The 735th Tank Battalion was an independent tank battalion that participated in the
European Theater of Operations with 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 ...
in
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 opposing ...
. The battalion entered combat in Normandy in July 1944 with the
5th Infantry Division and fought across France with the
95th Infantry Division. When reattached to the 5th Infantry Division, the 735th Tank Battalion played a key role in the reduction of the fortifications of
Metz
Metz ( , , lat, Divodurum Mediomatricorum, then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers. Metz is the prefecture of the Moselle department and the seat of the parliament of the Grand ...
. The battalion was also attached to the
26th Infantry Division during the Battle of the Bulge and fought the last several months of the war attached to the
87th Infantry Division. It was inactivated in October 1945.
Organization
The 735th Tank Battalion followed the standard organization of a U.S. medium tank battalion during World War II.
[Zaloga, pp. 22–24] 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).
:
![735th Tank Battalion Co](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ed/735th_Tank_Battalion_Co._A.jpg)
:*Headquarters Company included the battalion headquarters staff, both officers and enlisted men; an assault gun platoon, consisting of three Sherman tank variants armed with a 105 mm assault gun; a mortar platoon, equipped with three half-track mounted 81 mm mortars; a reconnaissance platoon with five quarter-ton “peeps” (jeeps); and the headquarters tank section consisting of two tanks for the battalion commander and operations officer. The 735th consolidated its assault guns with the assault guns of the medium tank companies into a single platoon, which was frequently under the operational control of the division artillery in order to provide additional indirect fire support to the division.
[CARL, AAR 735th Tank Bn, July 1944]
:*The Service Company included a headquarters section; a maintenance platoon; and a large battalion supply and transportation platoon, with over thirty trucks to provide logistics for the battalion.
![735th Tank Battalion Service Co](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/96/735th_Tank_Battalion_Service_Co.jpg)
:*Companies A, B, C, and D – the tank line companies, both medium and light, all followed the same table of organization. Each company consisted of a headquarters section which, along with a small headquarters staff also included two tanks for the company commander and executive officer; three five-tank platoons; and, in the medium tank companies, a single 105 mm assault gun. The medium tank companies were equipped with
M4 Sherman
}
The M4 Sherman, officially Medium Tank, M4, was the most widely used medium tank by the United States and Western Allies in World War II. The M4 Sherman proved to be reliable, relatively cheap to produce, and available in great numbers. It ...
tanks, while the light tank company was equipped with
M5 Stuart
The M3 Stuart/Light Tank M3, was an American light tank of World War II. An improved version of the tank entered service as the M5 in 1942 to be supplied to British and other Commonwealth forces under lend-lease prior to the entry of the U.S. in ...
tanks. The authorized assault gun for each medium tank company was consolidated with the assault guns in the headquarters company. All four companies had their own maintenance section which included a M32 Tank Recovery Vehicle, built on a Sherman chassis. Because the Stuart carried a 4-man crew versus a 5-man crew on the Sherman, it had a lower personnel strength than the medium tank companies. One task organization unique to the 735th was to attach one assault gun and one 81 mm mortar half-track to a platoon of light tanks from Company D in order to provide it effective firepower to operate independently.
[CARL, AAR 735th Tank Bn, August 1944]
History
Activation and Deployment
The 735th Tank Battalion was activated at
Fort Lewis, Washington on 10 January 1943 as the 735th Tank Battalion (Medium), drawing its initial cadre of officers from the
743rd Tank Battalion[Stanton, p.300] After undergoing basic training for the new recruits and draftees, then tank training, the battalion rail-loaded in late summer to
La Pine, Oregon to conduct large scale maneuvers.
[Moore, pp. 19–20] On 1 November 1943, the unit was redesignated as the 735th Tank Battalion and adopted the organization in which it would fight throughout the European Campaign. The battalion left La Pine and rail loaded to
Yakima Anti-Aircraft Artillery Range in November. While at Yakima the company of light tanks, Company D, was formed, although they did not receive the M5 Stuart tanks until they returned to Fort Lewis in December.
[Moore, pp. 20–21] On 23 January 1944, the 735th boarded a troop train at Fort Lewis, bound for
Camp Myles Standish
Camp Myles Standish was a U.S. Army camp located in Taunton, Massachusetts during World War II. It was the main staging area for the Boston Port of Embarkation, with about a million U.S. and Allied soldiers passing through the camp on their wa ...
, Massachusetts, en route for the
European Theater of Operations.
The 735th embarked in
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
aboard the
USAT Henry Gibbins on 11 February 1944 and arrived in
Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
, Scotland on 22 February, though they did not disembark until the following day.
[Stanton, p.300][Moore, pp. 26–27] Once back on land, the battalion immediately boarded a troop train for
Nuneaton, England and occupied a camp set up on
Arbury Estate. The battalion conducted individual and small unit training, much of it dismounted, and performed maintenance on their tanks while waiting to go into combat in France. While at Nuneaton, they were also informed they would support the
5th Infantry Division, which at the time was bivouacked in
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
. While a few liaison trips were made, no combined training was conducted before deployment.
