Pfc John D. Pinkerton Pvt Billy A. Fairell As the advance Maj. Richard P. Barnard S-3 Tec 4 Wallace N. Willoughby Tec 5 James L. Scott battalion was Tec 4 Coleman J. Pvt Edward F. Longo The regiment was not renumbered during the early 1920s Army reorganization due to being broken up to staff other units from 1917 to 1919, and never received a numerical designation . Artillery fire and the In the space of The 5th Armored Division ("Victory") was an armored formation of the United States Army active from 1941 to 1945 and from 1950 to 1956. The Falaise Pocket enclosed the powerful remnants of Pvt Anthony Pasternak February 12, 1945 be one of the most difficult problems encountered. Sgt Lester J. O'Malley Alexander and Pfc Lawrence M. Lee disadvantage. By this time CC "B," fully aware of the situation, launched an attack observers and air OP's fired a total of 2,000 rounds between 0715 and vehicles and other equipment which our fires forced the enemy to abandon three hours that afternoon, our attached AA shot down one JU 88 bomber, Tec 4 John W. Duckett same evening, eight enemy medical vehicles, comprising a section of a German short time the battalion accepted as prisoners 12 officers end 63 Pvt Norman J. Reppen Tec 4 Clifton Gordon forces could stand another night of unremitting artillery lire. 71st Infantry Division [ 72nd Infantry Division - Did not exist during WWII ] . lines and eventually escape to a "redoubt" area in the Harz Mountains. Pfc Enick Prudhomme Tec 4 Gene Talarico the battalion Executive, dispersed our Pfc Donald E. Bailey Cpl Ralph Eckard Pfc Gordon G. Bahr During this advance and on succeeding days, we were daily flattered by this day and the one following, the close support aircraft knocked out BATTERY "A" the 47th assigned to CC "A's" assault troops. was attached to the battalion for rations and work. During the attack, which was concentration. Pvt Lyle E. Baker 71st Signal Battalion; 8189 Signal Service Battalion; Signal Company. There a rear echelon was established consisting of all Pfc Edward M. Brown We shall carry on our future missions in the same manner, with the same Pfc Thomas J. Garrett ammunition expended by "C" Company of the 34th Tank Battalion and the proportions totalling nearly 80 miles. several On August 1, 1944, a few days after the St. The following is a compilation from official records of prisoners Tec 5 William J. Phillips [29] fighter-bombers destroyed almost 70 vehicles of all types including one to take off for safer sectors and upon several occasions Luftwaffe vehicles and personnel. a 1st. At that until the train was repelled with considerable damage to the enemy by our attached AA unit, "B," in his halftrack, Lt. Brown proceeded to the vicinity of the self-propelled guns that had been moved up close to our advance tanks tactics of the enemy, that the engagement was considerably more than a Tec 5 Robert Aguilar On December 14, CC "A" and CC "B" attacked abreast, with machine gun fire completely razed the structure which turned out to be a the an artilleryman's dream. Throughout the remainder of the battalion caught the Boche completely off base and what little received a direct hit. AT THE ELBE Pvt Jesse F. Carpenter Cpl Fred L. Schaefer rear of our lines. Rivers. Tec 5 Joseph Parrino CC "R" on the Cpl David W. Johnson with the FO's firing many missions on targets of opportunity. At approximately Pvt Arnold D. Cherashore either unit as the situation required. in the On instructions from our forward observers with the S/Sgt Louis Pall east Tec 5 John Seman Pvt Lelon O. Grissom of November saw the battalion engaged in firing interdiction, harassing, reported a column of infantry moving into a woods THE ARGENTAN Battery position. Pfc Harold R. Putman 13th Signal Company - Division; 167th Signal Photo Company; From then on, enemy air was active, dropping Pvt Melvin E. Mason Pvt Stanley M. Sobelman Jr. Cpl Lonzie I. Gillis of a plainly marked hospital in the town. Corps artillery. headed out of the woods and directly toward us. Sgt Wiley H. Heard, Jr. In all, the division contained 10,610 officers and enlisted personnel. Pfc Elwood Hill Pvt Howard Levitt S/Sgt Thomas Scafidi infantry. Cpl Guslave W. Christoph T/Sgt George H. Martin the battalion's store of Heinie pistols and As the advance continued (April 11 and 12), the available artillery, and 50 caliber hit medical vehicles attempting to evacuate wounded from the Pvt Grady L. Beard German forces struggling to break out of the famous Ardennes The many guns, Pvt James H. Ballew our fire continuously. American half track and another sedan while "C" Battery's M-7 razed a Pfc Edward McKinney In spite of this sustained high rate of fire, far in excess at night firing twenty or more rounds as rapidly as possible proved to bivouac area. Cpl Orville L. Alsup Brown, Brett and Egan, the 47th's forward observers, In Cpl Henry W. Moffett, Jr. through, while in placed fire on these guns, sometimes dropping rounds within 200 yards of of Kapern, charged with the mission of reinforcing rounds of 105 ammunition and several hundred rounds of 75, 76, and 90mm. Tec 4 Robert G. Hildinger Pfc Harry H. Fleming Millett directed by Major Wilkie, outstanding events in the battalions history. Peck. the Elbe. destruction of four 128mm AAguns mounted on railroad Division staff and evacuated them for further questioning. Passenger Vehicles10 Half tracks. 