Hey Guys, Since Rifle Companies in Armored Infantry Battalions utilized Half Tracks to transport their rifle squads, mortar squads, etc., under what circumstances were they required to dismount then ride on top of tanks? Thanks! James
Bear in mind that you often had regular Infantry units attached to Armored Divisions Combat Commands, they did not have half tracks.
My understanding is that they really didn't want troops riding tanks into combat. The US also had a fair number of truck companies that could move troops given enough notice so I suspect it was mostly during "emergency" situtations. There are a couple of people who post here that can probably quote chapter and verse on this. Hopefully they'll chime in before long.
Hey Guys, I did some more digging and attached a section from an old field manual that describes this topic, at least in an AIB. There are also diagrams showing where each man would station himself on the tank, but I didn't include them. On April 29th 1945, several 65th AIB squad members, were killed during an ambush in the town of Lohhof Germany while riding on tanks. They were normally in their half tracks, but on this occasion they were on the tanks so that's what sparked my interest. Thanks! James
Here is a photo of Sherman tanks with infantry preparing to attack a German held town in Belgium on 27 December 1944. The caption identifies the units as the 2nd Armored Division and the 75th Infantry Division. The photo is from NARA. Regards, Marc
In Normandy, some tank destroyers that got lost joined the 327 in the attack on Mont Marten en Graignes (just SE of Carentan). Guys were riding on the TD's including 1st Lt Tom Niland. Niland was the 1st cousin of the Saving Private Ryan Nilands. All the cousins were raised as one family unit. Col Harper objected but didn't stop it. The TD's drew a lot of enemy attention. Tom was lightly wounded. Harper put an end to the experiment of riding on TDs. As light infantry they had no training for such and the TDs did draw a lot of fire.
Remember that most Infantry Divisions had an integral tank Battalion as well. When they moved, whatever infantry battalion/regiment they were attached to at the time had infantrymen as riders. When they expected to encounter the enemy, those men dismounted and marched as pickets ahead of and flanking the tanks. Tanks without infantry are just targets for the next PAK 40 or Faust down the road.
Thanks for the responses, all good stuff! I could think of a lot of places I'd rather be than riding on a tank.. ; )