[Moore, pp. 34–35] In early July 1944, the 735th Tank Battalion was alerted to road march to
Weymouth, where they boarded LST's (
Landing Ship Tank
Landing Ship, Tank (LST), or tank landing ship, is the naval designation for ships first developed during World War II (1939–1945) to support amphibious operations by carrying tanks, vehicles, cargo, and landing troops directly onto shore wi ...
) and for Company D, LCT's (
Landing Craft, Tank
The Landing Craft, Tank (LCT) (or Tank Landing Craft TLC) was an amphibious assault craft for landing tanks on beachheads. They were initially developed by the Royal Navy and later by the United States Navy during World War II in a series of ver ...
), bound for France.
[Moore, pp. 39–41]
Early Combat in France
The 735th Tank Battalion disembarked at
Utah Beach
Utah, commonly known as Utah Beach, was the code name for one of the five sectors of the Allied invasion of German-occupied France in the Normandy landings on June 6, 1944 (D-Day), during World War II. The westernmost of the five code-named la ...
on 13 July 1944 and was attached to the
5th Infantry Division the same day. Their task organization with the division was as follows:
:*Battalion Headquarters, Service Company, Company A and Company D –
2nd Infantry Regiment (after 30 July, the Headquarters and Service companies were relieved of attachment to the 2nd Infantry and were attached directly to 5th Infantry Division.)
:*Company B –
10th Infantry Regiment
:*Company C –
11th Infantry Regiment
On 15 July, the battalion relieved the
745th Tank Battalion
The 745th Tank Battalion was an independent tank battalion that participated in the European Theater of Operations (ETO) with the United States Army in World War II. It was one of five tank battalions (all independent) that landed in Normandy on ...
in the vicinity of
Sallen
Sallen () is a commune in the Calvados department in the Normandy region in northwestern France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions ...
, France and their assault gun platoon fired the unit's first combat mission supporting the division's artillery.
Over the next several days the battalion trained for action in the French
bocage
Bocage (, ) is a terrain of mixed woodland and pasture characteristic of parts of Northern France, Southern England, Ireland, the Netherlands and Northern Germany, in regions where pastoral farming is the dominant land use.
''Bocage'' may als ...
and fitted hedge cutters to their tanks. With the start of
Operation Cobra
Operation Cobra was the codename for an offensive launched by the United States First Army under Lieutenant General Omar Bradley seven weeks after the D-Day landings, during the Normandy campaign of World War II. The intention was to take adv ...
, the battalion went on the offensive on 26 July, with Company A attacking
Vidouville in support of the 2nd Infantry Regiment and losing seven tanks to enemy action, to a combination of
mines and
anti-tank gun fire.
[Moore, pp. 48–56] The tankers and the infantry they were supporting battled through the end of July to break out of the bocage against dogged German defense by the crack 9th and 15th Parachute Regiments. However, by the beginning of August 1944, the German resistance began to crumble, and the 735th began to race south with Companies D and B assisting the 10th Infantry Regiment in taking
Angers
Angers (, , ) is a city in western France, about southwest of Paris. It is the prefecture of the Maine-et-Loire department and was the capital of the province of Anjou until the French Revolution. The inhabitants of both the city and the pr ...
on 11 August.
At Angers, the 5th Infantry Division and the 735th Tank Battalion reoriented sharply to the left and began advancing northeast toward
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
. By 15 August, the Battalion had reached the vicinity of
Chartres, and assisted the division in first enveloping then liberating the city.
From Chartres, the battalion turned east and skirted to the south of
Fontainebleu, reaching the
Seine River
)
, mouth_location = Le Havre/Honfleur
, mouth_coordinates =
, mouth_elevation =
, progression =
, river_system = Seine basin
, basin_size =
, tributaries_left = Yonne, Loing, Eure, Risle
, tributaries ...
on 24 August, where Company C provided covering fires to engineers bridging the river. Company C advanced across the bridge the next day supporting the 11th Infantry Regiment. By 26 August, the remainder of the battalion was east of the Seine, and rapidly proceeding east toward
Reims, crossing the
Marne Marne can refer to:
Places France
*Marne (river), a tributary of the Seine
*Marne (department), a département in northeastern France named after the river
* La Marne, a commune in western France
*Marne, a legislative constituency (France)
Nethe ...
on 28 August, and taking the city on 30 August. After this sustained drive across France, the battalion's equipment was worn and in need of maintenance.
The Siege of Metz
Due to the logistical challenges of supplying units now hundreds of miles from their supply bases, the 735th Tank Battalion's rapid advance across France came to an abrupt end. As the battalion moved east from Reims, all the tank companies ran out of fuel for several days during the first week of September 1944,
[Cole, 117–118] including one company in which 14 of 17 tanks ran out of gas as they approached
Verdun
Verdun (, , , ; official name before 1970 ''Verdun-sur-Meuse'') is a large city in the Meuse department in Grand Est, northeastern France. It is an arrondissement of the department.
