✅ This post was reviewed and corrected as part of the 2025 Historical Accuracy Update. Reviewed by Doc Snafu on August 4, 2025. Document Source: United States Army; Robinson, Wayne; and Hamilton, Norman E., Move out, verify: the combat story of the 743rd Tank Battalion (1944) in France. World War Regimental Histories. http://digicom.bpl.lib.me.us/. This archive is brought to you by the World War Collections at Bangor Community. It has been accepted for inclusion in World War Regimental Histories by an authorized administrator of Bangor Community. Prélude A Battalion truck was driven hundreds of miles through Germany to locate and haul a linotype machine...

✅ This post was reviewed and corrected as part of the 2025 Historical Accuracy Update.Reviewed by Doc Snafu on June 17, 2025. Document Source: After Action Report, 5th Armored Division, August 1944 On August 1, 1944, units of the 5th Armored Division were commanded by the following named officers: Commanding General, Gen Oliver E. Lunsford Combat Command A, Gen Eugene A. Regnier HHC-CCA, Capt Karl W. Roth Combat Command B, Col John T. Cole HHC-CCB, Capt Joe W. Perry Div Arty, Col Douglas J. Page HHB Div Arty, Capt Norman W. Cusick Reserve Command, Col Glen H. Anderson HQs Co 5-AD, Capt Larry H. Greenwood HQ 5-AD Div Tns, Lt Col...

(Above) The FG-42, Fallschirmjägergewehr 42, or Paratrooper Rifle 42, is one of the most iconic and innovative firearms of World War II. Developed for the German Luftwaffe's paratrooper units, it was a versatile weapon intended to give elite airborne troops both firepower and portability in a single package. German Fallschirmjäger faced challenges with existing firearms during operations. Their standard loadout included bolt-action rifles K-98 and light machine guns MP-38/40, which were cumbersome and inadequate for the demands of airborne combat. The FG-42 was designed to address this gap by combining the functions of a rifle and a light machine...

Capt Arthur Gullachsen: Night of the Panthers, Assault of Kampfgruppe Meyer-Wünsche on Bretteville-l’Orgueilleuse (France), June 8-9, 1944. Canadian Military History (2021) Gullachsen, Arthur Night of the Panthers? Assault of Kampfgruppe Meyer/Wünsche on Bretteville-l’Orgueilleuse, France, June 8-9, 1944. This archive is brought to you for free and open access by Scholars Commons @ Laurier. It has been accepted for inclusion in Canadian Military History by an authorized editor of Scholars Commons @ Laurier. This archive is republished by EUCMH on January 11, 2025. (Abstract): This archive provides historical insight into the failure of the German armored counterattacks in the immediate aftermath of the...

#82airborne, #normandy, #stemereeglise, #artillery, #june1944, Document Source: US Infantry School, Fort Benning (Georgia), Operations of the 82nd Airborne Division Artillery in the Airborne Landings near Ste Mère Eglise, Normandy, France, June 6-8, 1944, during the Normandy Campaign. Personal Experience of a Division Artillery Communications Officer, Captain Tony J. Raibl, Infantry. Additional info Written report for unit history: Capt Whitley, July 15, 1944. Written report for unit history: Lt Shockley, July 15, 1944. Written report for unit history: M/Sgt Frank Vlasak, July 15, 1944. Written report for unit history: Lt Henry W. Millington, July 15, 1944. Written report of Sgt Charles Cummings, July 15, 1944. Statement of Capt...

#AfterActionreport, #747TDDB, #29ID, #June44, #WW2, #Normandy, #EUCMH, #DocSnafu, #WW2Archives, #MilitaryHistory, #WW2Photographs, #HistoricalDocuments, #WW2Research, #WW2Liberation, #EUCMH, #DocSnafu, #WW2Photos Document Source: After Action Report, 747th Tank Battalion, 29th Infantry Division, June 1944 to April 1945 Headquarters, 29th Infantry Division, APO 29, US Army, August 4, 1944. To: The Adjutant General, War Department, Washington 25, DC Through: Commanding General XIX Corps, APO 270, US Army Forwarded in compliance with letter, Headquarters, First United States Army, file 319.1, subject: Action Against Enemy, Report After/After Action Report, dated July 13, 1944, and letter, Headquarters, XIX Corps, same subject and file, dated August 4, 1944. For the Commanding General Robert A. Archer,...

