Separate tank battalion
Separate tank battalions were military formations used by the United States Army during World War II, especially in the European Theater of Operations.
The advent of highly mobile and reliable tanks radically changed the nature of warfare during World War II.
In order to bolster this force, separate tank battalions were formed, mainly with the aim of using them as part of the armored strategy but also allowing them to be used in other areas.
This strategy was further validated by the experience during the Battle of Kasserine Pass which had proven to the U.S. Army the importance of concentrating armored units rather than spreading them out.
Terrain was an especially important variable, with hills, forests, swamps and bocage being natural barriers to fast-moving vehicular units.
Infantry units found that tank support was essential in defeating German formations entrenched in towns and amongst the bocage.
An important event that helped create many separate tank battalions was an organizational change in armored divisions that occurred in late 1943.
The total number of tanks and assault guns was 76, though few battalions operated for any period of time with a full complement after entering combat.
This proved a boon to operations: Since the light tankers were now equipped with 75 mm guns, they were moved into the lines for additional fire power, and to relieve some of the medium units which had been in position constantly since the previous October.
The new men were given a rapid orientation course on the tanks and were tentatively assigned to the reserve vehicles to form an emergency company in the event of its being needed.
[3]The infantry support role was also augmented by the presence of Tank Destroyer battalions, which were originally created to blunt potential armored thrusts by the enemy.
Separate tank battalions were rarely, if ever, used as a single formation in combat, and spent most of their time attached to infantry divisions.
The light tank company was seldom used in direct infantry support missions, and usually served in a screening role or to augment the division's cavalry reconnaissance troop in their operations.
The longer a separate tank battalion spent attached to a single division, the smoother the combined operations were, since both infantry and armored units became familiar with each other and with the necessary tactics.
The experience of the 782nd Tank Battalion in late April 1945 was fairly typical once it joined the 97th Infantry Division in Bavaria, with the three medium companies being assigned to the infantry regiments while the light company was assigned to various duties under divisional control: On the 22nd of April, the Battalion moved from Oberkotzau, Germany to Wunsiedel, Germany.
Service Company had the difficult task of keeping the widely scattered tanks supplied with gas and ammunition, a job excellently performed.
Frequently Company "D" provided light tanks to act as armed guards for the thin skinned trucks shuttling to the front.
The tanks also proved valuable in blowing up road blocks and mounting up the Infantry to exploit the rout of the fast-crumbling remnants of the German Army.
This argument was helped by the "failure" of towed and self-propelled tank destroyer battalions in fulfilling their primary mission—providing quick, massed anti-tank fire against a large German armored thrust.