Verdun is the biggest city in Meuse, although the capital ...
.
[Kemp, p. 27] A final dash from 5–8 September allowed the battalion to reach the western approaches to
Metz
Metz ( , , lat, Divodurum Mediomatricorum, then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers. Metz is the prefecture of the Moselle department and the seat of the parliament of the Grand ...
, but German resistance had already stiffened. The battalion supported the 10th Infantry Regiment in crossing the
Moselle River
The Moselle ( , ; german: Mosel ; lb, Musel ) is a river that rises in the Vosges mountains and flows through north-eastern France and Luxembourg to western Germany. It is a left bank tributary of the Rhine, which it joins at Koblen ...
south of Metz at
Arnaville
Arnaville () is a commune in the Meurthe-et-Moselle department in northeastern France.
Geography
The village lies on the left bank of the Rupt de Mad, which flows southeast through the middle of the commune, then flows into the Moselle, which ...
on 11 September, with Companies B and C fording the barely passable river, with several tanks swamped in midstream.
[Moore, pp. 123–126] In defending the bridgehead to the east of the river, Company D, whose light tanks were generally too thinly armored for most offensive operations but light enough to cross the bridges over the Moselle, was deployed for the first time as a separate unit in order help protect the southern flank of the bridgehead.
[CARL, AAR 735th Tank Bn, September 1944]
On 20 September, Companies B and A supported the 10th Infantry and 2nd Infantry Regimental Combat Teams (RCT's), as they attacked east toward
Pournoy-la-Chétive and
Coin-sur-Seille
Coin-sur-Seille (; german: Selzeck) is a commune in the Moselle department in Grand Est in north-eastern France.
See also
* Communes of the Moselle department
The following is a list of the 725 communes of the Moselle department of France ...
, respectively. The 2nd RCT reached its objective after heavy fighting, but Company A suffered no casualties. The attack on Pournoy met stiff resistance. Although the town was taken the same day, in the ensuing two days of counterattacks Company B took heavy casualties and had to be replaced by Company C in order to reorganize.
[Moore, pp. 133–140] Despite the heavy cost to seize the two towns, the 5th Infantry Division withdrew from both positions because of their untenable exposure to counterattack and artillery fires.
In early October, a composite company consisting of the 76 mm gunned tanks recently fielded in the battalion and the 105 mm assault guns was formed to support the attack on
Fort Driant. The tanks received special concrete piercing ammunition and towed “snakes”, long tubes of explosive similar to
Bangalore torpedo
A Bangalore torpedo is an explosive charge placed within one or several connected tubes. It is used by combat engineers to clear obstacles that would otherwise require them to approach directly, possibly under fire. It is sometimes colloquially ...
es to be used for clearing obstacles.
[CARL, AAR 735th Tank Bn, October 1944][Cole, 270–271] The tankers supported the 2nd Battalion, 11th Infantry Regiment in the assault starting on 3 October. The tankers cleared a number of obstacles and helped beat back a number of determined German counterattacks with use of their coaxial machine guns. Both the special ammunition and the snakes were disappointing failures. The tankers suffered heavy losses, losing nine of sixteen tanks and 24 men killed, wounded or captured by 7 October, but enabled the infantry to penetrate the outer reaches of the fort. Afterward, while the infantry were able to make modest gains against fierce German resistance, the tankers were not able to play a further role in the pitched battles in and under the bunkers, and the remaining tanks were kept on as part of the mobile reserve for the attack. After the infantry suffered heavy losses attempting to penetrate into the main bunkers, the attack was abandoned and the infantry withdrew on 13 October.
[Cole, 271–275]
After the unsuccessful attack on Fort Driant, the medium tank companies were attached to the division artillery and fired indirect fire missions in support of the infantry in contact or as interdictory fires. This indirect fire support quickly totaled over a thousand rounds of high explosive or smoke ammunition per day.
On 20 October 1944, the untried
95th Infantry Division relieved the 5th Infantry Division in place on the bridgehead between the Moselle and
Seille Rivers, giving the 5th a well-needed rest from the line. During the relief, the 735th Tank Battalion remained in the line and was detached from the 5th Infantry Division and attached to the 95th.
[Fuermann & Cranz, unpaginated, “The Pagny Bridgehead.”] While operating with the 95th, the tank companies were attached to the Infantry Regiments as follows:
* Company A – 377th Infantry Regiment
* Company B –
378th Infantry Regiment
* Company C – 379th Infantry Regiment
* Company D – 3rd Battalion, 377th Infantry Regiment in division reserve
The tankers continued their artillery fire support for the 95th Infantry Division, and fired in excess of 10,000 rounds of 75 mm and 76 mm ammunition before being withdrawn on 27 October to a rear assembly area for maintenance.
