The 643rd Tank Destroyer Battalion was a

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 ...

of the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

active during the

Second World War 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 opposi ...

. The battalion was activated at

Camp Blanding Camp Blanding Joint Training Center is the primary military reservation and training base for the Florida National Guard, both the Florida Army National Guard and certain nonflying activities of the Florida Air National Guard. The installation i ...

on 15 December 1941, in line with the reorganisation of the anti-tank force, by redesignating the Provisional Antitank Battalion of the 43rd Infantry Division. It was later organized as a towed battalion, equipped with towed 3" anti-tank guns.Yeide, p. 265 The 643rd deployed into Normandy exactly three years after it was activated, landing at Cherbourg on 15 December 1944. The following day, a major German offensive was launched in the Ardennes forest, beginning the

Battle of the Bulge The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Offensive, was the last major German offensive campaign on the Western Front during World War II. The battle lasted from 16 December 1944 to 28 January 1945, towards the end of the war in ...

, and the battalion was rushed into action, arriving at the front on 22 December. One company was deployed that same evening to support an attack on

Hotton Hotton (; wa, Houton) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Luxembourg, Belgium. The municipality lies 12 kilometers from Marche-en-Famenne in the Ardennes and has more than 5,400 inhabitants. The river Ourthe crosses Hotton. ...

by elements of Combat Command Reserve of the 3rd Armored Division. The battalion remained attached to the 3rd Armoured until 26 December, supporting it in a number of small-scale engagements. The battalion was later briefly attached to the 82nd Airborne Division before being assigned to the 83rd Infantry Division on 2 February; it would serve with them for the remainder of the war After being re-equipped with

M18 Hellcat The M18 Hellcat (officially designated the 76 mm Gun Motor Carriage M18 or M18 GMC) is a tank destroyer that was used by the United States Army in World War II and the Korean War. A top speed of up to was attained by keeping armor to a minim ...

tank destroyers in March, it pushed into central Germany with the 83rd, crossing the Elbe river before being withdrawn to take up occupation duties in the

Harz Mountains The Harz () is a highland area in northern Germany. It has the highest elevations for that region, and its rugged terrain extends across parts of Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Thuringia. The name ''Harz'' derives from the Middle High German ...

at the end of the war. United States World War II Tank Destroyer Battalion March 1944 Structure

Notes

References

* * * Tankdestroyer.net (Web based United States tank destroyer forces information resource
Tankdestroyer.net
{{US tank destroyer battalions Tank destroyer battalions of the United States Army Military units and formations disestablished in 1945 Military units and formations established in 1941