However, given the rough seas, the battalion commander decided not to launch the DD tanks into the water to "swim" ashore and all were landed on to the shore from the LCTs.

Enduring losses from enemy fire, artillery, mines, and even the rough surf, the tanks finally moved off the beach to the vicinity of Vierville-sur-Mer at about 2230.

[7][10][11] On 14 June the 743rd Tank Battalion was attached to the 30th Infantry Division, with whom they would remain for the remainder of the war in Europe, and supported the crossing of the Vire River on 7 July 1944.

On 24–25 July, located forward with the assault forces of the 30th Infantry Division near St. Lô, the battalion was among those hit when Allied aircraft dropped their bombs short of the intended targets.

On 18 December, the 743rd Tank Battalion withdrew into Belgium to the vicinity of Malmedy, where they continued to support the 30th Infantry Division, which had also been reoriented to repel the attack.

[19] The battalion went into 30th Infantry Division reserve from 28 January to 3 February, at which time they road marched back into Germany, passing through Aachen and bivouacking near Röhe.

[22][23] The Germans put up a spirited defense near the crossing, but resistance crumbled by 29 March, and the 743rd began the race across Germany, largely following spearhead advances by the 2nd Armored Division.

[24] On 13 April 1945, the battalion liberated 2,141 concentration camp prisoners[25] from a train abandoned outside the small town of Farsleben on the Magdeburg-Wittenberge rail line, about 12 miles (19 km) north of Magdeburg.

George C. Gross, its crew and eight accompanying infantrymen provided security for the train and its liberated prisoners while the unit scrounged up provisions for them.

With the assistance of the 823rd Tank Destroyer Battalion and other American units, food and lodging for the refugees were obtained from the surrounding German villages.