On 2 November, the battalion reverted to 5th Infantry Division control as the 95th Infantry Division was moved to another sector north of Metz.
The battalion conducted training of new replacements and maintenance of vehicles and equipment while they waited to resume the attack on Metz. On 5 November, the battalion, minus Company B was attached to the 2nd Infantry Regiment, while Company B was attached to the 10th Infantry Regiment in anticipation of the pending attack. The assault began on 9 November, and the tanks moved forward with the infantry as the 5th Infantry Division attacked to the east and north, flanking Metz from the south. It was during this advance that 1st Platoon of Company A was awarded the
Presidential Unit Citation and the French
Croix de Guerre with Palm for its role supporting the 2nd Infantry Regiment in defending a critical bridgehead across the Neid River in the vicinity of
Bazoncourt against six hard-pressed German counterattacks.
[Cole, pp 428–429] On 19 November, in the vicinity of
Retonfey
Retonfey (; german: Raitenbuchen) is a commune in the Moselle department in Grand Est in north-eastern France.
See also
* Communes of the Moselle department
The following is a list of the 725 communes of the Moselle department of France.
T ...
, the assault gun section met the lead element of the 90th Reconnaissance Troop,
90th Infantry Division 90th Division may refer to:
;Infantry
* 90th Division (1st Formation)(People's Republic of China), 1949–1950
* 90th Division (2nd Formation)(People's Republic of China), 1950–1952
* 90th Light Infantry Division (Wehrmacht)
* 90th Infantry Divi ...
, attacking from the northern flank of Metz, and completed the encirclement of the city.
[CARL, AAR 735th Tank Bn, November 1944] The battalion then assisted in the reduction of the city, firing many hundreds of rounds of primarily captured French 75 mm
white phosphorus
Elemental phosphorus can exist in several allotropes, the most common of which are white and red solids. Solid violet and black allotropes are also known. Gaseous phosphorus exists as diphosphorus and atomic phosphorus.
White phosphorus
White ...
(WP) rounds (which were of questionable quality and which required special firing pins)
[NARA, AAR, 735th Tank Bn, December 1944] at the remaining German held forts of Driant,
Jeanne d’Arc, and Privot. The WP rounds were intended to create sufficient heat and smoke within the underground bunkers to drive the defenders out, a tactic which was at least partially successful, and Fort Privot surrendered to a representative of the battalion and of the 11th Infantry Regiment on 29 November.
The same day, Company B represented the battalion in a parade celebrating the fall of the city, while Company A continued firing WP rounds at the remaining two forts until 7 December,
and these finally fell on 7 and 8 December, and the last German defenders surrendered on 13 December.
[Kemp, pp. 223–225]
Battle of the Bulge
Even as the battalion assisted with mopping up operations around Metz, the tankers began to advance into Germany. Company B joined the 10th RCT and was attached to the 95th Infantry Division, forming the core of “Task Force Bell,” augmented further by Company D, the 6th Cavalry Group, a company of tank destroyers, a troop of the 28th Cavalry, and a direct support artillery battalion. TF Bell crossed the border into Germany between
Creutzwald
Creutzwald (german: Kreuzwald) is a commune in the Moselle département in Grand Est in north-eastern France.
With Germany, it manages the Warndt forest.
History
The town was formed in 1810, by the merging of the three villages of ''La Croi ...
and
Völklingen
Völklingen (french: Vœlklange, Moselle Franconian: ''Välglinge'') is a town in the district of Saarbrücken, in Saarland, Germany. It is situated on the river Saar, approx. 10 km west of Saarbrücken, and directly borders France.
The to ...
on 5 December with the objective of overwhelming German resistance along the upper
Saar River
The Saar (; french: Sarre ) is a river in northeastern France and western Germany, and a right tributary of the Moselle. It rises in the Vosges mountains on the border of Alsace and Lorraine and flows northwards into the Moselle near Trier. It h ...
. Over the next three days, TF Bell pushed steadily east and reached the Saar on 8 December. The remainder of the battalion crossed into Germany by 9 December 1944 and conducted maintenance on their vehicles over the next week while the 5th Infantry Division was again relieved by the 95th Infantry Division and went into reserve. On 16–17 December, Companies A and C moved to
Saarlouis (then called Saarlautern), Germany to relieve the 778th Tank Battalion. The remainder of the battalion remained in the 95th Infantry Division's sector, even though still attached to the 5th. The 95th however wanted them out of sector, and the battalion finally cleared their sector on 19 December.
In the meantime, the German counteroffensive in the Ardennes, known as 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 ...