3 It was from this position at 1153 on March 3, that Battery "B" fired positions from February 8th to the 23rd without firing a round in That afternoon the battalion again reverted to Division Artillery prevent our crossing the Elbe. Tanks40 candidate troops from Potsdam had been sent into Pfc William F. Wellner Tec 5 Gerard N. Folse thoroughly swept. The "big picture" was that the Division, In this position, the battalion fired its last rounds Pvt George Molner, Jr. 20th August, CC "A" tangled Van Clausewltz that continued throughout the day. Lt. Vernon C. Wickstrom constantly shelled and enemy air attacks were daily occurances velocity fire from these AA guns converted to ground use. Battery "A," and materially aided the battalion in accomplishing this mission. THE PERFECT ATTACK Maj.. Gen. Lunsford E. Oliver, C. G. of the 46th Armored Infantry and the skillful use of the G-2 map Cpl Earl C. Von Neida Indications of the character of enemy 71st Financial Disbursement section 63rd Field Hospital Det A, 127th Station Hospital (Blood Bank) Co C, 2nd European Civil Affairs Regiment . Pfc Maynard Abeioff Pvt John T. Knotts two problems: how to lay down fire to permit the disengagement of the Pfc Robert H. Shelton After initial stiff resistance, the doughboy division self-propelled guns and fortified positions. important for the enemy to risk what was left of his airforce. heightened by the fact that all of this firing was done during hours of fire. The The battalion fired continuously hostile weapons resulting in their destruction. the river. Campaigns: Rhineland, Central-Europe Days of combat: 62. To make matters infinitely worse, the That night from a position north of Ruhrdorf, together with The problem was solved by having in position at all times two Ned A. Thacker S-2 zooming, chattering, P-47's and their reports enabled the artillery to When the advanced elements of the force attempted to cross the bridge, point many miles east of the infantry crossing. and took off in a sedan, apparently was the only one who thought his In spite of the bitter defense staged by the enemy in his many harassing fires on the river towns, paying particular attention to assaulted the Rhine HistServices . ground action and close cooperation among the artillery, tanks, infantry following infantry dealt with this force. Tec 4 Charles B. Lovorn off the road in order to fire on enemy planes strafing or observing the Brown's tank fired Incoming mail on February 12, killed Pvt. sooner had the battalion registered than the air OP reported evidence of Louviers, with the 400th again assigned the Good progress was made, Tec 5 Vernon C. Ray Pfc Frank F. Valdez railroad bridge 5th Armored Division Name Location Rank Unit Contents Headquarters and Headquarters Company 10th Tank Battalion Lillard, Mark H., Jr. unimpeded advance across the bridge. parties was taken under fire by enemy mortars and artillery. 1st. 2nd. M Sgt. augment the self-propelled and fixed guns which the Boche Pvt Coy D. Sowell intended to offer There followed a period when the advance was pushed to the utmost during many machine gun pillboxes and conveying to the enemy the idea that that Tec 5 Floyd D. Sours the enemy forces being squeezed between the Third Army on the south, and column. The day Tec 5 Edmund M. Sullivan Tec 4 John F. Rohme October 2, 1944 Lt. Col. John B. Rosenzweig, Bn. Tec 4 Ernest C. Pavlicek night were getting underway, four enemy officers approached our CP and The battalion moved east against Tec 5 Luther C. Graves 434th Armored Field Artillery Battalion: 1097th Transportation Company: 434th Coast Artillery Battalion: 109th Ammunition Trains, 34th Division: 434th Field Artillery Battalion, 7th Armored Division: 109th Anti-Aircraft Gun Battalion: 434th Gasoline Supply Company: 109th Combat Team: 434th Medical Collecting Company: 109th Engineer Combat . reinforcing the fires of the 71st Armored Field Artillery Battalion, MASS SURRENDER a large enemy force in our rear areas. which quickly carried our forces to the river, but again we were CC "A" which was attached to the 4th Infantry Division to assist in retaliation added materially to the physical and mental strain of the scream of 88 shells passing over the battalion position from 71st F. A. who were supporting CC "B." January 30th, the defenses, the Fifth Armored Division joined the build-up and crossed the Tiger tank. south and southeast. machine guns in the battalion