jarrett) 

10 chassis, could take on any 

(U.S. Army SC148613)

49

Th Baili Ih Bulge Janum 17 1945.

Sherman

7741h Ballalion, 3rd U.S. Army, pa ses a knock d oul German POIllher in Ihe Joresl n ar Bovigny, B lgium

divisions was restored to six on June 15, 1954, when the 4th was reactivated. On March 15, 1955 the 3rd became combat division. A year later, on March 16 1956 the number active armored divisions was reduced to four with the inactivation on that date the 5th and 6th Annored Divisions. From 1957 to 1962 the Ist Armored Division was reduced to a single combat command. Thereafter it reverted to full organization. Th organization of an armored division was no longer what it had been in World War II. Towards the end of the war the need for more annored infantry in the division had been generally recognized an the Wa Department had under consideration a proposed structure which would increase the total divisional strength by 4,000 to about 15,000. The actual increase

introduced in 1948, was to 15,973. The reserve command was augmented to allow it to function as a third combat command when required. A fourth infantty battalion was added an the number companies in each battalion was increased from three to four, making 16 infantry companies in the division instead the previous nine The division was also given battalion of heavy artillery (I 55-mm. self-propelled howitzers) and bat talion of self-propelled anti-aircraft guns to add to the three 105-mm. self-propelled howit er battalions. Th number tank battalions was increased to four by the addition of heavy tank battalion which was equipped with M103s. Th reconnaissance battalion was retained. Th total number tanks in the division was 373. Th first armored division to which this reorganization was

The Lighl Tank T7 wilh 1I mock-up Ihe Lighl Tank T7 £2 on ils righl. The T7 becam all ull ll1pl 10 replace Ihe M4 Medium Sherman , but il jell di lrou ly belIVeen the lools lighl tank or medium unk. II was probably Ihe besl lighl lallk World War ll but 01 ils /ruilion nobody wanled a ad end to good lank. lighl tank. (U.S. Ordnance Department)

deeper than battlefields of mall, self-contained, fast-moving mperative no only in the concentra tack bu also in di persion for defense. the Army had to retain its ability to -nuclear wars, where the requirement persion were no as important."* ization was the pentomic (or pent na) en applied to all armored division by ange was needed in the basic structure at command set-up already provided ility. far as the tanks were con till four battalions but all four were ipped the heavy M 103 with their withdrawn from Army ervice. Th ks was 360-306 of them with 90-mm. 6-mm. gun The number of armored artillery battalions remained the was here that the greatest change took was given an atomic capability. was 14,617.

of tank and infantry battalions which varied according the mis ion and other relevant factors. Th change in the armored divi ion because of the continuance of combat commands al beit under the title brigade headquarters, wa less than in the other type of division. ROAD armored division had a divi ional base with

oader an

valry hi tory,

four artillery battalions, an engineer batt lion and other support units, an an armored cavalry quadron of 18 light tanks. As its maneuver elements it had six tank battalions and five mechanized infantry battalions. And it had three brigade he dquarters to whi h the various unit could be assigned. Each tank battalion had 54 medium nd two light tank , and each mechanized infantry b ttalion had two light tank s. Th gave the 40 light tanks (including the armored division a total in battle tanks. It cavalry 's ), an 12 medium or total strength wa 15 966 Th armored cavalry quadron in all four type of division had an air cavalry troop equipped with heli copters. In 1965 th t Cavalry Division wa reorgani ed as fifth type of division airmobile-and was sent to fight in Vietn m.

p. cit. p. 80.

plendid ve hicle II'hi h us

de

ds om'e

10

rh IOra lh natl lju re ivledium T

7.

(U.S. Ordn nce Dep rtment)

51

The /l.tfenium Tank lvl711'as imenned as a repl acement/or Ihe M4 Sherman. but was incapable a/becoming so because weight han been so enhan ced th it was badly l{nderpol\'ered. Prot/ue/ion continued 10 be cOHeen/rated 011 the more efficient vehicle - t h e M4 Sherman. (John ennon)

M22 Airborne Light Tank training the tank the Locust.

Il'ith

infantr

ar

ri Knox. In/acl none

\Vas

uset/ by U.S. troops

in

combal. and nl a/ew by the British who called (ColJrtesy Marmom-Herringt Co.)

M24 Light tank, called the Chaffee by the Srilish, saw only limiled service tr ack/Of

ill

improvingjlotalion.

