The 824th Tank Destroyer Battalion was a tank destroyer battalion of the United States Army active during the Second World War. It saw service during 1944–45 in the European Theater of Operations, primarily attached to the 100th Infantry Division in an infantry support role. After fighting through France and southern Germany, the battalion ended the war in Austria.
The 824th was originally formed in August 1942 in Oklahoma, and trained in the United States for two years. In October 1944, it deployed to France equipped with towed 3" anti-tank guns, and was assigned to support the Seventh Army, then fighting in Alsace. Here it supported the 100th Division as it pushed steadily eastwards towards Germany, and on 8–9 January 1945 was employed to repel a SS panzergrenadier attack during Operation Nordwind, the only time the unit is recorded as having destroyed an enemy tank.
After conversion to M18 Hellcat self-propelled tank destroyers, the battalion moved into Germany, helping force a bridgehead over the Neckar River at the Battle of Heilbronn. After reaching Stuttgart it was reassigned to the 103rd Infantry Division, and with them reached Innsbruck in Austria by VE Day. After two weeks of occupation duties it was ordered to prepare for service in the Pacific; however, while it was reforming in the United States, the Japanese surrender was announced, and the need for more combat units ended. The battalion was demobilized in September 1945.
Early service
The battalion was formed at Camp Gruber, Oklahoma, on 10 August 1942, with a cadre of 31 officers and 77 men. It received 829 draftees from Camp Upton, New York, in mid-January 1943, bringing it up to slightly over full strength. The unit was nominally organised as a "tank destroyer battalion, heavy, self-propelled"; after some experimentation in 1941–2, this had become the standard organisation for tank destroyer units. Under this structure, the battalion would have three gun companies, each with three platoons of M3 self-propelled 75mm guns; each platoon had four gun crews and twelve additional men for command and security duties. These were supported by a fourth reconnaissance company with three reconnaissance platoons and one platoon of pioneers, and various headquarters and support elements.
After the men had been assembled at Camp Gruber, the battalion departed for Camp Bowie, Texas, where it carried out three months of basic training, and in mid-April was transferred to Fort Hood, Texas, where it trained at the Tank Destroyer Tactical and Firing Center. While the 824th was at Fort Hood, a new organisational structure was announced for tank destroyer battalions, converting them from self-propelled guns to towed 3" anti-tank guns; the 824th was officially reorganised to the new pattern in July. This had the same number of guns - three companies, with three platoons of four guns - but the reconnaissance company was reduced to two platoons and merged into the headquarters company, while the pioneers were removed entirely.
On completing unit training at Fort Hood in August, the 824th was transferred to Louisiana for field maneuvers, returning to Camp Bowie in January 1944. The battalion finally left the United States in October 1944, sailing from New York aboard the USS Lejeune on 14 October and landing at Marseilles on 28 October.
Fighting in Alsace
The battalion first saw frontline service on 28 November, when two companies were attached to the 397th Infantry Regiment (100th Infantry Division), which was itself temporarily attached to the 45th Infantry Division, fighting in the Vosges Mountains under the Seventh Army. The battalion took its first casualties the following day, with four men in A Company killed and three wounded by artillery and mortar fire. The following day, a gun crew of the same company fired the battalion's first shots in anger, destroying a machine-gun position. The battalion pushed eastwards with the 100th and 45th Divisions until mid-December, with individual gun crews providing direct fire support to infantrymen assaulting German defensive positions, as well as indirect artillery fire.