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 | Description: Tank Destroyer Center initially set up at Fort Meade, Maryland and then moved in February of 1942 to Camp Hood, Texas Organized November 27, 1941 the Tank Destroyer Force was formed in response to destroy enemy armor on each of the battlefields of the world wide campaigns. The plan was initiated by Army Chief of Staff General George C. Marshall, developed by Army Ground Forces General Lesley J. McNair. and implemented by General Andrew C. Bruce at Camp Hood, Texas. |
History of the TDF / TDB
On July 10, 1940, the War Department issued an order to establish the Armored Force, at Fort Knox, Kentucky. The Armored Division, as the main fighting unit, was organized to engage in fast moving offensive warfare: breakthrough to the enemy-rear… using the combined arms concept. Implemented expertly by General George Patton. The mission to destroy enemy tanks was left to anti-tank units, the Field Artillery and the U.S. Army Air Corp. The M4 Sherman, the basic tank battalion weapon in 1943-45 was armed with the short-barreled 75MM field gun. The M4 was no match against the German tanks thick armor, high velocity, flat trajectory, long barreled 75MM and 88MM guns. 'A Call to Arms'... on November 27, 1941 the War Department activated The ‘Tank Destroyer Force' to carry out the mission to SEEK, STRIKE AND DESTROY enemy tanks in defensive and offensive action. Tank Destroyer Battalions entered combat in the Tunisian Campaign in November 1942 equipped with the expedient 75MM Gun Motor Carriage M3 (Halftrack). The M3 was phased out as the campaign ended in Tunisia, North Africa, in May of 1943. In the Homeric Battle of El Guettar, Tunisia, March 1943, the new full-tracked M10 Tank Destroyer saw its baptism of fire, with an open turret, armed with a high powered, long barrel 3 inch gun to challenge the German panzers. A new full tracked vehicle, the M18 “Hellcat”, designed from the ground up as a Tank Destroyer, armed with a high velocity 76MM gun was the fastest armored fighting vehicle in World War II. The “Hellcat” first saw action in Italy in June 1944,. and was in combat until the end of the war. |
Weblink: The Tank Destroyer Society
Units: Tank Destroyer Battalions in North Africa and Mediterranean Theaters
Tank Destroyer Force to Tank Destroyer Battalion... Unit Service:
601st: North Africa, Italy, and Southern France
636th: Italy and Southern France
645th: Italy & Southern France
701st: North Africa and Italy
804th: Italy
805th: North Africa and Italy
813th: North Africa, Italy, and Southern France
894th: North Africa and Italy
899th: North Africa
Bibliography
Tank Destroyer Forces of World War II
The definitive history of the Tank Destroyer Forces in WWII. Every TD unit is listed along with its actions during war. More than 2,000 photographs accompanied by maps, personal stories, charts, TD insignia in full color as well as nearly one thousand individual biographies of TD men. Indexed. Roster of thirteen thousand members. 304 pages ISBN 0-938021-93-1
Tank Destroyer Men: The Song of the Tank Destroyers
Courtesy of the WWII Tank Destoryer Society
AANA Members Comments and Additions
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