World War Il but bore

th

brllnt

0/ the

initial North Korean attack

in

July 1950 This M24 Chaffee is jiued with 23-inch experimental

0/1."'/ ' (U S. Ordnance Dl'jl:llll1

V>

...,

6t

7th

th

9th The

bridge over the

cap lured illl aCI by

Rive/' RM ne:

91h Armored

the bridge

Division on Ma

at

ch 7.

magen wMch was 1945. (U S. Army

Th final status of the armor ed divisions was as follows:

10th 11 th

12th

Inactivat September 18, 1945 at Camp Shanks, Ne York. Reactivated September 5 1950 at or Leonard Wood Missouri. Inactivated rch 16, 195 at Fort Le on rd Wood Inactivated October 9, 1945 at Ca p Patric Henry, Virginia. Reactiv ted No mb 1950 at Camp Roberts, California. Inac ivated November 15, 1953 at Camp Roberts Camp Patrick In acti vated No vember 13 194 Henry, Virgini a. Inactivated October 13 1945 at Ca Pattick Henry Virginia. Inactivate October 15, 1945 atrick Camp Henry Virginia. Inac tiv ted Septembe 30, 1945 in Au st lia. Inac ti vated Decem ber 17, 1945 at Camp Kilmer

6t

7th

th

9th The

bridge over the

cap lured illl aCI by

Rive/' RM ne:

91h Armored

the bridge

Division on Ma

at

ch 7.

magen wMch was 1945. (U S. Army

Th final status of the armor ed divisions was as follows: Camp Kilmer, New 1st  Inactivated April 26, 1946 Jersey. Reactivated March 7 1951 at Fort Hood, Texas. nd Ha ined active in e July 15, 1940. 3rd Inact vated November 9 1945 in Germany. Re activa ted July 15, 1947 at Fort Knox, Ke ucky s a tra ining division and on March 15 1955 as co ba division. 194 in Germ any.  4t Inactivated March Reacti v.ated June 15 1954 at Fort Hood, Te xas.  5th Inactivated October 11, 1945 Camp Kilmer, Ne Jersey. Rea ctivated July 1948 at Camp Chaffee, Arkansas. In ct ivated February 1950 Camp Chaffee Reactivated September 1950 at Camp Chaffe e. ffee. Inactivat March 16, 1956 at Camp

The M3

(T76) Howit zer

r Carriage

IVa

built olllhe has

10th 11 th

12th 13th 14th 16th 20th

Inactivat September 18, 1945 at Camp Shanks, Ne York. Reactivated September 5 1950 at or Leonard Wood Missouri. Inactivated rch 16, 195 at Fort Le on rd Wood Inactivated October 9, 1945 at Ca p Patric Henry, Virginia. Reactiv ted No mb 1950 at Camp Roberts, California. Inac ivated November 15, 1953 at Camp Roberts Camp Patrick In acti vated No vember 13 194 Henry, Virgini a. Inactivated October 13 1945 at Ca Pattick Henry Virginia. Inactivate October 15, 1945 atrick Camp Henry Virginia. Inac tiv ted Septembe 30, 1945 in Au st lia. Inac ti vated Decem ber 17, 1945 at Camp Kilmer w Jerse y. Inactivated November 15, 1945 at Ca p Cooke California. Inactiv ed September 23, 1945 at Camp trick Henr y, Virginia. Inactivat d October 15, 1945 Camp Kilmer Ne Jersey. Inact ivated Apri 2, 1946 at Camp Ho od Texas. A R M Y RESERVE A N D  NATIONAL GUARD 

Late in 1946 number of tank and cavalry unit were ac tivated in the Organized Reserves, as this compo nent of the Army was then ca lled. Th e were on armo red division (the 19th), four cav lry groups (the 301st th ough the 304th) two tank battalions (t he 75th

oJ the M24 Li gh

tank. 

U.S. Ordna nce De partment)

n Mindal/a

in

Ihe Philippines

45.

782nd), two cavalry reconnaissance th an 315th), an on reconnaissance arly in 1948 the name of the Organized ge to the Organ zed Reserve Corps, it was han ged again to the Army uard between World Wa II an the d two armored divisions (the 49th th (New Jersey» five annored groups, ps 31 tank batta li ons, an 15 cavalry quadrons. tank battalion and ry reconnaissance troop was organic infantry divi ions an each infantry an company. Eight of the National

divisions were called into Federal Korean War. number of National Guard armored increased to six by th conversion of sions-the 27th, the 30th (that portion 40th, an the 48th. Th North Carolina th became full infantry division. At tional Guard, in addition to its ix , had two separate armored brigades, valry regiments an armored cavalry

separate tank attalions. Over an fantr y divisio had 34 tank batt ions uadrons.

