document.cookie = "__adblocker=" + (adblocker ? 1957 37th Tank Battalion activated on 15 JUN 1954 at Fort Hood in Texas. Nicknamed Iron Dukes, the 2nd Battalion, 37th Armored Regiment was deployed to Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003. In the rugged country of the Rhineland, it was mainly an Infantry war, but the 37th Tank Battalion followed close behind the attackers, ready to knife through the West Wall when a breach was secured. By dusk, the 37th Tank Battalion's M4s were in Giessen, 40 miles north of Hanau. Reactivated 2015 var d = new Date(); On 2 April 1945, under heavy air attack, the 37th Tank Battalion crossed the Werra. The 2nd Battalion, 37th Armored Regiment was a forward deployed tank battalion located in the Federal Republic of Germany. The Texas summer passed. Counterattack followed counterattack until at last, on 9 January 1945, the German penetration had been pushed to the east of Bastogne. U.S. Army, 1st Battalion, 37th Armored Regiment, Fort Bliss, TX. By the afternoon of that day, the 37th Tank Battalion was even past German artillery positions. The 37th Tank Battalion then participated in the Herculean task of disarming the Wehrmacht and set up shop in Bavaria as part of the occupation forces on 27 May 1945. Thank you for visiting the official Facebook page of the 2nd Battalion, 37th Armor Regiment. Click Run when prompted by your computer to begin the installation process. The United states was not yet at war, but 10 months earlier a group of military geniuses leading Hitler's armies had demonstrated a new type of warfare that electrified and dumbfounded the world. The 36th, 37th, and 13th Armored Infantry Battalions were relieved from the 3rd Armored Division on 1 October 1957 and consolidated to form the 36th Infantry, a parent regiment under the Combat Arms Regimental System. By now the 37th and elements of the 26th Infantry Division were joined in fighting to hold the road open. On 14 August 1944, the siege of Lorient was turned over to the 6th Armored Division and the 37th Tank Battalion turned eastward with the rest of the 3rd Army, which was beginning its historic race across France. Winter was quickly approaching. For 3 days Colonel Clark's CCA was behind enemy lines. 2nd Battalion, 37th Armor: 37th Armor Regiment DUI: 1968 (Source: Email from John Bogardus, 2nd Bn, 37th Arm, 1968-1970) I served with the 2nd Battalion, 37th Armor, 4th Armored Division (Montieth Barracks) from 1968 to 1970. } The 37th Tank Battalion sped on to Ochtenburg, captured there a billeting party from the German 7th Army Rear Command Post. More than 1,000 prisoners were taken in this action and those of the Battalion's other companies. For the remainder of July 1944, the 37th waited in reserve, while the 4th Armored's doughboys relieved elements of the weary 4th Infantry Division. U.S. Army, 1st Battalion, 37th Armored Regiment, Fort Bliss, TX. In 4 days, the Battalion had led the 3rd Army in its piercing of the Siegfried Line. Concurrently, the 2nd Battalion, 37th Armor was relieved from assignment to the 4th Armored Division and assigned to the 1st Armored Division. Battalions of a regiment are typically abbreviated as, for example, "4–37 AR BN", which is usually verbalized as "Four Three Seven Armor" (but sometimes as "4th of the 37th Armor" (archaic)). Farther north, the US First Army was fighting its way into Cologne to set the stage for the dash to the Rhine. 3d Battalion was reorganized and redesignated as the 706th Tank Battalion and relieved from assignment to the 4th Armored Division. After installation, click Play below to join the action! These attached soldiers became a part of the the 2-37th Armor family. 1st Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment "Blackhawks" 1st Battalion, 6th Infantry Regiment "Regulars" 1st Battalion, 35th Regiment "Conquerors" 1st Battalion, 37th Armored Regiment "Bandits" 4th Battalion, 27th Field Artillery Regiment "Iron Thunder" 47th Brigade Support Battalion "Pioneers" 40th Brigade Engineer Battalion "Rams" Page last modified: The 5th Infantry Division crossed in Navy landing craft near Oppenheim before the Germans could fire a shot. On 1 May 1946, when the 4th Armored Division was inactivated, the 37th Tank Battalion traded M4 Sherman tanks for armored cars and motorcycles with the red, yellow an blue insignia of Major General Harmon's US Constabulary. var setNptTechAdblockerCookie = function(adblocker) { At dawn on 26 December 1944, the 37th Tank Battalion struck again, taking Remi, Champagne, and then seizing the high ground near Chochiment, only 3 miles from Bastogne. In October 1942, while the 1st and 2nd Armored Divisions were staging for their baptism of fire in North Africa, the 37th Armored and the remainder of the 4th Armored Division moved to Tennessee for maneuvers. During the night, remnants of the Wehrmacht tried to get back across the Rhine. The 2nd Battalion 37th Armored Regiment was a forward deployed tank battalion located in the Federal Republic of Germany. Finally, on 8 July 1944, the 37th Tank Battalion moved to Southern England and prepared for its rendezvous with the Wehrmacht. On 22 September 1944, the 37th Tank Battalion's M4s swept south again through Coincourt and Bures to the Rhine-Marne Canal. Reorganized and redesignated 20 February 1956 as the 37th Armored Field Artillery Battalion. ! Company C's mission was to barge through these defenses in high gear, stopping for nothing and leaving the mopping up to the companies following, which were supported by the 53rd