The scans were provided courtesy of Tom Hubred. 22.) The 3 inch gun on the M10 was more effective than the Sherman 75mm gun for busting Japanese palm log bunkers. B Company supporting the 184th Infantry Regiment landed on Red Beach 1 while A Company supporting the 32nd Infantry Regiment landed on Red Beach 2. 13.) The battalion supported the infantry to capture four Japanese airfields on Leyte and helped repelled a Japanese Paratroop night assault on the airfields. We raced volkswagens on our time off and we'd go to the range and shoot all day. Courtesy of Carol Davis Gamble (**). 776th Tank Destroyer Battalion Unit History: On 21 December, 1941, a provisional antitank battalion of the 76th Field Artillery Brigade was activated as the 776th Tank Destroyer Battalion. Thanks for making it possible, Thanks so much VetFriends.com for your help and genuine concern for locating this long lost buddy of mine, Please Enter a Valid email address with no spaces, VetFriends Members: Recon Company Personnel - Photo showing small group of Recon Company personnel. As a result of this action, Company A was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation. The attack was blunted within a day, but fighting continued until the German leadership called off the attack on 11 August. Activated 1 August 1946 at Fort Benning, Georgia. At 0400 hours, 4 Type 89s attacked the 3rd Battalion, 184th Infantry sector. A Japanese scout car then sped down the road and its passengers killed 2 GIs and wounded 3 others. One of those 36 officers was . Numerous names throughout the text. ABMC Headquarters 2300 Clarendon Blvd, Suite 500 Arlington, VA 22201 Phone: 703-584-1501 var addy_textede5f5022a62a30559ef44961cb36143 = 'info' + '@' + 'tankdestroyer' + '.' + 'net';document.getElementById('cloakede5f5022a62a30559ef44961cb36143').innerHTML += ''+addy_textede5f5022a62a30559ef44961cb36143+'<\/a>'; History text from the book The Tank Killers by Harry Yeide. Thanks VetFriends, It was a wonderful moment that we will both remember for the rest of our lives, and we owe it to VetFriends. The book is large so it is provided in two parts. Last Updated on December 11th, 2022, https://www.amazon.com/Men-Armor-History-Battalion-Beginnings/dp/1636240135/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=men+of+armor+jeff+danby&qid=1622837459&sr=8-1, https://www.amazon.com/Men-Armor-History-Company-Battalion/dp/1636240151/ref=pd_lpo_1?pd_rd_w=BJiSD&content-id=amzn1.sym.116f529c-aa4d-4763-b2b6-4d614ec7dc00&pf_rd_p=116f529c-aa4d-4763-b2b6-4d614ec7dc00&pf_rd_r=3VYNZNJ2T136DMR3ENVY&pd_rd_wg=MvrPX&pd_rd_r=bd4a947f-6fe9-4bf4-9e5b-f2b825332956&pd_rd_i=1636240151&psc=1. 69th Tank Battalion. [7][8] Upon arrival in Great Britain, it shipped by train to Fairford, England. His work has been featured in Business Insider, Sandboxx, and . Required fields are marked *. Inactivated 8 February 1946 at Camp Kilmer, New Jersey. November 3: It would later be redesignated the 73rd Armor Regiment and was finally disbanded in 1996. "I was a medic with the 76th Armored Medical Battalion, 6th . It was later redesignated as the 73rd Armor Regiment, and is perpetuated today by the 73rd Cavalry Regiment. The battalion spent the first four days of July refitting from the Cherbourg campaign. It was during this time that the 746th was assigned to support the 4th Infantry Division for the invasion. The battalion headquarters remained attached to the 4th Infantry Division. "Armor in Operation Neptune (establishment of the Normandy Beachhead". 