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70th Tank Battalion (United States)
Encyclopedia
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
active during the Second World War and the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
It was formed as an independent medium tank
Medium tank
Medium tank was a classification of tanks; the medium being intermediate in size and weight and armament between heavy tanks and light tanks.The medium tank concept has been eclipsed by the main battle tank.-History:...
battalion in June 1940, equipped with M2A2 light tanks
M2 Light Tank
The Light Tank M2 was an American pre-World War II light tank that saw combat with the US Marine Corps 1st Tank Battalion on Guadalcanal in 1942, during World War II. Its service with the 1st Tank Battalion during the Pacific War was its only U.S...
, and began training for amphibious operations. It received M3 light tanks
Stuart tank
The M3 Stuart, formally Light Tank M3, was an American light tank of World War II and supplied to British and Commonwealth forces under lend-lease prior to the entry of the U.S. into the war—and used thereafter by U.S...
in 1941, and was redesignated the 70th Light Tank Battalion.
Second World War service
The battalion sailed with the 1st Infantry Division on 9 January 1942 for the French island of MartiniqueMartinique
Martinique is an island in the eastern Caribbean Sea, with a land area of . Like Guadeloupe, it is an overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department. To the northwest lies Dominica, to the south St Lucia, and to the southeast Barbados...
in the West Indies because it "was probably the only tank battalion combat ready for this amphibious operation". In February 1942 Company C was detached and sent for garrison duty in Iceland, with a new Company C being formed in May. Company A was detached later in the year, and landed in North Africa as part of Operation Torch
Operation Torch
Operation Torch was the British-American invasion of French North Africa in World War II during the North African Campaign, started on 8 November 1942....
, attached to the 39th Regimental Combat Team.
The battalion landed in Sicily as part of Operation Husky in July 1943, and was withdrawn to England in November, where it re-equipped as a standard battalion with M4 Sherman
M4 Sherman
The M4 Sherman, formally Medium Tank, M4, was the primary tank used by the United States during World War II. Thousands were also distributed to the Allies, including the British Commonwealth and Soviet armies, via lend-lease...
s. The former Company C (now designated as Company D) rejoined the battalion, giving it four tank companies.
The battalion suffered some casualties when during Exercise Tiger
Exercise Tiger
Exercise Tiger, or Operation Tiger, were the code names for a full-scale rehearsal in 1944 for the D-Day invasion of Normandy. During the exercise, an Allied convoy was attacked, resulting in the deaths of 946 American servicemen....
on an early morning of 28 April 1944, German E-boats that had left Cherbourg on patrol spotted a convoy of 8 LSTs carrying vehicles and combat engineers of the 1st Engineer Special Brigade in Lyme Bay and attacked.
On D-Day
D-Day
D-Day is a term often used in military parlance to denote the day on which a combat attack or operation is to be initiated. "D-Day" often represents a variable, designating the day upon which some significant event will occur or has occurred; see Military designation of days and hours for similar...
it landed on Utah Beach
Utah Beach
Utah Beach was the code name for the right flank, or westernmost, of the Allied landing beaches during the D-Day invasion of Normandy, as part of Operation Overlord on 6 June 1944...
as part of the 4th Infantry Division, supporting the 8th Infantry Regiment led by Theodore Roosevelt, Jr.
Theodore Roosevelt, Jr.
Theodore D. Roosevelt, Jr. , was an American political and business leader, a Medal of Honor recipient who fought in both of the 20th century's world wars. He was the eldest son of President Theodore Roosevelt from his second wife Edith Roosevelt...
; companies A and B used amphibious DD Sherman tanks
DD tank
DD tanks , were a type of amphibious swimming tank developed by the British during the Second World War...
. It fought in the northward drive to Cherbourg, and in the breakout from St.-Lo, through France and into Belgium, entering Germany on 13 September. It fought in the Hurtgen Forest
Battle of Hurtgen Forest
The Battle of Hürtgen Forest is the name given to the series of fierce battles fought between U.S. and German forces during World War II in the Hürtgen Forest, which became the longest battle on German ground during World War II, and the longest single battle the U.S. Army has ever fought...
in November, and moved to the Ardennes in December, fighting in the Battle of the Bulge
Battle of the Bulge
The Battle of the Bulge was a major German offensive , launched toward the end of World War II through the densely forested Ardennes mountain region of Wallonia in Belgium, hence its French name , and France and...
