614th Tank Destroyer Battalion
Another period of intensive training ensued and by 1 June 1944, all tests had been satisfactorily completed and the unit was qualified for overseas service.
On 1 December, the unit's first day on the line, A Company's accurate fire was instrumental in the reduction of several pillboxes and the destruction of a German 88mm gun near Borg, Germany.
Per authority, letter dated 1 December 1944, they received credit for a Battle Participation Award-Northern France Campaign, the first for the unit.
On 14 December, a task force of the 411th Infantry Regiment, TF Blackshear,[6] consisting of a company of infantry, along with a platoon of tanks from the 14th Armored Division and 3rd Platoon, C Company, of the 614th TD with its towed anti-tank guns, was organized to attack Climbach, a French town just outside the German border, acting in a pincer movement.
Expecting an American assault with tanks, the German defenders had prepared a strong defensive position as well as an ambush by infantry anti-tank teams.
The lead vehicle was an M20 armored utility car containing Lieutenant Charles L. Thomas, the commander of the tank destroyer platoon; as it travelled up the narrow road, it was hit by heavy enemy fire and knocked out.
Thomas was wounded when evacuating the vehicle, but stayed to organize the deployment of his anti-tank guns which were to provide a base of fire allowing the infantry and tanks to flank the enemy positions.
The remaining members of the platoon joined him and made numerous trips carrying the ammunition, all the while under heavy enemy fire.
[7] One half-track driver, surprised from behind by a German infantry squad, mowed down eight of his attackers with several blasts from his .45 caliber grease gun.
The platoon took heavy losses, with more than half its men listed as killed or wounded; three of the four guns were put out of action, and two half-tracks and an armored car were destroyed.
[9] The divisional report recorded that the "outstanding performance of mass heroism on the part of the officers and men of Company C, 614th Tank Destroyer Battalion, precluded a near catastrophic reverse for the task force".
Orders were received for the battalion to move to Neufvillage, France, on 22 Dec 1944, and upon arrival they reverted to the control of XV Corps for operations.
Notable engagements included one on 1 January – where an isolated outpost killed nine and captured two of an enemy patrol in a small-arms firefight – or 12 January, when a two-gun section fired 143 rounds over forty minutes at an observation post, scoring 139 direct hits – a rate of a round every thirty-five seconds from each gun, with 97% accuracy.
Weather conditions, with snow and ice-covered roads, proved to be unfavorable for the 614th's equipment with three 3" guns and six half-tracks having to be abandoned and destroyed in situ.
The record of this engagement in the contemporary divisional history described the battalion as "the crack negro 614th", testifying to the high regard in which the unit was held by the 103rd.
141, Headquarters Seventh Army, the 3rd platoon, Company C, was cited for outstanding performance of duty in action against the enemy on 14 December 1944, in the vicinity of Climbach, France.
The battalion's last combat casualties were on 2 May near Scharnitz, Austria, losing seven men ( 5 KIA, 1 WIA, 1 captured) of a task force pushing towards Innsbruck.
[18] The next day, a platoon of Company C was attached to a force sent to seize the Brenner Pass, which they did on the 4th without any opposition, and push through to meet the lead elements of the 88th Infantry Division driving up from Italy.
On 12 May, General McAuliffe pinned Silver Stars on Captain Walter S. Smith, 1st Lt. Serreo S. Nelson and Lt Christopher J. Sturkey, while his staff pinned the ribbons of the Distinguished Unit Citation on members of the 3rd Platoon of Company C.[19] Officers and men had passes and furloughs until early July when the unit was alerted to move.
Activated under the command of Lt. Col. Delmer P. Anderson, the 614th received its first shipment of fillers on 1 July from the Overseas Replacement Depot, Camp Kilmer, New Jersey, all of whom were regular Army re-enlistees originally intended for European duty.
