U.S. ARMY HEAVY ARMORED DIVISION, 1942-1945: Organization, Doctrine, Equipment, Volume 2, 1944-1945

In U.S. Army Armored Division, 1943-1945, published in 2010, the author studied the organization of 1943. After this book, it remained writing about the organization of 1942, called the Heavy Armored Division opposite the new 1943 organization called Light Armored Division.Because of the size of the Heavy Armored Division, and the changes in 1944-1945, especially in the 2nd and 3rd Armored Divisions in the European Theater of Operations, the author studies the organization of 1942 in two volumes.In Volume 1, published in 2024, the author examines each unit and sub-unit of the division. Each main unit received its own chapter, including the Division and its Headquarters, Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, Armored Regiment, Armored Infantry Regiment, Armored Field Artillery Battalion, Armored Engineer Battalion, and Armored Signal Company.Volume 2 of this book, in Part I, examines the rest of the division's units—Division Trains, Maintenance Battalion, Armored Medical Battalion, and Supply Battalion.In these two volumes, the author presents an extremely detailed record of the organization, doctrine, and equipment of the Armored Division, from the reorganization on 1 January 1942, under the Armored Force Revision dated 22 December 1941, to the official organization under the Tables of Organization dated 1 March 1942, and the changes occurring in 1943, especially in the Tables of Equipment.Part II of Volume 2 studies the organization of the Heavy Armored Division in 1944-1945, especially that of the 2nd and 3rd Armored Divisions. The real organization, the changes in vehicles and armament, in these two divisions, during the combat period is largely unknown to readers. The author dedicated considerable effort to identifying these developments: the replacement of outdated vehicles such as the M6 GMC, the distribution of additional vehicles and weapons in the marshalling area prior to the Normandy landings, and most notably, the reorganization of the Armored Regiments in June 1944. The units shifted from having two medium battalions and one light battalion to three battalions, each structured identically with two medium tank companies and one light tank company, following the organization of tank battalions in 1943.The book provides charts outlining each unit's structure and detailed diagrams of vehicle with crew members during movement, combat, and work. Charts also depict the radio nets from division down to company level. Read more