#AfterActionreport, #747TDDB, #29ID, #June44, #WW2, #Normandy, #EUCMH, #DocSnafu, #WW2Archives, #MilitaryHistory, #WW2Photographs, #HistoricalDocuments, #WW2Research, #WW2Liberation, #EUCMH, #DocSnafu, #WW2Photos Document Source: After Action Report, 747th Tank Battalion, 29th Infantry Division, June 1944 to April 1945 Headquarters, 29th Infantry Division, APO 29, US Army, July 22, 1944 To: The Adjutant General, War Department, Washington 25, DC Through: Commanding General XIX Corps, APO 270, US Army Forwarded in compliance with letter, Headquarters, First United States Army, file 319.1, subject: Action Against Enemy, Report After/After Action Report, dated July 13, 1944, and letter, Headquarters, XIX Corps, same subject and file, dated July 19, 1944. For the Commanding General Robert A. Archer,...

Document Source: Advanced Infantry Officers Course. Operations of the Regimental Pathfinder Unit, 507th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division in Normandy, France, June 6, 1944. Personal Experience of a Regimental Pathfinder Leader, Capt John T. Joseph. Foreword: This is exactly the kind of archive I hate because there are no combat photos available to illustrate the text. I will see what I can do to avoid this photo problem. This archive covers the operation of the 507th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division, Pathfinder Team in Normandy, June 6, 1944. A clear picture of Pathfinder operations can best be obtained...

Document Source: Infantry School, General Section, Military History Committee, Fort Benning, Georgia, Advanced Officers Course (1946-1947). Operations of Easy Company, 517th Parachute Infantry Combat Team, in a River crossing and attack at La Roquette, France, August 27-28, 1944, Southern France Campaign, Capt Walter G. Irwin, Attached Officer INTRODUCTION This archive covers the operation of Easy Company, 517th Parachute Infantry Regimental Combat Team, (First Airborne Task Force), August 27-28, 1944, in the crossing of the Var River and the attack on the town of La Roquette, in the initial phase of the invasion of Southern France. To properly orient the reader as...

Document Source: (Transcribed by Wesley Johnson) Headquarters Twelve Army Group, After Action Report, to The Adjutant General, Washington, D.C., (Thru: Commanding General, European Theater of Operations) Inclosed are After Action Report for the 7th Armored Division and subordinate units for the month of August 1944 HEADQUARTERS 7TH ARMORED DIVISION Commander by Maj Gen Lindsay McDonald Silvester CoS Col George H. Molony CCA Col Dwight A. Rosebaum CCB Brig Gen John B. Thompson CCR Lt Col James E. Newberry Div Arty Col Orville W. Martin G-1 Lt Col John V. Maxwell G-2 Lt Col Everett W. Murray G-3 Lt Col Alvin L. Mente, Jr G-4 Lt Col Reginald H. Hodgson Trains...

Document source: After action report 38th Cavalry Recon Squadron (Mechanized), Aug 44 thru April 45, Ike Skelton Combined Arms Research, Digital Library. (Checked and Corrected while processing the file: Doc Snafu) In accordance with paragraph 10, AR 345-105, and letter Headquarters First United States Army, subject: Action Against Enemy, Reports After/After Action Reports, file 319.1/401 (C), dated July 13, 1944, the following report is submitted: Missions and Results On July 1, 1944 Troop E continued, attached to artillery Hq 1-ID for the purpose of training while reinforcing the fires of the 33-FAB (relieved by 19-FAB). (Mission accomplished) On July 1, 1944 Troop B continued...

Document source: After action report 38th Cavalry Recon Squadron (Mechanized), Aug 44 thru April 45, Ike Skelton Combined Arms Research, Digital Library. (Checked and Corrected while processing the file: Doc Snafu) (1) In accordance with paragraph 10, AR 34:5-105, and letter Headquarters First United States Army, Subject: Action Against Enemy, Reports After/After Action Reports, file 319.1/401 (C), dated July 13, 1944, the following report is submitted: (a) The 38th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron, Mecz, spent June 1 to June 6, 1944, inc1usive, performing regular duties at Topsham Barracks, Exeter, Devon, England. Troop A, this organization, left Exeter, Devon, England, on June 6,...

(Document source: Original After Action Report, 35th Infantry Division, December 1, 1944 - December 31, 1944. The 35th Infantry Division, with the exception of one battalion, began the month of December 1944, its sixth month in combat during World War II, in Corps Reserve. Although rest, rehabilitation, and cleaning of weapons and equipment had a high priority, combat training classes were also conducted. The firing of weapons, assault of pillboxes, and the use of special assault equipment were included in the training. The assembly areas for the regiments were as follows, 1/137 and 2/137 were at Béning-lès-Saint-Avold, Bistroff, and Harprich,...

