The 1st Tank Destroyer Brigade was a

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

brigade A brigade is a major tactical military formation that typically comprises three to six battalions plus supporting elements. It is roughly equivalent to an enlarged or reinforced regiment. Two or more brigades may constitute a division. Br ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. It was formed in November 1942, and landed in France in July 1944. It took part in the campaign in Western Europe and was disbanded in November 1945. The

434th Field Artillery Brigade The 434th Field Artillery Brigade is a training/ artillery unit under the United States Army Fires Center of Excellence, a formation under United States Army Training and Doctrine Command, TRADOC. The brigade conducts United States Army Basic Tr ...

has continued the 1st Tank Destroyer Brigade's lineage since 1947.

History

Role

The 1st Tank Destroyer Brigade was formed at

Camp Hood Fort Hood is a United States Army post located near Killeen, Texas. Named after Confederate General John Bell Hood, it is located halfway between Austin and Waco, about from each, within the U.S. state of Texas. The post is the headquarters of ...

in Texas on 18 November 1942, and was one of the two

tank destroyer A tank destroyer, tank hunter, tank killer, or self-propelled anti-tank gun is a type of armoured fighting vehicle, armed with a direct fire artillery gun or missile launcher, designed specifically to engage and destroy enemy tanks, often wi ...

brigades established by the Army (the other being the 2nd Tank Destroyer Brigade, which was established on 24 November 1944). The initial role of both brigades was to oversee the training of the large number of tank destroyer battalions that had been formed. At this time, US Army doctrine called for tank destroyers to primarily operate as concentrated

tank destroyer battalion The tank destroyer battalion was a type of military unit used by the United States Army during World War II. The unit was organized in one of two different forms—a towed battalion equipped with anti-tank guns, or a mechanized battalion equipp ...

s during combat. These battalions were to be grouped in

regiment A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, service and/or a specialisation. In Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of front-line soldiers, recruited or conscripted ...

s and brigades when needed to combat large forces of enemy

tank A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and good battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engin ...

s. Combat experience in Europe demonstrated that tank destroyer brigades were not needed. Tank destroyers were usually parcelled out to other units, and were rarely concentrated in battalions. The thirteen tank destroyer group headquarters dispatched to Europe never led massed units of tank destroyers, and nor did the 1st Tank Destroyer Brigade. The 2nd Tank Destroyer Brigade was disbanded in March 1944 without having ever been dispatched overseas.

Deployments

The brigade was transferred to

Camp Claiborne Camp Claiborne was a U.S. Army military camp in the 1930s continuing through World War II located in Rapides Parish in central Louisiana. The camp was under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Eighth Service Command, and included 23,000 acres (93 k ...

in Louisiana on 26 February 1944. Between 15 September and 15 November 1943 it took part in the

Louisiana Maneuvers The Louisiana Maneuvers were a series of major U.S. Army exercises held in 1941 in northern and west-central Louisiana, an area bounded by the Sabine River to the west, the Calcasieu River to the east, and by the city of Shreveport to the nort ...

. The brigade departed the United States on 2 January 1944, and arrived in the United Kingdom eight days later. The 1st Tank Destroyer Brigade was landed in Normandy on 11 July 1944. On 1 August its headquarters took control of Task Force A, which comprised several armoured units and was tasked with securing railroad bridges in Brittany as part of

VIII Corps 8th Corps, Eighth Corps, or VIII Corps may refer to: * VIII Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of the Imperial French army during the Napoleonic Wars * VIII Army Corps (German Confederation) * VIII Corps (German Empire), a unit of the Imperial German Ar ...

. Task Force A initially comprised the brigade headquarters, the 15th Cavalry Group and the 159th Engineer Battalion and was commanded by

Brigadier General Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...

Herbert L. Earnest. An infantry battalion was later detached from the 83rd Infantry Division to reinforce Task Force A. The task force took part in the early stages of the

Battle of Saint-Malo The Battle of Saint-Malo was fought between Allied and German forces to control the French coastal town of Saint-Malo during World War II. The battle formed part of the Allied breakout across France and took place between 4 August and 2 September ...

before continuing west. Task Force A was disbanded on 22 September. On 30 September 1944 the 1st Tank Destroyer Brigade became the

United States Third Army The United States Army Central, formerly the Third United States Army, commonly referred to as the Third Army and as ARCENT, is a military formation of the United States Army which saw service in World War I and World War II, in the 1991 Gulf Wa ...

's tank destroyer section. This involved the brigade headquarters staff being integrated into the Third Army's headquarters to provide advice on anti-tank issues. It continued in this role until the end of the war in Europe. Following the German surrender the brigade undertook

occupation Occupation commonly refers to: *Occupation (human activity), or job, one's role in society, often a regular activity performed for payment *Occupation (protest), political demonstration by holding public or symbolic spaces *Military occupation, th ...

duties in Germany. It concluded these duties on 31 October 1945 and was disbanded on 3 November that year. When the

was formed on 7 May 1947 it inherited the lineage of the 1st Tank Destroyer Brigade.

References

;Citations ;Works consulted * * * * *{{cite book , last1=Zaloga , first1=Steve , title=US Tank and Tank Destroyer Battalions in the ETO 1944-45 , date=2005 , publisher=Osprey , location=Oxford , isbn=978-1-84176-798-7 Tank destroyer brigades of the United States Army Military units and formations established in 1942 Military units and formations disestablished in 1945

History

Role

Deployments

See also

References