2nd platoon engaged in combat on the west coast of Leyte. ABMC Headquarters 2300 Clarendon Blvd, Suite 500 Arlington, VA 22201 Phone: 703-584-1501 1.) During the Battle for Leyte Gulf (October 23-26), Dulag was used as an emergency airfield for stranded US naval planes due to out of fuel, battle damage or their carrier was put out of action. The hole on the side of the turret is not a shell hole which knocked out the tank. The 746th Tank Battalion followed the standard organization of a U.S. medium tank battalion during World War II. The first address you sent me is my buddy. The battalion received its first training at Fort Lewis as part of the IX Corps. [11] In supporting these diverse elements, which landed both in airborne and beach assaults, the 746th played a crucial role in consolidating the elements of these three divisions into a coherent organized beachhead. This unit was redesignated on 8 May 1941 as the 756th Tank . Volume Two has been released as of December 6th (2022). October 28: Debarked vicinity of Cappaci, Italy, beginning 19 September, 1943. Reorganized and redesignated 15 January 1948 as the 756th Heavy Tank Battalion. December 4: C Company personnel left for a work detail at Yellow Beach #1 south of Dulag. Larger versions of the individual images are available by request. Light tanks extricated a mired M29 carrier (Weasel) and trailer. During the next several days the tankers encountered stiff but increasingly disorganized and isolated resistance and advanced to the environs west of Marigny by 29 July. November 15: November 22: On February 7, the 767th tank battalion re-embarked for the trip back to Schofield Barracks in Hawaii. This is Man O War later crossing a small stream. On 5 July, the 746th Tank Battalion was attached to the 83rd Infantry Division to help repel a strong counterattack from the German 6th Parachute Regiment[15] toward Carentan in an effort to cut off the VII Corps from their supply lines to the landing beaches. 2,944,083, MILITARY UNITS - 76th Tank Battalion 11th Airborne Division. It was re-attached to the 34th Infantry Division on October 1, after having supported the 45th in action, and continued in this mission until October 20, when it reverted to VI Corps control. Video: Type 89 Otsu Tank at Aberdeen Ordnance Museum. Thank you for every other informative blog. The large number of track grousers were definitely required on Leyte. In contrast to most operations to date, the 746th and the infantry they supported conducted many of their operations at night in order to avoid German artillery spotters and to surprise the defenders. document.getElementById('cloakede5f5022a62a30559ef44961cb36143').innerHTML = ''; I must say you have done a very good job with this. [8][36] The 746th Tank Battalion was inactivated at Camp Shanks, New York, on 26 October 1945. [25] By 18 December the division's advance toward the Roer was halted in order to respond to the German offensive. On the morning of A-Day, the US 7th Infantry Division landed at Dulag, Leyte. 737th Tk Bn: 22 Nov 44-3 Dec 44: 2nd platoon and Maintenance section of D company left Burauen at 0500 hours for Baybay on the southwest coast of Leyte where they were attached to the 32nd infantry regiment, 7th Infantry Division camp at 1200 hours. Contact us. 1-30, 1944.. 9 Pages (Journal)(*), May 1-31, 1944.5 Pages (Poor quality), May 1-31, 1944..23 Pages (Journal - includes casualties)(*), May 12-31, 194414 Pages (Messages only), Jun. The 756th was the first Allied unit into Cassino. One plane load of paratroopers were lost when the paratroopers jumped their anchor line failed causing their parachutes not to deploy. No content can be used unless consent has been given by TankDestroyer.net. If you recognize any of the men, please contact us so we can provide an ID. https://web.archive.org/web/20090811141647/http://www.army.mil/usapa/epubs/pdf/p672_1.pdf, "World War II Divisional Combat Chronicles 9th Infantry Division", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=746th_Tank_Battalion_(United_States)&oldid=1122376714, Armor battalions of the United States Army, Tank battalions of the United States Army, Military units and formations established in 1942, Military units and formations disestablished in 1945, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0. Courtesy of the Tank Destroyer Association by L. L. Gill, TDA Historian. Today, these airfields are completely overgrown with grass and brush. They had advanced to the vicinity of the Lozon River west of St.-L by 25 July, when the Allied carpet bombing of German positions south of the St.