. On 29 March 1945 it crossed the Rhine, and moved quickly through Germany, crossing the Danube
Danube
The Danube is a river in the Central Europe and the Europe's second longest river after the Volga. It is classified as an international waterway....
on 25 April and ending the war near the Austrian border.
The battalion performed occupation duties until mid-1946, when it was deactivated; shortly thereafter, it was reactivated as a training unit at Fort Knox
Fort Knox
Fort Knox is a United States Army post in Kentucky south of Louisville and north of Elizabethtown. The base covers parts of Bullitt, Hardin, and Meade counties. It currently holds the Army Human Resources Center of Excellence to include the Army Human Resources Command, United States Army Cadet...
. In 1949, it was redesignated the 70th Heavy Tank Battalion and reduced to a three-company establishment. Because of budget restrictions imposed by then-Secretary of Defense Louis A. Johnson
Louis A. Johnson
Louis Arthur Johnson was the second United States Secretary of Defense, serving in the cabinet of President Harry S. Truman from March 28, 1949 to September 19, 1950....
, the 70th was under-strength, equipped with 44 Sherman and 22 M26 Pershing
M26 Pershing
The Heavy Tank M26 Pershing was an American heavy tank briefly used in World War II and in the Korean War. It was named after General John Pershing, who led the American Expeditionary Force in Europe in World War I....
tanks. These were all well-worn vehicles, having survived both the war and extensive training usage.
Cold War service
The battalion's lineage is perpetuated by the 70th Armor Regiment, which was formed from the 70th Battalion in 1963 under the Combat Arms Regimental System.From 1960s to 1980s the 1st Battalion, 70th Armor served in Germany, based in Wiesbaden
Wiesbaden
Wiesbaden is a city in southwest Germany and the capital of the federal state of Hesse. It has about 275,400 inhabitants, plus approximately 10,000 United States citizens...
.
It currently has one active element, the 2nd Battalion, 70th Armor Regiment, which is part of the 1st Armored Division
1st Armored Division (United States)
The 1st Armored Division—nicknamed "Old Ironsides"—is a standing armored division of the United States Army with base of operations in Fort Bliss, Texas. It was the first armored division of the U.S...
.
The 4TH Battalion of the 70TH Armored Regiment was activated on 15JUN2009 at Baumholder, Germany. The 4-70TH is currently deployed to Afghanistan with forces in Uruzghan, Shah Wali-kot, Kandahar, and Takta Pol – all under RC-S Control.
Sources
- Lineage And Honors Information 70th Armor Lineage as of 20 April 1998 US ARMY http://www.history.army.mil/html/forcestruc/lineages/branches/ar/070ar.htm
- Lineage And Honors Information 2d Battalion, 70th Armor Lineage as of 20 April 1998 US ARMY http://www.history.army.mil/html/forcestruc/lineages/branches/ar/070ar002bn.htm
- Jensen, Marvin, Strike Swiftly!: The 70th Tank Battalion from North Africa to Normandy to Germany, Presidio Press, Novato, CA, 1997 http://www.questia.com/library/book/strike-swiftly-the-70th-tank-battalion-from-north-africa-to-normandy-to-germany-by-marvin-jensen.jsp
- Jensen, Ron, Ceremony in England to honor hundreds killed in training exercise for D-Day, Stars and StripesStars and Stripes (newspaper)Stars and Stripes is a news source that operates from inside the United States Department of Defense but is editorially separate from it. The First Amendment protection which Stars and Stripes enjoys is safeguarded by Congress to whom an independent ombudsman, who serves the readers' interests,...
, Sunday, 22 April 2001, accessed 8 June 2008
External sources
- Soixante-Dix, Official official history of the 70th Tank Battalion.
- Globalsecurity.orgGlobalSecurity.orgGlobalSecurity.org, launched in 2000, is a public policy organization focusing on the fields of defense, space exploration, intelligence, weapons of mass destruction and homeland security...
, 2nd Battalion, 70th Armor