(U.S. Army 265177)

COMBAT ARMS  TH REGIMENTAL SYSTEM 

In 1957, t the time of th first major reo rganiza tion of th S. Army divisions und er the pentomic plan, there was a fundamental change in th organization of combat unit s. Th arrival of nuclear weapons on the battlefield confirmed a trend that had started in World Wa II the regiment which ha always been the ba ic fighting unit of the my was too large. Except in the case of the 2nd an 3rd Armored Divisions the armored regiments in 1943 ad been broken up in to separate battalions, many of which had lived their own individual unit lives unrelated to th regiments from which they stemmed. Many the cavalry regiments to had lost their identities by being split up to form new units Regi mental history and tradition so vital in ny ar my were scattered piecemeal across th mo saic of Amelica's recent milit ry exploits. Th Combat Arms Regimental System (CARS) revived the old cavalry and armored regiments as parent bodies which would conso lidat th relevant disparate units including th se which were ina tive, an thus give a continuity to their regimental hi tOJies. Regimental headquarter were under contro of the Department of the Army an each regiment could organize average of some fifteen tt alions or qu drons which would be acti vated as needed Th parent regiments selected for use under CARS 55

An 1MB HOII 'i!zer

MOlor Carriage passing a wrecked peep and a burn/-oul Sherman,

(U .S. Army 44-8780)

M2 Pershing being recovered by an M74 Armored Re co very Vehicle based on Ihe kf4A3 chassis. Pershings first saw combat lVirh the 3rd and 9rl<  Ar ored Di, siolls ill Eur pe in 1945. nd rhen il1 Korea. (U.S. Army) 

our u.s. ranks builr ill rhe 1950s. Left to righr. M 10 76-mm gun,

wirll 120-mm gUll. M48 and M4

Pall oll with 90-mm gun an

M41 Light (Walker Bulldog) wilh

ky

Ordnan ce Cenler i Seplembe 19 50 Ihis Sherman M4 AJ wa one many ic Itad il 75-mll1 MJ g U l l ep/ace db 76-mm 76 was modifi igi al turret was lained and th il guard eI if fit in. P. Hunnicutt) (U S. A r m y SC348719 Courtesy

cavalry egiments (the 2nd. 3rd ) whose stru ture was not cllanged wel ve cavalry regiment (the 1s 4th. 0th, 12th, 13th, 15th, 16th, nd 17th). or regiments (the 32nd 33rd 34th, rd, 64th, 66th, 67th 68th, 69th, 70th an the 8Ist). Subs quently the Army decided that CARS avalr ontain reconnaissance type units alions. This resulted in the redesigna th, and 16th Cavalry (tank battalion as the 13th, 15th an 16th Armor. the 5th 7th, and 8th Cavalry whi the Ist Cavalry Division were not cision th cavalry should be recon an rema ned organi ed as infantry in designation mo regiments had been armored War Il. Some origin ted at that time their lineage back to the U.S. Tank ar 1. All these armored regiments h 43 except the 66th an 67th in 2nd which were no broken up until the 32nd nd 33rd in 3rd Armored re no broken up until July 1947. egiments (except the 15th an 16th) ate non-divisional tank ttalions in re

parent giments of armor an S, with their date of original con

Regiment st

Date

Constitution

(& O r i g i n a l D e s i g n a t i o n )

Ca va lr (1

eg iment of Dragoons)

ar ch 2, 1833 (as the

Unit ed Sta es Regiment of

Dragoo ns 23. 1836 as 2nd Regiment of agoo s) Ma 19 1846 (as the Re giment of Mo unted Ma

Cavalry (S co nd 2nd Armo re Dragoons)

3rd Armored Cavalry (Brave Ri fl s)

33 rd Armor

Riflemen) Marc 3, 1855 (as Cavalry March 3, 18 55 (as 2n Cavalry) Ma 1861 (as 3rd Cavalry) July 2B. 86 (as 7th Cavalry) July 28 1866 (as 8th Ca va lr y) ly 28 86 (as 9th Cavalry) 28 18 66 (a 10th Ju Ca alry) February 1901 (as 11th Cavalry) ebruary , 1901 (as 12th Ca alr February 2, 1901 as 13th Cavalry) 14th ru 1901 Cav lry) February 2, 1901 (as 15th avalry) Ju 1.1916 (as 16th Cavalry) 1916 (as 17th July Cavalry) 41 (as 2nd January 3, Armored Regim nt January 13,1941 (as 3rd