, had begun to the north on 16 December 1944. Initially, this did not affect the battalion, which continued to support the attack on Saarlouis with Companies A and C, while the remainder of the battalion was in reserve. However, on 20 December, the battalion received orders to move to the vicinity of
Stuckange, France, north of Metz near the
Luxembourg
Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...
border. The battalion had to move in two parts, as Companies A and C were still in contact on the east side of the Saar river, at Saarlouis and Fraulautern, respectively, and had to disengage first.
[Moore, pp. 176–177] Only briefly halting at Stuckange, the 735th rolled in battalion formation through
Thionville
Thionville (; ; german: Diedenhofen ) is a city in the northeastern French department of Moselle. The city is located on the left bank of the river Moselle, opposite its suburb Yutz.
History
Thionville was settled as early as the time of th ...
and
Luxembourg City
Luxembourg ( lb, Lëtzebuerg; french: Luxembourg; german: Luxemburg), also known as Luxembourg City ( lb, Stad Lëtzebuerg, link=no or ; french: Ville de Luxembourg, link=no; german: Stadt Luxemburg, link=no or ), is the capital city of the Gr ...
, to
Hagen, Luxembourg, which they reached in the early morning hours of 21 December. Upon reaching Hagen, the battalion was attached to the
26th Infantry Division. Upon attachment, the tank companies were assigned as follows:
* Company A –
101st Infantry Regiment
* Company B –
104th Infantry Regiment
* Company C –
328th Infantry Regiment
* Company D – Division Headquarters Command Post (for security)
Beginning on 22 December, the infantry with tank support advanced to
Rambrouch
Rambrouch ( lb, Rammerech or (locally) ; german: Rambruch) is a commune and small town in western Luxembourg, in the canton of Redange. It lies close to the border with Belgium.
Rambrouch was formed on 1 January 1979 from the former communes of ...
and
Grosbous
Grosbous ( lb, Groussbus or (locally) ; german: Grosbous) is a commune and small town in northwestern Luxembourg, in the canton of Redange.
, the town of Grosbous, which lies in the south of the commune, had a population of 619. Other towns wi ...
with limited attacks further to the northwest. The 26th was still a mostly untried unit, and the tankers were surprised at the infantry's lack of fluency in working with tanks, and by their reluctance to enter towns in the area, and on several occasions the tankers fought unsupported in the towns.
[Moore, pp. 183–185] They also encountered numerous
Panther
Panther may refer to:
Large cats
*Pantherinae, the cat subfamily that contains the genera ''Panthera'' and ''Neofelis''
**'' Panthera'', the cat genus that contains tigers, lions, jaguars and leopards.
*** Jaguar (''Panthera onca''), found in So ...
,
Tiger
The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is the largest living cat species and a member of the genus ''Panthera''. It is most recognisable for its dark vertical stripes on orange fur with a white underside. An apex predator, it primarily preys on ...
, and even
King Tiger
The Tiger II is a Nazi Germany, German heavy tank of the World War II, Second World War. The final official German designation was ''Panzerkampfwagen'' Tiger ''Ausf''. B,''Panzerkampfwagen'' – abbr: ''Pz.'' or ''Pz.Kfw.'' (English: "armoured f ...
tanks. Despite the inferiority of their Sherman tanks, the tankers were able to account for some dozen tanks by the end of the year against the loss of 5 Shermans.
The 26th covered the right flank of the
4th Armored Division, which was assigned the task of relieving the defenders of
Bastogne
Bastogne (; nl, Bastenaken, ; german: Bastnach/Bastenach; lb, Baaschtnech) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Luxembourg in the Ardennes, Belgium.
The municipality consists of the following districts: Bastogn ...
. The division moved north on an axis toward
Wiltz
Wiltz ( lb, Wolz or (locally) ) is a commune with town status in north-western Luxembourg, capital of the canton Wiltz. Wiltz is situated on the banks of the river Wiltz. It was also a battleground in the Battle of the Bulge, near the e ...
and were in front of the town by year's end, and severed the Wiltz-Bastogne road in early January 1945. The tankers had extreme difficulty maneuvering in the rugged and icy terrain, and found that at times the M5 light tanks were better able to negotiate the cold conditions. Through the remainder of January, the 735th supported the 26th Infantry Division to help seal off the “Bulge” and restore a coherent front in the sector. During this time tankers became intermingled with elements of at least four different divisions, the 26th,
35th Military units
*35th Fighter Wing, an air combat unit of the United States Air Force
*35th Infantry Division (United States), a formation of the National Guard since World War I
*35th Infantry Regiment (United States), a regiment created on 1 July 1 ...
, 90th, and
17th Airborne, with platoon teams roaming in sector to contact any enemy elements they encountered in terrain so broken that radio contact at any higher level was intermittent at best.
[Moore, pp. 195–200]
Advance into Germany
The month of February started with a flurry of detachment and attachment to other units. Two platoons of tanks from Companies B and C that had been attached to the
17th Airborne Division
The 17th Airborne Division, "The Golden Talons", was an airborne infantry division of the United States Army during World War II, commanded by Major General William M. Miley.