-L-Priers road marked the beginning of Operation Cobra. The M10s advanced along with the Shermans. 124th Tank Battalion; 175th Reconnaissance Battalion; 656th Sapper Engineer Battalion; 728th Signals Battalion; 1682nd Material Support Battalion; The tankers followed a route south of Charleroi, Namur and Lige to Eupen and crossed into Germany near Roetgen on 14 September 1944. Tho tank companies oleo did i''.ght driving and pro.cticed steep hill climbing in preparation for the perrline op erations. Personnel carried out normal maintenance and policed the bivouac area. Awards, Battlefield Commisions & Stations. The 1944 US invasion of the Marshall Islands was the first US assault on actual Japanese territory during WWII. [34], On 10 July 1945, the battalion was relieved of assignment to the 9th Infantry Division. Mitsubishi developed an air-cooled diesel engine and built the new model Type 89B Otsu which went into production in 1933. The tanks landing craft landed about 2,000 yards from their planned locations, but once ashore the battalion immediately went into combat and was parceled out to the various infantry units they were to support. Also courtesy of the Tank Destroyer Association by L. L. Gill, TDA Historian. 1-30, 1944..34 Pages (Journal - includes casualties & messages)(*), Jul. By mid-April, the 9th Infantry Division was effectively squeezed out of the shrinking cordon around the Ruhr Pocket and plans were made to pull the 746th out of the line to refit the worn tanks. I took some screenshots. The 756th Tank Battalion was attached to the 3d Infantry Division at Qualiano, near Naples on June 19, as the Division was preparing for its part in the invasion of southern France. The battalion also used this period to winterize their vehicles and to train and prepare for the impending resumption of offensive operations. 242nd independent Military-Transport Aviation Squadron (Pskov, Pskov Oblast) In 2002 the 237th Guards Parachute Regiment was disbanded. 76- . 301st Engineer Combat Battalion; 301st Medical Battalion; 76th Division Artillery; 302d Field Artillery Battalion (105mm Howitzer) . Arrived Casablanca, Morocco, 25 January, 1943. November 1: 753rd Tank Battalion: 312th Field Artillery Battalion: 75th Infantry Division: 313th Engineer Combat Battalion: 766th Ordnance Light Maint. It arrived in England in February 1944 and landed at Utah Beach on July 18, 1944. Appears to have been taken after the war in Germany or Austria. Tank Destroyer . 6.) First platoon of B company reported to 17th Infantry regiment but no mission was present. Accompanied by Filipino troops, the division supported by the 767 tank battalion was fiercely opposed by elements of the Japanese 20th Infantry Regiment,16th Infantry Division. The tank coopanies of battalion trained with tho 349th, 350th nnd 551st Infantry Regiments of the 88th Inf!l.ntry Division on infantry.- tank cooporation. The US 7th Infantry Division had dug in for the night on A-Day when the Japanese launched two tank attacks against the divisions night perimeter. In April 1980, B Company, 76th Engineer Battalion (Combat Heavy) was reassigned here from Fort Meade, Md. It is a circular port for ejecting spent shell casings and it is missing the plug or cover. [7] Following live fire and tactical training, the battalion moved to the south of England where they participated in training for the amphibious assaults in Normandy. The tanks were rearmed and maintenance performed while the crews got some chow and then sleep (if possible). With infantry mounted aboard the tanks or following in trucks, the 746th tankers moved about 110km east to positions in Marburg to north of Giessen by 30 March. The US 7th Infantry Division was the only unit in the Pacific to use these checkered ID panels. For a view of the war from a TD veterans perspective, you can order a hardbound copy of the book for $20.00 (including U.S. postage) from: Thomas A. Montgomery, 515 Vinnedge Ct., Fairfield, OH 45014. Reunion Group Photos - Original images taken at a few of the unit's reunions and provided courtesy of Tom Montgomery. TWS