34th Armor

August 28, 1941 (as 34th

35th Arm 37th Armor

nuary 13 1941 (as 5th Armored Regiment) January 13 1941 la 7th

40th Armor

Januar

4th

Ca

lry

5th Cavalry (S!eck Knights) 6th

mo red Cavalry

Sixth 7th Cavalry (Garry Ow

he Fi

in

Bth Cavalr 9th Cavalry 10th Cavalry 11th

rmored Cavalry Th

Re giment)

12th Cavalry

13th Armor (13t

Horse)

14th Armored Cava lr 15th Armor 16th

rm

17th Ca alry 32 nd

rm or

Black horse

rmored Regiment)

Armored Regim nt)

Armored Regiment

3,

94

Armored Regiment

as 4th

57

63rd Armor

1942 as 745th nk Battalion) January 13 41 (as 78th Tank alla ion) Augus t 18 (organized as HO and HO Co mp anies of May

64th Armor 66th Armor

Iron Knights)

st

67t

and 2nd Provisional

Brigad es Tank Corps AEF)  September 1929 (as 2nd  Tank Regi men t)  October 1, 1933 (as 68th  Inf ntr (Light Ta nks))  July 15, 1940 (as 69th  Ar mored Reg im nt)  1940 (as 70th  Jul Tank Baltalion)  January 14 1943 (as 5th 

Armo

68th Armo 69th Armor 70th Armor

Armor

mored Regiment)

73rd Armo

Janua 13 1941 (as 6th Tank Battali on Januar 1941 (as 73rd Tank B allalion Medium)) August 28 1941 (as 81

77th Armor

81st Armor

Armored Regiment)

BIBLIOGRAPHY AN

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

aign Credit Regi Unit itation nd Ca Korea Jul 6, 1961 wi h changes, Forging the Thunderbolt, by Mildred Gillie, Th Military Service Publi hing Company Harri burg, 1947 Lineage Ser es Armor- avalry ar t Ar by Mary Lee on or Office Stubbs and Stanley Ru ss ll hi Pa

672

WW II an

Milit ry Hi story 969. he evelopm nt Am elica Armor 1917 194 by Nenninger, Ar arc Timoth January-F ebnta April Ma Ju tobe r 1969 September ay tha "w ithout whose help thi is trite ph aseo ogy book could n t ave been written bu hi s case it ab olutely true. ithout t earc docum en ts nd corres nd ce of my friend Colo el obert J. le the an publ icatio th above bib li og ap hy thi account of the U.S, rmored unit nd armo ed form at on t ce rtai nl could not have bee itte also greatly obliged ever, to Bob le for the photograph

Elements the e ar nt regiments have been organi ed in both the egu lar Army and the Army Reserve, although no ll those organized are active.

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(U.S. Army Courte y Col. G. B. Jarrell)

APPENDIX

he 1943 re-organization which was no nd 3rd Armored Division which remained throughout the war. and ,,'as no applied Division lIntil July 20.1944. in Italy-the in the armored divisions were broken up battalions in each div·ision. Th following w these new tank ba ttalions \\ere formed n:

n:

1st (pre\ iously the 1st .-\nnored Regiment les it 2nd Bart3li0 r. which \\as disbanded 4th (previously the 3rd Battalion an the Maintenance Company of the 3th Armored Regiment) 13th (previously HQ an HQ Com pany. Service Company and Companies D, E, and F of the 13th Armored Regiment. Th rest of the Regiment was dis banded, except for its Recon naissance Company which was re-designated as Troop D, 81st Ca valry Reconnaissance Squad ron, Mechanized, which was the divi ion's cava lry reconnai sance quadron) 8th (previously the 3rd Battalion of th e 35th Armored Regiment) 35th (previol1sly RH and HQ Com pany, an the 2nd Battalion of the 35th Armored Regiment. Th 1st Battalion wa re-desig nated as the 77lst Tank Bat talion, an the Reconnaissance

as Troop D, 25th Cavalry Reconnaiss nce Squad ron Mechani ed, which was the division s cavalry recon naissance squadron. Th Main tenance and Service Companies of the Regiment weredi banded) 37th (previously RH an HQ Com pany. the t Battalion, and Company the 37th 2nd Armored Regiment. Th was Battalion less Company ab orbed in the 37th Tank Bat talion. The rd Battalion was re-designated as the 706th Tank Battalion, an the Reconnais ance Company as Troop 25th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron, Mechanized. Th Maintenance and Service Co panies were disbanded) 10th (previolls ly the 3rd Battalion of the 34th Annored Regiment) 34th (previously RH and HQ Com pany, an the 2n Battalion of the 34th Armored Regiment. Th 1st Battalion was re-desig nated as the 772nd Tank Bat talion, and the Reconnai sance Company as Troop D, 85th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squad ron, Mechanized which was the division's cava ry recon Company