Infantry. Please enable Javascript to use all the features on this site. Upon arriving at Camp Able Sentry, the Iron Dukes immediately began to dig in and start their mission. From 19 September through 22 September 1944, the Germans tried to push the 37th Tank Battalion back across the Moselle. On 8 December 1944, the Battalion smashed through the old French Maginot Line and took Singling. Their names were Guderian, Kleist, and Rommel, and they called their operations the "Blitzkrieg," or lightning war in English. If you have any stories or thoughts on the subject, please contact me. 1st Battalion, 2nd Battalion and the Regimental Headquarters became the 37th Tank Battalion, composed of 3 medium tank companies (A, B and C), one light tank company (D) and a Headquarters Company. Company B, 37th Armored Regiment was reorganized and redesignated on 10 September 1943 as Company B, 37th Tank Battalion. It also brought an influx of new equipment to the 37th Armored. The 41st Infantry Regiment constituted the organic infantry of the newly formed 2nd Armored Division. On Camp Able Sentry, all of Task Force Headquarters started working on improving conditions and preparing to assume Task Force Control. The 37th moved to Ferris Barracks, Erlangen, Germany in August 1971. 30 talking about this. The Regimental Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, and D Company, 2d Battalion were reorganized as the 37th Tank Battalion, and remained assigned to the 4th Armored Division. For its relief of Bastogne, the 37th Tank Battalion was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation. It lies nestled in the rolling hills of the German State of Hessen, in the city of Friedberg. The 2nd Battalion 37th Armored Regiment was a forward deployed tank battalion located in the Federal Republic of Germany. On 25 March 1945, the Third US Army crossed the Rhine. document.cookie = "__adblocker=; expires=Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 GMT; path=/"; The 2nd Battalion, 37th Armor Regiment was first constituted on 13 January 1941 in the Regular Army as the Company B, 7th Armored Regiment, an element of the 4th Armored Division. On 7 March 1945 the US First Army thrust north from Cologne, pinning what was left of the German 7th Army between it and the 4th Armored Division. During World War II, Abrams served in the 4th Armored Division, initially as regimental adjutant (June 1941 – June 1942), battalion commander (July 1942 – March 1943), and regiment executive officer (March 1943 – September 1943) with the 37th Armor Regiment. var script = document.createElement("script"); The 37th Tank Battalion spent those days spreading confusion and terror in the German rear areas. On 25 February 1945, Company B, with Company B of the 51st Armored Infantry, took the bridge over the Prum at Remesdorf. Reactivated 2015 The Battalion became a point of the 4th Armored Division's drive to relieve the paratroopers in Bastogne. At 1645 1st Lieutenant Boggess shook hands with Lieutenant Webster of the 326th Engineers, 101st Airborne Division and in 25 minutes Lieutenant Colonel Abrams and his S-3, Captain William Dwight, reported to Brigadier General Anthony G. McAuliffe, acting Commanding General of the 101st Airborne. 10 talking about this. 37th and 706th Tank Battalions consolidated, reorganized, and redesignated 01 APR 1957 as the 37th Armor, a parent regiment under the Combat Arms Regimental System. On 16 August 1944, a German column was sighted on the south bank. He & his family will be missed! The 4th Armored Division became part of General Patton's Third US Army. U.S. Army, 1st Battalion, 37th Armored Regiment, Fort Bliss, TX. It was no secret that their mission would eventually be to tangle with the German gentlemen and defeat them on their own terms. The 37th Tank Battalion, with the rest of CCB, sideslipped west and followed CCA across the Main on 28 March 1945. With time, the scope of this site will expand to also cover 2 … On 10 January 1945, the 37th Tank Battalion was attacking east of Bastogne when the order came to halt. An attack in a driving rainstorm won this prize before the Germans could blow it up. General von Rothenkirch, Commanding General of the 53rd Army Corps, was driving his car on an inspection tour near Putzberg, where he stumbled on Company B. You can learn more about how this site uses cookies and related technologies by reading our. The 37th was traveling on the fist of this blow with Colonel Bruce C. Clark's Combat Command A. Coutances fell the next day and Avranches, at the northern edge of the neck of Brittany, on 30 July 1944. 830 likes. On the morning of 6 June 1944, the American First US Army and the British Second Army hit the beaches of Normandy. "true" : "false") + "; expires=" + d.toUTCString() + "; path=/"; From 1957 till October 1958. Lieutenant Boggess' company now consisted of only 4 M4 tanks, and the rest of the 37th Tank Battalion had suffered similarly. Then, on 1 September 1944, the 37th Tank Battalion ground to a halt. The Company was activated on 15 April 1941 at Pine Camp (which subsequently became Fort Drum), New York. 10 talking about this. The 2nd Battalion, 37th Armor Regiment was a forward deployed Tank Battalion located in the Federal Republic of Germany. The men saw how their 2 years together had prepared them physically and professionally when they compared training and proficiency test results with other units. On 11 December 1951, still on inactive status, the unit was converted and again designated as the 37th Tank battalion.