TANK BUSTERS

 

THE HISTORY

 

of the

 

607thTANK DESTROYER

 

BATTALION

 

IN COMBAT

 

ON THE WESTERN FRONT

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Printed in Munich of Bavaria

by Knorr & Hirth, Sendlinger Strasse 83

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

DEDICATED

 

TO THE SOLDIERS WHO DIED SO

 

THAT OTHERS MIGHT BE FREE

 

TO LIVE AS THEY DESIRE.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BATTALION HISTORY STAFF

 

                              1st Lt. HAROLD H. EBY,             Historian

                              T/Sgt. ORNO D. STRONG JR.,    Layout

                              T/5 FRANK W. DAVIS,               Artist

                              T/5 ROY M. KEMP,                     Typist

 

Acknowledgment is made to the officers of all companies who aided in submitting stories from their units and to all the men who submitted the pictures found in this book.

 

CONTENTS

 

 

        FOREWARD                                                                                          

        INTRODUCTION                                                                                  

 

PART ONE

 

        NORMANDY AND FALAISE BATTLES

 

               The Buildup                                                                                      

               The Breakthrough                                                                             

               On To Le Mans                                                                                

               Closing The Trap                                                                              

 

        MOSELLE RIVER AND METZ BATTLES

 

               Racing Through France                                                                     

               Fighting For The Moselle                                                                  

               Storming Of Metz                                                                             

 

        THE SIEGFRIED BATTLES

 

               Racing For The Saar                                                                         

               The Bridgehead                                                                                

               The Defensive                                                                                   

               Against The Siegfried Again                                                              

 

        RHINE BATTLES

 

               The Approach                                                                                  

               The Crossing                                                                                    

               First Task Force                                                                               

               Second Task Force                                                                          

 

PART TWO

 

        COMMENDATIONS                                                                            

 

        BATTALION ROSTERS                                                                        

 

 

LT. COL. HARALD S. SUNDT

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FOREWARD

 

SOLDIERS of the 607th Tank Destroyer Battalion:

 

This momento of our labor and sacrifice, of our teamwork and cooperation with the combined arms of our Army will take on increasing importance in our lives as the stress of battle grows dim and the struggle for a better world, socially, economically, politically, and religiously goes on.  In the carrying out of your assigned missions there will be trials, there will be triumphs, there will be disasters, for you individually or as a member of the group with whom you may be associated.  You may be faced with great personal decisions.  This eternal struggle is life, men, and the pursuit of happiness, of liberty and of truth.  I know that the strength of soul and of character which you have found as part and parcel of the 607th, that which you created by your everyday acceptance of risk and responsibility plus your loyalty and devotion to duty, will help to light your way.  And then in the hush of the evening of life, as individuals we can proudly proclaim: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith.  I have achieved ‘TOTAL VICTORY’.”

 

                                                                                                                                                [signed]         Harold A. Sundt                         

Lt. Col. (FA) 607th TD Battalion

Commanding                              

 

Introduction

 

        The 607th Tank Destroyer Battalion was activated on the 15th day of the December 1941 at Fort Ord California.

 

        Personnel for the new unit was obtained from the 7th Infantry Division Provisional Anti-tank Battalion which, in turn, had received its personnel of sixteen officers and two hundred nineteen enlisted men from the following units: Battery “D”, 31st FA Battalion, HQ and HQ Battery, 31st FA Battalion, 74th, 75th, 76th FA Battalions, and the 17th, 32nd, and 53rd Infantry Regiments. Later, personnel were received from the 47th, 48th, and 57th, FA Battalions.

 

        Approximately six hundred selectees from the states of Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana were assigned in March 1942, bringing the Battalion above its authorized strength. In December 1942 and January 1943, three hundred and sixty selectees from Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky and West Virginia replaced the losses of the preceding nine months.

 

        On the 15th day of the December 1943 the Battalion was reorganized, changing it from a self propelled battalion, to a towed battalion, Reconnaissance Company being inactivated.  The Battalion continued as a towed unit until November 1944, when, shortly before the battle for Metz, France, it was converted, in combat, to a self propelled battalion equipped with M-36 destroyers.  The Reconnaissance Company was again activated.

 

        With the exception of four and one half months training at the Tank Destroyer Center, at Camp Hood Texas, the Battalion received all of its precombat training in California at Sunnyvale, Hunter Liggett Military Reservation, Camp San Luis Obisbo, Lost Hills Desert Training Center, and Camp Cook.

 

        On the 2nd of April 1944 the Battalion departed from Camp Cooke, California for Camp Miles Standish, Taunton, Massachusetts, and on 13th of April, 1944 embarked on the SS Wakefield, the United States Troop Transport for overseas duty.

 

        Arriving in England on the 21st of April, the unit was stationed in Macclesfield, Cheshire for one month and then proceeded to Camp Barton Stacy in southern England where it made its final preparations for the invasion, arriving on the beaches of Normandy, France on 16th June 1944.

 

        This is the background to eleven months of combat in France, Belgium and Germany for which the Battalion won battle participation credit for the following campaigns more fully described in the text:

 

                  * 17 June 1944 to 24 July 1944....................... Normandy

                  * 25 July 1944 to 14 September 1944............. Northern France

                  * 15 September 1944 to 21 March 1945......... Rhineland

                  * 16 December 1944 to 25 January 1945........ Ardennes

                  * 22 March 1945 to 11 May 1945.................. Central Europe