Tanks and Tank Destroyers
US 4th Armored Division (March 1945)
Comments of Colonel W. L. Roberts, Assistant Division Commander, 4th Armored Division
24 March 1945
Missions for Light Tanks and Tank Destroyers
As German antitank guns generally can knock out any of our vehicles regardless of the thickness of their armor, we give light tanks and tank destroyers almost any type of mission. Even medium tanks shed flat trajectory fire only occasionally.
Tank Destroyers
The M18 tank destroyer - light, fast and silent - has proved particularly good for escort missions because it can keep up with trucks. Tanks labor when performing such details.
Tank unit training should include some stress on quick and stealthy moves—in tank destroyer style. Tanks sometimes are knocked out because they get caught in the open or because they occupy firing positions for considerable periods of time. Tank destroyers, on the other hand, are placed under cover while observers are sent forward to check the terrain with field glasses before they are moved up, and they move often. The combination of tanks and tank deÂstroyers works well because the technique of one group balances that of the other. The ideal, however, would be to have one group thinking both ways.
Teams in a Combat Command
We organize our combat commands into four teams. Three teams consist of an armored infantry company and a tank company each, and the fourth team is made up of tank destroyers and light tanks. The power and speed of the fourth team permit its successful use on a variety of tasks.
Protection of Division Headquarters.
We use a platoon of tank deÂstroyers, a platoon of medium tanks, and a platoon of armored infantry in adÂdition to the regular defense platoon for protection of the division command post under present fluid conditions. One one occasion fighting was taking place on all sides of the headquarters - but work went on just the same.
Source
Headquarters, European Theater of Operations ‘Immediate Report Number 119 (Combat Observations) 27 April 1945’ Immediate Reports of Combat Observations 130 to 1 Combined Arms Research Library