is the largest online community of Veterans existing today and is a powerful Veteran locator. The document also includes the menu for their Christmas dinner and a roster of men of the 56th Coast Artillery, which is where James A. Montgomery was stationed at the time. Note the number 3 on the M10 turret. [13][14] On 11 June, the battalion was relieved from the 4th Infantry Division and attached to the 90th Infantry Division. [1] It consisted of a Headquarters and Headquarters Company, Service Company, three medium tank companies (Companies A, B, and C) and a light tank company (Company D). These include information on officers, regimental histories, letters, diary entries, personal accounts and information about actions during the Second World War. Note that tank #13 in the background has a white star on the lower front hull. 1st platoon Company D left Dulag by water transportation (LCM) for Baybay. At this point, the 9th Infantry Division was pulled from this headlong eastward advance and attached to III Corps to move north to prevent an expected German breakout from the eastern perimeter of the Ruhr pocket in the vicinity of Winterburg.[29][30]. The division was unmanned, except for some pre-assigned officers, serving with the parent division (50th Guards Motorised Rifle Division). This amtrack was probably used to tow planes off the muddy landing strip. Current Riedwihr, France, 26 January 19451st Lt Edgar R. Danby Allan, France, 27 August 1944Cpl John W. Davis Riedwihr, France, 26 January 1945Pvt Dual F. Dishner Allan, France, 27 August 1944Pvt Ascencion Esparza La Maison Rouge, France, 24 January, 1945S/Sgt Chester L. Estkowski Bamberg, Germany, 13 April 1945Sgt Leonard D. Froneberger Bennwihr, France, 23 December 1944Pfc Michael Gautieri Baccarat, France, 26 January, 19452nd Lt Wayne B. Henry Cassino, Italy, 27 January 1944Pvt Charles R. Johns Nurnberg, Germany, 17 April 1945Pvt Burdette W. Kinney Bennwihr, France, 23 December 1944Sgt Luther A. Kinsworthy Ste Die, France, 24 January, 1945Pfc Verner L. Kreitlow Castellonorato, Italy, 15 May 1944Pvt Merlin A. Kudick Rattelsdorf, Germany, 20 April 1945Cpl Donald E. LaDue Ste Anastastie, France, 17 August 19441st Lt Verus M. Langham Emmendingen, Germany, 2 January 1945Pvt Ruben B. Mapes Riedwihr, France, 24 January 1945Pfc John D. Mekus Riedwihr, France, 24 January 19452nd Lt Anthony F. Melfi La Maison Rouge, France, 24 January 1945Sgt Frank W. Mielcarski Quenoche, France, 10 September 19442nd Lt Andrew D. Orient Gonfaron, 24 August 1944Pfc David J. Orris Cassino, Italy, 5 February 1944Cpl William T. Payne Bennwihr, France, 23 December 1944Pvt William F. Pennetta Adelans, France, 15 September 1944T/5 Paul A. Saale Julian-Rupt, France, 13 October 1944Sgt Frank M. Schafer Holtzwihr, France, 25 January 1945T/4 Reuben C. Schipper Bennwihr, France, 30 December 9144S/Sgt Hamilton A. Smith Ste Anastastie, France, 17 August 1944Pvt Walter F. Smith Ste Anastastie, France, 17 August 1944T/5 Leak H. Smitherman Amaseno, Italy, 1 June 1944Sgt Walter C. Taylor La Maison Rouge, France, 24 January 1945Cpl Paul P. Tirpak Cassino, Italy, 27 January 1944Cpl Steve Vargo Allan, France, 27 August 1944T/4 Bernard C. Wammes Bennwihr, France, 30 December 1944T/4 Joe K. Wright Rome, Italy, 4 June 1944Sgt Eugene K. Wunderlich Cassino, Italy, 17 February 1944Cpl Ervin E. Zentz Mourmelon-le-Grand, France, 19 April 1944These four men were former B Company members killed in action while fighting later with A Company: 1st Lt Robert L. Gilman Collobrieres, France, 15 August 19442nd Lt James L. HarrisVagney, France, 7 October 19442nd Lt Jack Hogan Le Londe-les-Maures,France, 17 August 19441st Lt William H. Newman Le Lavendou, France, 16 August 1944, Website operating since January 26th, 2005. The men, please contact US so we can provide an ID star on the lower front.! In Combat on the lower front 76th tank battalion of paratroopers were lost when the jumped! A-Day, the Battalion also used this period to winterize their vehicles and train... 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