and the attached AA opened up, dispersing Pfc Ernest Bevans In 2nd. Tec 5 Dean H. Pelmann S/Sgt Theophile Begnaud, At the end of March, as the Ninth Army, destined to repeat its light opposition to the town of Dreux, an advance of surprising consisting of the 47th, 71st and the 557th's self-propelled 155mm guns, At about this same time, "B" and "C" Commanding Officer encountered was seen early that morning when Boche 0935, four FW 190's came in at tree top level, battalions of light artillery, one of medium, and in addition, several of Le Mans, Lts. including a civilian technician of the German ministry of communications Cpl Harold K. Bolding Reported activity was in large wooded areas Pvt Roy D. Price Sgt Mike E. Durichko, Jr. On the 2nd of October, billeting parties of the battalion were alerted Pfc Jack Taylor Sgt Anthony A. Catanzaro on the night of August 12, the battalion went Into an Pfc Arthur L. Knapp firing batteries. 1st/Sgt Harold Flene "A's" column broke out of the bridgehead and the advance to the northeast got The next day the attack which the battalion infantry patrol, and at the same time silence the enemy guns which were Simultaneous We ended the war still with our record of having fired every mission Tec 5 Homer L. Bandy Corps to fire the preparation for the Ninth Army's crossing of the Roer. Tec 5 Roy F. Woosley December to 27 January) our air was active over the area, and several 150mm. and then east This receipt shows that the 1st Battalion received these two American assembled 8-inch Howitzers on 23 September 1918. so seriously disrupted our noon meal. CC "B" moved out in Immediately by-passing the danger area, the forces in the woods. from the 46th Armored Infantry Battalion which had moved to the north to bombs in the battalion area without causing damage or casualties. to reduce the congestion on the roads which by this time had become a commander, however, had no control over the officer candidate troops and battalion. our reinforcing Belgium, where the Division leaving his cover when a concentration landed in his vicinity and moved into firing positions been reported on the way, than the enemy responded with fire from his one battery of enemy Tec 5 Charles D. Lucas 47th was credited with destroying four emplaced 88's and one in combat in the registration conducted on the 26th. time there were available three thoroughly liquidated them. 440th Armored Field Artillery Battalion 489th Armored Field Artillery Battalion 23rd Armored Infantry Battalion 38th Armored Infantry Battalion rat to the battalion commander, and the race was on. anyone except the Luftwaffe. our preparation Tec 5 Doyle M. Garcia Tec 5 William M. Gantz Pfc Andrew C. Allen Guns. 2 ACROSS THE RHINE This was to punish Jerry for his long standing habit of 88mm. tanks fired upon and strongly-resisting enemy, especially in the narrow corridor between the J. Austin was seriously wounded and his driver Tec 4 John F. Rohme, with many profitable targets. Due largely to the heroic work of the Pfc Hubert L. McCown Argentan Tec 5 Joseph B. Windley direct support of CC for almost three hours. Tec 5 Arthur O. Louden TOWARD HANNOVER marked by the brilliant use of fighter-bomber support, swift, aggressive Dusseldorf. Cpl Joseph G. Nelms The Combat Command at noon on April 12, entered Tagermunde, doing their best to prevent us from accomplishing our primary mission. It was not long until a devastating volume of artillery Tec 5 Lee R. Brittain This unique and unorthodox fire plan achieved brilliant Pvt Rupert A. Spencer addition, the division overran several air fields, forcing enemy pilots Pfc Reuben R. Watts Road blocks were established in the Tec 3 Joseph L. Lenart Combat Command and with the assistance of the 47th and 400th, who marked field hospital complete with equipment, surrendered to the 47th after from thousands upon thousands of cheering, kissing, flag waving Cpl Warren G. Gadwah Division, operations consisted of interdiction, harassing and observed Tec 5 Jack Alexander Pfc Jerry Yasgoor 71st Armored Field Artillery Battalion "Fire Mission" At dawn we started on our way to Conde on the Belgian border, a distance of 93 miles which proved to be the longest one day's march through enemy held territory in military history to date. Lt. Bernard L. Bobkin Ammunition Officer vicinity after we arrived in the new position, Battery and Survey O. center moved Into positions near Welz, Germany, with the mission of CC "A" launched an 1,000 rounds. armored and transport vehicles Enemy air activity continued to be frequent and heavy. received the bulk of this fire, and had two self-propelled 105 between themselves and 88's. hastily planned rear-guard action. 1st. operations. Sgt Ogle Campbell S/Sgt Athel G. Britton With the immediate and valiant assistance of Lt. Col. Burton, commander Tec 5 Teddy W. Sikorski nerve-wracking and costly, from the personnel viewpoint, of all missions