5th Armored Division:

59

nai ssance squadron. Th Main nanc and Service Companies of th Re iment were di banded) 81 t (pre iously the 8lst Armored Regiment less the 3rd at tali the B nd the Maintenance, Ser vice, and Rec nnai ss anc Com panies. Th 3rd Battalion was re-design at ed as the 07th Tank ttalion, and the eco nnai sance Company as Troop E, 85th ava lry Reconnaiss an Squadron, Mech nized Th Band an the M intenance nd Service Companie were dis ba nded) 6th Armored Division: 15th (previously th 3rd ttalion of the 68th Armored Regim nt) 68th previ usly RH an HQ Com pany and the 2nd Battalion of th 68th Armored Regiment. Th st Battalion wa re-de ig nated as the 773rd Tank Bat talion, nd th Reco nn issanc Company as Troop D, 86th Cavalry R conn iss nce Squad ron ec nized whi h as the division 's cava ry eco naissa nce quadron Th Band and the Maintenance and Service Companies were disbanded)

Th M45 Medium an k, seen here cr ss in g

river in

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7th Armored Division:

69th (previously RH and HQ Com pany, R eg im ntal Medical De ac hm nt st Battalion HQ nd HQ Company, nd Companies C, an D. Th 2nd Batt lion less mpany was absorbed in th 69th Tank Bat lion. The 3rd ttalion wa re -de ignated as the 708th Tank Bat ta lion an the Reconnai sa nce Company as Troop E, 86th Cav lry Reconnaissance Squadron, Mech nized. Th Main tenan ce and Service Com pani es wer disbanded) ly th 3rd battalion 17th (pre vi the 31 Armored Regiment 31st (previously RH an HQ Co pany nd th 2nd Batt lion of the 31st Armor d Regim nt. Th 1st Battalion was e-desig ted as th e 774th Tank Batt lion an the Reconnaissa nce Company as Troop D. 87th Cavalry Reconnaissan Squad ron Mech nized which as the divi ion' s ca lry re con naissa nce quadr n. Th nd and the Main tena nce an Ser vic were di Companies nded)

odified Pershing armed with a I05-mm howitzer. (U.S. Army Co urtesy Col. G.

Jarrell)

Battalion, and the Reconnais sance Compa ny as Troop E, 87th Cavalry Reconnaissa nce Squadron, Mechaniz ed. The intenanc and Service Com panies were disbanded)

n:

10th Armored· Division:

2nd (previously the 2nd Armored  Regiment le ss the 1st and 3,-d  Battalions Band, an Mainten vi ce and Reconnais ance sance Companies. The 1 t Bat talion \\·as re-de ignated as the  776th nk Battalion, the 3rd Battalion the 19th T nk Bat talion and the Reconnaissa ce  Company as Troop D, 89th  Cavalry eco nnaissance Squad ron, Mechanized, which was the division's cavalry recon naissa nce squadron. Th Band  r and the Main nance an vice Compan ies were disband ed)  14th (previously the 14th Armored  Regiment le the 3rd Battalion,  Maintenance, Ser Band, an vice and Reconnai sance Com panies. Th 3rd Battalion was  re-designated a the 711th Tank 

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the 2nd Armored Regiment) 3rd (previously th 3rd Armored eg im nt les the st an 3rd Battalions, Band, an Main nance, Service nd Recon nais nce Companies. Th st Battalion was -designated as the 777th Tank Battalion, the 3rd Battalion as the 21st Tank Battalion, an the R connais sa nce Company as Troop D, 90th Cavalry Reconnaissanc Squadron which was the divi sion's cavalry reconnaissance quadron. Th Band an th Maintenance and Service Com panies were di sbanded) th (previously th 11 th Armored Regiment le ss the 3rd Batt lion, Maintenanc , Band, an vice an Reconnaissance Com panies. Th 3rd Battalion was re-designated as the 12th Tank Battalion, an the Reconnais sance Company as Troop E, 90th Cavalty Reconnais an Squadron Mechanized. Th Band an the Maintenance an Service Companies re dis banded) 21 (pre\-iously the 3rd Battalion of lhe 3rd Armored Regiment)

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(C \. R. J. Icks)

61