It was officially activated as an airborne division in April 1 ...
returned to the battalion on 1 February. That same day the battalion was attached to the 95th Infantry Division, but on 2 February they were informed they had been attached to the
87th Infantry Division, effective the previous day.
[CARL, AAR 735th Tank Bn, February 1945] The 735th Tank Battalion would maintain their relationship with the 87th until after the end of the war. When they reported to the 87th, the tank companies were further attached as follows:
* Company A –
345th Infantry Regiment
* Company B –
346th Infantry Regiment
* Company C –
347th Infantry Regiment
The remainder of the battalion was under division control as division reserve. Initially, the battalion's tank companies spanned the Belgian-German border between
Manderfeld and
Auw. The battalion spent most of the month in defensive positions, with limited offensive action at the beginning and end of the month. Their forced inactivity was primarily due to rainy and snowy weather and the resulting poor road conditions, but did allow them to perform much needed maintenance on the vehicles. By the end of February the tankers had only moved about 10 miles eastward, suffering light losses, with only one killed and no tank losses.
The battalion's final assault into Germany commenced late on 26 February 1945, with 87th attacking the
West Wall
The Western Wall ( he, הַכּוֹתֶל הַמַּעֲרָבִי, HaKotel HaMa'aravi, the western wall, often shortened to the Kotel or Kosel), known in the West as the Wailing Wall, and in Islam as the Buraq Wall (Arabic: حَائِط ...
near
Ormont
Ormont is an '' Ortsgemeinde'' (a municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality) situated in the Vulkaneifel district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' of Gerolstein, wh ...
. The tankers cooperated with tank destroyers (TD's) armed with 90 mm guns to systematically reduce pillboxes in the West Wall, clearing the way for the infantry to seize first Ormont, then
Reuth and
Kerschenbach by 5 March. The renewed offensive also highlighted disagreements between the experienced tankers and the relatively untried 87th. Although usually resolved amicably enough, the strains between the tankers and usually more senior but less experienced infantry commanders surfaced regularly until the infantry gained experience and developed confidence in the abilities of the tankers.
[Moore, pp. 218–222]
Having penetrated the West Wall, the 87th discovered effective German resistance had nearly collapsed. The division commander organized Task Force Muir from elements of the 345th RCT, Company B of the 735th, and other supporting elements, to exploit the breakthrough. On 7 March, TF Muir crossed the
Kyll River and on 8 March seized intact a bridge across the
Ahr
Ahr () is a river in Germany, a left tributary of the Rhine. Its source is at an elevation of approximately above sea level in Blankenheim in the Eifel, in the cellar of a timber-frame house near the castle of Blankenheim. After it crosses fro ...
River at
Dollendorf
Dollendorf is a village in the municipality of Blankenheim in the district of Euskirchen in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It gives its name to the surrounding limestone depression (''Kalkmulde'').
History
Dollendorf was incorpor ...
.
[CARL, AAR 735th Tank Bn, March 1945][Moore, pp. 222–224] This advance of some 30 km over 3 days represented a modest gain, but foreshadowed a return to the rapid advances not seen since before the battalion ran out of gas at the approaches to Verdun in early September. TF Muir was dissolved on 8 March and the division was squeezed out of sector and went into corps reserve, the tankers along with them. Back on the offensive on 13 March, the division continued east with the mission of taking
Koblenz. Company A supported the 345th RCT north of the
Moselle River to the west bank of the
Rhine
), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland
, source1_coordinates=
, source1_elevation =
, source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein
, source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland
, source2_coordinates=
, so ...
. By 16 March, the 345th RCT with Company B was across the Moselle in the vicinity of
Kobern and
Winningen
Winningen is a municipality in the district of Mayen-Koblenz in Rhineland-Palatinate, western Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in E ...
and had effectively encircled Koblenz. Most of Koblenz had been taken by 18 March and on the following day
Fort Konstantin, overlooking the city from above, finally surrendered.
[Moore, pp. 225–231]
Company C supported the 347th RCT as they advanced south along the left bank of the
Rhine
), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland
, source1_coordinates=
, source1_elevation =
, source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein
, source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland
, source2_coordinates=
, so ...
and cleared German resistance as far south as
Boppard
Boppard (), formerly also spelled Boppart, is a town and municipality (since the 1976 inclusion of 9 neighbouring villages, ''Ortsbezirken'') in the Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis (district) in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, lying in the Rhine Gorge, a UNE ...
. With just a few days to regroup and prepare for a forced crossing of the Rhine, the division crossed at Boppard the night of 24 March, with the tanks providing fire support from the west bank. The tanks of Company B were the first ones ferried across, soon after the initial infantry assault.
[Moore, pp. 233–247] After consolidating its positions on the east bank of the Rhine, the division moved out on 28 March in the direction of
Limburg
Limburg or Limbourg may refer to:
Regions
* Limburg (Belgium), a province since 1839 in the Flanders region of Belgium
* Limburg (Netherlands), a province since 1839 in the south of the Netherlands
* Diocese of Limburg, Roman Catholic Diocese in ...
