Description

461st ANTI-AIRCRAFT ARTILLERY AUTOMATIC WEAPONS BATTALION
V Corps, First U.S. Army • World War II •

162 pages scanned. Instant PDF download.

Document Overview:
Compiled and edited by Douglass Howell and printed in 1945 in a run of a thousand copies, this history of the 461st AAA AW Battalion follows the unit from its activation at Camp Haan, California, in September 1942 through desert training at Camp Irwin, a year guarding Eighth Air Force airfields in England, its landing on Omaha Beach on D+7, and the drive across France, Belgium and Germany with V Corps to V-E Day near Leipzig, where it guarded the Eilenburg–Torgau road linking the American and Russian armies. It includes the battalion narrative, a map of Northern Europe, commendations, awards and decorations, battery-by-battery highlights, after action reports, missions and positions, credits for enemy planes shot down (27½ destroyed and 18 probables), and home address rosters for every battery. This is a digital download of a scanned copy of the original book.

Campaigns: Normandy, Northern France, Rhineland, Ardennes, Central Europe

Commanders: Lt. Col. Chrysler (1942); Lt. Col. J. B. Gegan (1943–1944); Lt. Col. William H. Kintner (interim, September 1944); Lt. Col. John F. Bonner (September 1944–1945)

Unit newspaper: unknown

Table of Contents
Dedication
Campaigns
The Shield on the Cover
“Dedication to Dust” (poem by Donald K. McLeod)
In Memory
Foreword by the Commanding Officer
History of the Battalion
Map of Northern Europe
Ground Defense
Record of Award
Commendations Received by the 461st
Headquarters & Headquarters Battery
Hq & Hq Battery Awards and Decorations
Headquarters Locations
Battery “A”: Awards and Decorations
Highlights of Battery “A”
Battery “A”: Commendations Received
Battery “A”: After Action Reports
Battery “A”: Missions and Positions
Battery “A”: Awards for Planes Shot Down
Battery “B”: Awards and Decorations
Highlights of Battery “B”
Battery “B”: Commendations Received
Battery “B”: After Action Reports
Battery “B”: Missions and Positions
Battery “B”: Awards for Planes Shot Down
Battery “C”: Awards and Decorations
Highlights of Battery “C”
Battery “C”: Missions and Positions
Battery “C”: Awards for Planes Shot Down
Battery “D”: Awards and Decorations
Highlights of Battery “D”
“The Immortal Eleven” (poem)
Provisional Trucking Detail
Battery “D”: Commendations Received
Battery “D”: After Action Reports
Battery “D”: Missions and Positions
Battery “D”: Awards for Planes Shot Down
Medical Detachment: Awards and Decorations
Highlights of the Medics
The Chaplain
Home Addresses: Hq & Hq Battery, Batteries A–D, Medical Detachment, The Chaplain

“Though we do not wear the Combat Infantry Badge there’s no infantryman who can detract from the honors this unit has attained in all its Campaigns.”
— History of the 461st AAA AW Battalion, 1945