Description

24TH TANK BATTALION
13th Armored Division • World War II •

136 pages scanned. Instant PDF download.

Document Overview:
Published in 1946 by the 24th Tank Battalion itself and printed by the Army & Navy Publishing Company of Baton Rouge, this history pairs the illustrated story of the 13th Armored “Black Cat” Division with the battalion’s own account of its war. It follows the tankers from Camp Bowie, Texas, in January 1945 through Le Havre and Normandy, across the Rhine, into the Ruhr Pocket fighting at Siegburg, Dunnwald, Opladen, Mettmann and Duisburg, then south across the Danube and Isar to the blown Inn River bridge at Neu Otting on the Austrian border, and finally home to Camp Cooke, California. The battalion section closes with its Silver Star and Bronze Star recipients, a memorial roll of the fallen, and company-by-company rosters with hometown addresses. This is a digital download of a scanned copy of the original book.

Campaigns: Rhineland; Central Europe (Ruhr Pocket, Danube and Isar River crossings, drive to the Inn River and Braunau)

Commanders: Lt. Col. Charles L. Yon (battalion, wounded in action 12 April 1945); Lt. Col. Robert B. McRae (battalion, from 15 April 1945); Maj. Gen. John B. Wogan and Maj. Gen. John Millikin (13th Armored Division)

Division newspaper: The Black Cat

Table of Contents
Foreword – Maj. Gen. John B. Wogan
Message – Maj. Gen. John Millikin
The Black Cats: History of the 13th Armored Division
Armored Infantry Battalions – 16th, 59th and 67th
Rise and Fall of the Nazis
Tank Battalions – 24th, 45th and 46th
Division Artillery – 496th, 497th and 498th Armored Field Artillery Battalions
Cavalry Reconnaissance
Engineers
Typical Battalion Command Posts
The Men Behind the Men Behind the Gun
Combat Command A
Combat Command B
Homeward Bound – California and the Citation of Merit
24th Tank Battalion Commanders
History of the 24th Tank Battalion
Silver Star, Bronze Star and Soldier’s Medal Awards
In Memory of Our Fallen Comrades
Battalion Staff
Headquarters Company
Medical Detachment
Service Company
Company A
Company B
Company C
Company D
Some Former Members of the Battalion
Letter of Appreciation – Gen. Jacob L. Devers, Army Ground Forces

“As long as there’s a breath in your body or a single person to listen to you, you’ll be talking about this war.”
— History of the 24th Tank Battalion