, with the battalion helping screen the division's left flank along the
Lahn
The Lahn is a , right (or eastern) tributary of the Rhine in Germany. Its course passes through the federal states of North Rhine-Westphalia (23.0 km), Hesse (165.6 km), and Rhineland-Palatinate (57.0 km).
It has its source in t ...
River. The tankers penetrated into the heart of Germany, encountering sporadic strongpoints along their route of march. Also on 28 March, Company C was attached to the
76th Infantry Division, with the platoons parceled out to the division's three infantry regiments. With the company so thoroughly dispersed, support for the tanks and crews was nearly impossible, and the battalion complained bitterly to not permit platoon attachments when a company is detached outside the division they are supporting.
On 2 April, Company C reverted to battalion control.
[HQ, United States Forces European Theater, ''Order of Battle'', Vol 1, p. 243.]
For the first few days of April 1945, the division regrouped one last time and launched from south of Limburg starting on 3 April. The battalion supported the division's advance past
Giessen
Giessen, spelled Gießen in German (), is a town in the German state (''Bundesland'') of Hesse, capital of both the district of Giessen and the administrative region of Giessen. The population is approximately 90,000, with roughly 37,000 univer ...
toward
Eisenach
Eisenach () is a town in Thuringia, Germany with 42,000 inhabitants, located west of Erfurt, southeast of Kassel and northeast of Frankfurt. It is the main urban centre of western Thuringia and bordering northeastern Hessian regions, situat ...
through
Thuringia
Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen German states. It has a population of about 2.1 million.
Erfurt is the capital and lar ...
and
Saxony
Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...
, taking
Plauen
Plauen (; Czech: ''Plavno'') is, with around 65,000 inhabitants, the fifth-largest city of Saxony, Germany after Leipzig, Dresden, Chemnitz and Zwickau, the second-largest city of the Vogtland after Gera, as well as the largest city in the S ...
on 17 April.
[U.S. Army Center of Military History, “Combat Chronicles – 87th Infantry Division”.] The tankers continued past Plauen, advancing as far as
Klingenthal
Klingenthal is a town in the Vogtland region, in Saxony, south-eastern Germany. It is situated directly on the border with the Czech Republic opposite the Czech town of Kraslice, 29 km southeast of Plauen, and 33 km northwest of Karlov ...
on the Czech border at by 6 May. They halted short of the border to prevent crossing into Russian area of operations and were in these positions on
V-E Day
Victory in Europe Day is the day celebrating the formal acceptance by the Allies of World War II of Germany's unconditional surrender of its armed forces on Tuesday, 8 May 1945, marking the official end of World War II in Europe in the Easte ...
on 8 May 1945.
[Moore, pp. 244–252]
Post War
The 735th Tank Battalion went immediately into occupation duties upon cessation of hostilities. Initially the battalion helped the infantry receive and guard the persistent stream of surrendering German soldiers. With an eye on the planned
invasion of Japan
Operation Downfall was the proposed Allied plan for the invasion of the Japanese home islands near the end of World War II. The planned operation was canceled when Japan surrendered following the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, ...
, key leaders, including 3 out of 4 tank company commanders and 12 of 15 lieutenant platoon leaders, were stripped from the battalion and assigned to the 771st Tank Destroyer Battalion, destined for duty in the
Pacific Ocean Theater of Operations.
[Moore, pp. 253–254] As a relatively senior unit, the rest of the 735th was slated to return to the United States and presumed deactivation.
The battalion withdrew gradually from what was to become the
Soviet occupation zone
The Soviet Occupation Zone ( or german: Ostzone, label=none, "East Zone"; , ''Sovetskaya okkupatsionnaya zona Germanii'', "Soviet Occupation Zone of Germany") was an area of Germany in Central Europe that was occupied by the Soviet Union as a ...
already agreed at the
Yalta Conference
The Yalta Conference (codenamed Argonaut), also known as the Crimea Conference, held 4–11 February 1945, was the World War II meeting of the heads of government of the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union to discuss the post ...
. While still in the Soviet zone, the battalion was given the unique mission of transporting repatriated eastern European slave laborers from Plauen to
Chomutov in
Czechoslovakia
, rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי,
, common_name = Czechoslovakia
, life_span = 1918–19391945–1992
, p1 = Austria-Hungary
, image_p1 ...
using the battalion's trucks.
[Moore, p. 254] After displacing to the US zone, on 12 July 1945, the battalion was given another unusual mission and was tasked to return to the Soviet zone to pick up German prisoners, wounded, and attending medical staff located at
Gera
Gera is a city in the German state of Thuringia. With around 93,000 inhabitants, it is the third-largest city in Thuringia after Erfurt and Jena as well as the easternmost city of the ''Thüringer Städtekette'', an almost straight string of cit ...
and
Grimma
Grimma ( hsb, Grima) is a town in Saxony, Central Germany, on the left bank of the Mulde, southeast of Leipzig. Founded in 1170, it is part of the Leipzig district.
