The 737 Tank Battalion was one of the most decorated independent tank battalions in Europe.From President Harry Truman received the Presidential Unit Citation for action at Mortain on 10-13 August 1944.From the French government received the Croix de Guerre.
The 737th Tank Battalion participated in all five major operations in Europe ( Normandy,Northern France,Ardennes-Alsasko,Rhineland and Central Europe ).The battalion was deployed in combat for 299 days.
Decorations Received:
2 x Distinguished Service Cross
2 x Croix de Cuerre
22 x Silver Star
188 x Bronze Star
400 x Purple Hearts
737th Tank Battalion landed on Omaha Beach on 12 and 13 July 1944.And was assigned to 1st Army.Fought at St.Lo.6 August 1944, it was transferred to Third Army.The battalion fought with Third Army for most of the war.It rejoined First Army in April 1945 when it cleared the Ruhr pocket in which 317,000 German soldiers were trapped.Within five days, the battalion had cleared 42 towns.One day a battalion reconnaissance patrol killed Lieutenant General
Joachim von Kortzfleisch on the run.
The battle also claimed casualties within the battalion's ranks.Six officers and 58 men were killed, with one officer and 20 men missing.
The battalion was the first Third Army unit to reach the confluence of the Moselly and Meurthe rivers, and the first Third Army unit to cross the Rhine River and capture Frankfurt am Main.
The war ended for the battalion in the Sudetenland when it captured the towns of Winterberg, Houzina and Volary.One platoon of "C" Company liberated 118 Jewish girls near Volary on May 5, 1945 who survived the 700-kilometer long death march that began on January 29, 1945 in Poland.The march lasted 97 days.
At Volary, Czech-American Pcf. Charles Havlat of the 803rd Tank Destroyer Battalion was killed when his reconnaissance platoon was attacked 4 kilometers from Volary by units of the German 11th Airborne Division. It happened at 8:20 a.m. on May 7, 1945.Pfc. Charles Havlat was the last official American casualty in Europe.
Participating in the occupation of Germany, it is reorganized as the 737th Amphibian Tractor Battalion.He is transferred to Camp Lucky Strike.At Le Havre harbor he boarded the Timothy H.Dwight and was to participate in Operation Olympic, the invasion of Kyushu Island.
On 15 November 1945, the battalion is inactivated
The battalion was attached to:
35th Infantry Division
5th Infantry Division
The 737th Tank Battalion participated in all five major operations in Europe ( Normandy,Northern France,Ardennes-Alsasko,Rhineland and Central Europe ).The battalion was deployed in combat for 299 days.
Decorations Received:
2 x Distinguished Service Cross
2 x Croix de Cuerre
22 x Silver Star
188 x Bronze Star
400 x Purple Hearts
737th Tank Battalion landed on Omaha Beach on 12 and 13 July 1944.And was assigned to 1st Army.Fought at St.Lo.6 August 1944, it was transferred to Third Army.The battalion fought with Third Army for most of the war.It rejoined First Army in April 1945 when it cleared the Ruhr pocket in which 317,000 German soldiers were trapped.Within five days, the battalion had cleared 42 towns.One day a battalion reconnaissance patrol killed Lieutenant General
Joachim von Kortzfleisch on the run.
The battle also claimed casualties within the battalion's ranks.Six officers and 58 men were killed, with one officer and 20 men missing.
The battalion was the first Third Army unit to reach the confluence of the Moselly and Meurthe rivers, and the first Third Army unit to cross the Rhine River and capture Frankfurt am Main.
The war ended for the battalion in the Sudetenland when it captured the towns of Winterberg, Houzina and Volary.One platoon of "C" Company liberated 118 Jewish girls near Volary on May 5, 1945 who survived the 700-kilometer long death march that began on January 29, 1945 in Poland.The march lasted 97 days.
At Volary, Czech-American Pcf. Charles Havlat of the 803rd Tank Destroyer Battalion was killed when his reconnaissance platoon was attacked 4 kilometers from Volary by units of the German 11th Airborne Division. It happened at 8:20 a.m. on May 7, 1945.Pfc. Charles Havlat was the last official American casualty in Europe.
Participating in the occupation of Germany, it is reorganized as the 737th Amphibian Tractor Battalion.He is transferred to Camp Lucky Strike.At Le Havre harbor he boarded the Timothy H.Dwight and was to participate in Operation Olympic, the invasion of Kyushu Island.
On 15 November 1945, the battalion is inactivated
The battalion was attached to:
35th Infantry Division
5th Infantry Division