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Major Murray H. Fowler, Information and Education Officer
of the 3rd Armored Division, authored the accurate and comprehensive
G-3 supplement which completes this volume of SPEARHEAD IN THE
WEST.
A veteran of long service with the division, Major Fowler was
formerly attached to Combat Command "A". His work speaks
for itself.
FOREWORD
This account is designed to provide a unified outline of the
operations of the 3rd Armored Division that will be of assistance
in studying the accumulated mass of official documents that tell
the whole story.
In itself, it takes the form of a brief, factual narrative of
the combat history of the division. It is hoped that such a report
will be of interest and value, especially to members of the division.
The source of most of the material in this outline is the official
records such as periodic and after-action reports. Some of the
more detailed action accounts, such as Col. Doan's battle at
the Siegfried Line, are condensed from reports based on interviews
and prepared by First Army Information and Historical Section.
It is not within the scope of an outline to capture in its
short paragraphs all the drama, the confusion, and tension of
the battles it describes. Such details are the business of the
professional historian. Here they will have to be supplied by
the mind of the reader.
Certain actions typical of a particular campaign are described
in mole detail than straightforward actions. Such descriptions
in no way imply that the battle described was of more importance
to the overall picture than other engagements, taking place simultaneously.
The device is used in some cases only to show the nature of the
fighting at that particular time.
The 3rd Armored Division is organized on Table of Organization
No. 17, March 1, 1942, and so retains the regimental organization
both for tanks and infantry.
There are several basic schemes for dividing and subdividing
the combat elements into teams for active operations. The designation
of these teams varies from time to time, and so a brief discussion
of their names and organization is in order.
THE COMBAT COMMAND: This unit is referred to most frequently
in the following narrative. It is usually abbreviated as "C
Com'd" or "CCA" or "CCB". When the strength
of the division is split so as to provide three units of approximately
equal strength, the third unit is referred to either as a Combat
Command and given the name of its commanding officer, e. g. "Combat
Command LEONE" or "CCL" or as "Division Reserve".
The regular combat commands are also referred to by the name
of the Commanding General on occasion, e.g. "CCA" may
be called "C Com'd HICKEY" and "CCB" becomes
"C Com'd BOUDINOT". In some earlier actions, a typical
Combat Command organization was:
C COMMAND HQ
1 Tank Regiment, less one battalion
1 Infantry Battalion
1 Artillery Battalion
1 AAA Battery
1 Engineer Company
1 Tank Destroyer Company
1 Medical Company
1 Maintenance Company.
Later, it became common practice to attach an Infantry Regiment
to the Division, providing sufficient strength to give each Combat
Command two Infantry Battalions.
Also two light Armored Artillery Battalions were provided
for direct support in each Combat Command by the attachment of
at least one additional battalion to the division.
DIVISION RESERVE: The Division Reserve is usually built
on the Infantry Regiment less the Battalions attached to Combat
Commands. The Infantry Regimental Commander becomes the Division
Reserve Commander. Until actual commitment, there is not normally
any artillery attached to Division Reserve, since any organic
or attached artillery not firing direct support of Combat Commands
remained under direction of the Division Artillery Commander.
The normal fighting strength of Division Reserve, as evolved
through experience, was precisely the same as that of the two
Combat Commands.
THE TASK FORCE: Elements of a Combat Command normally
operate as two or more Task Forces. These Task Forces were originally
given letter or number designations. Combat Command "A"
had Task Forces X and Y and sometimes Z. The abbreviations were
TFX, TFY and TFZ. Task Forces in Combat Command "B"
were given number designations, i.e.: TF1, TF2, etc. Later, it
became the practice to refer to these Task Forces by the name
of their commanding officer, e.g.: TF DOAN.
TYPICAL TASK FORCE ORGANIZATION:
TFX
Tank Regimental Hq
1 Tank Battalion
1 Infantry Battalion less one company
1 Platoon of Engineers
1 Platoon of Tank Destroyers
TFY
1 Tank Battalion
1 Infantry Company
1 Platoon of Engineers
1 Platoon of Tank Destroyers
When additional Infantry was attached to the Division, as
in most major actions, each Task Force had a full Battalion of
Infantry. It was normal to afford each Task Force the direct
support of a full battalion of artillery.
The Combat Command direct support artillery usually supported
both task forces as required. Reconnaissance, service elements
and the remainder of the forces remained under Combat Command
control.
THE BATTLE GROUP: Task Force commanders frequently
subdivided their forces for special jobs. This particular subdivision
was referred to as a BATTLE GROUP and was given the name of its
commanding officer. These groups varied greatly in composition
according to the nature of their mission. For a "clean-up"
job the composition might be:
Infantry Company
Tank platoon and/or Tank Destroyer platoon
Mortar platoon
Engineer Squad
None of these organizations were fixed. The composition varied
from day to day, and mission to mission. One factor remained
constant. The 32nd Armd Regt has always fought under CCA and
the 33rd Armd Regt under CCB.
Next Chapter: Normandy
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