Document Source, Operations of the 3rd Platoon, Easy Company, 7th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division; East of Ostheim in the Colmar Pocket (Alsace Campaign) 22-23 Jan 1945. Personal Experience of a Platoon Leader: Lt Charles K. Blum This report is the story of an American rifle platoon that fought to help clear a part of the Alsace Department, France, of a force of Germans who held control of a bridgehead on the western bank of the Rhine River around the city of Colmar in January 1945. These enemy forces had held tightly to their bridgehead since late November 1944, when...

Ducument Source: Operations of the 1st Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division during the period of June 6, 1944, to June 8, 1944, in Carentan and in the vicinity, Normandy, France. Personal Experience of a Company Commander. Maj Knut H. Raudstein The operations of a Parachute Battalion in the Normandy Campaign is an unusual subject for military study for several reasons. (1) The missions assigned to the airborne units participating in the campaign were successfully accomplished despite an initial operational fiasco. (2) The pré-invasion prediction of Air Chief Marshal Leigh-Mallory that the operation was so hazardous that it...

Document Source: Journal entries of the 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division, June 6, 1944, Omaha beach, Normandy, France. (Raw Data) Journal entries, 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division, June 1944, Normandy, France. (Raw Data) 0630- First wave lands on schedule on the beach of Normandy, France, and meets fierce resistance on beaches. The beach is under heavy machine-gun and rifle fire. No advance was made inland as beaches were fully covered by pillboxes and mine-fields just inland from beaches. 0730- Forward CP lands. Beach still under small arms and machine-gun fire. No advance made inland. Casualties are extremely heavy. Slight artillery...

#WW2Archives, #MilitaryHistory, #WW2Photographs, #HistoricalDocuments, #WW2Research, #WW2Liberation, #EUCMH, #DocSnafu, #WW2Photos Document Source: After Action Report of the 26th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division during the month of July 1944 in Normandy France In 1941, the 26th Infantry Regiment stood with its sister regiments and prepared for war in Europe. The regiment was assigned to the 1st Infantry Division for the duration of World War II. In World War II, the 26-IR led America's first-ever amphibious assault in North Africa, fought at the Kasserine Pass, assaulted Sicily at the Amphibious Battle of Gela, invaded Normandy, conquered the first German city of the war...

Document Source: Operations of the 1st Battalion, 358th Infantry Regiment, 90th Infantry Division in and around Fort Koenigsmacker, North of Thionville, France, November 9-11 1944, Rhineland Campaign. Personal Experience of the Heavy Weapons Company Executive Officer, Capt Harry W. Barnes. This report covers the operations of the 1st Battalion (Col C. A. Lytle) of the 358th Infantry Regiment, 90th Infantry Division in the assault and the capture of the Fort Koenigsmacker, one of the Forts of the outer belt defenses of Metz, north of Thionville, in France. As a matter of introduction, I would like to go back to Utah...

The invasion of Southern France, Operation Dragoon, was characterized by an 'on again - off again', attitude at the highest political levels. Sir Winston Churchill (Prime Minister of the UK) had always favored an invasion of the Balkans, to be followed by a sweep up the Danubian Plain into the heart of Germany, even before the capture of Sicily or the invasion of Italy. Franklin D. Roosevelt (President of the USA); however, in agreement with his military advisors, had always preferred what he considered a more direct line of attack across the Channel, through France, into the heart of...

Document source unknown. The preliminary planning for Operation Anvil-Dragoon, an Operation first code-named 'Anvil' and later changed to 'Dragoon' because it was believed that the original name had been compromised, was for an operation to be conducted in conjunction with Operation Overlord which was scheduled for early May 1944. The plan envisaged a lift for an assault of either two or three divisions with a planned build-up to a total of ten divisions. The forces involved were to be American and French, but no definite strengths of units were defined. Initially, the headquarters planning the operation was designated, Force 163....

Document Source: A thesis presented to the Faculty of the US Army Command and General Staff College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Master of Military Art and Science, Military History, by Maj Nathan K. Watanabe, USA B.S., US Air Force Academy, Colorado, 1988, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas 2002 (Doc Snafu Final Check September 12, 2022) Introduction The 442nd Infantry Regiment, later 442nd Regimental Combat Team, was an infantry regiment of the United States Army and was the only infantry formation in the Army Reserve. The regiment is best known for its history as a fighting unit composed almost entirely...