Location
The town is in northern Saxony, southeast of Leipzig and south o ...
which had fought the Americans. Although the Russians at Gera refused to hand over the Germans, the patients and staff at Grimma were duly handed over on 13 July and the convoy returned to
Hersfeld in the American zone on 14 July.
[Moore, pp. 255–258]
As preparations for return to the United States continued, one of the major tasks was to turn in tanks and equipment. In the process of turning in the battalion's ammunition, estimated at about 10,000 main gun rounds and a million rounds of small arms ammunition, one of the ammunition handlers spotted a round of high-explosive ammunition whose fuze was smoking. After a quick warning the ammunition team evacuated the site just as the round exploded, setting off a series of explosions. Even with such short warning, there were no injuries, though damage to nearby buildings was severe.
[Moore, pp. 258–259]
In early fall 1945, the battalion redeployed to one of the
cigarette camps located around
Le Havre
Le Havre (, ; nrf, Lé Hâvre ) is a port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the river Seine on the Channel southwest of the Pays de Caux, very ...
to await their ship back to the United States. In mid-October, the battalion boarded the ''Kingston Victory'' at Le Havre, bound for Boston.
[Moore, p. 259]
The 735th Tank Battalion arrived in Boston on 24 October and was inactivated at
Camp Myles Standish
Camp Myles Standish was a U.S. Army camp located in Taunton, Massachusetts during World War II. It was the main staging area for the Boston Port of Embarkation, with about a million U.S. and Allied soldiers passing through the camp on their wa ...
, Massachusetts, on 25 October 1945.
[Stanton, p.300]
Unit Awards and Decorations
*Company C,
Presidential Unit Citation: 23–25 December 1944, War Department General Order 79-47.
[DA Pam 672-1, p.361]
*1st Platoon, Company A only,
Presidential Unit Citation: 12–13 November 1944, War Department General Order 68-45.
[DA Pam 672-1, p.361]
*1st Platoon, Company A only, French
Croix de Guerre with Palm: 12–14 November 1944, Department of the Army General Order 43–50.
[DA Pam 672-1, p.361]
*Citation in the Order of the Day of the Belgian Army: 20 December 1944 – 26 January 1945, Department of the Army General Order 43–50
[DA Pam 672-1, p.361]
References
Bibliography
* Blumenson, Martin. ''Breakout and Pursuit''. Washington, DC: U.S. Army Center of Military History: 1993.
* Cole, High M. ''The Lorraine Campaign''. Washington, DC: U.S. Army Center of Military History: 1993.
* Combined Arms Research Library (CARL) Digital Collection
"After Action Report, 735th Tank Battalion, July–November 1944, February–March 1945".* Fuermann, George M. and Cranz, F. Edward. ''Ninety-Fifth Infantry Division HISTORY: 1918–1946. Atlanta, GA: Albert Love Enterprises.
* Headquarters, Department of the Army. DA Pam 672-
''Unit Citation and Campaign Participation Credit Register'' Washington, DC: U.S. Army, July 1961.
* Headquarters, United States Forces European Theater, Office of the Theater Historian. ''Order of Battle of the United States Army, World War II, European Theater of Operations—Divisions''. Paris, France, 1945.
* Kemp, Anthony. ''The Unknown Battle: Metz, 1944''. New York, NY: Stein & Day, 1981. .
* MacDonald, Charles B. ''The Last Offensive''. Washington, DC: U.S. Army Center of Military History: 1993.
* MacDonald, Charles B.''The Siegfried Line Campaign''. Washington, DC: U.S. Army Center of Military History, 1993.
* Moore, Roy, Jr. ''Chariots of Iron: The 735th Tank Battalion (M), World War Two, Europe''. Lopez Island, WA: Island Graphics and Advertising, 1991.
* Stanton, Shelby L. ''World War II Order of Battle: An Encyclopedic Reference to U.S. Army Ground Forces from Battalion through Division, 1939–1946''. Novato, CA: Stackpole Books, 2006. .
* U.S. Army Center of Military History
* U.S. Army Center of Military History
* U.S. Army Center of Military History
* Williams, Mary H. (ed.). ''Chronology 1941–1945''. Washington, DC: U.S. Army Center of Military History: 1989
* Yeide, Harry. ''Steel Victory''. New York, NY: Ballantine Books, 2003.
* Zaloga, Steven J. ''US Tank and Tank Destroyer Battalions in the ETO 1944–1945''. Botley, Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing, 2005. {{ISBN, 1841767980
Armor battalions of the United States Army
Military units and formations established in 1943
Military units and formations disestablished in 1945
Tank battalions of the United States Army